The Star Guard

Chapters

The Vast Dreamscape
A Journey of a Thousand Miles
Hollow Shades
Dream Searching
Vigilante
The Queen's Hideaway
Vanquished
The Truth
Teams of Two
Manehattan
Captured
Pirates
Gathering the Troops
Just a Typical Night

The Vast Dreamscape

Chapter 2
The Vast Dreamscape

Pip closed his eyes.

“Now hold the fragment close and allow its power to take hold,” Luna said.

Although the instructions were cryptic, Pip attempted to do exactly what he was told. The power he felt beating in the fragment soon began to whisk him away into a dream-like state. It was as if he were daydreaming, losing himself in his thoughts. Pip could no longer feel the couch.

He opened his eyes and realized that he was suddenly far above Canterlot, looking down on it as if it were a toy set. Everything in the dreamscape was shadowy and a pulse of wind ran through the area, catching the tips of buildings and mountains, corroding them into sand but never really diminishing their mass. It somehow retained an aura of whimsy and terror at the same time…

Luna was standing with him, over the dreamscape, staring down at Canterlot below. Pip could see pockets of bright lights, some colorful, some… not so colorful. The lights had a comforting feeling about them, and Pip realized they were tucked away in the buildings. Were these lights… actually dreams?

“Follow me,” Luna said with a playful laugh. “I know the perfect place to start.” She danced through the air, flying down toward a bright light. Pip followed after her, only needing to will himself to move for it to actually happen. When they neared it, the light washed over them, altering everything until Pip realized they were now beneath a vast lake.

Swimming through the water, without needing to breathe, Pip took in the pristine surface above and the glittering light filtering down to the depths. Much to Pip’s surprise, seashells below him where harmoniously humming and dancing. Fish swam around like a whirlwind, shimmering and sparkling in the light.

“Normally I would conceal myself,” Luna said to Pip, bubbles exiting her mouth. “But I doubt Pinkie Pie would mind if we shared her dreaming to experiment.”

“Come back! I won’t hurt you! I just wanna be friends!”

Pip turned and saw the Element of Laughter herself, Pinkie Pie. She was chasing after a pack of gold otters, swimming at supernatural speeds and laughing the whole time despite the water.

Pinkie Pie stopped chasing the otters the instant she spotted Luna and Pip. Swimming over with a smile, she happily remarked, “Hey! More ponies! Are you both here to meet the gold otters as well? I heard they grant wishes but they’ve been too shy to talk to me yet!”

“What should we do?” Pip asked Luna. “Are there nightmares to be found here? How do we root them out?”

“I’ve already dedicated time to purging the darkness from the dreams of the other princesses and element bearers,” Luna informed him. “No, I brought you here simply to test the limits of your dream abilities.”

“Hey!” Pinkie interjected. “This all seems very familiar… We’re all ponies under the sea… I know there’s a name for that. What’s that called?”

“Sea ponies?” Pip asked with a shrug, kicking his legs to swim simply because he felt his subconscious needed to do so.

“Pfft.” Pinkie rolled her eyes. “No. That sounds absurd. I meant mermares! We’re all mermares!”

Pip frowned. “I’m not a mare-”

“Shoo-be-doo! Shoo-shoo-be-doo!” Pinkie sang, cutting him off. When the otters swam by, her eyes widened with delight. She quickly chased after them, singing the whole way.

Luna laughed as Pinkie swam away, delighted by her exuberance. She turned back to Pip and smiled. “You can alter the contents of a dream, just as I do when I walk the dreams of my subjects. The quality and strength of your alteration is determined by your imagination. You must see it, and want it, and then it will be.”

With a swish of her horn, Luna summoned a playful pod of dolphins. They swam around Pip before joining the swirling fish. Pip had altered his own dreams before, when he realized he was lucid dreaming, but altering the dreams of others…

Pip tried to think of something that would be underwater. Maybe a… salmon?

A single pink salmon suddenly coalesced into existence before him. It had been simple, just like in his own dreams. Pip smiled to himself. He had been afraid of failing, especially in front of Luna.

The salmon acted and moved just as Pip would expect, never surprising him. He suspected that, since it was a creation of his own thoughts, it couldn’t surprise him.

“When I must hide myself…” Luna continued. She moved toward the school of fish and suddenly became fish herself, blending into the dream as though she had never been there to begin with.

“Like this,” her disembodied voice stated. “You must think of yourself shrouded and covered by the magic.”

Pip couldn’t feel the magic, but he tried to do as Luna said regardless. He swam into the fish and imagined himself as a part of the dream. The happy energy of the environment seemed to have seeped into his very being, and Pip couldn’t help but smile. He liked this dream, even though he’d never had a fascination with swimming. Pirates, on the other hoof…

“Huzzah, Pip! You are a natural!”

“I’ve had practice with you in my dreams,” he sheepishly admitted. “I think I have an unfair advantage.”

Luna reappeared and motioned with her head for him to follow. Pip nodded, swimming after her. They swam for some distance until they reached the end of the dream and came across a light. Luna trotted through the light and stepped into another dream. Pip attempted to follow, but when he got close, he suddenly felt weak.

Squinting at the light, Pip was forced to turn back and return to Pinkie’s dream. “Luna?” Pip called out. “I can’t seem to follow you.”

Princess Luna trotted back into Pinkie’s dream and gave Pip a questioning look. “Why didn’t you follow me, Pip?”

“I… I can’t seem to. I don’t know how to describe it. I just felt like… it was a strain. I couldn’t.”

“You are certain?” Luna glanced over her shoulder and motioned in another direction. “This way.”

Pip followed Luna to another edge of the dream. Just like before, Luna exited into another dreamscape and Pip attempted to follow. Again, he felt himself becoming weak and unable to go forward. Pip withdrew back into Pinkie’s dream.

Luna came back moments later, distressed. “I don’t understand,” she muttered. Quickly glancing around, she motioned to another edge and quickly swam through the dream. Pip followed her, not entirely sure what was happening. Luna disappeared through another veil of light and Pip tried his hoof at going through as well.

This time, it worked.

Pip could feel the light wash over him, and suddenly he was in a surreal dream version of Canterlot Castle. He recognized the entrance hall and saw that some sort of party was in progress. At the center of the party, speaking to a group of upper-class ponies, was Prince Blueblood.

“Pip,” Luna said. “You made it.”

“Yeah, this time. What was going on?”

Luna furrowed her brow. “I knew that the magic I gave you would be weak, but I hadn’t anticipated this. Pip, I think you can only enter the dreams of those who are nearby. I tried to take us to the dreams of ponies in Ponyville, but to no avail. However, you could enter Pinkie Pie’s and Prince Blueblood’s… both of whom are in Canterlot, just like you.”

“Really?” Pip asked. “But… how am I going to search for the Nightmare Forces if I can’t even reach most of the dreams?”

The ponies in the dream all began stomping their hooves on the ground and laughing. Luna turned to watch as Prince Blueblood held his head high. “Yes, I was there! I saw everything,” the prince told them smugly. “I practically defeated one all by myself.”

“First, Pip, let us deal with the darkness here,” Luna whispered. Pip nodded and turned his attention back to the dream. It was so… dull… that he hadn’t bothered to take note of anything out of the ordinary. As far as Pip was concerned, this could be an average, everyday occurrence at Canterlot Castle.

“But, did you hear, Prince Blueblood?” one of the party-going ponies suddenly said. “Did you hear about the death of Princess Celestia at the claws of the monsters?”

“W-what?” Prince Blueblood gasped, obviously taken aback. “I… I didn’t know. A-are you sure?”

“Very sure, Prince! What are you going to do now that you’re responsible for all of Equestria?”

The crowd of ponies began crowding around the prince, all staring at him expectantly. Prince Blueblood took a few steps away, backing up against the wall. “I… Well, there are other princesses that will… know what to do…”

“Didn’t you hear, Prince?” the dream pony asked in a dismal voice. “They’re all gone. It’s just you! What are we going to do, Prince? What’re we going to do?”

Pip turned to Luna and whispered, “What should we do to find the darkness?”

“The Nightmare Forces are tricky and devious, Pip. They will use whatever tactics are necessary to cloud the judgment of the dreamer. Sometimes they will promise things, sometimes they will lie… but nothing is more effective than when they whispering truths that usher in despair. You must first wait for the darkness to appear in the dream, and then you must deal with it, either subtly or overtly.”

Prince Blueblood shook his head and forced a laugh. “Please, ponies… Surely there is a… seneschal, or, er, somepony else that could handle the pressures and responsibilities of the e-entire kingdom!”

“But,” one of the ponies in the crowd spoke up darkly, “if you won’t care for the kingdom… why are you even here? If somepony is going to rule Equestria, shouldn’t they be the real prince? Why don’t we remove you and usher in a new reign?”

“Yes,” another pony in the crowd responded, equally as dark. “We should remove him from power. Remove him from the castle and place another unicorn here in his place.”

“Remove him! Remove him!” some ponies began chanting.

“Throw him out! Throw him out!”

Prince Blueblood shook his head. “W-wait! I can’t be thrown out! I’m royalty! I… I…”

A gloriously beautiful white unicorn mare stepped out from the crowd and gently wrapped a foreleg around Prince Blueblood. She smiled, her gold eyes sparkling. “It’s alright, Prince. Surely you have some skill as a unicorn you can fall back on. Some skill you could use to earn a living.”

“I…” Prince Blueblood shook with inner turmoil. “I thought… I thought I could live here forever… I didn’t think I needed a skill…”

The white unicorn tossed her golden mane and frowned. “No skill? Why… you might have to live a life close to poverty. Could you imagine? You? In poverty?”

Prince Blueblood closed his eyes and suddenly the dream began to crumble. Cracks in the walls and floor… Pip took a step closer to Luna and shuddered. What was going on? Shouldn’t they be doing something? What was Luna waiting for?

“Don’t worry,” the beautiful unicorn mare purred. “I can give you a skill. A skill that will keep you in wealth and power forever.”

“The Nightmare Forces feed on fear, bitterness, hate, doubt… all kinds of negative emotions,” Luna explained, watching the scene intently. “And when they think they are powerful enough, they will attempt to offer a deal to the pony. A deal to make all their dreams come true, if they give in to the darkness.”

“What kind of skill?” Prince Blueblood asked, oblivious to the dream around him slowly shaking and crumbling. The upper-class ponies began sinking into the ground, turning to dust. The lights dimmed, and a cold breeze blew over the area.

Luna took a step forward, but still, she waited. “You have to make sure you rout the Nightmare Forces completely, Pip. Wait till they show themselves and then expel them. Keep in mind, though… you won’t be able to alter any dreams containing the Nightmare Forces. Not while the dreamer still fears what is happening.”

The beautiful mare leaned in closer and whispered, “The best kind of skill. One that is easy.”

The castle twisted and warped, but the most important change was the unicorn mare. Although still beautiful, it became sinister, its body becoming elongated, wild. Its eyes were focused on Prince Blueblood, while its teeth became sharp and jagged.

“Prince Blueblood,” Luna said in a loud booming voice, drawing the unicorn’s attention. “You have a skill, don’t you remember? Your cutie mark didn’t appear without a reason.”

The nightmare unicorn turned to Luna with an annoyed expression. Prince Blueblood slowly nodded. “My cutie mark?” He glanced at his flank and stared at the gold four-pointed star over a blue four-point star. “That’s right… I can make things dazzling with my magic… I’m sure many high-class ponies would like that!”

“Don’t listen to them,” the nightmare unicorn whispered. “Aren’t you afraid of losing everything you have here? Don’t you want it to be secure? What if both the sisters became nightmares themselves? You would be removed for sure.”

Pip snorted. “That’s a pretty big what if. I guarantee that it isn’t a big stretch to think of what Celestia would do if you were giving into dark magic, Prince Blueblood.”

The princes slowly nodded, realization shining in his eyes. “You’re right… Celestia would never stand for that.”

The nightmare creature, infuriated, turned to Luna and Pip with a snarl. Without warning, it galloped forward, its mouth opening and splitting all the way to the middle of the neck, like a deformed, twisted alligator.

With a blast of her magic, Luna defeated the creature, shattering it into a million tiny black pieces. The moment it was gone, the dream began to mend itself back together. The cracks in the walls stitched themselves back together and the party guests returned, smiles upon their faces.

Pip turned to Luna. “Does that mean he’ll never have nightmares again?”

“No,” Luna breathed. “Defeating the Nightmare Forces doesn’t eliminate fear itself. It just means that we won’t have to deal with the tyranny of Nightmare Blood next time.”

Pip laughed to himself. That was a pretty ominous sounding name for somepony he didn’t consider ominous in the least bit. “How did you know the Nightmare Forces were going to strike here? Or was it just a coincidence that we got here in time?”

Luna shook her head and began trotting back to the wall of light at the edge of the dream. “No, Pip. If you concentrate, you can feel the movement of the dark magic. Those other two dreams are suffering now as well. I must go to them. Some ponies have the strength to repel the darkness themselves, but I can’t take that chance. Practice with your magic here and I will contemplate what to do about your limited range.” Before Pip could answer, she trotted away, leaving him to the dream.

With a sigh, Pip sat down on the pristine floor. Prince Blueblood had been easily swayed by the darkness, but just as easily swayed back. He was subject to peer pressure, and thus, prone to such sway. Pip could only imagine what it would be like to try and convince a pony who was stubborn or strong of will.

The music of the dream party was starting up all around him, and Pip moved over to a pillar in order to escape most of the noise. He found this dream so boring and dull… nothing like what he experienced with Luna when they shared dreams. Focusing on his magic, Pip made a tiny moon appear, floating before him. With another thought, he made seven tiny stars swirl around it. Like a mobile over a crib, they swirled in circles, and Pip laughed to himself.

But… helping so many ponies would be a difficult task, he knew. What if he couldn’t convince them that the darkness was not the correct path? Sure, it was easier to see the problem looking from the outside in, but that didn’t mean he had all the answers. I guess that’s why I have the others, he thought. Maybe what I don’t see, they will.

Pip hadn’t even realized the music had stopped. He got up and looked out from behind the pillar. There was nopony here. He was all alone. “Prince Blueblood?” Pip asked aloud.

Nothing. Silence.

“Luna?” he whispered in a lighter voice.

No answer.

Pip tried to use the magic within the Fragment of the First Night, but… he couldn’t. Even his moon and stars had disappeared.

“Hm… I had not expected to see you again so soon, child.”

The dark and uncaring voice caused Pip’s coat to stand on end. He recognized it… the voice that spoke to him in the nightmare, the oblivion that tried, and almost succeeded, in convincing him to sleep within the dreamscape.

“What’s this? You’re a dream stalker now? Your princess has sacrificed a piece of her own power to allow you to walk through dreams? How very… foolish. I will not fail to capitalize on her mistake.”

“How are you talking to me?” Pip asked, wildly glancing about. He didn’t see any darkness. He was standing all alone in the dream version of Canterlot Castle. “I banished you away.”

The dark voice laughed, seemingly from all around him. “Banished me? You will never be rid of me.”

“W-well, it doesn’t matter. I found my inner strength and I won’t be shaken by your words. I have the stars, and I know I can withstand whatever you have to say.”

“You fancy yourself a star, do you? Then you should know that even stars fall, and you will not be the first star I force to plummet from grace.”

Pip took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. “You don’t frighten me.”

The voice laughed again, this time closer. Pip could practically feel a hot breath on his ears. “Do you know what happens to a star when it falls, child?”

Pip took a hesitant step back.

“It burns,” the malevolent voice whispered.

Pip suddenly jerked awake. He was sitting on the couch in his room within Canterlot Castle, half-on and half-off, as if he had rolled around during his time within the dreams. He glanced out the window and saw it was midday. Covered in his own sweat, Pip got up and quickly exited his room, still haunted by the sound of the voice in his ears.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

Chapter 3
A Journey of a Thousand Miles

“Where is Luna?” Pip asked one of the Sun Guards as he galloped up to them. Despite his back leg hurting, Pip didn’t dare slow down. He had to talk to Luna about the darkness in his own dreams.

The Sun Guards pointed down a hallway and Pip rushed past without so much as a second glance. Once he was in the hallway, he recognized it as the path to the throne room. As he neared the door, two more guards slowly pushed it open. Pip galloped through with a nod to the guards and ran the long stretch to the throne itself.

Celestia and Luna were there, talking near the thrones. Pip ran past other ponies in the room, all of them waiting their turn to either speak with the princesses or get paperwork signed.

“Luna!” Pip breathlessly called as he drew closer. “I need to speak with you!” He came to a halt by her side, still shaken by the nightmare he had experienced. It hadn’t been the nightmare itself. It was the realization that the Nightmare Forces were in his dreams at all… He’d thought they had been purged.

“What is it, Pip?” Luna asked in concern.

Pip looked around at all the ponies in the room and suddenly felt self-conscious. What would it look like if the newly appointed Star Guard Captain was yelling about the Nightmare Forces invading his dreams? “Uh… can we speak privately?” he asked.

She nodded and turned to her sister. Celestia smiled to Pip and then turned her attention to the other ponies in the room. She took her seat on the throne and began to run business as usual. Luna and Pip took the opportunity to step out of the throne room and out onto one of the many balconies of the castle.

“Pip?” Luna asked.

“I was practicing in the dreamscape, just like you said, and…” Pip looked up at her with worry. “Suddenly… a dark voice was whispering to me. The same voice that spoke to me in the nightmare realm. It knew who I was and it threatened me. I think you’ll need to purge the Nightmare Forces from my mind as well.”

Luna sighed heavily. In the light of the mid-afternoon sun, Pip could see the truth of the matter. Luna was exhausted. She had been the host for the Nightmare Forces, transforming her into Nightmare Moon, and even once she was freed, it had left her weakened. Without much of a break, she was called upon to defend the dreams of all ponies…

There were dark spots under her eyes. Her wings drooped slightly, and even her mane waved slowly. “Pip… I’m sorry, I should have told you before. When you have a connection to all dreams, you will hear the voice of the Nightmare Forces while you sleep. It will always be there, no matter what.”

“But I was in Prince Blueblood’s dream… I wasn’t sleeping.”

Luna shook her head. “If you stay in the dream world too long, or while you are tired, you could fall asleep in the real world and then slip into your own dreams.”

“But-” Pip stopped himself. After a moment of thought he asked, “Does that mean you’ll always hear the voice?”

“Yes,” she said, woebegone.

“And now I will too? For as long as I have the Fragment of the First Night with your magic in it?”

“Yes.” Luna suddenly smiled. “But that’s okay. Pip, as long as we have each other the darkness won’t take hold.”

Pip felt his anxiety leaving him. “Yes. Together we can keep the darkness at bay.”

“You must not let the darkness get to you, Pip. I know that might seem hypocritical coming from me… but it’s the truth regardless. If you have confidence, it will not hurt you.”

He exhaled and nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry for bothering you like this, Luna. I’ll handle it, don’t worry. I’ll start helping you sift through the dreams. I won’t let you down.”

“Of course,” Luna stated as she rose to go back to the throne room. “Until then you should rest.”

“Squeaks!”

“Hm?” Pip asked, rolling over in his bed.

“Squeaks, get up!”

Slowly opening his eyes, Pip stretched and realized he didn’t have enough room to do so. Jumping up, startled, Pip saw Mist curled up in bed with him. “M-Mist,” he choked out. “What are you doing here?”

The bat pony rolled around, creating a burrito of blankets all around her body. “What do you mean? I was trying to wake you up! You were sleeping and I tried to talk to you, but you didn’t move… so then I just started shouting!” She gave him a carefree smile.

“And you felt the need to crawl into bed with me?” he asked, calming down. He placed his head back on his pillow and stared at her.

“It was warmer,” she replied with a snicker.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Pip turned and saw Marble standing at the foot of his bed. Again, he jumped up. Giving Marble an incredulous stare, he asked, “You’re here too?! Does nopony know the meaning of the word privacy?”

Marble shrugged. “At least I didn’t crawl into bed with you.”

“I told her it was warmer, but she refused,” Mist offered, nibbling on the blankets now snugly wrapped around her. Her fangs began ripping through the fabric.

“Besides, you should have gotten up hours ago, Pip. We’re all waiting.”

Pip slowly got off the bed and stretched his back and body. He still felt tired. “You were waiting for me?”

“Yeah,” Marble said, motioning him out of the room. “We’re the Star Guard now, remember? Like, we’re the whole team. There aren’t other soldiers secretly waiting in the background. It’s just us. So, if we’re not doing our job, nopony is.”

He nodded. Marble was right. Luna was tired and he needed to help relieve some of the stress. “Okay. I’m ready. Let’s go.” He turned to his nightstand to take the Fragment of the First Night, but he froze when he realized it wasn’t there. Caught in a state of panic, Pip frantically glanced around the room.

Much to his relief, Pip spotted the fragment on the other side of the room. It was hanging on a hat rack, now attached to a silver chain, like a pendant on a necklace. Pip hadn’t asked for this to be done, but he was grateful for it. Slipping the silver chain around his neck, Pip followed Marble out of his room and through the castle.

Marble led him to a courtyard where all the others were waiting. The courtyard was an elegant space meant for dinner parties, complete with statues and topiary sculptures. When Pip approached, he noticed that the others were just chatting and laughing, but the moment he got close, they were silent. The night was beautiful and quiet; only the sounds of crickets could be heard.

“So, are you ready to begin training us?” Rumble asked. “Training us to fight things in dreams or something?”

“I have something to tell you all first,” Pip replied. “I… discovered something when I was practicing with Luna earlier. Apparently the magic I have is weaker than hers and-”

“Obviously,” Specter interjected. Equinox glared at him. “What?” he blurted out. “It’s true. He just said so himself.”

Pip held up a hoof so that they would be quiet. “No, you don’t understand. Apparently I won’t be able to reach the dreams of ponies that aren’t close by. If we’re going to help Luna we’re going to have to travel.”

“Ahem.”

The group turned to face a bat pony by the name of Ghast. He had a dark brown coat, white mane and gold eyes. As the Captain of the Night Guard, he was clad in black and purple Night Guard armor, obscuring his cutie mark.

“Luna has sent me to inform the Star Guard that she will have armor ready for you by the next evening. She has asked that you travel to Hollow Shades first, in order to help the ponies there before moving on.” Ghast stared at the group for a moment before lifting an eyebrow. “I take it you were just about to train?”

Pip stepped up to Ghast and nodded. For a few months Ghast had been his instructor, and he remembered that the bat pony was a no-nonsense type of trainer. He spoke very little and was critical about everything. A perfectionist to the core. “We are about to train, and thank you for the message.”

Ghast looked from one pony to the other. “Well, let’s see it.”

“Er,” Pip nervously laughed. “There isn’t much to see. We’ll all take a seat and then I’ll activate the magic…”

Ghast was clearly unimpressed. He held back a laugh. “I see. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your… sitting, then.”

“Hey, you didn’t have to fight your way through the dreamscape,” Specter said, flying to Pip’s side and glaring. “You don’t even know what it’s like. We were caught in a conglomeration of nightmares. Shattered sun, undead dragon. It’s nothing like what you imagine.”

Ghast mulled over the information. He bowed his head slightly to the group. “My apologies; I hastily made assumptions. Princess Luna said this was a matter of grave importance, and it seems it is. I’ll leave you to your work.” With a quick turn on his hooves, Ghast trotted back into the castle.

Specter turned back to Pip and lightly smacked him on the shoulder with the back of his hoof. “I thought you were used to bat ponies by now. You can’t go acting all weak. If any bat pony asks, you say you’re an unmitigated powerhouse of awesome, you got that? None of this wimpy talk about sitting around. We’re fighting Nightmare Forces, not taking a stroll through the park.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to tell it like it was,” Pip earnestly replied. Specter flew back to the group and Pip stepped up to address them. “With my fragment we’ll all be able to venture into the dreamscape, but we’ll have to go together and our bodies will remain motionless, so, sit down.”

“What if someone happens upon our bodies?” Rumble asked in confusion.

“Er, I don’t know. You may wake up?”

Rumble nervously rubbed at his mane. “That’s not very reassuring…”

Pip looked around. “No one is going to bother us here in this courtyard. Just close your eyes and relax.” Pip waited until they had all complied. Although he had never taken others with him, he assumed it was much like what Luna had said to him. He would just imagine the magic blanketing them all.

And it did.

As he used the fragment, he could feel it move outward in a wave. Anypony inside its effect could be brought in with him… like an expanding bubble of magic that pulled them into the dreamscape. Pip suspected that, if he had been a unicorn, he would be able to focus the magic and use it differently. But, since he wasn’t a unicorn, he would be stuck with his limited application of the magic.

As it had been with Luna, Pip found himself in the nebulous world of the dreamscape, staring down at a Canterlot covered in wind and sand, and devoid of colors. The lights that represented dreams were glowing brightly, some brighter than others. Somehow, though Pip hadn’t known before, he knew which ones were Pinkie Pie’s and Prince Blueblood’s. He could somehow sense their presence.

Pip trotted through the air toward the dream Luna had first brought him into. The others followed, but, in their awe, they said nothing.

Once the light of the dream washed over them, Pip could see that this dream was very different from the one before. It was… a land of candy. It looked like a house and silo, but it was all made of sweets and confections. Muffins, cupcakes, lollipops… Even the clouds looked like cotton candy.

Specter looked around in mild disgust. “What whack-job has a dream like thi-”

“Pinkie Pie,” Marble instantly replied. “We’re in Pinkie Pie’s dream.”

“Is that Marble I hear?!” Pinkie Pie shouted all the way from the other side of the dream. She happily jump-skipped over the taffy-bushes, smiling the entire way. “Marble! Marble, there you are! I can’t believe it!”

When the two sisters collided, Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around Marble and squeezed. Marble returned the embrace and, to Pip’s surprise, genuinely smiled. “I’ve missed you, Pinkie. Life isn’t the same without you.”

“I thought you hated my constant parties?” Pinkie asked, parting from her sister, tears welling in her eyes.

“I’m not a fan of your parties, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t missed you.”

“Where’s Maud? Limestone? Aren’t they with you?” Pinkie began dramatically looking around. “Are they hiding? Are we playing hide and seek?! And you didn’t tell me!” Before anypony could reply, she zipped away in a flash, disappearing to a hiding spot within the dream.

“She didn’t know we weren’t a part of the dream?” Scootaloo asked, staring at the gingerbread farm. “You would think it’s obvious we’re in a dream with this kind of imagery.”

“Most ponies don’t know they’re dream when it’s actually happening,” Pip replied. It was true for most of his life before Luna began visiting him. In one of his dreams he had been chased by a giant elephant, running so that he couldn’t be crushed. It was obviously preposterous, now that he looked back on it, but when he had been dreaming… it felt so real.

“So, what?” Scootaloo asked, trotting around the dreamscape. “We just imagine things and then they’ll happen here or something?”

“Yeah, that’s the idea.”

“Well then, stand back everypony! I got this!” Scootaloo dramatically cleared a space around her. “I’ve got years of experience from when I was trying to get my cutie mark!” She motioned to her mark, a tire with flames coming off it. Scootaloo closed her eyes and concentrated.

At first there was nothing, but, slowly, a portion of the dream began to warp. Suddenly, a watermelon appeared! Scootaloo opened her eyes and smiled, inhaling deeply, as if she had been holding her breath. “See!”

Just as suddenly as the watermelon had appeared, a small portion of it exploded outward, spraying its red and black contents in a short burst. It then deflated like a sad balloon, unmoved from its spot.

Everypony stared at the dilapidated watermelon.

“Was that supposed to-” Rumble began.

“Yes,” Scootaloo said with a look of irritation.

“Even the-”

“Not. Another. Word.” Scootaloo glared at him. Rumble just smiled and nodded.

As the ponies began to break apart in order to practice, Equinox turned to Pip with a questioning look. “Why teach us this? I remember the nightmare world. The Nightmare Forces are more powerful. They prevented the alteration of dreams.”

“We’ll still have to search through dreams in order to find the nightmares,” Pip explained. “Also, if we can help the ponies dreaming, we should. That’s what Luna does every night. Plus, fear only gives the darkness more power. If you feel you have control, you won’t be as fearful. We’re here to help, not make the situation worse.”

Equinox turned her attention to her skeletal wing and frowned. She tucked it close to her side and returned her attention to Pip. “I suppose that makes sense. I’ll… be over there, by the pop-tart outhouse, if you need me.” She slowly walked away, her gaze unfocused. Pip watched her go, unable to think of anything to say.

The entire time the others attempted to manipulate the dreamscape, Pip tried to focus on feeling the undercurrent of dark magic. Luna seemed to know where and when the Nightmare Forces would strike… He needed that ability as well if he was going to help. The problem was that he couldn’t really sense anything. Unlike altering the dreams, which had come naturally, he couldn’t seem to get the hang of this.

After a while, Pip became anxious. He didn’t want to stay too long in the dreamscape, for fear of his body falling asleep in the real world.

“Guys, uh-” he began.

Mist suddenly flew over to him and smiled. “Squeaks! I think I got the hang of it!”

“Where have you been this entire time?” Specter asked when he spotted her. “You flew off an hour ago and never told anyone where you went!”

Ignoring Specter’s concern, Mist picked Pip up from his sitting position and moved him out into the open candy field. “Do you ever change yourself in these dreams?” she asked with a smile.

“Sometimes I’m a pegasus,” Pip admitted.

“Because pegasi are the best,” Rumble chimed in from the other side of the field.

Pip laughed. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Perfect! Do you think you could, uh, change yourself into a bat pony?”

Pip lifted an eyebrow and slowly nodded. “Well, yeah.”

Mist smiled and anxiously waited. Pip shrugged and willed the magic to make it so. He grew leathery wings and fangs, and his ears became longer and fluffier. Although he couldn’t see it, he knew his eyes had altered to become slit-pupils.

Mist gleefully clapped her hooves together. Specter imagined a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes and smiled. “Radical,” he told Pip.

“What have you finally gotten ahold of?” Equinox asked Mist as she trotted over.

Suddenly fidgety, Mist shook her head. “Oh, uh, I just got the hang of the dreamscape, is all. And I just wanted to see Pip as a bat pony.”

“Hm,” Equinox replied skeptically.

Pip opened his leathery wings before tucking them back to his side. “Look, I actually wanted to say that we should stop for right now. We can’t be in here too long or we might fall asleep.” When the others nodded, Pip withdrew from the dreamscape, taking everypony with him, as he was the source of the magic keeping them there.

Once everypony was out, they all opened their eyes to glance around the courtyard. It was still night. Time in the dreamscape was illogical. Sometimes only a few seconds of time in the real world passed while at other times it would be hours.

“All that dream stuff has made me hungry,” Rumble announced. “I say we go get something to eat.”

“Where would we eat at this hour?” Marble asked, glancing up toward the moon. “Everything is probably closed.”

Rumble flapped his wings and took to the sky. “You obviously don’t know about the best donut shop in all of Equestria! It’s always open!”

Ding-ding!

“Rumble! Ha, ha. Long time no see.”

“Hey,” Rumble called out as he entered the donut shop. “I knew you’d be open!”

Pip entered with the rest of the Star Guard and examined the empty donut shop. It was spacious and smelled of sugar, much like Sugar Cube Corner. The bat ponies, except Equinox, blinked back the light and took a seat at the table in the furthest corner of the room. Pip walked up to the counter with Rumble.

“Hey, Pony Joe. Another donut,” said a familiar gruff voice.

Joe, the unicorn behind the table with the donut cutie mark, frowned. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

“Another donut! Extra sprinkles!”

Pip could hardly believe it. Thunder Clash, his old pegasus drill sergeant, was the sole patron in the donut shop. The old pegasus had a dark orange coat, short gold mane and tail, and, now that he wasn’t wearing his armor, Pip could see his cutie mark, a black cloud with two lightning bolts colliding. Every inch of him was covered in some sort of scar or blemish.

“Thunder Clash?” Pip asked, trotting up to him.

“Hm? Pipsqueak?” he replied, turning to Pip and placing his cup heavily on the counter. “What’re you doing here, son?”

“Er, I was just about to ask you the same question. Aren’t you supposed to be training the new crop of guards?”

Thunder Clash sighed and shoved another donut in his mouth. After he was done chewing he shrugged. “I hung up my hat. Quit. After so many years you get the hint. You aren’t young anymore. Gotta move on.” He angrily glared at the clock. “Gotta slowly pass the time until you got none left. Wastin’ everypony’s space. Wastin’ air. That’s what you need to do when you’re not cut out for the fight anymore. That’s your great exit.”

Pip nervously laughed. Thunder Clash wasn’t even really talking to him as much as he was talking to the clock. “R-right.” Taking this opportunity to step away, Pip ran into Marble. Pushing her down the length of the counter, he got out of earshot of Thunder Clash.

“What’s wrong with Thunder Clash?” Marble asked, glancing over at the pegasus.

“He seems upset about his age.” Pip shrugged. “I don’t think we should bother him.”

“Yeah, he’ll die faster that way.”

Pip was taken aback. “I… didn’t want him to die.”

“You wouldn’t want anypony to die.”

“Yeah. So? What are you even talking about anyway? He seems perfectly… healthy.” Pip and Marble took a moment to observe the old drill instructor. Thunder Clash threw back his drink and slammed it on the counter.

“Another,” Thunder Clash commanded Joe.

“Wasn’t he on a carefully controlled diet before?” Marble whispered to Pip.

Pip nodded. “Yeah.”

“Uh-huh. You don’t see what’s going on here? He feels old and useless and just wants to get things over with. It happens to a lot of older ponies who worked hard all their lives. The instant they have nothing to do… Bam. They die within a few short years. Sometimes just months, if they drink hard enough.”

Pip rubbed the fragment hanging on his chest. It was such a sad thought to think that Thunder Clash would just waste away at a donut shop or bar somewhere… He didn’t deserve that. “Marble, what’re we going to do?”

She looked at him with a lifted eyebrow. “We? It isn’t our job to help him out. He’s a big stallion. He can take care of himself. If he wants to drown his sorrows, let him.”

“He’s not so far gone that he can’t do anything,” Pip shrugged.

“You could always make him a member of the Star Guard,” Marble suggested. “You don’t need your physical prowess in the dreamscape, apparently.”

Pip shook his head. “No… No, I can’t do that.” The only pony that he had actually feared for in the nightmare realm had been Thunder Clash. The older pegasus had been so concerned with the dead soldiers in his nightmares that he couldn’t even look up. No… Thunder Clash couldn’t be allowed to go with them into the dreams. Pip was too afraid of what would happen if the Nightmare Forces got to him.

With a swish of her perfectly straight tail, Marble turned to go sit down with the others. “Well, it’s your choice.” She trotted away, not very concerned one way or the other.

Torn between what would be for the best, and what he wanted to do, Pip finally trotted back up to Thunder Clash. “Sir… You quit training the guard?”

“That’s right,” Thunder Clash snapped. “Did it take you that long for my words to sink into your thick skull? No wonder you wouldn’t stop lookin’ for Luna.” He threw back another cup.

“Then, I was wondering… Would you be willing to finish training us? The Star Guard? As we… travel around Equestria and help the ponies from within their dreams?”

Thunder Clash turned to him with a glare. “So, when I say I quit cuz I’m too old, you suddenly want me to train you regardless? How does that make up for the old part, boy? It doesn’t. Leave me. I don’t got it in me anymore.”

“Luna said we needed somepony with experience.” Pip shrugged. “Isn’t old just another word for experienced?”

“Look, son. You can just maintain your exercises for the rest of the year. Every other night we worked on muscle and tone for the entire night. The other nights we worked half the night on skill with weapons. That’s basically forty-five hours a week, on average, of training.”

“R-really? We did forty-five hours every week of training?” Jeez… I didn’t think it was that much. Never seemed like it.

“Time flies when you’re having fun, eh?” Thunder Clash snorted. “But seriously. Just get somepony else to train you with weapons and you’ve as good as replaced me. And, if Luna put you in charge of a Guard, she most likely doesn’t think you need any more training.”

“Well… It’s more of a dire circumstance thing,” Pip admitted with a forced chuckle. “I certainly think we could use some more training. Especially if we’ll be traveling. We aren’t going to stay in Canterlot the whole time.”

“Are your ears filled with donut?” Thunder Clash asked. “I said I’m too old. I don’t think I could have said it any simpler.”

Pip could hardly believe his ears. This didn’t sound like the Thunder Clash he knew. “So, that’s it? You’re done? You’re just going to throw in the towel?” When Thunder Clash didn’t answer, Pip turned to leave. “Huh. I guess Marble was right. You did come here to waste away until you die.”

He turned and left Thunder Clash. Before he got to the table, Thunder Clash had turned back to him.

“Don’t you say something like that and walk away, boy!”

“I just thought you were one to go out with your boots on, sir,” Pip replied. Everypony else in the donut shop was now silent and watching, even Pony Joe.

Thunder Clash, frustrated, flew up from his seat. The full length of his underbelly had a long fresh scar from the Quarray Eel incident, though it was hard to spot among all the other scars. For once, he seemed at a loss for words.

“We could use your help,” Pip finally said, breaking the silence. “Not an excuse.”

His anger was apparent from the way he flapped his wings. Seething, Thunder Clash slowly landed next to Pip and glared. “You say you need help, but I could end up being the burden that fails the whole mission.”

“Yeah, well, what if you just happen to save everypony with your expert knowledge? We could play this game till the sun rises. You don’t know what’s going to happen, but if you want to keep making up reasons, then do it on your own time. We have things to do.”

Pip took a step back, but Thunder Clash placed a hoof on his bad shoulder. Pip bit back the cringe of pain. “Look, boy… You shouldn’t…” He trailed off, conflicted. “Nevermind. Listen, I need to think about it.”

“We’ll be leaving tomorrow for Hollow Shades,” Pip informed him. “If you want to go, just be at the train station.”

Thunder Clash stared at him for a long moment. “Fine. If I’m there, I’m there.”

Pip smiled. “All right then.”

Hollow Shades

Chapter 4
Hollow Shades

“I will come to visit you in your dreams, Pip,” Luna said with a smile.

Pip felt the cold night air wash over his coat. It felt colder than usual, though he suspected it was all in his head. The thought of leaving Luna’s side after being with her for the first time in years… He lamented the fact that he had to go, but he knew he couldn’t let her down, either. “I look forward to your visits,” he replied.

“I know I wasn’t able to present you with it myself, but… the chain that holds the Fragment of the First Night was my doing.”

Pip touched the chain around his neck and nodded. “I figured. Thank you. It makes it easy to carry the fragment.”

“I don’t have very many things from my mother or father,” Luna began, turning her attention to the sky. “However, the chain was once a part of my father’s ceremonial armor. I thought it appropriate that you have it with you.”

“I… don’t know what to say,” Pip awkwardly stated. “Thank you.”

The whistle of the train cut through their conversation. It was almost time to go. Luna turned back to Pip and pulled him close for a hug. Embracing her, Pip closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment.

When they parted, Captain Ghast was standing next to them with a blank expression on his face.

“My princess,” Ghast addressed Luna. “I have loaded the train with the armor and supplies you requested.”

“Very good,” she said to him. “Pip, I had armor made for you and the rest of the Star Guard. Although I don’t expect you to encounter much trouble on your journeys, you should remember that you represent Equestria and the other guard orders when you interact with foreigners. Remember to conduct yourself with dignity and honor.”

Pip bowed his head. “Of course, Princess.”

“Remember that the Nightmare Forces feed on bitterness, hatred and fear, Pip. The citizens of places where there isn’t much harmony will be in more danger than those who live quiet and contented lives. If you find an area of strife, the darkness is sure to be near.”

Pip kept his head bowed. He'd figured that was the reason that he had been sent to Hollow Shades first. Places like Ponyville didn’t have much strife.

“My princess,” Ghast interrupted, “Princess Twilight Sparkle is on board and waiting to travel to Manehattan. We shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

“Of course not…” Luna sighed. “Farewell, Pip. May the good spirits keep you safe.” She turned away and spread her wings. Ghast leapt into the air, and she followed, though she did so slowly and without conviction. Pip slowly backed up to the train door. Steamer, the earth pony train conductor, was glaring at him in annoyance.

“Wait!”

Pip glanced over his shoulder and spotted Thunder Clash flying over to the train. The old soldier pegasus landed next to Pip with a duffle bag on his back.

“We need to get going,” the conductor snorted.

Thunder Clash nodded once to Pip before jumping onto the train. Pip smiled and also climbed aboard, happy to have the old soldier along for the ride. Once everypony was on, the train began to pull forward. Its first stop was a junction, where Pip and the others would get off to take a second train to Hollow Shades.

Ka-clack! Ka-clack!

The sound of the train speeding along echoed through the silent compartment. Instead of waiting with the others, Pip had taken this time to be by himself. The trip would be short, or so the conductor said, and he knew he didn’t have much time. Any second now, they would reach their destination…

Ka-clack! Ka-clack!

Pip trotted to the back of the train and inspected the equipment Princess Luna had given him. The armor she had constructed was made out of two materials: a black metal, similar to Luna’s crown, and silver. On the chest piece was a nine-pointed star inside the crescent of the moon.

Pip immediately recognized that one suit of armor was different from the rest. On the flank-area of the armor, etched into the black, was Pip’s cutie mark: a downward-pointing sword and star. His armor. Pip lightly touched it and smiled. Guard captains didn’t normally have their cutie marks on their armor, but this was no normal guard.

Too anxious to wait, Pip strapped on the armor. It fit him, but his bandages were noticeable and uncomfortable with the extra weight. Surprisingly, the armor felt like it weighed a few pounds less than the Night Guard versions, though Pip couldn’t be absolutely certain. Glancing over at the rest of the equipment, Pip realized their weapons had been brought along as well. He slipped on his claws: bladed hoof guards meant for close combat.

“What’re you doin’, son? Shouldn’t you be with your fellow guards?”

“Hm?” Pip turned and saw Thunder Clash standing in the compartment with him. “I was just inspecting our gear.”

“You have a responsibility to your team,” Thunder Clash informed Pip as he took a seat. “You’re their captain. You gotta watch them and guide them.”

“I don’t know what it takes to be a good captain,” Pip answered honestly.

“That’s why you have me here, isn’t it? I know what a good captain looks like. I’ll let you know when you’re messin’ it up.”

Pip laughed to himself. “T-thanks.”

Ka-clack! Ka-clack! Sccccreeeeccchhh.

The sound of the brakes caused Pip to stir into action. He quickly trotted through the train in order to get the others. He knew they should be suited up and ready to go once the train came to halt. As he opened the door to the passenger car, he realized they were all crammed around one of the train's tables, attempting to play pirate’s dice despite the constant shake of the train.

“Hey, guys,” Pip said.

“You’re cheating!” Scootaloo practically shouted, slamming her hooves down on the table. “You have to be!”

Marble shook her head. “I would never. Besides, one doesn’t need to cheat against you.”

Specter threw his head back and laughed, his leathery wings flapping in rhythm with his breathing. Rumble rolled his eyes and leaned heavily on one of his hooves, as though he had seen this exact scenario a million times.

“Er, guys?” Pip asked, attempting to clear his throat.

“A captain takes charge,” Thunder Clash said from behind him.

Pip turned to the pegasus and shrugged. “I was never looking to be a captain, Thunder Clash. I just wanted to protect Luna.”

“True leaders never ask for the position, boy. But you’ll lose it if you hesitate for too long. Everypony agreed to answer to your command. So command them.”

With a deep breath, Pip returned his attention to the others. They were still enthralled by their dice game. “Everypony!” he shouted. “Listen up!”

The ponies in the passenger car stopped what they were doing and turned to Pip. Holding his head high, Pip stepped aside and motioned to the back car.

“We need to suit up. The armor is in the back. I’m sure the conductor won’t wait all day for us, so grab your things and disembark.”

Mist perked up and immediately flew over to him. “We’ve arrived at Hollow Shades already?! I’m so excited! I can’t wait to show you all the best fruit trees! And all the best places to hide! And my family! It’ll be great!”

Equinox suddenly slouched in her spot, practically hiding herself from sight behind the cushions of her seat. The others quickly picked everything up and trotted to the back of the train to get suited up. Once they were gone, Equinox slid off the seat and walked over to Pip.

“I… would prefer if you didn’t mention anything that has happened with me,” she whispered.

Pip glanced at her ruined wing and frowned. “You know there’s nothing to be ashamed of. You got injured saving your sister from a King Basilisk. If anything, you should be proud and-”

“I’m asking you not to mention anything,” Equinox snapped, cutting him off. She glared, her slit-pupil eyes trained on him with intense focus. With a heavy sigh, Pip capitulated.

“Very well. I won’t mention anything.”

“Thank you.” Equinox quickly left, never glancing back or even looking up to meet Thunder Clash’s gaze.

Pip waited till she was gone before gathering his own things. Throwing his satchel onto his back, he disembarked from the train and stood on the platform, waiting for the others. Thunder Clash, carrying his saddlebag, accompanied him.

“They let me keep my Sun Guard armor when I was reassigned, but I couldn’t find it in me to bring it along,” Thunder Clash said, more to himself than anypony else. “I’m a little too old to be gettin’ into fights, but I don’t feel like myself not wearin’ it.”

Doing a mental count in his head, Pip realized that he had seen eight sets of armor in the train. He figured Luna must have ordered enough for the ponies she thought would be in the guard, but after Gloom left, there were only seven of them. Pip shook his head. He wouldn’t give a set to Thunder Clash. He knew it was a bad idea. They would just have an extra set, in case somepony needed a replacement.

The other members of the Star Guard exited the train with their supplies in tow. They were wearing their armor and carrying their weapons, but there were extra things Luna had given them to complete their mission, including a letter from her explaining their mission and some bits they would use to get around and live on.

The void-black and silver armor was sleek, durable, lightweight and reinforced in areas to protect vital body parts. Pip thought they looked like a professional force, but he knew they were all amateurish at best.

The platform they were standing on was barren, and the moment everypony was off the train, the engine started up and pulled the cars away, leaving them alone in the middle of a dense forest. It was only a few hours before daybreak, and the only movement among the trees was from owls and lizards. With the Fragment of the First Night close to his chest, Pip could see clearly through the darkness. He took a moment to admire the night with this new perspective.

“Well?” Specter asked as he hovered in the air next to Rumble, supporting one side of the extra equipment crate. “Are we going or are we going?”

“Er, right. Sorry,” Pip nervously laughed. “How do we get to Hollow Shades from here?”

“This way,” Equinox replied, motioning with her head to a small trail leading away from the platform. Unlike everypony else, she was wearing a heavy cloak over her armor, obscuring her face, back, and wings.

Pip trotted out in front and led the way through the dark forest. Until his Night Guard training, Pip had never even heard of the town of Hollow Shades, but now he knew it was the city that most bat ponies called home. He could see the appeal; the further they traveled into the forest, the thicker the canopy overhead became, eventually blocking out the sky completely. Since bat ponies couldn’t see in the light of the day, it only made sense that they would want a home where the sun couldn’t necessarily reach them.

As time marched on, Pip began wondering just how long a trek this would be. Before he could voice his concerns, bright lanterns hanging from the trees came into view. Though he didn’t need them to see, Pip knew they were a sign of civilization.

“Howdy, travelers,” a voice echoed off the trees.

Pip turned to see a small stand and building constructed next to the road, but far back enough to be hidden by most of the trees. “Hello?” he asked.

An earth pony, old enough to have wrinkles, but young enough to keep his tall stature, walked up to the stand and smiled. He was light blue of coat and dark blue of mane. “Not many ponies come to these parts unexpectedly. What can I do you for?”

“This is the way to Hollow Shades, correct?” Pip asked.

“Hollow Shades is the only town I know of in these woods, that’s for sure.” The earth pony frowned. “You know they don’t let outsiders in, right? I’m the last day-pony outpost. I act as a broker for bat pony trades. If you’re lookin’ for goods, you can trade through me.”

“We’re not all outsiders,” Mist offered, flapping her wings. “Besides, we’re on a special mission from Princess Luna!”

Thunder Clash shot her a glare. “Maybe you should let Captain Pipsqueak handle the talkin’, girlie.”

Mist ducked her head down. “Right. Sorry.”

“We’re the Star Guard,” Pip informed the earth pony. “We were sent to-”

The merchant’s eyes went wide. “You’re the Star Guard? Every trader from Canterlot has been gossipin’ about you! You all are the ones who’re going to stop everypony from transforming into nightmare creatures?”

“Er, you know about us?” Pip asked with a nervous laugh. “Like, ponies have been talking about that?”

“Definitely! After what happened in Canterlot, how could you not be talking about it?! I heard there was a mare who transformed in the Crystal Empire! Every which way you turn everypony is afraid that they’ll transform! You got a lot of work on your hooves, son.”

“Y-yeah…”

The earth pony glanced from each recruit to the next. “So how’re you going to go about stopping nightmares? You got tools or special magic? I don’t see any unicorns with you…”

“It’s, uh, complicated. Thank you for the directions.” Pip turned and continued forward. The others followed him, though they seemed confused by his abrupt goodbye. The earth pony waved to them as they left.

We don’t have any unicorns with us…

Pip had never even considered the lack of unicorns as a problem until the merchant had mentioned it. They didn’t really have anypony that could manipulate magic… Pip sighed. The only ponies Pip knew of who could manipulate magic and had encountered the nightmares were Rarity and Princess Twilight Sparkle. Unfortunately, they were on a diplomatic mission to the Griffin empire and were unavailable.

“Look! Look! There it is!” Mist gasped in excitement.

Shaking away the negative thoughts, Pip glanced up and saw a wall of leaves. There were massive willow trees growing at the heart of the forest, and their long, whip-like branches were hanging down onto the path, creating a barrier. Standing on the trail right in front of the willow tree barrier, were two bat pony guards. They weren’t a part of the royal guard… just generic city guardsponies.

“Halt!” one of the bat ponies called out. “Who are you and what do you want? Day-ponies aren’t allowed beyond this point.”

Everypony turned to Pip. With his head held high, he stepped forward. “We’re the Star Guard, sent by Princess Luna. Step aside, so that we may help the citizens of Hollow Shades.” He felt nervous and anxious for some reason, almost fearing the two guards would laugh at his proclamation.

For a moment the guards were silent and exchanged knowing looks.

“The soothsayer has been expecting you,” the guard finally replied. “Follow the path to the edge of town and speak with her first.”

The two guards pulled back a portion of the willow leaves, creating an entrance much like that of a tent. Pip stepped through, followed by the rest of the Star Guard. Once inside, he was awestruck.

“Welcome to Hollow Shades,” the guard said, closing the curtain of leaves behind them.

The city of Hollow Shades was vast and built vertically. There were trees, much like redwoods, with trunks the size of buildings themselves. Built around, into, and between the trunks were houses, bridges and multi-story structures. The canopy, so thick one could not see the sky, was filled with firefly nests. Fireflies were dancing through the sky and landing on the leaves, giving the place a slight hint of light while making the canopy appear like the night sky. With each firefly a star…

Pip stepped forward and saw that there was a river running through the city. Its calming trickle added to the mystery and wonder of the town. Although most of the houses were built up among the trees, there were some stone buildings on the ground, including a few stone bridges over the river.

Bat ponies were flying about, content to live their daily lives. Shaking his head, Pip pushed forward. He didn’t have time to gawk and stare. Following the path, as the guards had instructed him, Pip went straight for the soothsayer’s dwelling.

“I’ve… never actually been here,” Thunder Clash muttered aloud as he flew.

“It’s really nice this time of year,” Mist cheerfully stated. “So many fruits in season!”

Specter shrugged. “It’s fine. I guess.” Suddenly, Specter almost dropped his side of the equipment crate. Rumble was too busy staring at the fireflies to pay attention, and had run into a large tree trunk.

“Stay alert,” Pip told them. “We represent Princess Luna. We don’t want to disappoint her.”

Rumble flushed with mild embarrassment. “It was my fault, Pip. I just… I’ve never seen so many fireflies before.”

“Sir,” Thunder Clash corrected. “You call your captain sir.”

“Er, oh, yeah. Sorry, sir,” Rumble muttered.

Pip almost wished he wouldn’t. It felt so… awkward. However, it wasn’t the time or place to argue about it, not with so many bat ponies suddenly paying them so much attention.

“What are they doing here?” a bat pony murmured from above.

“I don’t know,” another replied.

“Shouldn’t the guards have stopped them?”

“They aren’t scared?”

“What if one of them turns into a nightmare while they’re here?! We should throw them out!”

Pip crossed over the arched stone bridge and stopped once he reached the highest point. The water… it was glowing a bright and vibrant turquoise, illuminating everything around it with its soft light.

“What’s going on with this water?” Scootaloo asked with a nervous laugh. “Is it… infected with something?”

Equinox kept her voice low as she answered, “No. The water isn’t glowing, it’s the rocks underneath. They wash downstream from a cave further up into the mountainside. It’s considered bad luck to take them out of the water, but some bat ponies collect and sell them regardless.”

Scootaloo smiled at the glowing river. “It doesn’t hurt bat ponies' eyes to look at it?”

“Of course not,” Equinox said with a roll of her eyes. “Bat ponies aren’t that sensitive.”

Although the water and the stones were interesting, Pip pushed them from his mind. He continued on his path through the town, aware of all the whispers and stares that were being directed towards him. Bat ponies were grabbing their children and ushering them inside; some were even grabbing weapons and staring from the nearby branches.

“The soothsayer will be understanding,” Mist said. “She can see the future!”

Thunder Clash shook his head. “Nopony can see the future, save Princess Celestia.”

“But she talks to the spirits and fates!”

“She makes you think she talks to the spirits and fates,” Thunder Clash replied with a defensive snort. “Just because there is magic in the world doesn’t mean anything is possible.”

When they finally reached the end of the road, Pip saw a large ground-based dwelling made of stone, red wood and black jade. There was another guard waiting outside, but after one glance at Pip and the others, he stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. Pip nodded to the guard and continued in.

The front room was large and circular, perfect for hosting ceremonies or sermons. All manner of plants and stones could be found on the shelves that lined the walls, and for a moment, Pip was reminded of Zecora’s hut back in Ponyville. At the far end of the room was a fireplace and a long table.

Everypony stepped into the room, but there was nopony else to greet them.

“Hello?” Pip hesitantly whispered. The longer he looked around the room, the more he realized that some of the objects on the shelves weren’t stones at all… they were bones.

“Um, what is the table for?” Rumble asked, setting down the equipment crate on the floor.

Specter snickered. “That’s where we sacrifice day-ponies!”

“R-really?” Rumble asked, his legs locking up and his voice trembling. Specter began snickering even louder.

Thunder Clash rolled his eyes. “Grow a spine, boy. You know that’s not true. And even if it was true… Look at yourself! It would take a few good bat ponies to bring you down! And you got the rest of your team!”

“It’s not true,” Mist said, trying to reassure everypony. “Definitely not true. It’s against the law for bat ponies to drink the blood of other ponies, remember? Nopony has a sacrifice table. Right, Equinox?”

“Yeah…” Equinox muttered half-heartedly as she glanced around the room.

For some reason, Pip was suddenly a lot less sure about Mist’s assertions.

Marble, who had been silent for the entirety of the walk, suddenly yawned. “I’ve seen scarier. This soothsayer is going to have to try harder if she wants to compare with nightmare world. As it stands right now… this place is dull.”

“Everything is dull to you,” Scootaloo quipped.

“My home is dull?” a shrill elderly voice cut into the conversation. “What rude guests I have this night.”

Pip motioned for everypony to be silent. He looked around the room and spotted an old crone of a bat pony by the fireplace. There was no door by the fireplace… how had she appeared there? Had she been hiding this whole time, or had he simply not seen her enter?

“Um…” Pip began, searching for the right words. None came. “Er… I’m…”

“The Guardian of the Night,” the old bat pony muttered. She stepped forward and glared with bright red eyes. Her coat was gray and her mane white. Her leathery wings were filled with rips and holes, and on her flank was a cutie mark of bones with writing upon them.

“Yes,” Pip replied. “Luna- er, I mean Princess Luna gave me that title. I’m really just Captain of the Star Guard. I’m here to help the bat ponies of Hollow Shades fight off the Nightmare Forces.”

“I am the soothsayer of this town. You may call me Whisper.”

Pip bowed his head to her. “In order to help the ponies of this town, I’ll need to stay here for a while and search their dreams. I was hoping my guards and I could have a place to stay and-”

“Dreams are sacred,” the soothsayer hissed. “You cannot invade them without permission!”

“I… kinda need to,” Pip said with a hesitant laugh. “Ponies are in danger. The Nightmare Forces whisper to them while they sleep.”

“Hmpf! We shall see what the oracle bones have to say about this!” The old bat pony walked up to one of the many shelves and began grabbing bones, a quill, and ink. She returned to the table in the room and threw down the shell and skull of a turtle. With the quill in her mouth, she quickly wrote upon the bones.

Pip stepped up to the opposite side of the table and lifted an eyebrow. Being a herbivore, it disgusted him slightly to see the remains of animals. He didn’t comment, however. He knew that bat ponies had fangs and drank blood.

“What are you doing?” Pip nervously asked.

Once Whisper was done writing, she put down the quill and gathered up the bones. “We shall see what the fates decide.” Turning around, Whisper threw the bones into the fire, the blaze briefly flashing with extra heat.

The other ponies in the room slowly inched forward, craning their heads to get a better view of what was going on. Everypony except for Thunder Clash. He was rolling his eyes and hovering in the corner of the room with his forelegs crossed over his chest.

Whisper took a pair of metal tongs and slowly removed the bones from the fire, placing them upon the stone floor. They were cracked from the heat. Once all the bones were out, she leaned over them and squinted.

“The fates… are talkative this evening…” she muttered.

“The fates?” Pip asked, not entirely sure what was going on.

“The fates,” Whisper pointed to the cracks in the bones. “They have much to say. I see here… that you are on a quest. One started millennia ago.”

Pip perked up. How did Whisper know about Luna’s father?

The soothsayer continued, “It would appear that you are destined to retrace the steps of the last pony to tread this nightmare-lined trail… But will you suffer the same fate? It appears that this cannot be answered at this time…” She pushed the bones around and continued to stare at them intently. “But one thing is for certain. You are needed here. Your powers… unique… and unobtainable… You must search the realm of dreams.”

Thunder Clash snorted. “You could have just said yes and saved us all of this overdramatic poppycock.”

Whisper looked up from the bones with a hate-filled gaze. “You do not believe in the word of the fates!?”

“I believe you might be senile.”

“Thunder Clash,” Pip barked. “Aren’t you normally the one that understands protocol?!”

Thunder Clash landed and hung his head. “I apologize. It wasn’t my place to speak.”

“I’m so sorry about that,” Pip said to Whisper, sheepishly rubbing at his mane. “We really didn’t mean any disrespect.”

“I know you didn’t, child,” Whisper said in a kinder tone. “The fates would have warned me of any malicious intents. No… I have seen something here. The fates are trying to tell me something that involves you and your Star Guard.” She quickly trotted over to the wall and pulled a book from one of the shelves. She returned and placed it on the table. Pip glanced at it as she slowly turned the pages.

“Long ago, the Guardian of the Night led the first ponies of this town here… He was leaving, and left us with something to protect…” Whisper flipped to a page and stopped, showing the illustrations to Pip. It was a picture of an alicorn ushering ponies into a forest. Pip gently touched the page. It looked like Luna, though the drawing was crude and worn with age.

Another fact caught Pip’s attention. “These don’t look like bat ponies.” The pictures were of earth, pegasus, and unicorn ponies.

“This was before the Curse of the Moon.”

“But the curse isn’t real,” Pip quickly stated. At least, he thought it wasn’t real…

“It doesn’t matter,” Whisper said, slamming the book shut. “What matters now is that I no longer have to protect the Guardian of the Night’s keepsake. It is yours to claim.” She trotted over and pulled a small box from the shelf. When she returned, she opened it to reveal a small, leaf-thin piece of silver. On one side was part of a drawing, and on the other was writing.

Pip turned it over in his hoof. It was small, half the size of his hoof, and practically weightless. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. But now it is yours.”

Pip placed the thin silver piece in his satchel. “Do you… know what happened to the last Guardian of the Night?”

Whisper shook her head. “I’m afraid something terrible happened, child. Something terrible…”

“But you don’t know the specifics?” Scootaloo suddenly interjected. “Like, what happened exactly?”

“I’m afraid I do not know.” The soothsayer turned and grabbed the quill. She began writing something on a blank piece of parchment.

“Wait.” Pip held up a hoof. “You said I was destined to follow the same path as the last Guardian of the Night? But you don’t know whether it’ll end the same?” Pip nervously kicked at the ground. That was… ominous. What had happened to Luna’s father? What if I need to know in order to avoid it? What am I going to do?

“Here,” Whisper muttered, pushing over the parchment. “Take this note with you to the largest building in the center of town. There you will have a place to sleep. Stay as long as you need to rid the Nightmare Forces from Hollow Shades.”

Author's Note

FAN ART HERE.

Update Forecast:
Mon/Wed/Fri

Dream Searching

Chapter 5
Dream Searching

The building in the center of town was a dilapidated halfway home for bat ponies who had ventured from the Badlands in order to live in Hollow Shades. It reeked of rotting wood and the musk of body odor. The wood floors were warped and the walls cracked. There were several rooms, as in an apartment building, but half of them were taken by other ponies.

Pip stared at the vacant room they had discovered. There were three mattresses on the floor plus a wobbly nightstand and a single dresser.

“Remember when we saved all of Equestria?” Specter sarcastically commented as a cockroach scuttled by. “Neither does anypony else, apparently.”

“I don’t think many ponies know the details of our exploits,” Equinox said, sneering at a roach. “Besides, you know Hollow Shades doesn’t have an inn.”

“Sis,” Mist said in her sing-song voice. “We could always go see mom and dad! I’m sure they would-”

Equinox turned with a hate-filled glare. Mist immediately swallowed her words and became silent. As if sensing the tension in the room, everypony else became quieted as well.

“So, uh, Pip,” Scootaloo broke the stillness as she walked around the room. “What was that thing the soothsayer gave to you?”

Pip carefully inspected one of the mattresses. “I don’t know. I’m going to have to figure that out.”

“Yeah, especially if you want to avoid being mauled to death by bears.”

“T-that didn’t actually happen!” Pip stammered. “That was just the part of the story you improvised! I’m not going to get mauled by bears!”

“But the soothsayer did say you were going to travel the same trail as the old Guardian of the Night,” Marble said with a shrug, seemingly unconcerned with the filthy environment. “And the old Guardian of the Night never came back. For whatever reason.”

“It just means I need to discover that reason,” Pip quickly stated. “And then avoid doing the same thing.”

Specter flew around the room on silent wings with a mischievous grin on his face. “Look out, mares and stallions! We’ve got another mystery on our hooves! Everypony take a chastity belt and hang on!”

“Chastity belt?” Scootaloo said with a snort and a laugh. “What’s that all about?”

“It’s just… an inside joke…” Pip lamely commented. “Just forget about it.”

Thunder Clash, prominently frowning at the environment, chimed in with, “You aren’t solvin’ a thousand year old mystery, boy. The trail is long dead. All you can do now is hope you got more wits and knowledge about you than the last guardian.”

More wits and knowledge than Luna’s father? Pip forced himself to swallow. He definitely didn’t have more wits and knowledge than him. No… if Pip wanted to defeat the Nightmare Forces without getting caught in some trap, he would need to solve this mystery long before that point.

“Um, excuse me? Are you all the Star Guard?”

Pip glanced to the door and saw a lanky bat pony standing there. The bat pony pulled in a janitor's cart, complete with mop, feather duster and broom. Even his cutie mark was a simple feather duster in the process of dusting.

“We’re the Star Guard,” Pip replied.

The cleaning pony nodded. “I was asked to make sure your quarters were acceptable. If you’ll, uh, just give me a few quick minutes… I’ll have this place clean in no time.” He very quickly and efficiently began cleaning the whole room. Sweeping, humming and dusting all at the same time, mostly with the help of his wings.

“Let’s leave him to his job,” Pip told the others, ushering them outside. There was a dirty common area in the house, perfect for them to use while they waited. “Once that bat pony is done cleaning, we’ll go into the dream world and see what we can see.”

“How will we know which dreams to enter?” Marble asked, always the pragmatic one.

Pip nervously shuffled his hooves. “I… will attempt to detect it. But until then, we should just look around the old-fashioned way. Just make sure to stay hidden. And guys, remember, we’re also acting something like ambassadors. Try and improve bat pony and day-pony relations, okay?”

The others nodded, but Pip wondered if they were truly on board with the plan. Hopefully they can handle themselves in the dreamscape…

Rumble floated from dream to dream. He glanced to the left and glanced to the right. Everywhere he went, there were bat ponies having odd dreams. None of them looked like they were in trouble, however. How was he supposed to know which dreams to stop at?

With a heavy sigh, Rumble continued forward. Pip needed time to figure out his powers, sure, but he was the most important of all. If he didn’t get his act together, they were all going to fail. All through yesterday they'd fixed up their base of operations, and now, today, they were to search through dreams and stop the Nightmare Forces. No matter how long or hard he searched, Rumble felt worthless. He hadn’t helped a single bat pony… He hadn’t found a single nightmare.

“Maybe I should just stand around in a dream,” he said aloud. “Better than doing nothing.”

Rumble walked through dreams until he came to one with a very odd feel. He was standing in the middle of Hollow Shades, looking up at the trees and fireflies, but everything was extremely organized and plain. Nothing out of place, no weirdness going on. Just… an empty town in an empty forest. Rumble squinted through the darkness, trying desperately to see the pony responsible for the dream.

“Who are you?”

“Hm?” Rumble turned and spotted a bat pony mare. She was swishing her long tail back and forth with an annoyed look on her face. She was too old to be a foal, but young enough to still have a blank flank. Her coat was nearly white and her mane a dark brown. “I’m… one of the Star Guard.”

“The Star Guard? Those day-ponies that came to town not too long ago?” She trotted up to Rumble and glared. “Everypony in town says you’re here to help us with the nightmares, but we’re just fine by ourselves, thank you very much.”

Rumble was surprised at how old the bat pony was, now that she was standing right next to him. Still a without a cutie mark but practically an adult? It was almost unheard of. Well, this is as good a place as any to try and find nightmares. “Well, I’m going to help you whether you like it or not,” he commented, glancing around the dream version of Hollow Shades. “Seen anything super scary lately? Monsters? Darkness?”

“Hmpf!” the mare said, turning her head. “I can handle anything you can handle! Perhaps you should try speaking to another bat pony.”

“Hey, I don’t want to brag, but I’m combat trained.” Kinda. Half-trained, at least.

The mare rolled her eyes. “Yeah, everypony in Hollow Shades is. Big whoop. What do you have that we don’t, huh? What exactly are you bringing to the table that we couldn’t do for ourselves?”

Rumble nervously rubbed at his mane. “Magic? Dream powers?” She laughed at him. This is going nowhere fast. “Look, how about we start over? My name is Rumble. I’m from Ponyville.”

Before she could answer, peaches suddenly began appearing all over the branches of the trees. She quickly glanced to them and began to panic. “Oh no! Mom told me I had to gather up all the fruit!” She took to the sky, gathering the peaches as quickly as possible. For every peach she grabbed, two more took its place, until the trees were practically overflowing with fruit.

Rumble stared at the phenomenon with great interest, briefly wondering how quickly fruit grew in Hollow Shades. He quickly face-hooved, however, remembering that this was all a dream. Pull yourself together, Rumble! You’re supposed to be helping! Find the nightmares here!

“Right, I’ve got powers here…” Rumble focused on the dream and attempted to alter it. Much to his surprise and delight, the trees stopped their massive spawning of fruit. Soon, the mare had caught up and gathered as many peaches as she could, throwing them into baskets on the ground. Rumble flew up into the trees as well and helped her gather the last few.

“There!” he proclaimed, throwing the last of the peaches into the basket. “Done!”

“You weren’t supposed to help,” the bat pony spat. “What if this was my cutie mark talent and you just ruined it for me?!”

Rumble forced a laugh. “Sorry! If it’s any consolation, you were really good!”

The bat pony turned to look at her flank. Still blank. She hung her head and sighed. “It’s no use… It wouldn’t have worked anyway…”

“Don’t fret. It’ll come eventually, as long as you keep trying,” Rumble said, placing a comforting hoof onto her shoulder.

She jerked away, embarrassed. “That’s what everypony says! Just keep trying,” she said in a mocking tone. “Just keep trying!”

“Well, yeah! That’s totally my motto!” Rumble held his head high. “My brother used to make fun of me all the time for having a blank flank! But then I just kept trying until, one day, bam! I had one! You gotta keep at it, no matter what!”

“Yeah, well, when have I tried enough?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes. The bat pony mare was now shaking with frustration. “When is it enough, huh?!”

“Whoa, calm down!” The dreamscape around them began to darken and crack. Rumble ducked down, confused by what was going on. He tried to alter it, but the magic that was once working no longer answered to his commands. “C-calm yourself!”

“Nopony ever has the answer! They just say… they just say… keep trying! Keep at it! One day you’ll be good! Why can’t my day be today?! Why does everypony else’s day come and not mine?!” She galloped a few steps away to hide the tears on her face.

The trees around them began to twist and snap apart, revealing hundreds of tiny red eyes staring back at them. The bat pony continued sobbing as though she couldn’t see them, but… Rumble could.

“Um, uh, what was your name again?” Rumble asked in a low voice, staring back at the unblinking eyes.

Her only response was a soft sob.

“It really isn't worth getting upset over,” Rumble went back to trying to calm her. “Everypony gets a cutie mark eventually.”

“I’m sick and tired of nopony having the answers!” the mare shouted. “I’m tired of… I’m tired of… all your stupid platitudes! You don’t even know what you’re talking about! You think you can help me?! You don’t even have an answer!”

Her rage and frustration with the situation shattered the dream world, pushing Rumble out of it, stinging his mind with the force of the withdrawal. She had woken up, and expelled him from the dreamscape along with her.

Rumble rolled over, suddenly awake. He blinked his eyes a few times and stared around the room. It reminded him of the barracks, what with all the cots the janitor had brought in. He sat up on the edge of his cot and took a deep breath.

The nightmares had been hiding right in front of him… Had they been waiting for the little mare to show weakness before making themselves known? She was awake now, and Pip said the Nightmare Forces had to convince ponies to be their host, but Rumble was still worried.

He turned to the window and stared out into the darkness. Despite it being day, the canopy above blocked out the light. Rumble scratched at his chin as he anxiously went over what happened in his head. Did I… make things worse?

Scootaloo broke through the barrier of light between dreams and yawned. She had gotten used to sleeping during the day, but now she needed to stay awake in order to walk the dreams of the bat ponies. Why does everything need to be so complicated?

Glancing around, she took note of the funny dreamscape. It looked like a battlefield, but… childishly so. It had no bodies, no blood, no actual signs of war. Just trenches on either side of a long field, with a blue flag posted in one trench and a red flag posted in the other. Scootaloo lifted an eyebrow questioningly.

“Princess! Get down! Onyx the Warlord will save you!”

Scootaloo didn’t see anypony else and was confused by the sudden declaration. Without warning, a small bat pony foal leapt from the blue-flagged trench and charged forward. He was clad in the most over-the-top armor possible, complete with asymmetrical spikes, red and black in coloration.

The foal grabbed Scootaloo by the foreleg and began pulling her back. Scootaloo played along, if only because it was a lot more interesting than some of the other dreams she had stumbled across. I’ll stay just for a little bit. Then I’ll get back to work.

“Stay here!” he said, pointing to the trench. “I have to take care of something!” He turned dramatically, a cape suddenly appearing on his armor for him to swish. From the other trench rose a bat pony completely covered in armor, to the point where Scootaloo couldn’t even see a face.

“I will destroy the world, Onyx the Warlord!” a voice from within the suit of armor shouted. “There is no power that can defeat me!”

“Pew!” Onyx shouted, punching his hoof forward at the same time. A fireball blasted forward and smashed into the armor, but once the flame cleared the armor was unscathed. “Pew! Pew!” he shouted over and over again, throwing more fireballs with each shout. Still, the armor remained unharmed.

“You are super powerful!” Onyx said with a smile.

Scootaloo was confused. Did the kid want to fail?

“But,” Onyx suddenly shouted. “You failed to realize I have a secret weapon! My trumpet card!”

“I think you mean trump card,” Scootaloo corrected from her trench.

“Er, ah, right. My trump card!” Onyx continued. “I will smite thee, fiend!” The little foal stood on his hind legs and raised his forelegs, summoning a large ball of raw magical energy. It crackled with power, gold and blue in color, ever-growing in size and intensity.

“How can this be?!” the voice from within the armor dramatically cried out. “Only unicorns and alicorns can wield magic like that!”

Onyx forced a laugh, trying hard to imitate the confidence of an adult. “It’s because I am the long lost son of Princess Luna! I was born with all her power, and even more power, but, er, I don’t need a horn because they’re ugly!”

“Noooooooo!” the villain shouted as Onyx threw the ball of energy on top of him. It happened slowly, and dramatically. It was almost slow enough for the villain to just walk away if he wanted to, but he never did.

When the orb of magical energy hit the villain, he was destroyed. No prolonged cry of pain, no graphic display of dismemberment. He was just gone. Poof. Smoke and dust were all that remained.

“Ta-da!” Onyx cried, turning around to face Scootaloo. “You have been saved, m’lady!”

Scootaloo hopped out of the trench and stomped her hooves on the ground. “Wow. That was great. You totally showed him. What a… er, epic battle.” She forced a smile.

The foal tossed off his armor, revealing his true self. He was a bat pony with a dark blue coat, just like Princess Luna, with a black patch of fur across his flank and leg… just like Princess Luna. His eyes were gold and his mane white. Besides the black patch, his flank was blank.

“Anything for a princess,” Onyx said with a bow.

“I’m not a-” Scootaloo stopped herself when she reached up her hoof and felt the alicorn horn on her forehead. Looking down, she realized she was also dressed in an extravagant gown fit for any princess. “Oh, this is not happening.” She ripped off the dress, but in its place, she altered the dream to form a complete set of battle armor. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Oh, cool!” Onyx gasped with delight, galloping over on his stubby legs. “That armor is so radical! You’re the best princess ever!”

Scootaloo slowly twirled in place, impressed with herself for having come up with such impressive gold armor on the fly. Onyx admired the armor like a foal admiring toys in a toy shop.

“Why are your wings so tiny?”

Catching her breath, Scootaloo froze in place. As fast as a bullet, the memories of her childhood, specifically moments of ridicule for being flightless, came rushing back to her. Scootaloo snapped her attention to the colt. “Listen here, kid,” she barked.

Onyx looked at her in confusion.

She turned away, suddenly ashamed with herself. Scootaloo, get your act together! It’s not his fault! What would Rainbow Dash say if she saw you yelling at some poor colt? Scootaloo turned back with a forced smile. “Listen here, kid,” she repeated in a softer tone and with a forced laugh. “I have small wings to better help me run! I’m super fast! Faster than anything you’ve ever seen before!”

“Really?” he gasped in delight. “Show me!”

“With pleasure,” she said, buzzing her wings into action. Although she knew this was a dream, and thus she was capable of nearly anything she could imagine, Scootaloo opted instead to pretend it was reality. She didn’t need dream powers to be super awesome and fast.

Running around the battlefield, Scootaloo was back within moments. She swished her mane around and held her head high. “See that? Super fast.”

“Whoa! Totally awesome! What’s your name?”

“Scootaloo,” she replied, still smug with herself.

“Pfft,” Onyx said, dismissively waving his hoof. “That’s a terrible name! You can’t be Princess Scootaloo!”

She slowly turned and glared at him. Just a kid, Scootaloo. He’s just a kid. “Oh yeah? And what do you think my name should be?”

Onyx sat down and stared into the sky. “Um… Oh, I know! Princess Speed-Demon! Yeah! Totally cool!”

Scootaloo mulled the name over in her head. That is pretty cool. “I guess it’s okay,” she said with a shrug. “Princess Speed-Demon it is.”

“All right! We need to save the rest of Hollow Shades! And then all of Equestria! Hurry, Princess Speed-Demon! To Emperor Dastardly’s hideout!” He got up and began galloping toward the horizon, not very quickly, but filled to the brim with enthusiasm.

Scootaloo stifled a laugh. Emperor Dastardly? “Er, uh, look kid… I’m actually supposed to be helping ponies right now. I’ve delayed long enough. I need to be getting back to my job.”

Onyx stopped galloping and frowned. “What’s more important than saving all of Equestria?”

“Don’t worry. This is all a dream. Equestria isn’t in danger. Er, well, that’s not true. But don’t worry about that, I’m going to take care of it. Me and the rest of the Star Guard.” Scootaloo trotted over and patted him on the head before moving past him and toward the light barrier.

“This is… all a dream…?” she heard him mutter.

Scootaloo stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah. It’s pretty awesome when you know you’re dreaming because you can just imagine all sorts of really cool things! No need to thank me for telling you. I mean-” Scootaloo stopped herself when she realized Onyx was no longer listening. He was staring at the ground, his shoulders slumped, his wings hanging limply at his side, and his eyes vacant.

“Onyx?” she asked, trotting back over to him. “You okay, kid? What’s wrong?”

The bat pony colt let out a long sigh. He slowly began dragging his hooves back to his trench. “I just thought… I thought I was finally important… I guess not.”

“Ah, don’t be like that,” Scootaloo said. “Everypony is important!”

“That’s not true.”

The vibrant colors of the surroundings began to fade, draining away into the sky and becoming a mess of dark clouds. The color faded away from Onyx as well, revealing that he didn’t look like Princess Luna at all. He instead had a muddy brown coat, with a dark muddy brown mane.

Onyx slowly collapsed to the ground, tucking his face into his forelegs. “Just leave me alone. You were just… playing the entire time. I thought I was really saving everypony…”

“I still think you’re cool,” Scootaloo said in an overly cheerful voice.

“You called me kid,” Onyx said into his foreleg. “I’m pathetic. Y-you said it yourself! You gotta leave b-because you have real things to do! Go! Leave me alone!”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to respond but the whole dream suddenly became blurry. Everything was cracking apart and shaking. There was darkness in the cracks… darkness and a foul presence that made the battlefield reek of blood and sweat.

“What the-?”

Before Scootaloo could do anything about it, the dream shattered all around her. The colt had awoken, and she'd been expelled from his dreamscape. Scootaloo suddenly found herself tossing and turning on her cot, having been ejected from the dream stalking altogether. That kid, Onyx… I hope he’s okay.

She sat up and shook her head. All but Rumble were still in the dreamscape. They were lying on their cots, twitching slightly every so often as though dreaming themselves. Rumble was sitting next to the window, staring vacantly out into Hollow Shades.

Scootaloo trotted over to his side and sat down next to him. She threw her forelegs on the windowsill and sighed. “This stuff is weird,” she stated. “I much prefer when we can just fight things, ya know?”

“I don’t think I’m very good at it,” Rumble immediately replied, also throwing his forelegs onto the windowsill. “I think I might have caused a nightmare to form in some bat pony’s dream.”

“Don’t worry,” Scootaloo shrugged. “You’ll get the hang of it. You just need to keep trying.”

Rumble slowly turned to her with a very serious look upon his face. “Hey, uh, Scootaloo… When have you tried enough?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, when have you done enough? When is enough, enough?”

Scootaloo stretched her tiny wings and rolled her eyes. “I dunno. When you get good at it. Geez. I was just trying to tell you that I’m sure you’ll be able to help ponies, because you’re a good guy.”

“Do you think being a good guy is enough?”

“Rumble,” Scootaloo snapped. “I don’t know, okay? Quit with the questions. What’s this all about anyway?”

Rumble was silent. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, “It’s nothing. I just need to think about it some more. I’m sure the answer will come to me. How are you doing? Did you purge any Nightmare Forces?”

“Who, me? I’m doing great,” she said with a laugh. “So great. I’ll be purging nightmares left and right in no time.” Scootaloo forced herself to continue laughing, fearful Rumble would think her weak for having not purged a single nightmare. “Besides,” she said with a cough, ending her incessant laughing. “I’m sure Pip has purged tons of nightmares! Princess Luna made him the captain, after all. I’m sure he has some tricks. Lots of tricks.”

“Yeah… You’re probably right…” Rumble muttered, turning his attention back to Hollow Shades. “At least, I hope you’re right.”

Vigilante

Chapter 6
Vigilante

Pip glanced around the dreamscape, anxiety gripping his mind. Why couldn’t he sense the darkness like Luna had done? What was he doing wrong? Pip could somehow sense the others in the dreamscape… like he was connected to them. He figured that it was because he was the one controlling the magic, but he didn’t know for sure.

It was then that Pip realized Scootaloo and Rumble were no longer in the dreamscape. Where had they gone? Worried about their safety, Pip concentrated and ended the magic keeping them in the dreamscape. Within moments, Pip found himself opening his eyes in the real world.

“What happened?” Equinox groaned as she sat up in her cot. “Why did we all wake up?”

Pip attempted to roll over, but, completely by accident, he rolled onto his injured shoulder and cringed in pain. After a few quick breaths through his teeth, Pip pushed himself up and nodded to everypony in the room. Rumble and Scootaloo were sitting next to the window chatting. Nothing was amiss.

“We’re calling it for today,” Pip said. “Go ahead and get some rest. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Specter stretched out on his cot and began laughing to himself. “Some dreams are pretty crazy. I totally flew into one where some mare was concerned about her teeth falling out.”

“Yeah, some are definitely crazy,” Marble said as she got off her cot and wandered over to her war hammer. “I was in a dream where a stallion was riding a roller-coaster over the ocean that went so high it entered orbit, and also there were things, ponies and places all exploding without any apparent cause.”

Everypony else in the room frowned. Equinox eventually forced a nervous laugh. “Yeah… that is pretty crazy.”

“Are you sure that wasn’t your dream, Marble?” Scootaloo sarcastically asked. “Cuz that sounds like something you would dream.”

Marble straightened her dark gray mane and shrugged. “I doubt it was mine. I never dream of such things.”

“Hey, if we get to sleep now, we’ll wake up halfway through the night!” Mist suddenly proclaimed. “Everypony in Hollow Shades will still be awake!” She excitedly began flying around the room.

Pip lifted an eyebrow as he rubbed at the injury on his shoulder. “That’s true, but that’s when we’ll be training with Thunder Clash.”

“What?” Mist asked in surprise, practically halting in midair. “But I was hoping to show you all around Hollow Shades! And the fruits! And all the bat ponies!”

“We need to finish our training as well. It’s important.”

Mist slowly landed next to Pip’s cot. “But I thought you said day-pony and bat pony relations were important! How are we going to improve those unless we chat with the locals?”

Pip sighed to himself. There was too much to do in one day. Find and destroy Nightmare Forces, train, make a good impression… all while maintaining the air of leadership and the façade of a pony who knew what he was doing, despite never having done this before… Buck up, Pip, he thought to himself. You can’t let Luna down. You told her you would be her sword. What would she say if she saw you acting this way?

Everypony was silently awaiting Pip’s verdict.

“You’re right, Mist,” he told her. “We do need to make a good impression. We’ll train after and then go back to the dreamscape.”

Mist could barely contain her joy. She tightly wrapped her forelegs around him, causing sharp agony in his shoulder, and muttered something under her breath. Pip didn’t catch what she said before she parted and began happily prancing around the room.

“Oh, I’m going to drink so much cider, you guys,” Specter said with a laugh, kicking his two back hooves up and relaxing. “It’s one of the few things I’ve missed about this place.”

“Good impressions,” Pip repeated. “We need to make good impressions. Don’t overdo anything, got it?”

Specter narrowed his eyes but begrudgingly said nothing.

Rumble slowly climbed back into his cot, which was almost too small for him, and pulled his blankets up. “I’m going to get some sleep, then…”

“You okay, Rumble?” Specter asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

“Yeah… Just need to think about stuff…”

Most everypony got up, stretched, and then curled back up into their cot, ready to finally sleep. Thunder Clash was in another room altogether, as Pip wanted him to stay separate from the dream walking. Unfortunately, Pip wished Thunder Clash was closer to them so that he could ask for advice… However, Thunder Clash wasn’t a unicorn. He didn’t have any magic. How would Thunder Clash know what to do with magic?

Pip just sat on his cot and watched as the others drifted off into sleep. He knew that he should rest as well, but his mind was too troubled. Placing the Fragment of the First Night on the floor next to his cot, Pip decided to just sit quietly and contemplate things until he felt tired. The loss of his night vision was disappointing, but he didn’t want to sleep with it on his body, for fear of having nightmares with the dark and haunting voice.

After a long stretch of time, Pip sighed and attempted to lie back down. “Ah,” Pip sucked in his breath, his shoulder now irritating him more than ever before.

“Are you okay?”

“Equinox?” Pip asked. “I’m fine. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I can’t sleep, and you look like you’re in pain.”

“I’m sure it’ll pass,” Pip said with a shrug. All wounds eventually heal, right?

Equinox quietly got off her cot and rummaged through her bag. “The forest around Hollow Shades has some interesting plants. I picked some of these leaves for myself, but you’re more than welcome to have some.”

Pip turned around and glanced to the leaves she had pulled from her bag. They were large, green and perfectly circular, like lily pads. “What are they? What do they do?”

“They numb the skin,” Equinox informed him. “You can place them under your bandages and it shouldn’t hurt as much.” She trotted over and pointed to the bandages over his shoulder. “Is that what’s hurting?”

“Yeah,” Pip muttered, gently touching it and immediately regretting the decision.

“Here. Let me take a look.”

Equinox pulled at the gauze and began removing it. Pip knew he should have changed his bandages yesterday, but he had forgotten, completely absorbed in trying to figure out his powers. Plus, it was hard to undo the gauze himself, so he was grateful for the assistance.

“Eh,” Equinox muttered once the bandages were off. “I guess it’s better than it could be…”

“Is it bad?” Pip asked, slightly concerned. “I didn’t think it would be bad.” It had been a straight puncture wound from Nightmare Moon’s horn, after all.

“It will scar, that’s for sure. Have you not seen it?”

Pip nervously craned his head to look at where his shoulder met his chest. He immediately looked away, startled by what he saw. The wound was a starburst shape from the puncture of the horn, but instead of healing neatly, the flesh looked contorted. Pip slowly turned his attention back to it. He supposed Equinox was right. It could have been worse.

She placed the circular leaves on the scarred area and applied fresh gauze and bandages. “You really should take it easy. Maybe even go back to Canterlot and rest.”

“I can’t,” Pip quickly replied. The image of a tired Luna filled his mind. No, I have to be strong. I have to be.

Equinox lifted an eyebrow. “I guess you are the captain now. Whatever you say goes.”

Pip relaxed, thankful that she wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it. “Thank you, Equinox.”

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!”

Pip struggled to move. It was difficult to open his eyes, and once he did, he couldn’t see anything. Reaching down, Pip scooped the chain with the fragment up with his hoof and threw it over his head. Once the Fragment of the First Night was touching his coat, his ability to see through the darkness returned. Everything became clear.

“What’s going on?” Pip asked with a yawn.

“You need to get up if we’re going to adventure around Hollow Shades!” Mist said, hovering above his cot. “You’ve been sleeping forever!”

In a groggy haze, Pip was pulled from his cot and led along. Nopony bothered to suit up in their armor, though Equinox threw on her cloak and Marble carried her maul. Before Pip knew it, he was standing outside the halfway house and admiring Hollow Shades. The fireflies were his favorite thing, but in his sleepy state it was hard to come to a conclusion on why that was.

“And there’s a bat pony hauling some fruits back from the orchards!” Mist excitedly shouted, pointing to a pony in the middle of heavy hauling. His cart was filled to the brim with bushels of apples. “Isn’t this exciting?!”

Scootaloo scoffed. “Really? Some bat pony hauling apples and you ask if we’re excited? My friend Applebloom lived on an apple farm. I’ve seen this stuff, like, a million times before.”

“Did you really expect Mist to know where all the good places to hang were?” Specter asked, pushing Mist to the side and taking over as the guide. “We need to go to the Queen’s Hideaway. Anypony who’s anypony hangs there.”

Thunder Clash, unimpressed and rather gloomy, turned to Specter with a frown. “Do they serve cider?”

“Do they?” Specter laughed. “The best cider in town!”

“Good,” he grunted. “Lead the way.”

“You can’t find happiness at the bottom of a glass,” Marble casually remarked.

“You think I don’t know that? Let me have my temporary relief, girlie,” Thunder Clash groaned.

“You wanna go, right, Scoots?” Specter asked sweetly.

She shrugged and half nodded. “I guess.”

“What about you, Bumble?”

Rumble was staring at the ground in front of his hooves, occasionally stretching his wings and muttering to himself.

“Hey,” Specter practically shouted. “You listening? You coming?”

“Oh? Me? Er, sure,” Rumble replied, though it was obvious he had no idea what he had agreed to.

“You got feathers for brains over there, pegasus? Don’t think too hard. You might molt.”

Rumble sheepishly rubbed at his mane. “S-sorry. I’m just… trying to think of something. I’ll be fine.”

“Follow me to the Queen’s Hideaway!” Specter said, flying ahead of the group.

Pip followed very slowly behind, looking from bat pony to bat pony. The residents of Hollow Shades were keeping their distance, and it was noticeable. Ponies weren’t coming within ten feet of the Star Guard, and most became silent the moment they spotted them.

“You should keep up,” Marble stated, drawing Pip’s attention. Mist, Equinox and Marble had stayed behind to make sure Pip was coming; he laughed to himself, appreciating their concern.

“I’ll be fine,” he informed them. “I’m just trying to get a feel for the place.”

“Do you like it here?” Mist asked, leaning forward, eager to hear the response.

Pip shrugged. “It looks nice… but I have a feeling we aren’t really welcomed here.”

“Oh! I totally know what will make you feel welcomed!” Mist jumped into the air and flew off at high speeds.

“Mist! Wait!” Equinox called out, futilely holding up a hoof.

“Annnnd she’s gone,” Marble quipped.

Equinox sighed and pulled her cloak further over her head. “I wish she wouldn’t do that.”

While the other two were staring off into the distance, Pip continued to look around. Interestingly, he spotted a fountain and park area not far from him. Curious, he trotted over and admired the sculpture. The fountain caught falling water being spouted from a statue of a dragon holding a tablet.

As Pip drew closer to the fountain, the bat ponies that were sitting there moved away with scowls on their faces. Pip nervously waved to them, but his attempt to be friendly was met with a cold response.

Still interested with the statue, Pip examined it. The tablet was a map of Equestria and some lands beyond. That’s odd. Pip squinted at the map and immediately noticed there were several differences from the maps he was used to. For one thing, the Macintosh Hills and Badlands looked like lush forests and grasslands respectively. That’s not right. I remember Macintosh Hills… it was nothing but an ocean of dead grass. When was this map made?

“You really shouldn’t go wandering off by yourself.”

Pip didn’t need to turn around to know that Marble was talking to him. “I just wanted to see this one thing.”

“That’s an odd map,” Marble quickly commented.

“That statue has been here since Hollow Shades was founded,” Equinox informed them. “I remember playing here as a foal.”

“Get outta here, Mud!” The shrill voice of a child rang through the park area.

Pip looked over his shoulder to the other two. They were glancing around, trying to find the source of the yelling.

“We don’t want to play with you!”

“Yeah! Beat it or I’ll give ya a bloody nose!”

Agitated, Pip galloped around to the other side of the fountain, and frowned when he saw a group of bat pony foals arguing not far from the fountain. They had squares drawn in the dirt, no doubt for some sort of game. All the foals were in the squares except for one. A bat pony colt with a muddy brown coat and a similarly colored mane. The foals looked too young to have cutie marks, but old enough to be school-aged.

The mud-colored colt was smaller than the rest, and Pip immediately felt some sort of empathic pain for his plight. When the colt didn’t leave, one of the larger foals jumped on him and began stamping with his hooves, easily overpowering the small foal.

Pip couldn’t help himself. He leapt into action, tossing the larger foal off the little colt. He stood over the injured bat pony and glared at the rest. “What’s your problem? That isn’t a way to treat other ponies!”

“It’s those day-ponies!” one of the foals gasped.

“Let’s get outta here before they arrest us!”

“Yeah, you can keep Onyx!”

The foals took off running. Pip watched them go with a frown. Being picked on when he was younger… it bothered him to this day. “You okay?” he asked the colt as he stepped aside.

“No!” Onyx indignantly barked. “Why did you have to do that?! Now they’re all going to make fun of me!”

“What? Why?”

“Now I look even more pathetic and… and… I want to be the one saving ponies! I don’t want to be the one being saved!” The colt brushed the tears from his eyes and began galloping off into the city.

Pip started to gallop after the colt, but Equinox jumped in the way. “What’re you doing? He’s right! Let him go!”

“What do you mean he’s right?” Pip couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Bat pony foals fight all the time. They would have respected him more if he had gotten up and fought back! You made him look like he needed to be saved.”

Marble shook her head. “We wouldn’t have to worry about committing a social faux pas if we were all dealing with inanimate objects. Sebastian doesn’t judge.”

Pip took a moment to inhale deeply. Ignoring Mable, he turned to Equinox. “So they were just, what? Play fighting?”

“No, they were actually fighting,” she admitted. “All I’m trying to tell you is that you made that colt’s situation worse by intervening.”

“I don’t see how helping somepony could make a situation worse.”

“Well, you just did it. I don’t know what else to say.”

“Maybe you’re wrong,” Pip said flatly. “Maybe he’ll grow to appreciate what I did.”

“Or, and hear me out, maybe he’ll resent you for it.”

Marble suddenly stepped between them and pointed, not even bothering to accompany her motion with words. Pip and Equinox turned to where she was pointing. Just beyond the border of town, near the thick of the trees, were three grown bat pony stallions. One was on the ground, and the other two were kicking him. Fireflies buzzed angrily around the group, as if bothered by the transgression, highlighting the scene for even an earth pony like Marble to see.

“Are they play fighting?” Marble asked.

“No,” Equinox quickly stated. “I’m pretty sure that guy is getting mugged.”

Without waiting for another word, Pip galloped into action. He was suddenly surprised by the lack of pain in his shoulder and silently thanked Equinox for the medical leaves. Marble galloped alongside him. “You aren’t worried this stallion will resent you for helping?” she asked.

“We can think about that later.” Pip couldn’t believe that bat ponies would take it as some sort of offense to be helped. That’s what he was here to do! Help the bat ponies!

Rushing into the fray, Pip jumped onto one of the attackers, and Marble lunged for the other. Pip, having some training in hoof-to-hoof combat, was able to hold his own against the bat pony, but it wasn’t for long. The bat pony suddenly shoved him away with unrivaled strength. As Pip’s back hit the ground, he realized that both the attackers had two cutie marks… one mark of a falcon and the other a pair of weights.

“Day-ponies?!” one of the muggers said in surprise.

“The Star Guard,” the other replied.

Marble hefted her war hammer and got ready to swing. “Surrender,” she said in a calm and cold voice. “Or else.”

The bat ponies jumped back, but laughed. “You can’t take us!”

As if excited that they didn’t surrender, Marble smiled to herself and swung hard with her war hammer. The bat ponies, supernaturally fast, managed to dodge just barely away from her swing. Annoyed, Marble swung again, and they dodged again, but the head of the hammer collided with one of the gigantic trees. The force of her swing smashed off a chunk of the wood, leaving a head-sized bite out of the trunk.

Both bat ponies were shaken by the wake of destruction and immediately leapt into the air. “Fly! They’re stupid earth ponies! They’ll never catch us!” Flapping their wings, they easily flew up into the branches of the trees, far from Pip or Marble’s reach.

Pip looked around for Equinox and spotted her all the way back at the fountain. She hadn’t moved. All she was doing was holding the cloak tightly around her body. Pip was about to call for her when he caught his breath. She could no longer fly. Frustrated, Pip decided to just gallop after the bat ponies regardless of the fact that he couldn’t fly.

He took off into the trees, leaving Marble behind as she helped the injured bat pony to his hooves. Pip wasn’t as fast as Scootaloo, but he did have the advantage of being able to see in the dark. Something the two bat ponies didn’t know…

They flew high into the branches and quietly landed, hoping to hide from Pip and escape. Pip played along, running past them, but stealthily turning around beyond the trunk of a tree and attempting to follow them.

The two muggers quietly laughed to themselves as they slowly flew off, trying to remain hidden in the darkness. Pip kept his eyes on them and followed, avoiding sticks and old leaves. Before Pip could find out where they were going, however, another bat pony suddenly flew out of the darkness and charged them.

Who is that? Pip thought as he watched the bat pony ram into one of the muggers and unceremoniously smash him into the nearest tree trunk. Knocked out cold, the mugger hit a few tree branches on the way down to the ground. The other mugger yelled something, but was attacked mid-sentence.

Like a professional fighter brawling with a prepubescent child, it was a one-sided beat down.

With both muggers unconscious, the lone bat pony took the stolen possessions and flew off toward town. Pip ran after him, trying to get a better look at the bat pony who had just helped him out. As they neared Hollow Shades, Pip finally got a good look. He froze, and the bat pony continued flying, never knowing that Pip had been there.

Pip could hardly believe it. The bat pony had been half wrapped in bandages, and the rest of him was covered in contorted, irregular scars, just like Equinox. She had gotten those scars by using alicorn magic after drinking Celestia’s blood. There was only one other pony with scars like that… the bat pony who had taken the blood of Nightmare Moon.

Phantom Shade.

The Queen's Hideaway

Chapter 7
The Queen's Hideaway

“Marble! Marble!” Pip shouted as he rushed back to the other earth pony. “I saw the craziest thing and-” He stopped himself as he came to a halt by the tree she'd smashed. The chunk missing from the trunk was a testament to her destructive ability. “Geez, Marble. You need to take it easy.”

She shrugged. “I did it on purpose. Did you catch them?”

“Oh, no, but there was this one bat pony who flew by and knocked them both out. He took all the stolen goods and-” Pip stopped himself again, realizing Equinox was no longer in the park area. “What happened to Equinox?”

“She went back to the base.”

“Why?” Pip asked.

Marble lifted an eyebrow. “Really? You want to know why? She clearly doesn’t want to be recognized. After Mist flew off, I think she’s afraid everypony will know she’s here.”

“I-” Pip started, but stopped. He was having a hard time organizing his thoughts. He knew Equinox had been acting strange, but he hadn’t been expecting this. “Er… What I meant to tell you was that I think the pony that stopped them was Phantom Shade!”

“The old captain of the Night Guard?” Marble thought about that information for a bit. She shrugged, and in a bored tone replied, “I never bothered to ask what became of him. I guess I just assumed he died.”

“He had noticeable scars. They looked just like Equinox’s. I really want to talk to him. Did you see him fly by?”

“No.” Marble looked up at the cloud of fireflies hovering over them. They danced and swirled, almost as if they were happy. “Are those two muggers still out there?”

“Um, yeah. I guess. Phantom Shade left them.”

“I’m going to go bring them in.” Marble turned to start walking through the woods, the fireflies following after her like a swarm of gnats to a light. Pip watched her go, and only then realized that none of the fireflies had stayed behind with him. Weird.

Pip glanced around. He didn’t see anypony else from the Star Guard, but he knew where they had all gone. Galloping through the streets, he stopped once he caught a glimpse of two bat ponies. “Hello,” he called out to them. “Do you know where the Queen’s Hideaway is?”

The two bat pony mares flew off, giving him odd looks as they went. Pip sighed, but immediately perked up when he saw an armored bat pony leaning against a nearby tree. Maybe he’s with the city guard! He’ll tell me what I need to know!

Pip trotted over. “Hello, sir? Do you know where I can find a certain pub? It’s called the Queen’s Hideaway.”

The bat pony guard did a double take when he saw Pip. After the weird stare, he answered, “You wanted the Queen’s Hideaway? Since you can’t fly, you’ll have to enter through one of the ground buildings, take a ladder and walk along the bridges. Start right over there. You’ll get to it soon enough if you head in that direction.” The guard motioned with his head.

“Thanks,” Pip muttered as he trotted off. I guess not many bat ponies have seen a pinto stallion before...

The outside of the Queen’s Hideaway revealed everything Pip needed to know about the establishment. It was a circular building built around a huge trunk of a giant tree. There was a walkway and awning all around, but the most telling features were the patrons and atmosphere.

There were tons of bat ponies here, all of them drinking heavily and joking with each other. Most were carrying weapons, and as Pip passed, they gave him long silent stares. Bats, actual bats, were flying around and chirp-screeching at the bat ponies enjoying their drinks. Could bat ponies speak to bats? Pip had never heard anything like that… Maybe?

Pip entered the establishment and slowly looked around. The trunk of the tree had been hollowed out slightly to allow for a central bar. Pip could see through to the other side if he glanced past the two bartenders. There were tables set up everywhere; the kind of tables meant for cards and dice. On the edge of the building were booths, but the most fascinating thing were the fireflies buzzing around the inside, flying in and out through the windows.

As he took a few steps in, Pip heard the soft beat of music begin to play. On the other side of the bar was a bat pony band. It didn’t take him long to find the others… they were the only non-bat ponies here, and the tables around them were sparsely populated.

Thunder Clash was sitting at the bar, while the others were all seated around a single table. Pip approached Thunder Clash first, noting his empty glass of cider. “Everything okay?” Pip asked, barely able to hear over the music with his one good ear.

“As good as it’s going to get,” Thunder Clash grumbled.

The same janitor bat pony that had cleaned their rooms suddenly appeared next to Pip. He was wiping down the bar and smiling as he did so. Pip could already see other ponies spilling their drinks further down the bar. Cleaning the counter in record time, the bat pony with the feather duster cutie mark nodded to them before moving on.

“What a sorry existence,” Thunder Clash muttered into his empty glass. “Could you imagine if the ancient magics gave you a cutie mark like that? I might never show my face again if that happened.”

“We can’t all be soldiers,” Pip said, slightly irritated that Thunder Clash would be so judgmental. “Maybe he likes cleaning.”

Pip watched the bat pony continue straightening the bar as he went. The bats flew around, helping him pick up random knickknacks, as if they were employees of the bar.

“Squeaks! There you are!”

Mist flew over to him with an elated smile.

“I’ve been waiting for you!” she said. “Look! I even saved us a seat!” Mist pointed to a small booth by the wall. A group of fireflies were floating over it.

Crash!

One of the tables in the bar had suddenly been flipped over by a disgruntled bat pony arguing about cheaters. Pip flinched at the noise and stared at the commotion, worried that it could escalate.

“What’re you waiting for? C’mon! Sit down, before somepony takes our spot!”

Pip kept an eye on the angry and yelling bat pony that had flipped the table, but not many patrons seemed to care. Pip sat down at the booth, and Mist scooted over to him with a small smile she was barely containing. Flung over her shoulder was a small pack. She placed it on the table in front of them. Besides the fireflies, the only light was a half-burned candle, but it didn’t matter for Pip.

Rumble, Scootaloo and Specter were all playing pirate's dice. Specter stopped his rolling, however, and turned to the fighting. “Hey! If you want a game where there’s no cheating, you should come take a seat over here! You ain’t never seen ponies as bad at this game as pegasi!”

“Hey!” Scootaloo barked. “I’m plenty good!

“You gonna prove it to the other bat ponies, Scoots?”

“I’ll prove it to everypony here!”

Mist inched even closer, lightly touching Pip’s side. His attention was pulled back to her and her smiling face. Folding her leathery wings close to her sides, Mist said, “I think we’re lucky tonight, Squeaks. Just look at this romantic atmosphere!”

Pip slowly glanced back to the room. There was a flipped table, cider all over the floor, grumbling patrons, loud music, ponies shouting… and the whole place smelled as though everypony could stand to take a shower. No, two showers. “Romantic?” Pip honestly asked.

“We have a clean table,” Mist began, happily pointing. “And half an entire candle! Oh, and the music is low and inviting! I can actually hear you! And only one table flipped and no brawls? That’s almost unheard of for this place! It’s like everything is coming together, ya know? Just for us.”

Pip nervously laughed. “Well… I guess that’s one way to look at it.” Since he was made Captain of the Star Guard, Pip had barely had time to fit everything together. He knew Mist was trying to court him on some level, but he was bad at this sort of thing… and his inadequacies were only made clear to him when he realized he hadn’t made any effort to acknowledge her advances. What was his problem? At least the bar is set so very, very low, Pip thought as he examined what Mist considered romantic.

“Oh! Remember how I said I was going to make you feel welcome in Hollow Shades? I bet you didn’t know this, but most bat pony foals get their toys from the same shop here! That shop sells these little plushies! Everypony had one when I was growing up. Look at them!” She dumped out her pack onto the table, revealing a small collection of plushie dolls. What surprised Pip the most was that they were of earth, pegasus, and unicorn ponies. Some were bat ponies, but most of them were not.

Pip rummaged through them and stopped when he spotted a pinto earth pony plushie.

Mist continued, “We would all play games and guess, if we were to turn into a day-pony, what kind we’d be! We would rank them on how cool or mystical they were. Lots of bat pony foals want to know more about day-ponies!”

Pulling the pinto plushie to the side, Pip dwelled on what Mist was saying. He knew the old saying. The grass was always greener on the other side. Did the bat ponies here have some sort of weird fascination with day-ponies? What was keeping these two communities apart? Daylight.

“Do you like that one?” Mist asked, pointing to the plushie. “That was Equinox’s. She would carry it with her everywhere. Even after mom told her she was too old to play with it, Equinox refused to sleep without it. She loved that thing!”

Pip remained silent. His time in the nightmare realm came rushing back to him. Equinox’s father, unbeknownst to Mist, was a pinto stallion. Had she kept this as some sort of token, holding it and longing to see her real father? How sad was it that nopony knew, except her mother, who told her she was too old to play with it anymore?

Thinking of the nightmare world reminded Pip of Thunder Clash, still sitting at the bar. In his nightmare he had been trapped in a memory of other dying soldiers. Had it been an old memory? Was that why he was so morose lately? Why he quit his old position and had become so depressed? Was he still reliving that terrible memory every night in his dreams?

“Squeaks? You okay?” Mist asked, tilting her head from side to side.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Sorry, just thinking.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Pip saw Specter jump up from his seat. “There’s my girl! Marble! Get over here!”

Marble had walked in and stopped to straighten her long mane. Looking around the room with a bored expression, she eventually turned toward Specter, who was now waving her down.

“If you thought pegasi were bad at this game, you should see Marble!” Specter said, nudging some of the bat ponies that had joined their game.

“What’re you talking about?” Scootaloo balked. “Marble never los- arg!” Specter jabbed her hard in the side.

“You trying to shark us?” one bat pony suddenly snapped. “You think you’re slick enough for that, boy?”

“He can’t shark us,” another bat pony chimed in with a grunt and a laugh. “She’s just an earth pony! I don’t care what this kid thinks; no earth pony is a ringer!”

Scootaloo slammed a hoof down on the table with a fierce look in her eyes. “Oh, you don’t know Marble! She’ll beat every single one of you losers! She’s amazing at this kind of stuff! Freakishly amazing!”

Scootaloo’s loud boasts got everypony’s attention. A crowd of bat pony patrons were now gathering around the table as Marble slowly trotted over. Even Thunder Clash turned slightly in his seat to get a better look.

Pip could hardly believe how much Scootaloo was talking Marble up. He had almost concluded that they hated each other.

“So, uh, Squeaks,” Mist awkwardly muttered, tapping her hooves together. “Why don’t you tell me something about your childhood?”

Pip mentally chastised himself for being so fascinated by the gambling. Mist was obviously excited to be talking to him during this moment of downtime. “Um, my childhood, eh? Well, what do you want to know?”

“What’s the earliest memory you can remember?” she asked gleefully, placing her forelegs on the table and resting her cheeks on her hooves.

“Um… Earliest memory, let’s see… I remember wanting a real Red Rider sword for my birthday once, but my mum said I’d put my eye out. Needless to say, I didn’t get one.”

Mist quickly covered her mouth with her hooves and snickered. Ke ke ke!

“What’s so funny?” Pip nervously asked.

“Did you just say mum?”

Pip flushed slightly and rubbed at his mane. “Er, yeah. I had a pretty noticeable accent when I first moved to Ponyville. It mostly went away, but sometimes I just slip back into it.”

She leaned forward, her amber eyes alight with excitement. “Can you speak with your accent on command?”

“Er, sure?”

“I. Love. Accents. You must speak with one right now.”

Slam!

Pip and Mist turned to the burly bat pony that had suddenly slammed his hoof down on their table. “Hey,” he grunted. “Aren’t you ponies with the Star Guard?”

“We are,” Pip said, confused.

“Soothsayer says we’ll be overrun by dark creatures if you don’t do your job,” the bat pony continued, narrowing his eyes. He was wearing leather armor and carrying a weapon, most of which was obscuring his black coat and gray mane.

“That’s right,” Mist happily replied, seemingly oblivious to the bat pony’s rude and disgruntled tone.

“Then what’re you doin’ here? What’re you doin’ playin’ with dolls when all our lives are on the line?” The bat pony turned his attention to the plushies on the table.

Pip hastily scooped the plushies up and shoved them back into Mist’s bag. “Well, er, this isn’t what it looks like. They were, uh, just an… example of culture, or, something.” Pip floundered with the words, barely able to put sentences together without sounding insane.

“I don’t care why you have them! The only why I care about is why aren’t you doing your job?! Why are you sitting here when you should be stopping monsters?!” The bat pony slammed the table out of the way, but Mist quickly grabbed her bag before it went with the table. Other patrons in the bar began nodding and muttering words of agreement.

“What’s going on here?” Thunder Clash asked, flying over to the group.

The music stopped. Everypony turned to see what the commotion was about.

“You day-ponies aren’t even trying, are you? Is this all some game? We were told ponies could be turning into nightmare things at any moment!” The angry bat pony turned to the others in the bar. “Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah!” a pony shouted in response.

“They just don’t care what happens to us!” another pony piped up.

“W-wait!” Pip tried to calm them by holding up a hoof. “We can’t just do it whenever we want! There are-”

The bat pony scoffed, cutting Pip off. “You got rules about when and how you can fight monsters? What kind of stupidity is this?”

“We don’t tell you how to do your job,” Thunder Clash interjected, landing right next to the bat pony and stepping up into his personal space with a glare. “I wouldn’t expect you to tell us how to do ours!”

Pip jumped from his seat and tried to come between the two other stallions. Was Thunder Clash trying to start a fight?! That wasn’t like him at all! Wasn’t he the one that said a true master of war never had to fight?

“Wait!” Pip shouted. “The nightmares- er, I mean the monsters, they’re nightmares! In nightmares! In dreams being nightmares, actually!” In his rush to get words out before anything escalated, Pip found it hard to fully explain the concept of only being able to fight the monsters while the bat ponies slept. If the bat ponies weren’t sleeping, they couldn’t do much…

“Ya know what I think?” the bat pony asked rhetorically, his words laced with venom. “I think you aren’t trying because you want Princess Luna to be banished to the moon again! So that the day princess is the only princess left! Admit it! You blame Princess Luna for all these troubles!”

Pip was practically flabbergasted by the statements. There could be nothing further from the truth!

“I love Luna,” Pip stated, but almost immediately regretted it as he realized that could be taken out of context. “As her loyal subject,” he hastily tacked on. “What I’m trying to say is-”

“You’re not her loyal subject!” the bat pony barked. “You just serve your sun-raising princess and her disgusting rainbow mane! You don’t even want Princess Luna around!”

Thunder Clash pushed the other bat pony, practically seething with anger. “What did you say about Princess Celestia?! She was the one that helped you while Princess Luna was banished to the moon! You’d be lost without Celestia!”

“Princess Celestia did nothing for us!” The bat pony charged, hitting Thunder Clash and coming to a standstill with the old pegasus warrior.

Specter, Rumble, Scootaloo and Marble jumped up to stop the two from fighting, but other nearby bat ponies jumped to get involved, obviously agitated by the conversation that had transpired. As if triggering something within the bar, the other patrons, some too far away to even hear what was being said, began fighting with each other. Flipping tables, bucking, throwing things… It was an all-out brawl.

A bat pony dove for Pip, but he quickly turned and bucked his attacker, slamming solidly into his chest. Winded, the bat pony crashed to the floor.

Mist suddenly bucked the tipped-over table and shoved it into a bat pony standing behind Pip. He nodded to her and turned to see Thunder Clash and the instigator still wrestling with each other. Pip dashed toward them and, when the two split apart briefly, slammed into the side of the bat pony, sending them both tumbling.

The bat pony was faster, jumping onto Pip before he could even stand. Surprisingly to Pip, the bat pony did not pull his weapon, but instead struck Pip in the muzzle with his hoof. Pip, on his back, bucked upward into his attacker’s stomach and launched him into a nearby chair, shattering it.

Scootaloo suddenly ran and collided with two other bat ponies, sending them both flying. Rumble, on the other hoof, was merely pinning a few ponies beneath him, preventing them from attacking. As Pip got up, he realized more and more that some bat ponies were fighting just to fight. They didn’t have any rhyme or reason when picking their targets.

“We’re leaving!” he commanded the others. He couldn’t believe they were fighting in the first place! What was going on? Fighting wasn’t even solving anything here; it felt more like pent up aggressions being released for no good reason.

Marble led the way out, easily knocking other ponies aside until she made it to the front door. Scootaloo hopped from table to table, easily sidestepping conflict, whereas Pip had to follow in Marble’s wake. The other ponies flew out and gathered on one of the bridges between buildings. The brawl continued unabated inside.

Pip turned to Thunder Clash, still dumbfounded that the older soldier was acting so strange. “Why did you-”

“What was that?” Specter indignantly asked Pip, unconcerned with Thunder Clash. “I thought you wanted us to make a good impression?”

“I-” Pip began.

Specter flew around the bridge and cut Pip off with, “I know bat ponies! I’m so bat pony I’m practically two bat ponies! Did you see what I was doing? Before you knew it, all of Hollow Shades would have been talking about us!”

Rumble pointed to the Queen’s Hideaway with a lifted eyebrow. “Should we be concerned? What if somepony gets hurt?”

Crash!

“Do you guys hear yourselves?” Specter asked, more frustrated than Pip had ever seen him. “What if somepony gets hurt?” Specter mocked in a sad and sniveling voice. “That’s wussy day-pony talk! You gotta be tough if you’re staying here! Tough!”

Two bat pony mares flew down to the entrance of the Queen’s Hideaway. They glanced inside, and one rolled her eyes. “Typical Monday. Wanna go see what they’re doing at the Fruit Lounge?” The other mare nodded, and they both flew off.

The bats from the bar were flying around, gathering up bits of wood and debris from the fighting. Like little worker elves, they either began piecing things back together or piling up unsalvageable material.

“This place is way different from Ponyville,” Rumble quickly commented. “Of course, I guess we do a lot of weird things, too…”

“Rainbow Dash once picked her pet by making them fly through a deadly nest of Quarray Eels,” Scootaloo nodded. “Maybe all ponies are a little weird, huh? We’ve got more in common than I thought.”

“Or what about that one time Twilight made everypony fall in love with her doll, causing a riot?”

“Oh! Oh! Or like the time ponies were dressing up as the same superhero and running around town?”

“Or that downhill road we built that just dead-ends at a cliff!”

“Enough!” somepony shouted. They all turned and were surprised to see Phantom Shade landing on the bridge with them, disgust written all over his face. “What is the meaning of this?! Why are you all here?!” The old Night Guard captain, without his armor on but wrapped in gauze and bandages, was tall and regal, despite the terrible scars. He had a dark gray coat, his mane was black, and his bright gold eyes matched his cutie mark; a single gold eye with a slit-pupil.

The others were shocked to see the old captain and didn’t speak up. Pip, on the other hoof, stepped forward, glad to see him. “Phantom Shade! I knew it was you! I can’t believe you’re okay!” It was then that Pip realized his shoulder wasn’t even bothering him that much. What were those leaves that Equinox had given him?

“Why are you here?” Phantom Shade angrily repeated. “Why do you always have a problem with answering simple questions?”

“We’re part of the Star Guard now!” Mist uncharacteristically interjected, taking a step closer to Pip. “We’re here to vanquish the Nightmare Forces!”

“Tsk,” Phantom Shade said, taken aback. “They gave that task to you? I refuse to believe it.”

“What? You think we can’t do it?!” Scootaloo unfurled her tiny wings and stepped closer. “Princess Luna believes in us! We can do it!”

“Princess Luna isn’t immune to poor decisions,” Phantom Shade hissed.

“Wait!” Pip jumped in front of the others. He'd wanted to speak to Phantom Shade since the moment he'd realized that the bat pony was here. He had been the only other pony in the nightmare realm to free himself. He understood the oblivion and darkness… he had been a captain of the guard, for Celestia’s sake! “Phantom Shade, please hear me out! Let me tell you everything that's happened! Let me take you into the dreamscape tomorrow during the day and show you what’s happening!”

The bat pony glared at him but said nothing as he contemplated Pip’s statements. “Take me into the dreamscape?” he asked.

Pip nodded. “I could use your help.”

Vanquished

Chapter 8
Vanquished

Rumble trotted through the surreal atmosphere of the dreamscape. Despite not having a map, or even knowing where he was going, he could somehow tell which lights belonged to which ponies he had visited. Tonight he wanted to revisit the mare he had seen before.

Sailing through the dreamscape, Rumble broke through the barrier of her dream and entered it, happy to see it wasn’t as nightmarish as when he left it. The dream was now centered on the blue glowing river of Hollow Shades. The mare that Rumble had seen before was standing by the water, light reflecting off the ripples and casting odd moving shadows over her.

Her off-white coat was still plain and blank… no cutie mark to be seen. Sitting across from her, on the other side of the river, was a beautiful, sparkling snowy owl. Its giant black eyes were fixated on the mare, and it spoke with a warm and inviting voice.

“Knowledge is a valuable tool. Those who have it are at an advantage in all of life, not just academia.”

The mare vigorously nodded. “Yes, I agree! I want to know more! But… but I’m not sure what I’m doing… Shouldn’t my cutie mark tell me? Isn’t that my destiny? When will I get it? Why does nopony tell me straight? Why don’t they have answers?”

The owl shifted on the rock on which it was perched. “Ponies, like all creatures, are afraid of not having the answers. They often make things up, jump to conclusions, or fool themselves into thinking they have a clear grasp of reality. They lie to comfort you, because it’s easier than thinking about it themselves.”

Frustrated, the mare glowered at the river in front of her. “I knew they didn’t have any answers…” she muttered to herself. “They never do.”

“They have nothing but platitudes and assumptions,” the owl agreed. “But I know much more than they could ever hope to fathom. I have come to help you, child. I have come to give you all the answers you need.”

“R-really?” the bat pony mare asked, her head snapping up with a look of surprise. “You know when, or how, I can get my cutie mark? How I can get all the answers?”

“Wait!” Rumble interjected, flying over. He opened his mouth to say her name, but he still didn’t know it. “Just, er, wait a moment!”

“You again,” she gasped. “What’re you doing here?”

Rumble landed next to her and glared across the river at the owl perched on the rock. “I came to help you. I’m a part of the Star Guard, remember? It’s my job to help you.”

The mare narrowed her eyes and turned her head with a hmpf! “I already asked you, and you had no idea what I was talking about! You didn’t have any answers, just like all the ponies before you!”

“But I’ve been thinking about it. I think I have an answer,” Rumble said, attempting to pull her attention away from the owl. He got a sinister feeling from the animal and suspected it might be the Nightmare Forces in disguise…

“Child,” the owl spoke, flying up and eating a firefly as it crossed the river toward the mare. “No need to listen to this pegasus. His whole life he has been relegated to the physical because of his less than stellar intellect. He values strength and speed over wit and perception. Whatever bits of wisdom he gives you are no better than that of a fortune cookie.”

“This isn’t a game,” the mare snapped at Rumble, trotting away from him. “I need somepony who knows things to give me the answers, okay? Leave me alone.”

The dream, again, began to warp and twist. The blue water of the river became a hue of red, the trees looked like they were collapsing under their own weight, and the fireflies began to desert them. Rumble felt like the whole place was closing in on him.

“But I want to help you!” Rumble pleaded. “I want you to get all the answers! Even if… even if I was never good in school, that doesn’t mean I can’t help!”

The owl, still as beautiful and lustrous as ever, circled over the mare and laughed. “He knows nothing, child. Anything he has to offer you is most likely just parroted from somepony else much more knowledgeable. Trust me. Sleep here, child, and I will give you all my knowledge. I will help you see everything that the ponies keep from you.”

Rumble trotted over to the mare and shook his head. “Give me a chance! Let me help you! I swear, I thought long and hard about your question! It was the only thing I dwelled on because… because I wanted to know the answer too!”

Her expression softened. With a swish of her tail, she turned to face him. “Then… tell me, pegasus… When am I going to get my cutie mark? When can I stop trying and join the other ponies who know their destiny? When is enough, enough? Tell me. I want to stop thinking about my cutie mark and move on to my true calling in life.”

Rumble took a deep breath. He was afraid of sharing his answer. What if she didn’t like it? What if it upset her further? Should he try and make it sound nicer? Better than it really was? Would that be helpful? Rumble sighed to himself. No, I should tell her like it is. She’s practically an adult. No need to hide my answer.

“The answer is…” he began nervously. “You can never stop trying. Enough… there is no such thing.”

“See, child?” the owl darkly laughed. “He has no answers for you!”

The mare continued to stare at him, right into his eyes. Rumble swallowed and continued. “Once you get your cutie mark, it’s only the beginning. Although the mark will make you good, you’ll still need to master your craft. You’ll have to compete with others, or try and present your talent in a new way. And… and your mark doesn’t define you completely. You may join a singing group, or have another hobby… You have to try then, too. And, if you ever stop… you’ll fall behind. You’ll lose it. All your effort will be for nothing. That’s why you can never stop trying. There is no such thing as enough, not if you want to matter. Not if you want to be the best.”

The silence between them stretched on. Rumble looked at her in concern, hoping he hadn’t upset her. He wanted to give her a solid answer. He wanted to tell her that she only needed a few more weeks of trying and then everything would be set, but… Rumble knew that wasn’t true. He had tried forever to be as fast as his brother, but it wasn’t like his brother was a static goal to achieve; his brother was always trying as well. So it was with everything. Only those that kept trying made it to their goal, and even then, they didn’t get much rest before they had to continue on.

The bat pony mare looked away, her eyes unseeing as she stared off into the distance. “I was afraid that was the answer,” she whispered.

“But it’s not the answer!” the owl hissed. “I have the power to give you a mark, child! I can give it to you now! All the answers to anything you could ever ask! Join me! Know what I know! You can never know as much without me!”

“I-it’s so daunting… I was afraid this was the answer, so I thought… I thought I would just push it off on others. Make them tell me, and hope they had some other answer…” She looked up at Rumble and frowned. The dream was becoming more nightmarish with each passing second, but Rumble held his place. He wasn’t about to leave her.

“It’s daunting thinking about all the thousands of ponies I have yet to help,” Rumble earnestly chuckled. “But that’s not what I do. I just have to help one pony at a time, and keep moving forward. Someday, I’ll have helped them all, but today isn’t that day.”

The mare rubbed at her eyes and smiled. The owl was losing its luster and sparkle. It flew around them, angry and growling.

“Aren’t you afraid of the unknown? You’ll never have enough energy or time to learn it all! Never!”

Before Rumble could reply, the owl began to shift and morph. There were sickening sounds of bones cracking and flesh ripping as the owl grew in size. It was a black, skinless dragon-like creature with the feathers of its owl form in small patches all over its body. The head of the owl form was perched on its left shoulder as a second reptilian head sprouted forth.

The hulking monster was now standing a pony over Rumble in height. The mare backed up and trembled. “W-what is that?”

“Look out!” Rumble shouted as he pushed the mare out of the path of the owl-dragon’s swipe. Its claws were long and jagged, and when they collided with the trees, they exploded outward. The eyes of the beast emerged like ice cubes rising to the surface of a drink. They spun in place and then locked onto the mare. They were red and glowing with an unparalleled hate.

“What a-are we going to do?” the mare stammered, horrified by the nightmarish creature in front of her.

“Stay behind me,” Rumble said as he gently pushed her back. “I’m with the Star Guard, remember? I’ll take care of this. You needn’t worry.” Even though Rumble could feel his legs slightly shaking, his voice held an air of confidence that surprised him. However, it achieved Rumble’s desired result; the mare was obviously less afraid than she was before.

Rumble turned his attention back to the monster. Although he could no longer alter the dream, his being was just like it was when he was in the waking world. He was strong, and with his strength, he gained confidence. Leaping into the air, Rumble flew at the monster and collided with its head.

Stomping down, Rumble could hear the crack of bone. The creature was so weak… When it swiped at him, he flew back and charged again, slamming into its chest. The chest caved in, the ribs puncturing the insides. The monster turned its head and bit Rumble on the wing, tearing flesh and feathers.

Rumble hit the ground and rolled, managing to stand before the monster could attack again. Certain the beast was on its last legs, Rumble rushed and jumped, stamping his hooves into the already weakened chest. The feeling of his hooves breaking the skin and sinking into the owl-dragon sent a shiver down his spine, but the sensation was fleeting, and he jumped away as the creature fell to the ground.

Backing away from the feathers and scales, Rumble watched as the owl-dragon's body began to melt and turn to smoke. The red hue of the river became blue once more and the suffocating pressure of the dream let up. He and the mare were safe, and the nightmares at bay.

“You did it,” the mare breathed in relief. “You really are with the Star Guard.” She galloped to him and wrapped her forelegs around his neck. Rumble gently patted her on the back and laughed in relief. He couldn’t believe it! He had been successful! For a moment there… Rumble shook his head. No, it’s just like Pip said. The Nightmare Forces feed on fear, hate, bitterness… When she wasn’t as afraid, the monster lost most of its power.

She parted from Rumble and rubbed the last of her tears away. “Thank you so much, Rumble.”

“You remember my name?” he asked with a smile.

“And I’ll never forget it.”

Rumble blushed. “I don’t think I ever got your name.”

“My mother wanted me to grow up to be something great… so she named me Starlight Apogee. I thought that meant I needed to find my cutie mark in order to start studying what it was that was my destiny…” She laughed and smiled. “But I realize now I was never interested in one thing. I wanted to know everything… and finding the answers are half the fun. Thank you, Rumble. Thank you for helping me.”

Rumble took a step back and pointed at her flank. “I think you found your destiny.”

A mark had appeared on her off-white coat. It was the picture of an open book with one page written and a quill poised over the other, ready to write. Starlight Apogee turned to look at it, and began tearing up once more, but this time out of joy.

“Well, you’ll be safe now,” Rumble told her. “And I need to be getting to other ponies.”

“You’re going to help everypony? By fighting the darkness?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Is… is there anything I can do to help?”

“Maybe spread the word about the Star Guard,” Rumble nervously laughed. “I don’t think many bat ponies like us very much.”

“Of course! I’ll tell everypony I know about you!”

Rumble nodded to her and flew off to the edge of the dream. While he flew he realized his wing hurt, even in the dream. It confused him for a moment, but Rumble pushed it from his mind. Tonight was a night to celebrate.

One pony down, hundreds to go. One pony at a time, Rumble. One pony at a time.

“Kid? Kid, where are you?”

Scootaloo glanced around the dreamscape. She had originally planned to avoid coming here, but what had transpired haunted her thoughts. The kid had seemed so upset… She didn’t like upsetting foals. Where is Onyx? He should be here…

“You want to be a hero, don’t you?”

“Yes! Of course! I do!”

The second voice… Scootaloo recognized it immediately as Onyx’s. She ran through the dream toward the voice, hoping everything was okay. She was running through a landscape of hills and long swaying grass. In the far distance was a classic stone castle. The sky was beautiful, a picture-perfect display of stars.

Reaching the top of a hill, Scootaloo was surprised to see Onyx sitting in front of a male alicorn. He looked like a gender-swapped bat pony Celestia; white, beautiful rainbow mane, a long horn and leathery black wings. He was clad in gold armor, smiling down at the foal with fanged teeth.

“Do you know what all heroes have in common?” the bat pony alicorn asked. “They have the power necessary to defeat their foes.”

Onyx smiled and leaned in closer. “Really? That’s what I want! I want to be taken seriously! I want to be remembered and… and I don’t want to be made fun of anymore!”

“Well, you’ll always be made fun of,” the alicorn said with a hint of pity mixed with contempt.

“W-what?” Onyx asked, stunned.

“Just look at you,” the alicorn motioned to his mud colored coat and small stature. “That isn’t the body of anypony worth remembering. Don’t you understand, child? Ponies want their heroes to be, and look, a certain way. You’re nothing.”

“You’re nothing!” Scootaloo interjected as she ran across the hill. As the alicorn turned to respond, Scootaloo didn’t slow. She rushed him and slammed his smug, perfect face with her hoof. The alicorn was rocked back, obviously not expecting such a rash action.

“Don’t listen to this piece of trash!” Scootaloo shouted over her shoulder to Onyx. “It’s just a nightmare!”

“What’re you doing?” Onyx shouted back. “That’s Prince Supernova! He’s a good guy!” The colt ran to the alicorn’s side and fussed over his injury. Scootaloo could hardly believe her ears.

“That’s no prince! It’s a disgusting monster in disguise! Get away from it!”

The alicorn rubbed at his muzzle. “Do good guys usually strike an unsuspecting opponent?”

Scootaloo galloped over and pushed Onyx back, furious this creature would even try to school her in proper battlefield honor and etiquette. “You’re lying scum,” she hissed. “I heard what you said! Trying to tell some kid he was nothing! You’re sick!”

“I don’t need to lie,” the alicorn said, lifting an eyebrow. “Don’t heroes always preach the truth? You should know the bat pony behind you has done nothing worthy of recognition. He is, in fact, a nobody. Completely lacking in accomplishments and- Argh!”

Scootaloo had bucked him in the gut mid-sentence, sending him to the ground. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to you pontificate! You’re wrong! He’s just a kid! Kids don’t need accomplishments to their name! They got potential, bub!”

“Stop it, stop it!” Onyx ran over to the body of the alicorn and knelt beside it. “I’m so sorry… You’re right… I know you’re right.”

“What’re you talking about, Onyx? Are you just going to let him say those terrible things about you?”

Onyx turned to her with a frown. “I thought you were a princess! You’re acting more like Emperor Dastardly! Didn’t you hear Prince Supernova? I don’t have anything that sets me apart from everypony else… It’s true! He’s telling the truth!”

“You’re a kid,” Scootaloo repeated.

“Stop it!” Onyx barked back. “Stop calling me kid! I don’t want to be just the kid! I want to be somepony!” His lip quavered, betraying his true feelings.

“What did I tell you?” the alicorn asked Onyx as he got to his hooves. “They will always treat you this way. Unless…”

“Unless?” Onyx asked, eagerly awaiting the reply. Scootaloo glanced around the dream and groaned. The grass was dying, the sky filling with black clouds, and the distant castle slowly, silently crumbling. What was she doing wrong? Why didn’t the colt realize this was just a terrible nightmare?

“Unless you have power, child. Power is the key to being important. The key to being remembered. The key to making them recognize you.” The alicorn smiled, flashing its fangs. “Aren’t you afraid of the bullies? Afraid of being forgotten? Afraid the darkness will get you and you’ll be helpless to stop it?”

Onyx’s eyes went wide and he took a step back. He couldn’t speak, his fear apparent. Scootaloo again jumped between them, angered that this thing continued to speak. “He doesn’t need to be afraid! I’m here! I’m not going to let anything happen to him!”

The ground began to shake and Scootaloo took a few steps back.

“You’ll protect him?” the alicorn asked in a mocking tone. “Can you even protect yourself?”

Rising out the ground, slowly and without signs of stopping, was a mass of pony bodies. Dead, rotting bodies… all stitched together to form a worm of a creature. Body parts made up its circular maw and formed the body. They were warriors; Scootaloo could tell by the pieces of armor and weapons stuck and poking out of the grafted flesh. The irreverent display of horror that was the worm hovered over them, legs of fallen ponies sharpened to the bone in order to make its “teeth”.

Onyx caught his breath and fell to the ground, unable to look away. The monstrous mass of dead bodies was gigantic, easily the size of a castle or Tatzlwurm. The smells of rotting flesh and death caught Scootaloo off guard. She had been able to remind herself it was just a nightmare until that moment…

“What’re you going to do?” the alicorn asked as it took to the sky. “A colt and a crippled pegasus have no chance!”

The undead worm began to fall forward, intending to eat both Scootaloo and Onyx in one bite. Breaking from her trance, Scootaloo turned on her hoof, grabbed Onyx, and ran. The monster smashed into the ground, cracking the earth.

Ahhh!

Help us!

Please!

The wails that followed caused Scootaloo to stop and look back. The bodies of the ponies that made up the beast were crying and screeching for help. Sweet Celestia…

The alicorn laughed. “Nothing fuels nightmares like the terror of children!”

Scootaloo galloped across the rolling hills, her wings furiously buzzing, and Onyx holding tightly to her neck. Her plan was to escape the dream, somehow take the colt with her someplace else, but if that would work was still up in the air.

The ground was cracking all around her. All she could see down the cracks was an endless dark void. Scootaloo could feel herself sweating. The longer she was in the nightmare, the more it felt like reality. What if… what if she died here? What would happen then? Pip hadn’t mentioned that… Nopony had mentioned that…

“I can give you the power to defeat any enemy, Onyx,” the alicorn sweetly offered, flying along through the sky, watching Scootaloo as she attempted to outrun the monster while avoiding the chasms. “You could end this if only you had the strength.”

Scootaloo leapt over a crack, but just barely made it to the other side. The Nightmare Forces were trying to scare the child into agreeing… Using fear and terror… Scootaloo had hated the Nightmare Forces before, but now they were irredeemable. How could they target a child like this? How could they fill his mind with fright?

Everything in the dream was twisting and becoming sinister. The stars in the sky were now unblinking eyes that followed the duo as they ran. The grass had turned to snakes, and they hissed as Scootaloo ran by, threatening to strike at any moment. The once classical castle was now a dystopian prison. Why was it getting worse?

Scootaloo could feel Onyx’s trembling through his shaking legs. His sobs were the terrible melody that brought the whole scene together. What am I going to do?!

Galloping at full speed, Scootaloo finally saw the edge of the dream. Just as she was entering the final stretch, a chasm ripped open in front of her, preventing Scootaloo from leaving. She skidded to a halt before plummeting into the darkness, and held Onyx close. There was no escaping. She couldn’t fly, and the chasm was too far to jump.

The snakes at Scootaloo’s hooves struck, but she jumped away. The ground rumbled with the weight of the undead mass slithering its way closer.

“I-I want my dad!” Onyx sobbed. “Where’s my dad?!”

“It’ll be okay!” Scootaloo immediately replied. “You just hang on tight! Princess Speed-Demon will get us out of here in no time flat!”

With her path blocked and the monster on its way, Scootaloo could see no way out. Gotta stay strong. No matter what.

“… And Princess Luna picked you to be the captain of this all-important guard?”

Pip slowly nodded. Explaining everything to Phantom Shade had taken a while, but the bat pony had patiently listened as they soared through the open dreamscape together. Pip didn’t like how hard it was to read Phantom Shade. He could never really know what the bat pony was thinking… He was a mystery to Pip.

“I have had experience in the dreamscape with Luna. Plus, I was one of the few ponies in the nightmare world,” Pip said with a shrug. “Which is why I asked you to come here tonight. You fought your way out of the nightmares… You fought Nightmare Moon… Please, join the Star Guard. We need you. I know you’d excel; you already did when you were Captain of the Night Guard.”

Phantom Shade, unnecessarily flapping his wings, mulled everything over. “And Princess Luna gave you a piece of her magic and placed it inside the Fragment of the First Night?”

“Yes,” Pip said, not understanding where Phantom Shade was going with this.

“And the Nightmare Forces attacked only her for all these years because of her unique dream stalking ability?”

“Er, yes…”

Phantom Shade looked at Pip in disbelief. “Do you realize what this means? You’re literally carrying the only thing the Nightmare Forces need in order to haunt the dreams of ponies forever! This whole mission will be for naught if you lose that object!”

Pip stopped mid-flight and swallowed hard. He had never thought of that. It seemed so obvious now. “I…”

“Did you even stop to think?!” Phantom Shade lambasted him. “You’re just an earth pony! It can easily be taken from you! You’re putting us all in jeopardy!”

“Somepony has to help Luna!” Pip retorted. “And I’m one of the very few ponies who can do it!” He hated being reminded of how weak or pathetic he was. This wasn’t the time for that. He knew he needed help… he didn’t need to be chastised.

Phantom Shade suddenly became quiet and turned his head. He stared at one of the light bubbles in the dreamscape, his golden eyes flickering with interest.

“What’s wrong?” Pip quietly asked.

“Something’s wrong. Can’t you see it? Can’t you feel it?”

Pip shook his head. “No…” But I’ve been trying to learn to do that this entire time! Phantom Shade just knows?

“You said we can enter these dreams?”

“Yes,” Pip said, flying toward the dream Phantom Shade was staring at. “If something is wrong, we should go do something about it.” With the power of his fragment, Pip knew the dream had a pony already inside it.

Scootaloo.

The Truth

Chapter 10
The Truth

Pip floated through the dreamscape. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the Nightmare Forces he knew were out there.

Nothing.

No matter how hard he tried, he still got nothing. What was wrong? Why couldn’t he do it? Why could Phantom Shade, of all ponies, somehow do it, but he couldn’t? I’m supposed to be the Captain of the Star Guard, for Celestia’s sake… If anypony should be able to do it, it's me.

With a heavy heart, Pip turned his attention to the sky. Using his dream magic, Pip crafted a glorious vision of the moon and stars. He wanted to see them, even if he knew they were just figments of his imagination. They had always been there when he needed them most.

The others had been traveling through the dreams of the bat ponies, but it was taking a lot longer than Pip had imagined. They needed to counsel the ponies through their fears and then defeat a weakened monster. Sometimes it took days just for a single pony…

I should assign pairs to work together, he thought. Perhaps teamwork will win the day.

Thinking of teamwork caused Pip to pause. Equinox… Of all the ponies on his team, he'd thought he would have to worry about her the least. He had been wrong.

Locating her in a dream not far from his location, Pip sailed through the gray dreamworld until he came upon the bubble of light that represented a sleeping pony. Pip burst into the dream and immediately concealed himself, not wanting to disturb whatever was happening.

Much to his surprise, he was in a school room, complete with a teacher’s desk and a sitting rug for foals. At the far end of the room was a full grown bat pony stallion sitting on the foal rug. He slumped over, soaked in depression.

Equinox was standing next to him, but Pip immediately noticed she looked different. In this dreamscape her scars were gone and her skeletal wing was back to normal. She was altering the dream to appear as she once did…

“Where did this come from, Brick?” Equinox asked the mopey stallion. “You hated school when we were foals. I remember you skipping out on it as often as possible.”

The stallion, Brick, sighed. “I’m just afraid all the other guys at work are secretly making fun of me behind my back, ya know? Thinkin’ I’m stupid or something. I’m not stupid, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why was PE and recess the only two things I was good at? Doesn’t that mean I’m stupid?”

Equinox opened her mouth to continue talking but stopped when she spotted Pip. Taking a step away from the stallion, she avoided eye contact. “Um, maybe we can talk about this some other time… Right now I gotta go.” She turned and quickly trotted out of the schoolhouse.

Pip galloped across the room in an attempt to meet up with her, but Brick got up and stood in his way.

“You botherin’ Equinox?” he grunted.

“Me? No. I’m her captain. We work together.” Pip stepped around the confused stallion.

“Wait!” Brick shouted after him. “Aren’t you guys going to help me?”

“Go back to school if you’re worried about it! You’re still capable of learning!” Pip yelled over his shoulder and he exited that building. It was advice equivalent to just do it, but he didn’t have time right now. If matters became worse, he could always come back.

“Equinox!” he yelled. “Where are you?!”

Pip exited the dream at the edge and came to a halt. Equinox was waiting for him just beyond the light barrier, a stern look upon her face.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “Just checking up on me? Making sure I was doing my job?”

“Uh,” Pip nervously began. “I just wanted to talk to you. Make sure you were okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” she snapped.

“You’ve been acting differently lately. Do you need to talk about it?

Equinox sneered. “I can handle anything,” she proclaimed. “I don’t need help from others. I have everything under control. You saw! I was helping that pony.”

Pip shook his head. “I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about your wing. Maybe you felt-”

“I’m fine!” she cut him off, stamping her hoof on the gray dust of the open dreamscape. “I can barely even tell the difference! It didn’t matter, okay?!”

“No need to get so defensive,” Pip said, holding up a hoof.

“Maybe I wouldn’t be if ponies would stop asking me about it!”

“I just thought, because you altered your appearance here in the dreamscape, that-”

She turned away and unfurled her wings. “You’re reading too much into it! I said I was fine, so I’m fine! Nothing is wrong! Just let me do my job!” Without a glance back, Equinox took off into the dreamscape, flapping her wings, though it wasn't required. Pip watched her go, unsure of what he would say to someone who had lost their ability to fly.

He had never flown before. At least, not outside of dreams…

“Is everything okay?”

Pip quickly turned around. A smile came over him when he realized who had come to speak with him. “Luna! I’m so happy to see you!” Like a little school foal, Pip happily galloped to her side.

Luna smiled, but even in this dreamscape, Pip could tell she was on the brink of collapsing from exhaustion. “Is Equinox all right?”

“Oh? Uh, I’m sure she will be. It’s just… her wing.”

“Depression and loss can play tricks on a pony’s mind,” Luna said in a very serious tone. “But you cannot rush acceptance. Perhaps it would be best if Equinox stayed home instead of working in her condition.”

Pip slowly nodded. Luna was right, of course, but he didn’t have many ponies in the guard to begin with. Losing one would be hard. “I’ll talk to her about it.”

Luna held her head high and stared down at him. “Pip, I have something important to discuss with you.”

“What is it?” he eagerly asked.

“My sister… she sometimes has visions. Recently she had one about you, Pip.”

Pip caught his breath and waited. The mere mention of visions caused him to think back to his fight with Nightmare Moon. My vision…

“I know you wanted to stay in Hollow Shades longer, but you will need to leave by the end of this moon,” Luna informed him. “You must travel east, to Manehatten. Celestia believes your destiny is waiting for you there.”

“Luna,” Pip gasped the moment she was done talking. “It's going to happen... When Equinox used Celestia’s power, remember the vision I had? Of the dragon in nightmare form? It's going to come true, Luna. I... I have this feeling that is. A terrible feeling.”

Stunned, Luna stared at him for a long moment.

Silence.

Pip nervously shifted in place. “Do, uh, all of Celestia’s visions come true?”

Letting out a long sigh, Luna turned away from him, her gaze vacant. “Sometimes they are metaphors, Pip. Sometimes they are hard to interpret.”

“So that means it might not come true?”

Luna didn’t answer. She continued to stare off into the distance.

“Are you okay?” Pip quietly asked. Had it been something he'd said? “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier…”

“Pip…” her voice trailed off. “I… I cannot see the dreams of dragons. They are resistant to all forms of outside magic. However, before I gave you a piece of my magic, I could pierce their dreams. Now… now I cannot. I thought not to worry about it too much, but this vision… It causes me a great deal of worry. It needs to be dealt with.”

“If you need the fragment, I’ll give it back,” he quickly stated. He would give up anything to help her, especially now, when she was so tired and weak.

She remained unmoving, her eyes searching for something unseen.

Pip took a seat next to her. “What if I traveled to the land of the dragons? The lands outside Equestria’s borders? What if I got close enough to use the fragment? Maybe I could sift through the dreams of dragons and prevent what I saw in the vision!”

Luna turned to him. “The dragons outside Equestria are not like Spike, Pip. They are dangerous and very aggressive toward outsiders.”

“Sounds like bat ponies,” Pip said with a laugh.

Luna was too woebegone to share in his humor.

“Sorry,” Pip muttered. He held his head high. “I know it’ll be dangerous, but I’m up to the task! I’ll get there no matter what!”

“Pip… None of Celestia’s visions have been wrong,” she said in a quiet tone. “They all eventually came true, even if she originally misinterpreted them.”

“Well… It wasn’t Celestia who had the vision, was it?” he rhetorically asked, hoping to lighten Luna’s mood. He didn’t want her to needlessly worry. This would be his burden.

“Pip…”

“But I’ll still go east, just like Celestia wants,” Pip said, standing up and smiling. “At the end of this moon I’ll go to Manehatten. Then I’ll take a boat down to the land of dragons. It’ll be simple. I’ll have it done by the end of the next moon.”

Luna gave him half a smile and nodded. “Thank you, Pip. Now… I should be going. I have much work to do.” She sighed wearily and turned to leave. Even her mane was flowing slowly, as if it were pained to do so.

“Wait!” Pip called after her. She stopped and glanced at him over her shoulder. “Stay,” he breathed. Pip didn’t know if he was doing it for her or for him, but all he knew was that he didn’t want to leave her just yet.

Luna hesitated for a moment before turning around. She trotted back to him and sat down, glancing up at the dreamscape above them. Pip’s stars and moon were still there. He took a seat next to her and stared upward with her. He longed for these moments. A certain nostalgic factor kept them from ever growing dull.

“Do the nightmares bother you?” Luna asked him, her gaze set upon one of the many constellations.

“I only seem to have them if I fall asleep while wearing the fragment,” he replied. Pip hated the nightmares, but it made him sad that nopony knew Luna had them every night. If only they knew…

“I’m glad to hear that. I was afraid you would be upset, or that they would haunt your nights.”

Silence settled over them again, but Pip didn’t mind. He was comfortable here, and he almost wished it would never end.

“I really must go, Pip. But…” She turned to him, genuinely smiling and looking less tired than before. “Thank you. I needed this.”

“I think what you’re doing is admirable,” he told her. “I know I’m not anypony special, but I appreciate what you’re doing for all of Equestria.” I only hope I can work as hard as you are.

She gave him a slight bow of her head before turning away and fading from the dreamscape. Pip watched her go and stared at the place where she had disappeared for a long while. He had wanted to tell her about his difficulty sensing the Nightmare Forces, but he just couldn’t bring himself to tell her that the first thing he did as the Captain of the Star Guard was fail miserably.

If I’m going to do right by this guard, I better start clearing the Nightmare Forces. We don’t have much time left in Hollow Shades. Attempting to sense the darkness, Pip closed his eyes.

Nothing.

Frustrated, Pip turned toward the nearest dream and galloped toward it, determined to prove to himself that he wasn’t a failure. The moment he broke through the light barrier, he froze. It was completely black. No light, no objects… just darkness. Pip recognized this… it had been the same nightmare he'd had…

Pip's understanding of nightmares suddenly all came together. The Nightmare Forces used different tactics depending on whom they were trying to convince. For children, it gave them nightmares of monsters and scary things to frighten them. For young and up-and-coming ponies, it tried to trick them by telling them everything they wanted to hear… However, for some ponies, it merely spoke to them. Unmasked, in all its dark glory… the oblivion would speak to them in truths and whispers.

“How pathetic.”

Pip ducked, half expecting the darkness to be speaking directly to him. Glancing around, Pip suddenly spotted a distant figure. He trotted toward it, hesitant.

“Life has been cruel to you.”

The malevolence of the voice caused shivers to run along Pip’s spine. As he drew near, Pip stopped. There was a lone bat pony in this dream… a bat pony Pip had seen before. It was the janitor, the pony that had cleaned the bar and the halfway home he was using as a base. The bat pony janitor was sitting in the darkness, staring straight ahead with glazed eyes.

“First you were given the lowest of the low in terms of cutie marks. Then you met a mare you thought you would love forever… only to have her leave you without a word, saddling you with her unwanted child. Unable to afford your home, you were forced to move into a smaller place, where you have been for years… Truly, a pathetic existence.”

The bat pony didn’t respond; he merely hung his head.

“Doesn’t it infuriate you that some ponies are given everything in life? Born to wealthy families, gifted with extraordinary cutie marks, talented in magic… You were given none of those things. You have been the laughing stock of your school, your community, your ex-lover… When will you face reality and see that your life has no meaning? That your life is simply to provide a punchline for all those who would mock you?”

“T-that’s not true,” the bat pony finally rebutted, his voice cracking. “I have friends…”

“But do they treat you like equals? Or do they jeer and laugh at your station in life?”

Pip gritted his teeth. If what the darkness was saying was true, how would one argue against it? The bat pony sank further downward, his head hung so low it was practically touching his hooves.

“And they should laugh. Life has forsaken you, child. You are nothing but a trash collector and disgusting piece of filth that other ponies wish to avoid. You are nothing.”

“Nothing…?” the bat pony whispered. “Am I really?”

“No,” Pip interjected. “Of course not! Ponies aren’t made up of only one thing! You’re more than just your cutie mark! More than just your job!”

The bat pony slowly glanced over his shoulder to Pip. Confused, the bat pony stared for a long moment.

“What else could you possibly be?” The Darkness taunted. “Do ponies not define themselves by their station in life?”

“N-no… the earth pony is right,” the janitor muttered, turning back to talk to the darkness. “I’m not just a janitor. I’m a father and,” he laughed to himself, “a volunteer coach for the school. And I host games at the local lounge for me and my friends… I’m not just a janitor…”

“A father? You share no blood with the child you keep. He was dumped upon you like the unwanted burden he is. You were duped into watching him, and his mere drain on your life is your punishment for your trust.”

The bat pony stood up, his eyes suddenly hard. Flashing his fanged teeth, he growled, “You won’t talk about my son like that! I was there when he was born! It… It doesn’t matter that he wasn’t mine!”

“Doesn’t it, though? Your legacy will end with you, your blood lost in the game of life because you were fool enough to settle for some other stallion’s child.”

“No,” the bat pony defiantly snapped. “Not some other stallion’s child. He’s my son. I’ve cared and looked after him this whole time, not because it was forced upon me, but because I love him like my own. I’m not defined by just my cutie mark and job… I’m also a father, and that is more important to me than anything else.”

“Says the fool unwilling to recognize his shortcomings.”

“And what of you?!” the bat pony angrily yelled into the darkness. “What are you?! At least I have something to show for my efforts! What are you but nothingness?!”

“Silly child. Yelling will get you nothing. But, if you sleep, I will take away the pain of life. I will soothe your pathetic existence, and make it something more. Sleep, child. Let eternity embrace you.”

The bat pony turned away with a feh. “What kind of example would I be setting for my son if I accepted your offer? No matter what you say, I will not be the one that fails him. I have a duty, and it has never been a burden. Truth be told, it has made me a better pony. Maybe, if I didn’t have a son, I would have done as you asked.”

“You only value your life because another depends on it. Pathetic.”

“At least I value life!”

The janitor slammed his hooves down and shattered the darkness all around them. Like glass, it fell, revealing the natural dreamscape underneath. It was Hollow Shades, out by the fountain in the park. Pip watched the shattered darkness hit the ground.

“Thank you,” the bat pony said, turning to Pip. “I might have been lost if you hadn’t said anything.”

“I barely did anything,” Pip assured him. “You had the strength yourself.”

“My name is Scrap. I know you’re the Captain of the Star Guard… but I don’t think I ever got your name.”

“It’s Pipsqueak.” Normally, Pip thought his name was the weirdest around, but he had never heard anypony name their child scrap before.

Scrap smiled to him. “You came to help us fight that, didn’t you?”

“That’s right.” Pip nodded. “I was here just in case you needed help.”

Scrap was a lanky bat pony with a dark gray coat and black mane. He smiled and held up his hoof. Pip tapped it with his own hoof and nodded to the other stallion. “I thought the Star Guard was going to consider bat ponies a part of the darkness. I’m glad I was wrong. Now… I really should be getting back to my son, Onyx.”

“Oh, all right,” Pip said, on the verge of informing the bat pony they were actually in a dream. He thought better of it, however, and let Scrap go on his merry way. It was a dream, after all… maybe something wondrous and amazing would happen now that the Nightmare Forces had been purged.

As Pip turned to go, he felt off. Looking around the dream, he realized it was just a little more surreal than it had been before. He was dreaming. His body had fallen asleep while he was dream walking, and now he was within his own dreams.

Suddenly, the shattered darkness rose up and began piecing itself back together, blotting out everything else. Pip galloped to avoid it, but there was no use. It was just darkness, after all. Nothing physical. He stopped and braced himself, attempting to wake. It didn’t work.

“Ah… Dream stalker… You’ve come to me again. And so soon…” The eerie voice almost sounded amused. “Do you think you helped that poor pony in the dream from earlier? Or are you aware that you simply suppress and pacify ponies so that they may better serve your princess?”

“Heh,” Pip turned away, waiting for the others to wake him. Hopefully one of them was done. Or, hopefully they get done soon. “I don’t need to listen to you anymore. I know what you’re trying to do.”

“Oh? You think you know all now? What a clever pony,” it said in a mocking tone.

“You’re evil,” Pip said. “That’s all you are.”

“You do not know evil, child. True evil is inequality. When the first rays of light pierced the darkness, it created evil. Contrast, difference – once there was only oblivion, now the world knows suffering.”

Pip glanced around. Just darkness. He wanted to leave. Desperately wanted to leave… but he was still caught in his sleep. “The light isn’t evil,” he muttered.

“But it brings with it pain and suffering. Don’t you see? For every laugh there are ten sobs. For every smile, a hundred frowns. For every love, a thousand heartaches and grudges. You cling to that tiny amount of light and happiness because you think it justifies the hurt and suffering, but you’re wrong.”

Pip didn’t know why, but now he felt like arguing with the darkness. “Differences aren’t a bad thing!”

“Do you think that Celestia and Luna have ever wondered where their next meal will come from? Of course not. They were born to a life of leisure, whereas ponies like the janitor will never know that luxury.”

There had never been a point in Pip’s life where he thought about such odd and complex things. Was it fair that some ponies were royalty? Was it fair that some ponies got amazing cutie marks? What were cutie marks? Why did some ponies get interesting ones and others did not?

No. It didn’t matter. Life in Ponyville had taught him that ponies could work together. “We can make the world equal one day,” Pip said confidently.

“Do you think there will be a day when you can prevent accidents? Early death? Diseases? If not, there will never be equality. All of your laws and rules are just your attempt to deny the truth.”

“What is the truth?” Pip defiantly asked.

“The only true equality is within oblivion.”

Pip immediately laughed. Of course. “Yeah, I’m not buying it.”

“The truth doesn’t require your comprehension. It just is.” A dark laugh echoed around Pip. “Just imagine. No kings. No queens. No princesses. No serfs or peasants. Everything from the lowly speck of dust to the sun itself is just as equal in oblivion. Before the light created evil, suffering, madness and mayhem – there was the perfect embrace of oblivion. All was equal. All was the same. No strife. No pain. Everything was as it should be.”

“You can’t actually mean that,” Pip said with another half-hearted laugh. “You’re trying to corrupt ponies and create nightmare creatures.”

“Are you so blind that you cannot see my motives? I help my host achieve their innermost desires, whether that desire be an eternal night or unparalleled beauty. Then, once I have completed my end of the bargain, I control their body. With it, I will snuff out the light. I will bring us all back to oblivion.”

Pip didn’t have much to laugh about anymore. The tone of the voice was serious. It wanted to snuff out the light. It wanted to bring about the end of everything. Why? “Doesn’t that mean you’ll stop existing as well? I thought you said you were created by the light?”

“Although you ponies fear oblivion, my cause is the most noble. Oblivion is the only true and perfect equality. Anything else is a delusion.”

Was it true? Was the darkness correct? Was that the only way to have equality? No, I don’t believe it… But then again, had the darkness ever lied to him? It suddenly occurred to Pip that the darkness was ancient and claimed to be all-knowing.

Pip hesitantly shifted his weight from one hoof to the other. “Is that what happens to us when we die? We go back to oblivion?” Again, he had never thought about it before, but…

The darkness began laughing. Its cold, heartless laugh echoed all around Pip.

“Like all weak creatures, you cringe away from the truth. Like a child, you must be sheltered from concepts and realities too complex or frightening for your tiny mind. Like a parent, I will choose for you. I will take responsibility. I will achieve what you can never. I will usher you all into oblivion… and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

“Squeaks! Squeaks, wake up!”

Pip jerked awake and tumbled from his cot, barely able to comprehend what was happening. Once he calmed down, he saw Mist flying above him, staring at him with wide, concerned eyes.

“Squeaks? Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah…” he mumbled as he got to his hooves. “Yeah. Totally fine.”

“You were talking in your sleep.” She flew over the cot and landed next to him. “It was adorable,” she informed him in her sing-song voice.

“Thank you for waking me,” he breathed.

Mist glanced over her shoulder and looked around the room. While all the other ponies were waking, she quickly turned back to Pip and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “You look like you need some love~!”

Pip flushed. He was a warrior now! Did warriors really need that? Pip couldn’t deny that he liked it. He almost told her about his nightmare, but he decided against it. It was depressing to talk about things like death and oblivion.

Although Pip had never been very afraid of death, the idea that he would cease to be now frightened him. So many ponies were counting on him! How could he let them all down? He couldn’t.

“Everypony, listen up!” Pip shouted to them. He trotted over to the wall where he had taped a piece of paper. Four names were written on it. “This is going to be a worksheet until the end of the moon cycle. We need to help as many ponies as we can until then, because after that we’re leaving! The more names we can get on the list, the better!”

Pip picked up a pen in his mouth and wrote Scrap as the next name on the list.

“That’s only three weeks from now,” Specter said, confused.

“Celestia thinks our destiny is to the east,” Pip informed them. “And I don’t intend to miss out on our destiny. Everypony understand?”

Everypony nodded and agreed. Everypony except Phantom Shade, but he eventually shrugged and nodded. Better than nothing.

Pip stared at the list. They had three weeks to raise that number. We should get well over a hundred by then.

Teams of Two

Chapter 11
Teams of Two

On their final day, Mist trotted over to the paper on the wall and wrote the last name. Whisper, the Soothsayer of Hollow Shades. With that name, the Star Guard had helped a grand total of… forty-three ponies. Pip held in his urge to sigh.

“Not bad,” Rumble said, nodding to the others.

“Yeah, we’re gettin’ the hang of this,” Scootaloo added. “Slowly but surely.”

Pip didn’t bother trying to correct them. Marble, on the other hoof, had no problem shaking her head in disgust.

“We’ve been here nearly a month,” she began. “Twenty-five days. There are eight of us walking through the dreams. If we had each helped one pony a day, we would have helped two hundred ponies. We’re woefully far from that number.”

Specter snorted. “It’s not that easy, and you know it! Some ponies take time and effort!”

“Is that why you spent a week in one dream?”

“Y-yes,” Specter stammered. “I never trained as a therapist! I’m not an expert on dealing with personal problems! I’m an expert at fighting things! And seeing in the dark! And being stealthy!”

“Excuses,” Phantom Shade said accusingly. “Are you a stallion or some spineless jellyfish? You agreed to be part of the Star Guard, did you not? So do your job or find a different one!”

Everypony in the room became quiet. Specter slowly nodded and turned his gaze to the floor, obviously embarrassed.

Pip took a step forward and shook his head. “Hey, we don’t need to be fighting amongst each other. We have bigger things to worry about.”

“You’re right,” Phantom Shade sarcastically replied. “I shouldn’t be doing your job for you.”

Still silent, the group of ponies turned to Pip. He held his breath, uncertain of how he should respond. “Look,” he finally said, exhaling. “All I know is that we can’t be bringing more problems into other ponies' dreams when we help them. That’s why we’ve been taking as long as we have. None of us are perfect… I’ve been thinking about this for the last few weeks, and I think I have a solution that will speed up the process.”

“What is it?” Equinox asked.

“I want us to work in pairs. With two ponies it will be less likely that something will get out of control. I’ve already thought of the teams and-”

“I call Scoots,” Specter immediately interjected.

“W-well, I call Pip!” Mist chimed in.

“Hey!” Rumble barked. “I think Scoots-er, Scootaloo should decide for herself!”

Specter smirked. “Come now, Bumble. I already called dibs.”

Suddenly, everypony started talking at once, their voices creating a cacophony that Pip could barely discern.

“I don’t need a partner,” Equinox huffed. “I’d rather work alone.”

Marble shrugged. “Does Sebastian count as a partner? I think he and I have been doing rather well.”

“Is it really wise to double us up?” Phantom Shade said with a roll of his eyes. “That effectively cuts our numbers in half.”

“What is going on in here?!” Thunder Clash bellowed from the door. Everypony turned and stared. The old pegasus flew in and landed near the group, a look of confusion and disappointment on his face. With a contemptuous snort, Thunder Clash focused his attention on Pip. “Well? What’s all this ruckus?”

Pip took a deep breath and held his head up high. “I was just about to assign everypony to a team of two.” He'd known the moment Thunder Clash showed up that he had allowed the arguments and conversation to go on too long. Pip sighed to himself. I have to be on top of this.

Turning to the others, he was determined not to let this conversation get derailed. “I’ve given this a lot of thought and paired you all in accordance with what I think would be the best for the ponies you are helping, not because of who you want to be with.”

“But-” Specter began.

“This isn’t up for discussion,” Pip barked.

Specter looked momentarily surprised before closing his mouth.

“As I was saying,” Pip continued, “I have analyzed your strengths and histories and matched them up with others who will cover your weaknesses. Marble, I want you to team up with Specter.”

Marble, unfazed by the assignment, nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Obviously discontented with his partner, Specter crossed his forelegs over his chest. Pip narrowed his eyes and the bat pony forced himself to nod. “Yes, sir.”

In Pip’s mind, Marble was very mellow and unenergetic. Specter, on the other hoof, was a prankster and delighted in life after he got to know people. They were practically opposites in every way, right down to their gender. The problems they could handle together would be greater than if they were left alone.

“Rumble,” Pip said, turning to face the larger pegasus. “I want you to work with Equinox.”

Both of them nodded.

“Yes, sir,” Rumble said as he trotted over to stand next to Equinox. She didn’t reply.

Equinox refused to talk about her injury and the problems plaguing her, but that wouldn’t stop Rumble. He was a determined pony, and he would keep them both on the right track, even if Equinox was only functioning at half capacity.

“Phantom Shade,” Pip reluctantly turned to the older bat pony. He knew that no matter who he sent Phantom Shade up with, the bat pony was going to be disappointed. “You’re with me.”

Pip could practically hear Phantom Shade’s teeth grinding. “Yes, sir.”

“Which leaves Mist and Scootaloo,” Pip said, turning to the last two mares. Mist was calm in all matters that didn’t involve fighting or blood. Scootaloo was extremely confident in all situations involving fighting, she just wasn’t very calm. Pip hoped that Mist’s friendly attitude could equal out Scootaloo’s brash temperament.

Mist briefly looked hurt, but it quickly disappeared as she smiled. “Yes, sir!” she sang.

“Yes, sir!” Scootaloo said, nodding.

Pip then turned to Thunder Clash. “Make sure they have everything packed and ready to go. We’re going to take the east exit out of town and march along the roads toward the train station closest to Manehattan. I want everypony ready to go in less than two hours.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Thunder Clash replied with half a smile.

Relieved to have Thunder Clash around, Pip trotted from the room. He had one final thing he wanted to complete before leaving Hollow Shades, and fortunately, he was going to be able to do it.

Weeks ago, Pip had sent a letter to Featherweight, a Canterlot journalist. The reply he had gotten stated that the thin pegasus would be arriving tonight from the western gates. Pip was determined to have the pegasus photograph the mystic beauty of Hollow Shades and bring it back to Canterlot.

As he galloped through town, Pip was amazed at how functional his shoulder was. The lily pads Equinox had given him were working wonders, but he knew he still couldn’t push himself.

“Look! One of the Star Guard!” a random citizen exclaimed as Pip galloped by.

“I’ve heard they are excellent warriors!”

“And really good at gambling!”

Pip almost came to a halt at that last comment, but decided against it. He couldn’t control how ponies perceived the Star Guard, he was just glad they were accepting of them now instead of being hostile. But still… I guess Marble’s awesome ability with numbers got around town faster than our exploits.

It wasn’t long before he made it to the house of the soothsayer. Pip knew he should have asked for permission long ago, but he had been much too busy trying to fight off the Nightmare Forces. Much to his surprise, the soothsayer was already outside, flying around to the side of the building.

“Soothsayer!” he called out.

The old bat pony turned to him. She smiled and nodded, but continued on her way around the building. Pip trotted after her. Once around the side of the building, he spotted a small strawberry garden. The older mare had picked up a watering can and was very slowly watering the fruit.

“Soothsayer,” Pip muttered as drew closer. “I need to ask you something.”

“First I should thank you!” she said with a tune in her voice. “I had been worried about Mist for some time when she was younger. She was directionless in life, always being doted on by her father… Her sister, on the other hoof, she always had such drive. I knew Equinox would be okay.”

Pip nodded, but he had no idea where this was coming from. For a brief moment he was reminded of visiting his grandfather in the Trottingham nursing home. Sometimes older ponies just talked about random things…

“Mist sure is driven now,” the soothsayer continued, never even noticing that Pip was only half paying attention. “Wants to make something of herself. That’s a good trait. It’s hard to teach.”

“Um, Whisper,” Pip said as gently as possible. “I need to ask you a question.”

“Well, ask away, boy. I wasn’t stopping you.”

Pip held back a sarcastic response and instead focused on being civil. “I was hoping you would allow one more pony into Hollow Shades. His name is Featherweight. He was a friend of mine in elementary school. I was hoping he could take a few pictures.”

The weathered old bat pony stared at Pip for a long time. “Something is troubling you.”

Pip was silent for a moment. “What? No. No, I’m fine. But my friend-”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“Okay. That’s true.” Pip refused to talk about it. Ever since he had spoken with the darkness, he had felt worried. Worried about things had had never worried about before. Like what would happen when he died. Was there nothing but oblivion waiting for him? Shaking his head to dispel the morbid thoughts, Pip ignored the soothsayer’s push. “So is Featherweight welcome?”

“Yes, boy. You needn’t worry about your friend. I will see to it that he is allowed to wander through Hollow Shades.” The soothsayer turned her attention back to the garden and meticulously watered each and every plant.

“Thank you,” Pip said with a bow before turning to trot to the gates of Hollow Shades.

“Good luck, Guardian of the Night,” the old bat pony murmured. “I think you shall need it.”

“The worst nightmares are the ones from foals,” Specter declared as though that were the ultimate conclusion. “The monsters from those dreams are insane! Kids have active imaginations. Too active. This one colt thought his bed was going to eat him, so-”

“Nah, I really hate those creepy voice nightmares,” Rumble said, cutting him off. “They give me nightmares.”

“C’mon, Bumble. Voices are scarier than an undead bed with fangs? I don’t think so.” Specter lazily turned his head over to Scootaloo and smiled. “You agree with me, right? Weren’t you afraid of that nightmare with giant alligators in it?”

Scootaloo turned to him with a lifted eyebrow. “How did you know I was in a nightmare with alligators in it?”

“Er, uh…” Specter nervously shrugged. “You must have… er… talked about it at one point. Yeah! You mentioned it.”

“I don’t remember ever talking about it…”

The eastern road out of Hollow Shades was lined on both sides with giant redwood trees, though they were further apart than in the city itself. It had still taken them an hour of walking before the canopy of leaves above them was thin enough to see the sky.

With the Fragment of the First Night, Pip could see far into the distance despite the darkness. Before them was a field of rolling hills, but the road curved to travel along it. The road itself was interesting to look at, and Pip found himself staring downward for most of the march. It was a cobblestone path, but the stones themselves had small pictures etched onto them, though they were faded and sometimes hard to discern.

“Hm! Do you smell that?” Mist perked up. “It smells like fruit!” She flapped her wings and began flying over the group. The silver and black Star Guard armor made her look like a professional soldier, but the gleeful smile on her face made her look like a foal in a candy store.

“We’re marching,” Thunder Clash snapped.

Mist ducked her head and landed back on the road with a nervous smile and laugh. “Right! Sorry, sir! I was just hungry!”

“Here’s another lesson for all you soldiers,” he said with a snort. “Your body is stronger than you think it is. You can go a long time without eating. You don’t need to bend to your body’s every desire.”

The longer they marched, the further Pip fell behind. He didn’t mind. His shoulder felt fine, but his mind was wandering. For most of his life, he'd wanted to help and serve Luna, but he knew he was buckling under the pressure of helping everypony. Doubt was eating him alive.

Everypony was now ahead of him except for Marble. The dark gray mare kept at his pace no matter how slow he went. She was silent, never asking him to explain, and Pip appreciated it. When they were a few pony lengths away from the rest, Pip decided that now was the time to seek her counsel.

“Marble. I need to tell you something.”

She remained silent.

Pip took a deep breath. “I thought that… ya know, if we ever failed, it would still be okay. I thought the Nightmare Forces combined with a pony to make an entirely new being that wanted a very specific goal. Like Nightmare Moon wanting to create an eternal night.”

Marble nodded.

“But… it turns out the Nightmare Forces fuse to the host, give them what they wanted, or help them achieve it, and then they take over… This new being that is born… It doesn’t want something as simple as an eternal night. It wants to rid the world of all light. It wants to bring about oblivion.”

Pip wasn’t even sure if Marble was listening anymore. She wasn’t talking, and he was too focused on the road ahead of him.

“I figured, there would always be a backup plan, ya know? Even if a pony became a nightmare creature, we would have the option of just defeating it. But… what if we fail and the Nightmare Forces actually bring about the end? There’s no recovering from that! Do you see what I’m saying? I… I didn’t know things would be so serious. Failing wasn’t really an option before, but I thought I had a safety net, metaphorically speaking.”

“Is that what’s been bothering you lately?” Marble suddenly asked, startling Pip.

He slowly nodded. “Yeah… I dunno. I feel a little shaken. I’m really worried I can’t live up to everything everypony wants.”

“This isn’t like you, Pip. You were so sure of yourself when you joined the Night Guard, remember? Your speech and determination inspired Rumble, Scootaloo, Snips and Snails to join the guard, that’s how confident you were.” Marble turned to him, glaring. “Where has that gone?”

Pip shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess I keep getting reminded that I’m not actually that special. That I’m just a nobody. I… want to transcend myself, but doubt keeps holding me back.”

Marble continued to glare as they marched. “Pip. Don’t get emotional on me. You’ve never failed before, just keep that in mind. You succeeded so much they promoted you to captain halfway through your training. What more could you possibly want?”

Of course, I nearly died, lost hearing in one ear, and barely held it together, and Equinox was actually the one to defeat Nightmare Moon… Pip sighed and shook his head. No! Marble is right! Marble has never lied to me or sugar-coated the truth! “I’m going to make this work,” he said aloud. “That’s just how it’s going to be.”

Reinvigorated, Pip felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Everything was just a little bit brighter. Mable knowingly nodded.

“Hey! What’re you doing?!”

Pip glanced around in panic. That was Mist’s voice!

He galloped up the road and around the bend, pushing his way through the other members of the guard until he stood in front of them, next to a turnout on the road for carriages. Mist was hovering there, next to a beautifully decorated wooden vardo, and talking to a group of Diamond Dogs.

However, they weren’t any Diamond Dogs that Pip was familiar with. Some had sandy gold fur, while others had jet black, and they all appeared jackal-like in features. Long pointed ears, longer fluffy tails and narrow muzzles.

“What’s going on here?” Pip asked as he burst onto the scene. If something came of this situation, Pip was already wearing his armor and claws.

“Squeaks! Look what they’re doing!” Mist pointed to a Diamond Dog on the side of the road. He was bruised and bleeding, with three other jackal Diamond Dogs standing over him. Pip quickly surmised that they had been recently beating him.

“This is none of your concern,” a black furred Diamond Dog stated. He wore a gold collar, gold bracers, and rough white linen belted around his waist.

“You made it our concern when you decided to do this on a public road,” Thunder Clash immediately huffed.

“Tradition states that failures have their punishment known,” the jackal Diamond Dog replied.

Pip didn’t recognize the articulate and refined accent of the Diamond Dog. The Diamond Dogs he had known were… not the sharpest tools in the shed.

“This isn’t allowed in Equestria. Leave him alone, by order of the Captain of the Star Guard,” Pip said, though he wasn’t entirely sure how much authority he had in such matters.

The odd Diamond Dogs all turned to the one that had been talking. The beaten Diamond Dog, however, looked up at Mist and Pip with one good eye. He could barely move, and it looked like one of his legs was broken.

“We aren’t citizens of Equestria,” the jackal finally responded.

“Well, you’re on Equestrian lands,” Pip retorted. “I don’t know what kind of traditions you have, but they aren’t acceptable here if you’re going to just savage one of your own.”

The other Diamond Dogs started to inch forward, claws extending from their paws and fangs bared. Their “leader” snarled at Pip. “Our master has given us powers, pony. Leave us to our own and we’ll allow you and your bat ponies to go!”

For a brief moment, Pip was confused. Why specifically make a point of letting the bat ponies go?

Phantom Shade stepped forward and shook his head. “We should leave them. If they aren’t Equestrian citizens, we don’t have a duty to protect them.”

Thunder Clash shook his head. “Coward.”

Pip looked from the broken Diamond Dog to the others. He counted over twenty-five of them. However, when he glanced back to the injured one, he gave Pip a pleading look. Pip glared back at the leader. The Star Guard didn’t just have a duty to Equestria. It had a duty to help all beings.

“I’m not leaving until this Diamond Dog is safe.”

Manehattan

Chapter 12
Manehattan

“You leave me no choice,” the jackal Diamond Dog growled. He tapped the gold bracers on his long forearms together, activating whatever hidden magics they had stored within. Electricity arced between them, the white-blue energy crackling as if barely contained. The other dogs began laughing like they were part hyena.

“I’ve seen scarier,” Thunder Clash dismissively stated.

Pip immediately jumped forward and bucked the lead jackal Diamond Dog, knocking him a few feet backward. “Protect the injured one,” Pip commanded as he stood over the bruised and bloody body. He knew that this might be a situation similar to bat ponies, a situation where the victim didn’t want to be saved, but he doubted it. The Diamond Dog looked like he wanted assistance, and Pip was more than willing to lend a hoof.

Marble and Equinox moved up, holding a war hammer and halberd respectively. Random Diamond Dogs leapt at them, but the dogs were clearly amateurs at melee. Equinox hit them away with the flat of her blade and used the hook to trip and disorient them. Marble, on the other hoof, hit one with enough force to knock it out, but held back so that no debilitating damage was done.

The lead Diamond Dog jumped back up and waved his forearm in front of him, causing the magical electricity in the bracers to shoot outward. The power knocked Marble and Equinox back, stunning them into a fit of spasms.

The Diamond Dogs were now swarming the rest of the guard, trying to fight them three or more versus one. Pip rushed toward the leader, hoping to break one of the bracers from his arm, but the jackal was too fast. He shot another burst of electricity, hitting Pip and sending him to the ground.

The instant Pip recovered enough to talk, he shouted, “Scootaloo! The bracers!”

Scootaloo jumped from the group attacking her and immediately galloped toward the leader at high speeds. The jackal tried to strike her with the electricity, but she was much too nimble and quick. One moment she was sidestepping the attack, and the next moment she was on top of him, using her claws to cut into his hide.

The jackal fell onto his back with Scootaloo on top of him. She slammed her hoof down onto one of the bracers, denting the soft gold metal and somehow disrupting the flow of magic. The electricity stopped.

Enraged, the jackal bit down on Scootaloo’s foreleg, puncturing her coat with his sharp teeth. Pip jumped up from the ground and bucked him across the face hard enough to crack bone.

“Our divine favor!” one of the Diamond Dogs shouted, pointing to the broken gold bracers. “We must retreat!”

The dogs ran on all fours to their large wooden vardo and piled inside. Some of the dogs pulled the heavy vehicle away, though it was obviously a strain for even four of them. The lead jackal kicked Scootaloo off and hobbled to rejoin his compatriots. Scootaloo went to run after them, but Pip held up a hoof.

“No! Let them go!”

“Wimps!” Scootaloo shouted. “I could’ve taken the whole lot of ya!”

“Our master will hear of this!” one the dogs shouted back. “You ponies don’t understand who you are dealing with!”

“Oh yeah?” Scootaloo continued to taunt. “Well, you’re messing with the Star Guard! And the Guardian of the Night! Go ahead and tell your master that!”

The strange Diamond Dogs didn’t have anything to say after Scootaloo made her proclamation. Their wooden vardo traveled up the nearest hill and then over it, disappearing from sight.

“Who were those guys?” Equinox asked, as she got to her hooves. Although she was still religiously wearing her cloak to hide her broken wing, the cloak hadn’t impaired her ability to fight.

“Diamond Dogs that look like that hail from Saddle Arabia,” Marble informed her matter-of-factly.

“Saddle Arabia?”

“The desert nation far to the south.”

Pip shook himself off and trotted back to the wounded Diamond Dog. “Are you okay?” he asked. The jackal-looking creature nodded, but remained on the ground.

“They’re gone now!” Mist happily said as she landed near him.

“T-thank you,” the dog coughed, holding up his pawed hand to get her assistance in standing.

Mist cringed away, her pupils constricting into fine lines. Pip was about to just help the dog himself when Mist reluctantly held out her hoof. Despite the blood on the dog’s paw, she helped him up. Pip was impressed. Normally she couldn’t bring herself to do anything if blood was involved.

The wounded Diamond Dog before them had a black coat and a gold collar. His right eye was busted and his leg broken, but the dog was holding his own. “I… I’m so sorry,” he muttered to the group. “I don’t know what I could e-ever do to repay you…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rumble said.

The dog nervously rubbed at his long forearms.

“What’s your name?” Mist asked.

“Olim.”

Specter stifled a laugh, and Pip glared at him. Now wasn’t the time to be making fun of others' names.

“I was just following orders,” Olim suddenly said, as if trying to give an excuse for a horrible action. “I swear… I thought I had no other choice!”

Thunder Clash narrowed his eyes. “What now?”

“I can’t stay here. Not after… everything…” Olim dropped to all fours and began running off, though it was a pathetic limp with only three functioning legs. “Thank you!” he shouted back over his shoulder. “Thank you so much!”

Everypony watched the Diamond Dog go.

Specter broke the silence with, “What a weirdo. Glad I’ve never been to Saddle Arabia.”

“Marble,” Pip asked, watching Olim disappear into the distant. “You said Saddle Arabia was far to the south?”

“That’s right,” she replied with a shrug.

“Does it… border the territories controlled by the dragons?”

“Yes.”

Pip sighed. We might just have to travel through Saddle Arabia, actually.

The train station in Manehattan was the largest station Pip had ever visited. It was a gigantic building, complete with a large clock and the busts of several famous ponies, though Pip didn’t know their names. There were hundreds of ponies bustling through the station, most of whom didn’t pay much attention to Pip or the other guards. Occasionally, however, they would glance in their direction as if shocked to see them.

As Pip and the others trotted toward the exit, it quickly became apparent that none of the other guard companies were stationed here. Manehattan was protected by peace officer.

“We’re kinda out of place,” Rumble muttered under his breath as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. Even at night, Manehattan was still as lively as ever. Ponies in taxi carts were racing by, some were walking by hoof, and even carrot dog vendors were still selling their goods. Pip did feel out of place wearing his armor, especially given the many shops around selling frivolous clothing.

Thunder Clash gave the city one disinterested glance and sighed. “I hate Manehattan.”

Specter, Mist and Equinox, on the hoof, were stunned into silence. They gawked at the skyscrapers and bridges, disbelief written all over their faces. Pip laughed to himself. Hollow Shades was a quaint little hamlet compared to Manehattan.

“I rather like Manehattan,” Phantom Shade said. “It’s one of the few day-pony cities with an active night life. The only problem is sleeping… Everything is bright.”

“I’ve never been here, but I’ve read all about it,” Marble commented. She immediately turned to the train station and examined the stone craftsmanship. “There are some top-notch stonemasons here.”

“Look! Look! There they are!” a pony across the street shouted.

In a matter of moments, photographers, journalists and random sightseers were gathered around the Star Guard, all vying for attention.

“Can we get a comment?!”

“Turn this way for the camera!”

“Where will you be staying? How long will you be here?”

“Are the Nightmare Forces defeated?! Are we all safe?!”

Flashes from cameras lit up the area like a strobe light. Pip had to keep his eyes squinted just to avoid being blinded. Specter, Mist and Phantom Shade backed away, their eyes tightly shut. When a photographer got too close, Specter jumped at him and hissed, baring his fangs.

The entire crowd of ponies gasped, but that didn’t stop the cameras… if anything, it only made it worse.

“Is he controlled by the Nightmare Forces?!”

“Bat ponies on the Star Guard?! Is that Princess Luna’s doing?!”

“Is he going to drink our blood?!”

“Enough!” Pip shouted, pushing the photographers back and glaring. “We’re extremely busy and we don’t have time for this!”

There was a brief moment of silence as the reporters looked at Pip and then each other.

“Are you the Captain of the Star Guard?” one of them calmly inquired.

“Y-yes,” Pip replied, slightly confused by the question. Wasn’t that well known?

“I thought the Captain of the Star Guard was an alicorn prince!” another report angrily commented.

“Maybe that’s the Guardian of the Night?”

“I thought they were one and the same.”

“I guess not. This pony can’t be both of them.”

Pip turned to Marble and motioned her forward. Without needing to exchange words, Marble knew what he wanted. She trotted forward and glowered at the reporters. “Our captain said you need to leave us alone. Are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

“We’re allowed to take pictures!”

“At a distance,” Marble said, pointing to a lamppost down the street.

The reporters didn’t move.

Marble smiled to herself and rotated her neck until there were a few cracks. The reporters brought up their cameras to resume their torrent of pictures, but Marble wasn’t having it. She slammed her hooves down on the sidewalk, shattering the cement slabs beneath her like they were crackers.

Startled and confused, the reporters jumped back and began running, taking photographs as they galloped. Marble’s smile widened.

Pip had wanted Marble to make them leave, but he hadn’t taken into consideration that she would cause a wicked amount of property damage in the process. Oops.

“That was totally amazing,” Specter said to Marble, examining her handiwork. “I thought being partnered with you would be boring… guess I might be wrong.”

“Pipsqueak?! Is that you?” a random pony called out.

Pip looked up, irritated that they would be accosted so soon after chasing away the last ponies. The mare running toward him had a dull yellow coat, orange mane, and bright purple eyes. Her cutie mark was three ‘Z’s.

“It is you!” she exclaimed once she reached the sidewalk. Several Manehattan citizens were watching the guard from afar, but most were too frightened now to approach.

Pip lifted an eyebrow. “Do I know you?”

The mare blinked. “You don’t recognize me?” She turned to Scootaloo. “You recognize me, right?”

Scootaloo, obviously surprised to be brought in on the conversation, shook her head. “No… Should I?”

“It’s me! Noi!”

Silence.

“From elementary school!” Noi said with a nervous laugh. “Cheerilee was our teacher, remember?”

Pip and Scootaloo exchanged confused looks. Scootaloo gave him a shrug and he returned it. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember,” Pip admitted.

Noi hung her head slightly and kicked her hoof at the ground. “It’s okay… I get that a lot. I was a wallflower when I was younger. Always hanging out in the background, ya know? Wait! Do you guys remember that day I ended up painting on a bunch of cutie marks to fit in? My mom still laughs about that day!”

Scootaloo slowly shook her head. “Nope. Are you sure you didn’t live in Bizarro Ponyville?”

Abandoning her quest to get them to remember, Noi pointed to a building down the road. “Okay, okay, you guys might not remember me, but I moved here to Manehattan a few years back and now I manage a bed and breakfast! It’s that building right there!”

Manehattan had an irregular skyline, with tall buildings right next to short apartment complexes and office buildings. Noi’s bed and breakfast was sandwiched between two warehouse buildings on a road leading straight to the docks. Although the building itself looked very cozy, the warehouse buildings added a seedy element. It was like an island of pleasantness in the middle of a cesspool.

“We’re so happy for you?” Scootaloo awkwardly told her.

“I would be honored if you stayed at my bed and breakfast! It would really boost our image, and maybe ponies would be willing to give us a chance!” Noi smiled wide, her purple eyes jiggling with giddy joy.

Pip looked back at the bed and breakfast. He didn’t really care where they stayed, as a long as they had a safe place for their bodies while they were dream walking. The street the building on was shady-looking… but what was anypony going to do to them, really?

Plus, he understood the need to vicariously become cool by offering to host always-cool ponies. He had once given the Cutie Mark Crusaders free lemonade just so they would frequent his lemonade stand. Then again, that didn’t work out so well for him…

Pip shrugged. “All right. We’ll stay there, but we can pay. Princess Luna gave me funds for such things.”

“That’s great!” Noi gasped. “I’ll run ahead and tell Tropical Spring! She’ll get the rooms ready!” The dull yellow earth pony galloped off toward the bed and breakfast with a restrained giggle.

Pip motioned for the others to begin walking that way. Rumble and Specter were carrying a small box with their spare equipment, but the rest were free to wander about. Mist was the only pony to take advantage of this, and immediately flew over to a food cart located on the curb. The top of the food cart had a bright strawberry lit up from within.

“You sell strawberries?” Mist asked in a sing-song voice.

“Nope,” the stallion behind the stand grunted. “Jus’ snow cones.”

Mist titled her head to the side. “Snow cones?”

Pip trotted over to Mist’s side and gave her a half smile. “Snow cones are shaved ice in a cup with fruit syrup poured on top.”

Her eyes suddenly went wide, even her slit-pupils dilated to near circles. “R-really?” she whispered.

“Yeah. Why? Did you want one?”

“Yes, please!”

“That’ll be two bits,” the stallion said, stomping his hoof on the stand.

Geez, that’s expensive for a snow cone. “All right,” Pip capitulated. He pulled two bits from his satchel and tossed them over.

The stallion immediately went to work, scoping the ice into the cup and then pouring the red strawberry syrup over it. The ice glistened with the sugary sweetness. Mist was practically drooling.

The instant she got her hooves on it, she sank her teeth in and began sucking away. Within moments, all the syrup had been drained away, like Mist was some sort of syrup vampire. Left with just the shaved ice in a cup, she frowned. Mist tossed the cup into the nearby trashcan and then turned her attention to the syrup bottle.

“I want that,” she said, pointing to the bottle.

The stallion glared. “Ya can’t have it.”

“Why not?” she pouted.

“Cuz I needs that for my business.”

“What if I pay you for it?”

The stallion shrugged. “I guess you can have it then.”

Mist pulled her own money from her belt and poured it out onto the stand. She had thirty-three bits. “Is that enough?”

“Well… I could make more snow cones than-”

She continued to pout. Pip shook his head. There was no way the syrup was worth that much. How hungry was she? “We’re heading to bed and breakfast, Mist. I’m sure they have food there.”

“Fine,” the stallion said. “Take it.” He nudged the syrup bottle over to her with his nose. Mist practically squealed in delight as she took it. Before Pip could ask if she wanted ice, Mist sank her fangs into the side of the bottle and began drinking the syrup through the puncture holes. Pip and the other stallion watched in impressed awe as she slurped down the contents of the bottle.

“Bat ponies only do that to bottles, right?” the stallion asked Pip under his breath. “Not to… necks?”

“No, of course not,” Pip said with a forced laugh.

Once Mist had gotten everything should could from the small holes, she pried open the bottle with her fangs and began licking the inside.

The stallion was now visibly nervous. “A-are you sure, bub?”

“All right, Mist. I think we should be meeting up with the others by now. Let’s go.” He trotted away from the stallion and waved, hoping that he wasn’t too weirded out. Mist followed behind Pip, now noticeably happier.

The bed and breakfast that Noi worked at was two stories tall and painted in bright colors. The others had already gone inside by the time Pip reached the front steps.

Outside the building, everything smelled like fish and grime. Inside the building was a completely different matter. Everything smelled like a fresh flower field. Pip was pleasantly surprised.

Noi was waiting for him behind the counter. She pushed over a piece of paper.

“I gave you two rooms. One for the mares and one for the stallions. They’re big rooms! We’ve had six ponies stay in them before! Breakfast is an hour past dawn!”

Pip didn’t think he would be having breakfast very often. They needed to switch their schedule around so that they could dream walk during the evening. For the past month they had been dream walking during the day, when the bat ponies were sleeping, but other ponies weren’t that way.

“Thank you,” he muttered, glancing at the room numbers. “I think I’m going to go catch some sleep.”

“It’s almost dawn,” Noi said in confusion. “You’re going to sleep now?”

“Yeah. Thank you again, though.” Pip trotted off and yawned. Mist followed behind, fidgeting as if she were riding a sugar high.

I wonder what kind of ponies and nightmares we’ll see in Manehattan…

Honk-honk!

Hey! Watch it!

Honk-honk!

Screeeeecch!

Crash!

Pip slowly opened his eyes. The sounds of Manehattan were almost unbearable. He desperately wanted to sleep, but even with his bad hearing, the city was just too loud. Pip slowly sat up in his bed and rubbed at his eyes. With the windows covered, the room was practically pitch black. Pip groped around the darkness for his silver chain and fragment. The moment he had it around his neck, the room became perfectly visible.

Like Noi had said, it was a large room. There were three beds, two couches, and one cot. All the other stallions were sleeping, except for Phantom Shade. The older bat pony was sitting on the end of his bed, staring at the floor. Pip rolled off his bed and stretched. Maybe I will get breakfast… if it’s still being served. It’s probably just a little after noon…

“Are you hungry?” Pip whispered to Phantom Shade.

The bat pony didn’t answer.

“I’m going down to get some breakfast. You can join me if you want.”

Pip trotted out of the room. To his surprise, Phantom Shade exited the room as well. It was day, which meant bat ponies wouldn’t be able to go outside without being blinded, but artificial lights inside weren’t too bad. Phantom Shade was squinting just to see, and he stayed close to Pip.

As Pip rounded the corner, he slammed into another pony.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” he said, rubbing at his shoulder. It suddenly hurt more than it had in weeks…

The mare in front of him snorted in disgust. “Eh! I can’t believe I’m staying in a B&B with a pinto pony in it!”

Pip would have recognized that voice anywhere. Diamond Tiara.

She rubbed at her pale magenta coat and swished her mane. The years had been kind to her, to say the least. She was lean, tall… everything a model would need to be to make it in Manehattan. Pip hadn’t paid much attention to her successes, but everypony in Ponyville knew of them. Her father made sure of that.

“Hey! Are you listening to me?!” Diamond Tiara huffed. “I said get out of the way!”

“Sorry,” Pip said again, stepping to the side. Phantom Shade also stepped aside, but Diamond Tiara took an interest in him.

“Oh! You must be one of the Star Guard!” Her tone and attitude had completely reversed. “I came all the way to this scruffy little B&B just to meet you!”

Phantom Shade bowed his head. “It’s an honor to meet a pony of your caliber.”

Pip held back a laugh. Was that Phantom Shade being nice? He almost sounded like a gentlecolt there!

“What are you still doing here?” Diamond Tiara said to Pip, lifting an eyebrow in irritation. “The way you stand around and do nothing makes me think your mother was a cow! You have the spots to prove it.”

Flabbergasted, Pip just stared down at her. She… doesn’t recognize me. “R-right,” he stammered. “I was just about to get breakfast. Sorry about that.” He turned away and left Phantom Shade to deal with her.

Once he was out into the lobby, Pip saw that there was a crowd of ponies there, all facing a unicorn stallion on a small box. It was hard to get through the room, considering how tightly packed everypony was, but Pip began to cross regardless. Are all these ponies here because they heard the Star Guard was staying here? This place was practically empty when we arrived!

“Don’t you see?!” the unicorn stallion shouted to the crowd. “Don’t you see the connections?”

Pip stopped halfway through the room and listened to the stallion. What was he talking about?

“When did all this nightmare stuff become a problem? For over a thousand years we had no nightmare problem! Now we’re in danger of just becoming nightmares at any moment! I’ll tell you when… the instant Princess Luna came back! She brought this darkness with her!”

The ponies in the crowd began nodding. Pip shook his head. The nightmares had existed long before Luna…

“If Princess Luna had just stayed banished to the moon, we wouldn’t be having these problems! I say we petition Princess Celestia to send her back! Isn’t it Princess Luna’s duty to protect us? Wouldn’t this protect us? Wouldn’t staying on the moon be better for us all?!”

The crowd began cheering for the unicorn’s words. Pip tried to disagree, but his voice was drowned out by all the ponies that thought this was a good idea.

It wasn’t Luna’s fault! She didn’t have control over what powers she had! It wasn’t fair to ask Luna to sacrifice everything for something she couldn’t control!

Pip caught his breath. It’s not fair… Just thinking those words made him think back to his conversation with the oblivion. It had said that inequality was the source of all evil… The chanting crowd of ponies and the unicorn trying to convince them sounded just like what the darkness had been talking about. They wanted to condemn Luna for things outside of her control.

“We don’t need to meet the Star Guard to know they haven’t finished their mission! If the Nightmare Forces were defeated, don’t you think the princesses would have said something! I say we take our cause to Canterlot! We can speak to the princesses there! No pony should have to live in fear! No pony should worry they will become a nightmare at any moment!”

Pip was no longer hungry. He backed out of the room, pushing the other ponies aside until he made it back to the hallway. Phantom Shade was waiting there, listening to the unicorn. Pip glanced around. Diamond Tiara was nowhere to be seen.

“Aren’t we getting breakfast?” Phantom Shade asked, his gold eyes watching as the crowd of ponies began funneling out of the building.

“I’m not hungry. You can go.”

“Tsk. You upset that all those ponies aren’t worshipping the ground Princess Luna walks on?”

Pip glared. “They just don’t know what they’re talking about! Princess Luna is amazing and she doesn’t deserve to be trapped on the moon!”

“I agree,” Phantom Shade said with a nod.

“Really?”

“Of course,” the bat pony hissed. “Don’t you remember me telling you as much? She’s practically the only reason bat ponies even have a job outside Hollow Shades. I would never wish anything ill upon her.”

“Oh,” Pip said with a smile. “Right. That’s good.”

“But that unicorn did make an interesting point. Has there ever been more than one nightmare creature at a time? A Nightmare Moon and a Nightmare something or other?”

Pip thought back and shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

Phantom Shade half smiled and took a step closer to Pip. In a dark tone he whispered, “Then I think I have a solution to our problem that doesn’t involve tediously searching through dreams.”

“You do?” Pip asked, lowering his voice to a whisper as well, though he didn’t know why they were whispering.

“Listen,” Phantom Shade stressed. “We get a random pony, place him in a trap, make him sleep, convince the Nightmare Forces to take him, and, before the Nightmare Forces can do anything, spring the trap. With the nightmare contained, we can banish it to the moon and save ourselves the hassle.”

Pip snorted in disgust. “You sound just as bad as that unicorn. That isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t fair,” Phantom Shade hissed. “Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good!”

No! Pip turned away. The darkness can’t be right! I won’t let it be right! We don’t need to do this! “It isn’t right,” Pip firmly stated. “Who would we even use to trap the Nightmare Forces? We could never ask that of somepony! We could never force that upon somepony!”

Phantom Shade walked around to face him. “You aren’t thinking about this the right way. We use an unwanted pony. A thief. A sick orphan. A criminal locked away in Tartarus, I don’t care! Somepony that nopony will miss!”

“Maybe a smaller than average earth pony? A runt?” Pip asked.

“Yes, exactly.”

“Or, and hear me out now,” Pip said sarcastically. “What about… a bat pony? Nopony likes them anyway! I’m sure if we left it to a vote, they would be the one picked!”

Phantom Shade slowly narrowed his eyes into a glare.

“Do you see how this isn’t right?” Pip snapped. He could feel himself getting angry. He resisted the urge to just shove Phantom Shade out of his face, but it was tempting. “Nopony can decide! It’s completely unfair and I refuse to entertain the thought! There has to be another way, Phantom Shade. We’ll find it, no matter what it takes.”

“You know,” Phantom Shade began, “being captain of such an important guard means you’ll have to make the tough decision. What’s more important? One pony or every living being? The choice is obvious, if you ask me.”

Pip glared back. “As your captain, I’ve made my decision. We won’t be sacrificing anypony or anything to the Nightmare Forces. Not now, not ever.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Phantom Shade sarcastically replied as he turned away from Pip and flew into the lobby. Pip didn’t go after him. He knew that that plan was terrible. Plus… they didn’t know for sure that the Nightmare Forces could only have one at a time… Now that Pip thought about it, during the fight with Nightmare Moon, she had offered to give him a place by her side, making him Nightmare Star.

No. It’s a terrible plan, and I never want to prove the darkness correct. Our differences will be our strength.

Pip looked around. Celestia wanted them to be here, for some reason. Whatever it was, he was going to find it.

Then he was going to travel to the land of dragons.

Captured

Chapter 13
Captured

“You day ponies are way more innovative than I gave you credit for.”

“I suppose.”

“You suppose? Do you see this building?” Specter motioned to one of many skyscrapers. In the dreamscape, the skyscraper was a dull gray and white, constantly evaporating into sand at every point, yet somehow never dwindling.

Marble glanced at the skyscraper and shrugged. “It’s impressive, I guess. It just doesn’t excite me.”

Specter marveled at the building for a moment longer before flying to catch up to Marble. He thought the earth pony was crazy. Who builds buildings that large? Why would they even do that? It wasn’t like Equestria was lacking space…

“Look, here’s a dream.” Marble motioned to a bubble of light and immediately began walking in its direction. Specter followed behind her, dreading the thought of working with somepony else for this. Despite the fact that he wanted to have a competition to determine the best of them, he had actually been the worst member of the team from his own internal count.

Once the light faded, Specter saw that they were now standing in a dream theater. The seating was empty, but there was a long line of stallions and mares waiting in the aisles between the benches. The stage of the theater had a single red chaise longue with a beautiful mare resting on it.

The mare had a pale magenta coat, purple and white mane, and gorgeous blue eyes. Her slender and elegant frame made Specter’s heart tick just a little faster. “Wow. Not bad for an earth pony, am I right?” he nudged Marble.

Marble gave the mare one look and shrugged. “I guess. Though, what does a diamond tiara cutie mark actually do? How would one gain a talent from that?”

Specter hadn’t even noticed the mark, despite taking stock of how toned her flank was. “I dunno. Does it matter? With legs like that, who needs a special talent?”

“Next!” the mare on stage shouted.

One of the stallions waiting in line happily jumped onto the stage and bowed before her. “Diamond Tiara! It would be an honor to be your friend!”

“Too tall,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “I need somepony my height or shorter. I don’t want anypony taller than me, making me look short by comparison.”

The stallion hung his head and slowly trotted off the stage with a frown.

“Next!” Diamond Tiara shouted.

This time a mare jumped onto the stage. She had an orange coat and green mane with three blue circles as a cutie mark. “I’ve always wanted to be your friend, Di! Always! Please give me a chance! I think we can do amazing things together!”

Diamond Tiara looked over the mare with a sneer. “I can’t have a friend that looks like a walking, talking carrot. Get out of here. As a matter of fact, anypony that has a brightly colored coat is hereby dismissed!”

“Ahhh…” groaned half the ponies waiting in line. They all hung their heads and began trotting out.

“She’s got a real winning personality,” Marble sarcastically remarked.

Specter took a seat on a nearby bench. “She can judge me any day.”

“It’s only a dream,” Marble said with a shrug. “You could get in line and try out.”

“Not a bad idea,” he said, rubbing his chin.

“Next!” Diamond Tiara shouted.

Specter didn’t wait in line. He used his dream magic to vanish the next pony and took their place. He flew onto the stage and landed next to the lounging earth pony.

“I bet you’ve never seen a bat pony before,” he said as suavely as he could, brushing back his light gray mane.

Diamond Tiara reeled back in disgust. “Aah! What kind of hideous monster are you?! Gross! You’re definitely disqualified! I can’t be seen with such an ugly friend! Never!”

Specter turned away, hurt by her outburst. It only took him a minute to compose himself, and he turned back with a sarcastic laugh. “Oh, like you’re so much better? Why don’t we fight it out right here, huh? What’re you going to bring? Earth magic? Pfft. Please. I got fangs, lady. And I’m silent.” He flew around her and smiled, though deep inside he knew he couldn’t change how he looked.

“Fighting? Ew! And I don’t need earth magic when I have the most powerful magic of all,” Diamond Tiara said with a pompous laugh.

“What magic is that?” Marble asked from the audience, obviously curious.

“Money,” Diamond Tiara quickly responded. “And lots of it.”

“You’re also rich?” Specter balked. Some ponies just have all the luck…

“My father was named Filthy Rich for a reason,” she said, fluffing her curly mane. Specter and Marble both began laughing. Diamond Tiara glared from one to the other. “What’s so funny? Why are you laughing?”

“Did they call him Filth for short?” Specter said between laughs, practically falling over.

“At least he wasn’t named Stinkin’ Rich or something equally as absurd!” Marble said, slamming her hoof on the bench in front of her.

Diamond Tiara crossed her forelegs over her chest. “Stinkin’ Rich was my great-grandfather’s name.”

Another round of laughter, this time twice as loud, emanated from Specter and Marble. Diamond Tiara just waited for them to finish, an ever-growing frown on her face.

Marble was the first to stop laughing. She wiped away a tear and sat back on her bench. “All right. The joke is no longer funny.”

“Really?” Specter asked. “Not even imagining her great-grandfather being called Stink as a foal? That doesn’t make you laugh?” He snorted and rolled as he continued to laugh.

“Nope,” Marble said in a dull tone. “No longer funny. Let’s get this over with.”

Specter quieted himself and sighed. He still thought it was funny.

“Both of you can just show yourselves out!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Neither of you are worthy of being my friend!”

Rolling off the edge of the stage, Specter flew over to Marble. “Let’s ditch this crazy mare and go into somepony else’s dream. She doesn’t look like she has problems to me.”

“She clearly has a deep seated insecurity and need to be liked,” Marble casually commented. Although she had spoken in a light tone, Diamond Tiara jumped off her chaise longue and snorted.

“I do not have any sort of problems! How dare you say otherwise!”

A bone chilling breeze washed through the theater. Specter glanced around. They were alone now. No lines. No other ponies. The whole place felt like a ghost town. Normally the nightmares were over-the-top frightening, but this felt more… sad.

“Everypony wants to be my friend!” Diamond Tiara continued to shout and stomp her hooves. “I’m perfect! Perfect, you hear me?! I have money, looks, connections! What else is there?!” Her voice echoed through the empty theater, lingering longer than any echo ever should.

Specter and Marble didn’t reply. The silence that followed the echoes was haunting. Specter opened his mouth, but Marble held up a hoof and pointed to the stage. Diamond Tiara’s lip quavered as her eyes searched the deserted theater.

As the dream stretched on, the wood and fabric of the theater began to rot, everything aging decades within a matter of moments. As the wood warped it cracked, punctuating the silence with an eerie crackle.

The theater, now old and decrepit, was nothing more than gray fabric, dust and twisted wood. Diamond Tiara took a hesitant step back. “Everypony wants to be my friend!” she tried to shout, but her voice cracked. “I’m p-perfect…”

Cold. Dead. Silence.

Diamond Tiara snapped her attention to Specter. “R-right?”

“Didn’t you call me a hideous monster?” Specter asked. “I think I’m over you.”

“What about you?” Diamond Tiara shifted her attention to Marble, tears in her eyes.

Marble straightened her long gray mane. “I don’t pick my friends based on pity.”

It was obvious that Marble’s words had stung Diamond Tiara. She turned away, hiding her face. The chill of the haunting breeze became even colder, verging on freezing. Frost began coating the benches and stage.

“If this keeps up we’ll find the Nightmare Forces for sure,” Marble commented, watching the ice as it began to cover everything.

“Really?” Specter skeptically asked. “This is what’s going to get the Nightmare Forces to show? Who cares if you don’t have any friends? You’re born alone and you die alone. It’s just a thing, no need to get hung up on it.”

Diamond Tiara slowly turned back to him, her face stained with tears. “You aren’t bothered by… being alone?”

“Of course not!” Specter said with a shrug. “Your only true companions in life are your shadow and silence. Everything else will eventually leave and never come back.” Specter knew that sounded cold, but it was the truth. He had learned it long ago…

“But… nothing feels the same without Silver Spoon." Diamond Tiara hung her head. “I don’t understand why she left! I thought I was perfect!”

Specter flew up and around Diamond Tiara. “Forget about her! That’s what I would do. Ponies that snub me were probably not worth my time anyway.” Marble, grounded in the audience area, shook her head and frowned. “What?” Specter snapped. “You got something to say?”

“Are you forgetting Scootaloo?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “I haven’t seen you give up on her.”

“Yeah, but she’s the perfect example of what I’m talking about!” Specter blurted out. “I keep trying to make something happen between us and all she can see is Rumble because he’s a bird pony just like she is! I should take my own advice and ignore her and Rumble! They don’t want me around! And it’s the same with everypony!”

Diamond Tiara wiped away the last of her tears and nodded. “You’re right. Other ponies aren’t worth my time.”

The theater started to twist back into shape, but the warmth never returned. It was a cold, empty theater. Beautiful… but hollow.

“I don’t need anypony,” Diamond Tiara definitively stated. “You two can go.”

“Wait,” Marble held up a hoof. “We’re with the Star Guard! We need to get rid of the-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you a favorable review,” Diamond Tiara said with a loud groan. “You’ve been very helpful, yadda, yadda. You’re dismissed.”

“But we haven’t-”

“I said,” Diamond Tiara emphasized the words and glared, “you’re dismissed!”

Marble let out a breath of exasperation. She turned around with a swish of her tail and flounced from the dream. Specter flew after her, yawning as he went.

Once they were past the edge of the dream, he glanced at Marble and shrugged. “Favorable review? Does she think we’re some sort of dream burlesque dancers or something? Oh well. Which dream next?”

“That. Was. Awful.” Marble turned her glare on him. “You have some issues you need to get out of your system. No wonder you’re not helping many ponies.”

“What? It’s not like we saw any Nightmare Forces in that dream! She’ll be fine.”

“We’ll need to return to it, and sometime soon.” Marble trotted through the dreamscape with her eyes now turned to the colorless ground. “We need to think of a way to draw the Nightmare Forces out. Maybe we pretend to be her old friend…”

Specter placed his hooves behind his head and floated next to her. “It’s not like she has any friends anymore. If nopony even cares about her, maybe we should help some other pony first.”

“We don’t decide who we help based on popularity.”

“All right… You think of some way to help her. I’ll think of something else.”

Without warning, Marble bucked the bat pony and slammed him to the ground. Despite being in the dreamscape, Specter could feel the power behind the blow. He felt winded, and when he looked up, Marble was standing over him, pinning his body to the ground.

“You are going to help me solve this,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

For a moment Specter was stunned. Wow. I didn’t realize she was so tough. “Hey. You know what just occurred to me?”

Marble, obviously confused, raised an eyebrow.

“Your coat. It’s gray. And your mane… it’s dark gray. Day-ponies usually have bright colors… but bat ponies are the ones with dull colors. Like gray. And black. You ever think you were part bat pony?”

She face-hoofed.

“I’m being serious!” Specter said. “Just wonderin’.”

“Are you even paying attention?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll help you help that other pony. Whatever you say. You’re the leader of our team.”

“Team?” Marble asked, releasing Specter. “It’s just us two.”

“Whatever you say, Team Captain,” he joked.

“And you need to talk to Rumble and Scootaloo.”

“Eh,” he dismissively waved away her suggestion. “I’ll just go on ignoring it. That way I don’t have to deal with things.”

Marble got back on top of him and glared.

“Okay, okay!” he capitulated, shoving her off and flying up into the dusty sky. “I’ll talk to them at some point! Jeez, you’re a crazy mare sometimes!”

“You sound just like Scootaloo.”

“Oh! You know what else you need? A nickname.”

“Marble is already a nickname. My full name is-”

“No. I mean a cool nickname.”

Marble rolled her eyes as they trotted to the next available dream.

Rumble flexed his wings while he walked. He knew he wasn’t actually stretching, since this was a dream, but he needed something to do while he walked in silence. Rumble glanced over at his partner. At first he'd thought having a teammate would be nice. After all, he was always somewhat nervous when fighting the Nightmare Forces alone. What if something went wrong?

“So, uh, Equinox,” he began, hoping she would say something.

She didn’t.

“You and I… don’t talk much,” he lamely added.

Still, she said nothing.

Oh ponyfeathers… Scootaloo is always so talkative. Same with Specter, now that I think about it… Why can’t Equinox be as easy to engage?

In the dream world, Equinox looked exactly as she did when she'd first joined the Night Guard. No scars. Wings perfect. Her eyes, however, looked angry. Rumble took a deep breath and held it. Should he mention her change of appearance?

“So, uh, look! A dream!” He pointed to a small bubble of light he'd almost missed. It was tucked away in the dreamscape, almost like it was hiding. Equinox turned in the direction Rumble had pointed. The surprise on her face told Rumble that she had missed it as well.

They both trotted across the light threshold and into the dream itself. Rumble felt odd in this dream. It was alien and different in a way he wasn’t used to. When he blinked back the light he realized the dream itself was set inside a slimy tunnel. A dark, disgusting, soft and porous tunnel…

Green ooze stuck to his hooves and he quickly kicked it away. Equinox took the air and he followed suit. The tunnel was black, green and blue. A deep, but distant, buzzing was all Rumble could hear as he and Equinox flew further into the dream.

“I hope they don’t find me.”

The voice Rumble heard was in his head, not something spoken. He wildly glanced around, confused by the talking in his mind.

“They’ll kill me if I’m found…”

Rumble shook his head. He didn’t like this. “Equinox,” he said aloud. “Do you hear that? Er, I don’t know if hearing is the right word…”

“I hear it,” she snapped. “Just leave this to me.”

“But,” Rumble nervously glanced around the tunnel, “we’re supposed to be a team.” He didn’t like the look of this dream. Not one little bit. Everything about it felt like a trap waiting to be sprung, or that the environment itself was out to get them.

“I can handle it on my own. Why don’t you just head to the next dream and I’ll catch up with you?” She swished her tail and quickly flew deeper into the tunnel.

“They’re coming… Leave me alone!”

“Wait!” Rumble called out. He flew up ahead of her and got in her way. “I don’t think we should split up! Pip thinks that-”

Equinox slammed him with her hooves, nearly knocking him out of the air. “Can’t you take a hint, pegasus?! I want to be left alone! I can do it! I don’t need any help, okay?!” Rumble rubbed at the area on his chest where she had hit him and frowned.

“I’m so hungry… so scared… now they’ve come to kill me…”

Rumble decided to try and reason with Equinox. “I don’t want to disobey Pip. Thunder Clash always says we need to operate as one and follow directions. So, if they say we should work in a team-”

With another powerful shove, Equinox sent him into the porous wall of the tunnel. Rumble could feel the odd black and green slime as it coated his coat and feathers. Disgusted, he pushed away from the wall and kicked Equinox away.

“What’s gotten into you?!” Rumble huffed, tense and ready to fight.

Angrier than Rumble had ever seen her, Equinox growled and flew back at him. She rammed her body against his, crushing him against the wall of the tunnel. Pieces of the tunnel broke away like a crumbling organic cookie. Ooze splashed across both of them.

Confused and frustrated, Rumble flipped their positions, slamming Equinox against the wall. Using her dream magic, Equinox created a halberd, much to Rumble’s surprise. Not to be outdone, he created a spear and leapt away from her.

“So much hate… so much violence… There can be no doubt as to their intentions…”

Rumble ignored the voice in his head in order to better defend against Equinox. She pushed off the wall, flying at him at high speeds. He blocked, but her skill was greater. She turned the halberd, using the hook of it to rip the spear from his hooves.

Wait a minute, he thought. This is a dream!

He held up a hoof and gale force winds poured forth, screaming through the tunnel and sending Equinox into a tailspin. Realizing what he realized, Equinox grit her teeth and summon dream chains that exploded from the walls of the tunnel. They wrapped around Rumble’s limbs and pulled him down.

“Equinox!” Rumble hissed. “What are you even doing?!”

Taking deep, frustrated breaths, Equinox lowered her weapon. “I just want to be left alone! All right?! Maybe I want to prove to the others I can do this!”

“Prove to who?” Rumble asked, pulling at the chains. “Pip didn’t do this because he thought you needed a partner! He did it for everyone! Even he got a partner!”

She hesitated for a moment, obviously swayed by his logic.

“They won’t take me without a fight! They won’t!”

Rumble hadn’t even noticed how much the dream had shifted since they entered. It was already creepy, but now all the blue accents had become red, the tunnel was pulsating, like it was alive, and the ooze… it was acidic.

Before the horror of the situation fully sank in, Rumble felt a terrible burning on his back and wings. He flailed about, trying to get the ooze off, but the chains made it difficult. He tried to vanish them away, but he couldn’t.

The walls of the “tunnel” trembled and Rumble couldn’t help but feel like something was coming. “Equinox!” he called out, a nervous panic coming over him.

She flew to him and began cutting away at the chains. They broke away easily, practically dissolving, but it felt the same on Rumble’s back. It burned! Every inch of his back and wings burned!

Rumble could see that Equinox’s body was also being consumed by the acidic ooze. She fought through the pain and urged him to get up. The longer they took, the more certain Rumble was that ooze was gushing through the tunnel.

“I wish my queen were here… or my brothers and sisters… Why must I be alone when I die? Why must I be alone…?”

“We’re here to help you!” Rumble called out, though he thought himself silly. The voice was in his mind. Where was the pony who was dreaming? What sort of dream was this? Rumble had never dreamt of something so surreal and alien!

Equinox tried to push him toward the edge of the dream. “We should leave!”

Agony spread throughout his body. Rumble struggled to move, though Equinox didn’t look as hampered. He could feel his feathers melting from his wings! “I can’t,” Rumble breathed. “It hurts too much!”

She offered her shoulder to help him. The quivering of the “tunnel” beneath his hooves made him queasy, and the fear of slowly being corroded away to nothingness made it hard to think straight.

“Don’t give up on me, Rumble!” Equinox said, pulling him to the edge of the dream.

Rumble glanced over his shoulder. A creature of green and black ooze, in the shape of a giant deformed pony, sloshed through the tunnel, charging their way. Whatever it touched, it left holes of smoking disintegration. Was this a nightmare creature or was it just the dreamer frightened of Rumble and Equinox?

The ooze pony leapt at them, but Rumble wasn’t going to allow it to win. He pushed Equinox away, further toward the edge of the dream, just before it collided with him. The intense flash of pain, followed by the feeling of wasting away to his bones, was the worst moment of his life, despite the fact that it was all a dream.

And then there was nothing.

“Oh, bravo! What an excellent piece!”

The stomping of excited ponies filled the arena. Pip wasn’t entirely sure what he was watching. When he had first entered the dream, he'd thought they were going to be helping some sort of athlete, but that definitely wasn’t the case.

In the middle of the playing field was a group of ponies dressed in fashionable clothing. They were taking turns showing off their dresses, suits and accessories. Even though the stadium seating wasn’t designed for fashion shows in mind, some ponies being too far away to see anything, they still cheered as though they could.

Pip knew some ponies liked fashion, but this was ridiculous. “Who do you think is dreaming this dream?” he asked, scanning the audience. There were hundreds of ponies in attendance.

“That one,” Phantom Shade said, pointing to a mare in the field. She was older than all the models, with a dark gray coat and light pink mane.

“How do you know?” Pip asked, leaning on the railing that separated the audience from the playing field.

“I can feel it.”

Pip squinted at the mare. The models turned to her and smiled whenever they were done. “Prim Hemline! The fashion show is a success! Everypony is excited about fashion now!”

The older mare held her head up high and nodded. “Yes. As it should be!” She walked around the models with a restrained smile. She lifted her forelegs high off the ground as she walked, a sign of high etiquette, though it was rarely used anymore.

“She seems happy,” Pip said. “We should come back to her dreams later. The ponies at risk are the ones that are unhappy in life. We should deal with them first.”

“Or we can simply change her dream and draw out the Nightmare Forces,” Phantom Shade coldly replied. “It’s obvious she thinks these petty material objects are important. I say we alter the dream so that everypony thinks they’re worthless. Or perhaps the clothing could come to life and eat the models. The former would be more convincing, but the latter would be more amusing.”

Pip slowly turned his head toward the bat pony. “Are you serious? We aren’t here to start nightmares… we’re here to defeat them.”

“We’re here to defeat the Nightmare Forces, not make sure everypony gets a good night sleep,” Phantom Shade said with a roll of his eyes. “Giving her a nightmare isn’t the end of the world. She’ll live.”

“It doesn’t feel right. I know that defeating the Nightmare Forces is important, but that doesn’t justify us doing whatever we want to get them.”

Phantom Shade clenched his teeth. “Listen, I can understand why you wouldn’t want to use a pony to trap the Nightmare Forces, but giving a pony a nightmare is inconsequential! They won’t even know it’s us! She’ll just think she’s dreaming!”

Pip was about to respond when he suddenly felt a pain shoot through him. He sucked in his breath and nearly doubled over. The magic from the Fragment of the First Night tied him to the others. He could feel a piece slipping away… It was Rumble. Pip kept his eyes shut, silently cursing at himself. He thought having partners would eliminate moments like this! First Scootaloo was in trouble and now Rumble?! What was going on?

“What is it?” Phantom Shade asked. “I don’t sense any nightmares.”

“Something is wrong with Rumble… He’s slipping away…”

“What? The pegasus? Where is he?”

Before Pip could answer, everything felt oddly distant and ethereal. He gave Phantom Shade a confused look at the dream quickly melted away, disappearing into a cloud of nothingness. Alone, Pip flailed about, trying to regain his connection with the dreamscape.

He quickly opened his eyes in the waking world and took deep breaths. He was on a boat. Tied to the main mast with heavy rope. The creaking of the wooden planks against the waves the only noises.

Shocked, Pip saw the lights of Manehattan slowly becoming smaller and smaller as the boat sailed away from port. Water splashed up from the side, the smell of sea salt filling the air. It was dark and Pip could hardly see anything.

The fragment! he thought, stricken with panic. What’s going on?!

Pirates

Chapter 14
Pirates

Mist rolled off her bed, confused. Scootaloo had disappeared and then the dream world had just… ended. That didn’t normally happen.

“Rumble!” Equinox gasped, jumping up from the couch. She wildly glanced around the room, prompting Mist to do the same.

“What happened?” Mist asked. The window was broken open, the glass shattered inward and on the floor. Across from the window was the rundown warehouse used to hold cargo from the docks.

The room was wrecked and the door left open. Marble and Scootaloo were nowhere to be found. Where are they? Equinox galloped from the room, hitting the door as she went. Mist followed her down the hallway toward Pip’s room. His door was also broken and Equinox burst through it, calling out for Rumble. Mist entered the room, not surprised to see it was in the same mangled condition.

Phantom Shade was just waking and Rumble was lying on his bed, but otherwise nopony was here. The couch was turned over and the floor covered in orange feathers, like there had been a scuffle, but Mist didn’t see anypony nearby.

“Where’s Squeaks?” Mist asked, worried when she saw his usual places empty. “Where are the others?”

Equinox ran to Rumble’s side and began shaking him. “Rumble! Wake up! Rumble!” He didn’t move much outside of his shallow breathing. Mist recognized that… it had been just like Princess Celestia when they found her with Nightmare Moon. Unmoving. Unresponsive.

Phantom Shade left the room. Mist, uncertain of what they should be doing, flew out into the hall, hoping to find more clues. Noi, the pony who had hosted them in her little hotel, was walking up the stairs.

“Noi! Where’s Squeaks?” Mist asked in a panicked tone.

“Um, would you all mind keeping it down in your rooms?” Noi asked, ignoring Mist’s question. “I know you guys have important Star Guard business to do, but some of the other guests are complaining.”

“Pipsqueak! Have you seen Pipsqueak?!” Mist couldn’t care less about the other guests complaining about the noise!

“No, I didn’t see him. All I heard was all the thumping. Are you guys training in your rooms? I know there isn’t a rule about that, but I thought it was just common sense to not do t-”

“What about any strange ponies? Have you seen any of those?” Mist pushed Noi to the side and began examining every inch of the carpet in the hotel. When she found nothing, she realized that the ponies must have exited the same way they came in. Through the broken window.

“Is something wrong?” Noi asked as Mist pushed past her again, flying back to the rooms. Mist didn’t answer because she honestly didn’t know if the situation was bad or not. She flew back into the room with her sister and Rumble. Equinox was still standing next to the pegasus pony, guilt written across her face.

Phantom Shade galloped back into the room and shut the door behind him. His gold eyes were staring, unseeing, at the floor in front of him.

Knock, knock.

Everypony jumped. Phantom Shade took a deep breath and cracked the door open an inch. “Yes?” he asked, his voice remarkably calm for what was going on.

“Is everything okay?” Noi asked from the hallway.

“Yes, everything is fine.”

“What was all that thumping earlier?”

“We were…” Phantom Shade hesitated a moment and glanced around the room. “We were sparring. Forgive me. It was a lack of common sense that led to such uncouth behavior. It will not happen again.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks! Just keep in mind the other guests are trying to sleep when you guys are working!”

“I shall.” Phantom Shade shut the door with a hard click. He then turned to Mist and Equinox. “It’s imperative that we start searching immediately. Once the day-pony in the hall leaves, we’ll search the warehouse. They must be close by.”

“Why didn’t you tell her something was wrong?” Mist asked. Why hide it?

Phantom Shade walked over to the corner of the room and examined the Star Guard armor. It was all there… whoever had broken in hadn’t taken it. Phantom Shade slipped into his. “An element of being a part of the military, or any agency with the public safety in mind, is that you should always appear as though you are in control of a situation, even if you aren’t. It wouldn’t help us to start a panic. It definitely wouldn’t help us if everypony in Manehattan thought we were being robbed.”

“Kidnapped,” Mist corrected with a nervous laugh.

“Under no circumstances are we to admit that!” Phantom Shade snapped. “Not until we know what’s going on!”

Equinox turned away from Rumble with a glare. “We have bigger problems on our hooves! Rumble died in the dreamscape! He… I watched him be melted! We have to do something to help him! He isn’t waking!”

“And we certainly will not mention that!” Phantom Shade said with a dark, ironic laugh. “Now get up and get dressed! Quickly! We need to find these attackers and deal with this situation before anything gets out of hoof!”

“What about Rumble?” Equinox asked, her emotions torn.

Phantom Shade dramatically waved a hoof around the room. “Do you see our captain? How do you think we’re going to go into the dreamscape and help Rumble if we don’t have his magic necklace? We can’t! Get your priorities together! You’re the only one I can count on right now to solve this situation!”

Mist rubbed her hooves together and half-smiled. “I’m here! I’m ready to start looking!”

Phantom Shade barely acknowledged her with a look. He grabbed his bow and a quiver of arrows as Equinox donned her armor. Mist flew over and began suiting up as well.

“You stay here,” Phantom Shade ordered her. “You’ll only get in the way if you’re with us.”

“But I’m a member of the Star Guard too! I should be helping!” That’s what Squeaks would do!

“You’re mediocre at best,” Phantom Shade dismissively stated. “I remember you during the Night Guard training. You stay and watch over the pegasus, just in case our attackers return. Equinox, you’re with me. I know you can get the job done.”

Equinox brought a hoof up to her damaged wing but said nothing.

“I can fly!” Mist said, though she almost regretted it. She didn’t want to hurt her sister, but she was useful!

Phantom Shade glared at her. “Equinox knows what it takes to get the job done. You don’t. Wait here and watch the pegasus. We’ll be back.”

“It’s almost dawn,” Mist said. “Three searching is better than two!”

“You’re trying my patience!” Phantom Shade hissed. “I wasn’t inviting discussion, I was issuing a command!”

Mist solemnly nodded and watched as her sister and the old captain galloped from the room. How was she supposed to prove she was just as awesome as Princess Luna if everypony assumed she couldn’t handle anything?

I hope Squeaks is okay.

The instant they were gone, she gazed at the floor and saw something odd. A colorful and glittering substance had been thrown around the room. Potions? Magic? What was that about?

“What’s going on?!” Pip asked aloud. The darkness of the night made it difficult to see without his fragment. The lights of Manehattan had almost disappeared off into the distance and all he knew was that he was tied to a boat mast!

Pip looked left and then right. Marble, Scootaloo and Specter were tied up, though not to anything. Thunder Clash was also on the boat, but he was injured and unconscious, just lying on the open deck. “Marble!” Pip called to her. She was still sleeping. “Marble!”

She blinked a few times and lifted her head. Like Pip, she was momentarily dumbfounded and confused. “What the...?” she asked, craning her head to get a quick look at Manehattan.

“Hey, Mizzen! They’re waking!” a high-pitched voice screamed.

Pip turned toward the source of the scream and was shocked to see a breezie. Like all breezies, the tiny pony creature had giant fairy wings and long antennae. This particular breezie had a light blue coat, a purple mane cut like a Mohawk, and a long purple tail. Her eyes were bright violet and her eyelashes were thick and obvious.

“A breezie?” Pip asked aloud. “I thought they lived in the Breezie Grotto?”

“What’s going on, Gale? What did you say? You know it’s hard to understand what you’re sayin’ from across the boat!”

The breezie frowned and shouted, “They’re awake!”

To Pip’s surprise, a bat pony flew out of the captain’s cabin. He was rugged, wearing a black bandana and carrying a belt of daggers on his belt. The bat pony had a brown coat, ears that ended in tufts, black leathery wings, and obvious fangs. His mane was white, and his eyes, uncharacteristically for a bat pony, were bright blue, though he still had slit-pupils.

“Which one of you is the Guardian of the Night?” the bat pony casually asked as he flew across the deck of the boat. His cutie mark was a boat riding waves.

The other members of the Star Guard began to wake. Thunder Clash, however, was still very much unconscious.

Pip opened his mouth to respond and froze. His Fragment of the First Night was around the bat pony’s neck! He had stolen it! “That’s mine!” was the first thing that came out of Pip’s mouth.

“The captain asked you a question, earth pony!” the breezie barked. It was trying to be intimidating, but the squeaky voice, tiny body and giant beautiful wings made it really hard to take seriously.

Without warning, Marble jumped up and broke the ropes securing her. She spread her hooves apart, bracing for a fight. “Pip, give the word and I’ll liquefy this boat!” Marble raised a single back hoof, prepared to start bucking the wood all around them.

“No!” Pip gasped. “I need to get the fragment first!”

The bat pony captain took off Pip’s necklace and held it out to examine it. “This?” he asked in an amused tone. “You’re concerned about this? I think a smart pony would be more concerned about how far from port we are. Or that one of your friends is in no condition to swim.” He nodded with his head over to Thunder Clash.

“What did you do to him?” Pip growled.

“We didn’t want to have to rough him up, but your friend apparently needs two doses of sleeping gas before he gets knocked out. Made the mistake of thinking one would do it and then bam. He’s all over us! We had to get out of there earlier and everything…” The bat pony trailed off, but then turned his attention back to the group. “So, I’m going to ask again. Which one of you is the Guardian of the Night?”

Marble kept her leg cocked and ready. “I’m still willing to do this,” she said in a mildly excited tone.

“You aren’t breaking this whole boat down!” the breezie said with a snort and laugh.

Marble gave her the challenge accepted face. She brought her foot up slightly higher to kick downward, but Pip shook his head.

“No! Don’t! We can’t afford for the boat to fall apart!” Pip was earnestly pleading. He knew Marble could easily destroy the boat. There was no doubt in his mind.

“Hey!” the bat pony barked, drawing everypony’s attention. He was holding the Fragment of the First Night over the edge and twirling the chain around the edge of his hoof, threatening to drop it at any second. “Is anypony going to answer me? I get really jittery when I don’t get my answers…” He fake-dropped the chain and fragment. Pip could almost feel his heart stopping.

“I’m the Guardian of the Night!” Pip told him. “Please don’t drop that! It’s very important!” If he lost the Fragment of the First Night to the sea, he would be forever losing a piece of Luna’s magic! He would effectively fail his entire mission! The Nightmare Forces would have practically won at that point!

The breezie frowned. “You? You’re the Guardian of the Night? Are you sure?”

“Y-yes!” Pip said, vigorously nodding. “I am!”

“And all these other ponies are members of the Star Guard?” the bat pony asked for clarification.

“Yes! Now don’t drop that!”

The bat pony flew back to the center of the deck and threw the necklace back onto his neck. The breezie landed on his shoulder and glared at them.

“Look, I’ll be frank. My boss told me to bring him the Guardian of the Night, no matter what. So, you guys are going to sit tight and let me, Captain Mizzen, take you all to go see him. I’ll give you back your necklace once we’ve reached the halfway point, how’s that sound?”

“The sun’s about to rise,” Specter said with a nervous laugh. “Aren’t you worried about that at all? I know I sure am…”

“Don’t worry. We have a nice dark hold for you.”

Marble shook her head. “How about you give us back all of our stuff now and I won’t totally wreck everything onboard? I think that’s more of a fair deal.”

“Oh, a feisty one,” Mizzen said with a laugh. “Riddle! Riddle, get out here! The Star Guard wants to meet you too!”

“Don’t you and Gale have everything under control?” said a muffled, timid voice from the captain’s cabin. “I think you guys have it.”

“Riddle! Get your flank out here now!”

A lanky, awkward unicorn walked out on deck. He had a light brown coat with faint stripes across his legs and neck. His mane was mostly white and bristly, also faintly striped, and his tail was cut short. He wore glasses and a bandolier of potions.

Riddle nervously straightened his glasses with his telekinesis and nervously gazed upon the Star Guard. “This is the Guardian of the Night? He doesn’t look like much of a fight. Er- dang it! I’m so sorry!” Riddle smacked himself in the face. “I swear I’m not trying to rhyme!”

Gale, the breezie, rolled her eyes. “I’m starting to think you do it on purpose. Just to annoy me.”

“I won’t rhyme, just watch! Not rhyming should be hard to botch!”

The breezie groaned.

Mizzen waved his hoof through the air. “Just put them back to sleep, Riddle!”

“R-right! Sorry!” Using his magic, the unicorn floated up a potion and smashed it on the deck. Since the ship was moving, the glittering vapors that burst into the air washed over the Star Guard, taking Pip by surprise. He accidentally got a mouth full of the potion vapors and began to cough.

Within moments he felt the dreaded need to sleep wash over him. Pip could barely keep his eyes open, despite the fact that he did not want to sleep. How did Thunder Clash stay awake through one dose of this?

Pip closed his eyes and instantly fell asleep.

Gathering the Troops

Chapter 1
Gathering the Troops

“Once upon a time, the Nightmare Forces infested the dreams of all creatures, whispering to them while they slept, feeding on their fears and weaknesses. Those who lost themselves to despair were enveloped in darkness and transformed into nightmarish creatures within the waking world, bringing with them chaos and destruction.

“However, there was one alicorn who took it upon himself to free the dreams of all creatures from the Nightmare Forces’ grasp. Luna’s father, the first Guardian of the Night, tirelessly sifted through the dreams of others, removing the darkness and weakening the Nightmare Forces. Then, right before his task was complete, he disappeared. Which brings me to-”

“Wait,” Scootaloo interjected. “He just disappeared? What happened to him?”

Pipsqueak took a deep breath. The conference room in Canterlot Castle was spacious, even considering the eight ponies gathered within it. The bright glow of the moon, coupled with the glowing crystal lanterns, provided enough light despite the hour. Every pony seated at the rectangular table was staring at Pipsqueak.

“I don’t know what happened to him,” Pipsqueak answered.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes and leaned forward on the table. “Well, that’s lame. If this were a proper story he should have gone out in style. Like, he would have defeated the Nightmare Forces if it weren’t for that sudden bear attack, where he was ambushed by a million bears and went down fighting.”

“That’s preposterous,” Rumble laughed, leaning back in his seat. “A million? C’mon. Maybe a thousand. But not a million.”

“Guys, I’m trying to be serious,” Pipsqueak sighed.

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. “We just got done with saving Canterlot from King Basilisks and nightmare things! You could lighten up, Pip. Everything doesn’t have to be a somber retelling. Besides, everypony who tells legends and stories needs to spice it up a bit. Just say he fought a thousand bears. It makes it cooler.”

Pip face-hoofed, but he understood Scootaloo’s point. They had just gone through a lot. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad thing to lighten things up, if only for this story. “Okay, okay. Right before the Guardian of the Night could complete his task, he was… attacked by a thousand bears… and went down fighting.”

“Like a badass,” Scootaloo added.

“Yes, like a badass,” Pip groaned. “Anyway, when the Nightmare Forces had control of Luna, all of her father’s work was undone. Now the darkness lurks in the dreams of all creatures and those who would give in to despair will become nightmares in the waking world. Princess Luna has tasked me with helping her purge the darkness from dreams once more and… I need help. I can’t do it on my own. Luna told me I was to recruit a few select ponies I could trust in the dreamscape, which is why you are all here.”

“You want us to join the Star Guard?” Rumble asked, surprised.

Pip nodded and turned to the first pony seated next to him, Marble Pie. She was an earth pony with a light gray coat, a dark gray mane, and bright purple eyes. Her cutie mark was a shattered boulder, a symbol of her talent for destruction. Though she wasn’t always the most energetic or fun-loving, Pip knew he wanted her by his side, in or out of the dreamscape.

“Marble, will you help me? Will you join the Star Guard?”

She lifted an eyebrow and hefted her war hammer. “Can Sebastian come with me into the dreams?”

“I guess? I mean, war hammers don’t dream but, er, you can imagine him there?” Pip knew she carried the weapon with her everywhere… but even into dreams?

“All right. Count me in.”

Pip looked to the next pony at the table. Equinox, a bat pony, stared back at him with her gold slit-pupiled eyes. She had a dark gray coat covered in contorted, irregular scars, and light blue mane. Like all bat ponies, she had leathery wings. Well, in her case, one leathery wing. The other was more skeletal, completely missing the webbing. Her cutie mark was a circle; one half white and one half black. It represented her ability to see in daylight, a trait not normally shared by other bat ponies.

“Equinox,” Pip addressed her. “You were the one to deliver the final blow to Nightmare Moon. Will you help me? Will you join the Star Guard?”

“Of course,” she said quickly. “It’s a noble cause, to say the least.”

Relief came over Pip. He felt the same way about Equinox as he did Marble; he couldn’t imagine doing this task without them. The next pony seated at the table was Rumble, a pegasus from Ponyville. He was a strong flier even when he was a foal, he participated in creating the powerful tornado of rain when most foals were too weak to approach the clearing.

Rumble had a light bluish gray coat, a dark gray and blue mane, and purple eyes. His cutie mark was a black cloud with a thunderbolt coming out of it. Although Rumble hadn’t fought through the nightmares, Pip knew he was determined. It was a good trait to have.

“Rumble, will you join the Star Guard?” he asked.

“You know, when I spoke to my brother during the King Basilisk attack… he said he was proud of me for serving Equestria and the princesses. I think I’d be letting him down if I said no now.” Rumble sat up in his chair and held his head high. “I’ll definitely join the guard.”

Pip turned to the next pony, a bat pony by the name of Mist. She was-

“Yes!” she happily shouted before Pip had a chance to open his mouth. “I’m never going to become the Princess of Bats if I don’t get out there and improve!”

“The Princess of Bats?” Marble skeptically asked. “Don’t you think that’s a little crazy?”

“Are you seriously questioning somepony else’s sanity?” Scootaloo asked with a look of disbelief. “Why don’t you ask Sebastian what he thinks of that hypocrisy, hm?”

“Fair enough.”

Mist stood up from her chair and placed her forelegs on the table, standing taller than any other pony in the room. “Nothing is impossible, I say! Let’s show them dark forces what we got!” She followed up her proclamation with a ke ke ke snicker.

Although Mist and Equinox were siblings, they didn’t look much alike beyond their fangs and leathery wings. Mist’s dark brown coat was unmarred by scars, she had a white mane, and amber colored eyes. Her cutie mark was an owl made of mist, a reference to her skill in hiding.

“Thank you, Mist,” Pip said with a laugh. The bat pony stared at him with bright eyes, her adoration clear as day. Pip felt himself flushing with embarrassment when he turned to the next pony. “Um, er, Specter… You want to-”

The bat pony, Specter, immediately held up his hoof, interrupting Pip. “Hey, those nightmares were intense. I don’t think anypony should have to deal with those kinds of shenanigans, not even day-ponies. Also, if Scoots is going, I’m going.”

Scootaloo looked at him with a half-smile. “You think you can keep up with me? Pfft. We’ll see.” Specter just smiled back. He had a black coat, light gray mane, and light gray eyes. His cutie mark was an image of the moon with the shadow of a pony cast over it.

He stretched his leathery wings and yawned. “I think I can handle it.”

Rumble looked put-off. “Hey, you heard Pip. This is serious, so stop making goo-goo eyes at Scootaloo.”

“What? I was serious. I’m joining the Star Guard, calm yourself.”

“Besides,” Marble commented, propping her war hammer up on the seat next to her, “weren’t you onboard with adding a bear attack to the story, Rumble? I think Specter’s entitled to his fun too.”

“Whose side are you on?” Rumble glared at Marble. “What if I started making goo-goo eyes at Sebastian?”

Marble thought about the question for half a second. “Well, Sebastian has never shown interest in stallions, but we’re open to trying new things.”

Rumble was taken aback. “What- er, no! It was just a joke!”

“Enough!” Pip said, banging his hoof against the table in order to get everypony’s attention. “We have strayed too far from the topic. Scootaloo, you’re joining, right?”

She nodded. “Of course. Jeez.”

“Gloom?” Pip asked, turning to the last bat pony in the room. Gloom was tall, he had a black coat, a bright green mane, and gray eyes. His cutie mark was three sound lines, a clear indication of excellent hearing.

“Look…” Gloom said, trailing off as his eyes locked in front of him. “It’s great you want me to join you and all… but I’m going to have to decline.”

“What?” Specter suddenly asked, glowering at Gloom. “You’re going to quit? What about the nightmares?”

“I wasn’t even involved with the nightmares,” Gloom said, glaring up at the other bat pony. “I was stuck in the castle with cutie pox while King Basilisks swarmed around, trying to find me. Do you know how difficult it is to stay hidden when you suddenly develop a yodeling cutie mark? Do you? I’ll sum up my feelings: it wasn’t pleasant. I signed up for the Night Guard because I wanted to escape a life where I wasn’t certain about the future. This whole endeavor… fighting nightmares and the like... feels like a pretty uncertain future if you ask me.”

The tone in the room shifted to serious as each of the ponies nervously glanced between each other.

“You must have known the Night Guard would be dangerous,” Equinox stated. “Why is the Star Guard so much different?”

“The Night Guard faces enemies I can deal with, ya know? They have a schedule, a real leader, not some pony who was just promoted to captain after seven months of training, and they protect Princess Luna, not everypony. There’s a big difference between the management of Quarray Eels and facing darkness itself.”

“Nopony is going to force you to join,” Pip said. “But, we did go through a lot together and I feel you would be an asset to the team.”

“Sorry, but I’m going to decline. I would rather finish my training with Captain Ghast than stay here.” He avoided meeting anypony’s eyes as he flapped his leathery wings and left his seat at the table. He quickly exited the room. There was a long silence after the click of the closing door. Pip wasn’t sure what to say; Gloom’s lack of confidence in him had been a heavy blow.

“It’s all right,” Mist suddenly perked up, jumping back onto the table. “We’re all still here, you guys! We got this!”

Rumble nodded, suddenly energized. “Yeah! We totally got this!” Then he turned to Pip. “So… now what?”

Everypony turned to Pip. He nervously laughed and rubbed his hoof over the top of the table. “Well… um, we’ll have to fight the darkness. In dreams. Together.”

“Right now?” Rumble asked. “And how do we do that, exactly?”

Pip placed his most precious possession on the table; a Fragment of the First Night, given to him by Luna, and enhanced with part of her own magic. “We’re going to use this magic to slip in and out of the dreams of ponies. Just… give me a few days to see how it works.”

“You might want to take a little longer,” Marble casually suggested. “You still look a mess.”

Pip glanced at himself. He was still covered in bandages and gauze. His body ached. “We don’t have much time to wait,” he eventually said with a sigh. “Besides, I should be able to handle myself in a dream. That doesn’t require anything physical.”

Marble shrugged. “I hope you’re right.”

Pip slowly trotted into his room in the castle. He would have gone back to the hospital, but he wanted to be alone in order to practice using his Fragment of the First Night.

“Pip,” a familiar voice said.

He turned, and immediately felt at ease. Princess Luna was standing in the hallway near his room, her regal presence matching the grandeur of the building. Her night-sky mane waved through the air, unconcerned with the lack of wind.

“Have you decided who you will be taking into the Star Guard?” she asked.

“Yes.” Pip nodded. “Myself and six others… the other recruits I trained with. Most of them were in the nightmare world with me. I know I can trust them.”

Luna smiled, but her expression was still melancholy. “All of them were recruits?”

“Yes.”

“No fully trained soldiers?”

“Er, no…” Pip said, realizing where she was going with this. Although he trusted the others, none of them had much experience to draw from. He would need to rectify that somehow. “I’ll try and recruit others,” he said, trying to reassure her. “Others with more experience.”

“Good,” she said. “And what will you be doing now?”

“Right now? Well, I’m going to attempt to use your magic to walk through dreams.”

Her eyes lit up. “I was hoping you would say that. Come, Pip. I know I’ve told you much about my powers in the past, but it is a different experience altogether when you must use them yourself. Besides, being an earth pony, I imagine you don’t have my experience with magic.”

Pip forced a smile and shook his head, but in the back of his mind he felt like a child needing to be shown the most basic of everyday functions. Luna pushed open the door to his room and trotted inside. Pip followed. The room, like all rooms in the castle, was grand in scale. Despite being designed for a single pony there was a massive bed, a huge couch, a giant bay window and large balcony.

Luna used her magic to snuff out the lights of the crystal lanterns. Pip was about to object, but then he realized something important. He could see in the dark. Perfectly. It was as if the lights had never been turned off. In fact, he thought he might even be seeing a little better than he had been with them on…

“Why-” He stopped himself and glanced down to the Fragment of the First Night. It pulsed with power and he knew this newfound ability came from the object he was holding. No longer would the darkness of the night be his enemy.

Luna took a seat on the couch and motioned for Pip to take a seat. Pip obliged and happily curled up onto the couch next to her. His back leg ached when he put pressure on it, so he opted instead to sit leaning on his side.

“Pip?” Luna asked, her voice rising.

“Yes?”

“I asked if you were ready. Are you?”

Pip rubbed at his bad ear and nervously laughed. “Yes. I’m ready.”

“Then close your eyes, Pip. We have dreams to explore.”

Author's Note

Artwork for Guardian of the Night in the first comment!

Hopefully you guys enjoy yet another wacky adventure! Current upload schedule is mon/wed/fri! See you Wednesday!

Just a Typical Night

Chapter 9
Just a Typical Night

Scootaloo jumped away from the monster composed completely of squirming, stitched-together pony bodies. “Hang on!” she breathlessly shouted back to Onyx. “We’ll get out of this! Don’t worry!” Scootaloo wasn’t entirely sure if she was talking to herself or Onyx, but she didn’t have the energy to think about it now.

Running along the ever-cracking fields, Scootaloo knew it was only a matter of time before she failed. This was only a delaying tactic. What was she waiting for? Did the others even know she was in danger? She had to come up with a plan that would end this monster and save Onyx!

“Dad… where are you?” Onyx sobbed.

Suddenly, the barrier of light that encased the dream briefly flashed. Scootaloo craned her head and immediately smiled. Pip! He came! Much to her surprise, she spotted the bat pony, Phantom Shade, as well. Scootaloo couldn’t stop running, lest she be caught by the monster, but she did start a wide arc in an attempt to reach the other two.

“What is this?” Phantom Shade gasped in horror.

“It’s a nightmare,” Pip breathed, taken aback.

“Of course it’s a nightmare, fool!” Phantom Shade hissed. “How did it get this powerful?!”

Scootaloo jumped a chasm and began dashing toward Pip. “Guys! Look out! There’s an alicorn here! It’s a nightmare too!”

A dark laugh echoed over the twisted landscape. “Do my eyes deceive me? Is the little dream stalker here as well? How fortunate.” The bat alicorn flew over Pip and Phantom Shade, smiling down at them like a hungry vulture. The monstrosity following Scootaloo turned ever so slightly, going for Pip instead of her. Scootaloo jumped to the side and, sure enough, the monster continued forward.

“Get out of the way!” Scootaloo shouted.

Pip jumped out of the way and Phantom Shade took to the air. The weapons sticking out of the mass of pony bodies drew Phantom Shade’s attention. He dove and snatched a bow along with a single arrow, tearing them away from the flesh despite the cries and moans of protest from the undead ponies.

Taking aim at the giant worm of bodies, Phantom Shade drew back the string of the bow and whipped around, letting the arrow loose and striking the alicorn.

The arrow popped out of the wound and fell to the ground. “Heh,” the alicorn snorted. “You’re nothing compared to me.”

“Pip!” Scootaloo shouted as she ran to him. Pip was busy trying to evade the monster, but he was far slower than Scootaloo. “What’re we going to do?”

“I don’t know whose dream this is,” Pip replied, jumping over snakes on the ground and nearly tripping. One of the snakes suddenly sprang from the ground and bit Scootaloo on the leg. The pain… it felt so real! She ripped the reptile off with her mouth and continued to push forward. Why could she feel it? What was happening?

“Talk to the colt!” Scootaloo told him, motioning to Onyx. “It’s his dream!”

“I don’t know what’s going on, Scootaloo! You need to talk to him! Calm him down!” Pip veered away from her, taking the monster with him. Scootaloo watched him go, and knew the monster was slightly faster than the earth pony. He would be caught for sure, given enough time. What would happen if he died here? He was their captain… what would happen if they lost their captain?

Scootaloo skidded to a halt and gently placed Onyx on the ground. Stomping on the snakes, Scootaloo squished as many as she could. They popped like bloated ticks, a bizarre phenomenon she hadn’t been expecting. Disgusted, she backed up toward Onyx.

“Are you calm yet, kid?” she asked, uncertain of what to say.

“Where’s my dad?!” was all he managed to choke out between sobs.

Oh, great. Perfect. Are you sure you’re even cut out for this, Scootaloo?! You’re not helping! She turned to him and forced a smile. “Oh, c-come on! I thought you wanted an adventure!”

“T-this isn’t an adventure!”

“Sure it is!” she cheerfully replied. “Look at all this, er, adventure we’re having!” Scootaloo jumped on another group of snakes, their small bodies exploding similarly to the watermelon she had summoned when first in the dreamscape. Her hooves now covered in crimson and fleshy lumps, she turned her attention upward. The unblinking eyeballs were just as unsettling. Think, Scootaloo! You can’t let them all down! What would Rainbow Dash do?!

Scootaloo turned her attention toward the giant monster chasing Pip. She would probably try and fight it… Scootaloo shook her head. That’s a terrible plan, Rainbow Dash! I need a real plan!

“Wait!” Scootaloo gasped as an idea came to her. “Didn’t you say you wanted to be the hero?”

Onyx rubbed at his eyes, a frown set into his muzzle. “I-I’m not a hero… I’m just some kid… I don’t have any powers or… or… anything! The m-monsters are just going to eat me!”

“But you are the hero! Did you hear what that pinto stallion said? You need to be calm because you’re the only one who can defeat the monster!” Scootaloo perked him up and pointed toward Phantom Shade and the alicorn. “If he was the hero, would he be fighting Phantom Shade? You know who Phantom Shade is, right?”

“H-he used to be the Captain of the Night Guard,” Onyx stammered, slowly drying his eyes.

“Heroes are the ones that fight the monsters! You wanna help me fight the monsters, right? It’s all up to you, kid! If you think they aren’t scary, they won’t have any more powers!”

Onyx sniffled. “I can’t…”

“You know what I do when I get scared?” Scootaloo asked. “I think of my all-time hero and I ask myself, what would she do? Who is your hero, kid? What would they do?” The ground beneath her was rumbling, but Scootaloo couldn’t stop now. She got closer to him in order to block his view of the nightmare. He was calming down… just a little more…

“B-but heroes have awesome p-powers and stuff!” Onyx yelled in frustration. “I don’t know a-anypony like that!”

“You gotta let go of that notion, kid! Heroes don’t need powers! Heroes aren’t the most powerful guys around!”

Onyx was unconvinced.

Scootaloo let out a short sigh of frustration. He’s just a stubborn as I am! “Why did you keep asking about your dad, then? Does he have powers?!”

“N-no,” Onyx replied, looking up into her eyes.

“Then why him?”

“My dad… he would... he would do whatever it takes to protect me.” Understanding dawned upon Onyx. “He’s the best pony,” he whispered to himself. “What would he do? He wouldn’t be afraid.”

“That’s the spirit!”

BAM!

Scootaloo barely knew what was happening. One moment she had been talking to Onyx, and the next she was sliding across the snake-infested battlefield of the nightmare. With lightning fast reflexes, Scootaloo sprang to her hooves. Wobbling, she realized she was cut up and bruised from a hit by the massive body-worm. The jagged bones and weapons had punctured her skin at several locations. She could feel it, but what did that mean?

The monster went to crush her, and although Scootaloo was fast, she knew, even as she turned, she wouldn’t make it.

“Scoots!”

Specter flew in from the side, knocking her clear of the monster attack. They both rolled across the ground, but got back up in record time.

“Where did you come from?” Scootaloo asked. She hadn’t seen or heard him enter the dream!

“Seriously?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Is this really the time?”

“Stand down, fiends!”

Scootaloo and Specter both turned their heads to see the bat pony colt, Onyx, standing before the monster. His chest was puffed out and his head high, despite the obvious signs he had just been bawling his eyes out.

Before anything else happened, Scootaloo frantically glanced around. Phantom Shade and Pip were both fighting the alicorn. However, the moment Onyx had shouted, the bat alicorn’s attention had also been drawn. Flying away from Pip and Phantom Shade, the alicorn landed close to Onyx with a smile on his face.

“You’re done for!” Onyx exclaimed. “I know your tricks now!”

“Wait!” Scootaloo shouted, galloping toward them. Not being afraid made the nightmares weaker, but they were still dangerous! How did this kid pull a one-eighty so fast?!

The alicorn unexpectedly bucked Scootaloo as she neared. She hit the ground, winded, but Specter was by her side in a heartbeat.

“Have you come to the correct conclusion?” the alicorn asked Onyx. “Accept my power and you’ll be remembered as a hero for all time. Sleep, boy. Sleep here in the dreamscape.”

Onyx snorted. “Princess Speed-Demon was right! You don’t need superpowers to be a good pony! My dad is awesome and he doesn’t have any powers!”

“Your father is insignificant,” the alicorn hissed.

“Hey! Don’t call my dad names!”

“He’s nothing worthy of-”

An arrow whistled through the air and struck the alicorn in the back of its neck, cutting him off mid-sentence. The head of the arrow protruded through the throat, but the creature was merely frustrated. It turned to glare at Phantom Shade, who had somehow retrieved another arrow.

While distracted, Pip had galloped up. He struck the alicorn, but it wasn’t enough. Scootaloo saw her chance. She galloped forward, her tiny wings buzzing, and slammed into the alicorn, stabbing it with her own dream alicorn horn. The nightmare was so weak, that it shattered upon the final impact.

The dream too, suddenly shifted back into its normal settings, faster than Scootaloo could blink. Moments afterward, before Scootaloo could say anything else to the colt, the dreamscape shattered, sending them all out in one deafening burst of magic.

Pip jerked up on his cot, taking deep breaths and rubbing at his mane. The others also sat up quickly. Everypony seemed momentarily stunned into silence, especially Phantom Shade, Scootaloo, and Specter.

Marble stretched and yawned but said nothing.

“That was awesome,” Specter said, breaking the silence. He threw himself off his cot and smiled. “If we can handle that, we can handle anything! We’re going to take those Nightmare Forces out back and put ’em out of their misery!” Specter began bucking and tossing his cot around like an enemy combatant. Some of the others in the room laughed as they watched him shadowbox.

“Who’s up for some drinks?!” Specter suddenly asked, leaving his half-wrecked cot on the floor. “I know I am! We have to celebrate!”

Scootaloo frantically checked herself over, rubbing at her wings and feeling her coat. Rumble, on the other hoof, jumped off his cot and nodded. “Yeah! We should celebrate! I totally purged one of the Nightmare Forces, you guys! It was awesome!

“You too, Bumble?” Specter teased him. “We’re on a roll! Two ponies saved! Woo! Just another night in the life of the Star Guard!”

Marble narrowed her eyes. “I’ve personally helped two ponies already.”

“Oh, I just got an idea,” Specter said, flashing everypony in the room a mischievous fanged smile. “We construct a scoreboard! Most ponies saved by the time we leave Hollow Shades is the winner!”

Scootaloo stopped checking herself over and laughed. “That’s stupid! We’re supposed to be helping ponies, not making a game out of their lives!”

“We need to make sure we get everypony anyway.” Specter shrugged. “We’ll need to keep a check list… Why not have some fun with it? Nopony said this had to be boring!”

“Oh, this definitely isn’t boring,” Scootaloo said with a nervous laugh.

“What do you say, fearless leader?” Specter asked, turning to Pip.

Pip took a deep breath and exhaled. He hadn’t been paying much attention to the conversation. Equinox was in the corner of the room, woebegone. Scootaloo looked nervous and still flustered from the nightmare. They needed time to relax. “Uh… I’ll think about it,” Pip eventually said, buying himself time.

“But we should still keep a list of citizens that we’ve helped,” Specter added.

“Sure. That’s a good idea.”

Specter smacked his hooves together with a small smile and flew out of the room. The rest of the Star Guard followed behind him, leaving Pip and Phantom Shade alone in the room. Pip turned to the bat pony; fearful he would leave and never come back.

“I-” Pip began.

“I’ll join,” Phantom Shade snapped. “But it’s not some favor to you.” He rolled off his cot and rubbed at the weird scars across his body.

Pip nodded. “Thank you.”

“Tsk. Don’t bother thanking me. I had no idea you were going to be fighting the Nightmare Forces as closely as you are. Nothing would make me happier than snuffing them out one at a time.”

Phantom Shade’s serious tone and glowering face made Pip nervous. This sounded more like a vendetta than it did somepony honestly trying to do good. But… did it really matter? Phantom Shade was clearly capable of handling himself in the dreamscape, and Pip could use all the help he could get.

“Well, uh, now that you’re-”

“I’m going to go get a drink,” Phantom Shade interjected, quickly trotting to the door.

“I’m glad you joined,” Pip said as the door shut with a loud snap. He stood, alone, in their cramped base of operations. With a sigh, Pip decided he would get Thunder Clash before joining them. I need to get my stuff together. It has taken us too long to help only four ponies. It has to be my leadership at some level. I gotta try harder.

Pip had figured, after what had happened last time, that he would never be allowed back into the Queen’s Hideaway. However, due to either Marble’s freakish ability to play pirate's dice or Specter’s way with bat ponies, they were now important and expected guests. The owner had even temporarily banned the ponies that had been messing with them…

I don’t think I’m ever going to understand bat pony culture. This kind of stuff would never have happened in Ponyville.

As Pip scanned the busy establishment, he saw that the only one not here was Equinox. Her constant silence and aversion to the other bat ponies was making him nervous. Mental note: go talk to Equinox at some point.

Mist was sitting at the booth she had insisted they sit at before. It looked the same, except the table was now scuffed up from the melee that had ensued. Rumble, Scootaloo, Marble and Specter were all playing pirate’s dice at a large card table with seven other bat ponies. They had a crowd around them, everypony interested in watching Marble’s winning streak.

And then there was Phantom Shade and Thunder Clash; both of whom were seated at the bar, drinking glass after glass of cider. Those two are more similar than they’d like to admit.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Mist was staring at him with an anxious expression. She wanted him to sit with her. Pip smiled and waved to her, but motioned to Thunder Clash and Phantom Shade. I’ll be with you in a second, he mouthed as he trotted over to the bar. Mist nodded in acknowledgment.

Pip took a seat next to Thunder Clash and sighed. A bat landed at the bar in front of him. In its mouth was a piece of blank paper. “Do you want me to write down my order?” Pip asked the bat.

It nodded.

“No, thank you.”

The bat flew to the bat pony behind the counter. The bartender was busy serving everypony their drinks, and seemed to take orders via the papers brought to him by the bats.

Those are some highly trained bats. Shaking his head, Pip focused on Thunder Clash. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about leadership.”

“The mark of an excellent leader is when they take more than their share of the blame, and less than their share of the credit,” Thunder Clash said in a slow, bored tone, almost as if he were reciting lines he pulled from a book.

Pip blinked a few times and then nervously laughed. “Er, that’s not what I was going to ask about.”

“Spit it out, son,” Thunder Clash said, downing the rest of his cider.

“So, uh, do you know of any famous leaders that had leadership or relationship problems?” Pip didn’t like the feeling of doubt. It haunted him more than anything else. However, he knew Thunder Clash had some sort of wise anecdote that would pull him out of his funk.

“No,” Thunder Clash grunted.

Pip awkwardly shifted on the barstool. “Wait, what? Surely some of them had problems. I mean, not all leaders are the same! Maybe one of them-”

“Nope. Not a one.”

“R-really?” Pip stammered. It’s only me?! “Are you s-sure? Maybe you’re forgetting one… You are kinda old.”

Thunder Clash slowly turned to face him with a look of irritation. “You know what defines a true leader? Charisma. Assertiveness. Holding yourself to a higher set of standards than the ponies around you. If you have those qualities, you don’t have leadership and relationship problems. You have real problems. Problems that involve the fates of nations and the lives of ponies.”

Well, I definitely have those problems, Pip thought as he touched the fragment hanging around his neck. “So… what you’re saying is, if I was a competent leader I wouldn’t be having those problems?”

Thunder Clash snorted and laughed. “You aren’t having problems, son. You’re mistaking lack of experience for incompetence. You just need time.”

Pip slowly nodded. “Yeah. I guess. It’s just… I want to make Luna proud. I can’t let my lack of experience stop me. Also…” Pip felt himself flushing. He had never talked to another pony about love matters. “Also, Mist and I… Well, she made it clear, and, er, I don’t know where to start, and she’s like, ya know, and I’m like, er…” Pip lamely drifted off. He silently cursed himself for his complete lack of speech abilities.

“You came for my advice?” Thunder Clash asked, glaring at his empty cider glass.

“Yes, I would love your advice!”

“Don’t get mixed up with your comrades,” he curtly replied. “It’ll… hurt too much if they… go. Especially if you’re their leader.” Thunder Clash took a deep breath and his gaze became unfocused. In a softer voice, almost cracking, he continued with, “You’ll blame yourself, son. Trust me. This isn’t the same kind of wisdom I usually offer you. This is… different. Don’t do it.”

“Thunder Clash…” Pip had been waiting for the right moment to try and broach this subject. He scooted closer. “If you ever need to talk, I-”

“I don’t need to talk, boy!” Thunder Clash barked, turning his attention back to Pip and losing any sort of trepidation in his mannerisms. “Talking is for gossiping mares! I’m an old stallion! I’ve grown out of things like emotions!”

Pip scooted away. That went smoothly. Maybe right now isn't the time. Thunder Clash snorted and slammed his glass on the counter. The bartender flew over and began refilling his cider with a smile. Pip took the opportunity to slip away. That wasn’t the advice he was looking for, but it was something.

Moving further down the counter, Pip took a seat on the barstool next to Phantom Shade. With his old captain his team was now up to eight, with Thunder Clash being their mentor and trainer.

Phantom Shade didn’t even bother turning. He continued sipping his cider, a scowl set in his face.

“So,” Pip said, knowing that he needed to learn more about Phantom Shade. “Uh, does your family live here in town?”

“You don’t need to know about my family,” Phantom Shade said, sipping his cider.

Pip nervously tapped his hooves on the counter. “Okay… Do you like being back here after working in the Night Guard?”

“You don’t need to know that either.”

“Okay… Is there anything I do need to know?”

Phantom Shade turned slightly. “I think it’s insulting that you’re my commanding officer.”

“Oh,” Pip stated. Phantom Shade hates my guts and I’m awkwardly trying to engage him in conversation. If that isn’t the shining definition of charisma, I don’t know what is, Pip sarcastically thought.

Silence.

“Ahem,” Pip cleared his throat, searching for anything to talk about. “It’s great that you can somehow sense the Nightmare Forces in the dreamscape. Luna can do that too! I, uh, need to learn that for myself.”

“Hm,” was Phantom Shade’s only reply.

The music in the Queen’s Hideaway switched to something upbeat and Pip decided to lighten the mood of the conversation as well. “So, do you have a very special somepony? I bet you’re a hit with all the mares!” Pip forced a laugh. I sound like such a tool.

“I’m into stallions.”

“A-are you serious?”

Phantom Shade narrowed his eyes even further. “You realize I could have said I was into barstools and you would have had the same reaction, right? You’re gullible, trusting, and easy to fool. It isn’t becoming and I find it contemptible.”

Pip opened his mouth to say something, but held back. Ever since Pip first met Phantom Shade, he had always been manipulating or lying to get ponies to think one thing when something else was true. Phantom Shade had even lied to Nightmare Moon in order to drink her blood and temporarily gain her alicorn powers!

“So you aren’t into stallions?” Pip asked, hoping to glean at least one fact about Phantom Shade from this conversation. So far, he didn’t know much.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said I was into barstools.”

“You are?” Pip asked in confusion.

“You are?” the bartender also asked, flying over. He pointed to the cutie mark on his flank. It was a barstool. “I have a love for barstools as well, my friend!”

Phantom Shade face-hoofed in frustration.

“Well, Marble has a thing for inanimate objects, so at least you aren’t the weirdest member of the group,” Pip joked.

Phantom Shade looked ready to rip his mane out.

When he didn’t reply, Pip thought it best to go. “This was a good chat. We should do it again sometime.”

“I pray I’m hit by a sky chariot before then,” Phantom Shade muttered under his breath.

Slightly disheartened, Pip pushed away from the bar and trotted over to the large game table. Marble was holding a cup with her five dice and shaking it along with all the other participants. They all slammed their cups onto the table and began peeking at the dice underneath.

Pip watched the game with only mild interest. Marble spotted him hovering over her shoulder and stared for a moment. Unexpectedly, she turned back to the table and pointed to one of the participants with an angry frown. “Use a coaster!” she demanded.

The bat pony had just placed his glass of cider on the table without a coaster underneath it. The bat pony rolled his eyes. “Who cares? This table is a hunk of junk! Literally! It was made from scrap wood nailed together!”

Marble slammed her hoof on the table, almost disturbing everypony's dice. “You guys said you would do it my way! Either you use a coaster, or I leave.”

It was then that Pip noticed all the participants were sitting properly in their chairs, the surface of the table was clean, and that everypony was the same distance from one another. He knew Marble was somewhat of a neat freak, and had a weird habit of folding the blankets on her cot thirty times before doing anything, but he hadn’t seen her force those weird habits on others before.

Then again, Marble didn’t like playing pirate’s dice… Perhaps it was just the price they had to pay for her to join.

“Do you need something, Pip?” Marble asked as she glanced at her dice once more.

“No… I was just-”

“Stalling?” she cut him off. Pip nervously laughed. Marble could read him like a book. “If you aren’t going to play, I have to ask you to back away. I don’t want any of these bat ponies to think I’m cheating.”

“You don’t need to cheat to win.”

“You’re sweet,” she said in the same tone she said everything. “Now back up.”

Pip took a few steps back and sighed. Realizing that she was right about stalling, Pip decided to go take a seat with Mist at the booth. She greeted him with the same carefree smile she always had, and moved over to allow him more room as she got comfortable.

“Quickly!” she whispered to him. “Say something in your accent before another fight breaks loose!”

He laughed. Pip was surprised she remembered that. “Gosh,” he said, pulling from his childhood and adding the slight slow and nasally accent that marked him from Trottingham. “To think, I’ve been here twice, never knowing it was a regular hangout for a princess.”

Mist gasped in delight and stomped her hooves on the seat. “I love it! But… what princess are you talking? Which princess is here?” She glanced around the bar.

“I was talking about the Princess of Bats,” Pip said sheepishly. Pip, that was a completely lame and childish way to compliment her. She’s going to laugh at you.

Mist’s eyes went wide as she turned to stare. Before Pip could apologize, she quickly cuddled up to him, nuzzling his chest and neck. “So romantic,” she breathed.

Taken aback by his sudden success, Pip realized this had been the mare who had been impressed with half a candle. He slowly wrapped a foreleg around her and rested his muzzle on top of her head. Pip glanced over to the bar and saw that Thunder Clash’s back was to him. It was for the better.

He was rejecting his advice, after all.

“We are now officially a couple!” Mist shouted to the first bat pony that came walking by, motioning to herself and Pip. The bat pony hustled along, a look of confusion on his face as he glanced back at them.

“Mist,” Pip nervously laughed. “What was that about? Maybe you want to keep it down…” He looked back over at Thunder Clash. Still hadn’t turned around.

“I had to tell somepony.” She shrugged. “Now that somepony knows, it’s official. That’s the rules.”

“You sure this is a good idea right now? We’re on an important mission to stop the Nightmare Forces, not a love boat.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to be with me?” she asked in a quiet voice.

Pip quickly shook his head. “No, that’s not what I was saying. I just wanted to know your thoughts on the matter.”

“Oh!” she gasped in delight, squeezing him close. “I was hoping you would ask me that! Okay, so, my thoughts are… We serve in the Star Guard, save all of Equestria by defeating the Nightmare Forces, share a few romantic nights under the light of the full moon, return home as heroes, get crowned the Princess of Bats, have you crowned Prince of Trottingham, get married, buy a home in Trottingham, have two fillies, become best friends forever with Princess Luna, and live happily ever after!” Mist bit her lip in anticipation of his response, her eyes anxiously alight.

Stunned into silence, Pip stared down at her. She had obviously given this a lot of thought.

“T-that’s what you were talking about, right?” Mist asked, breaking the silence between them. “Was it too specific? One of our foals could be a colt, if you would rather!”

“Er… Let me think about it,” Pip awkwardly responded. He could deduce her preference from her long term plans. “But… we need to be somewhat professional about this. When we’re dream walking we’re strictly helping ponies. I don’t want to compromise this mission. I don’t want to disappoint Luna.”

“Pfft,” Mist dismissively waved her hoof and laughed. “I can be professional! Don’t you worry!” Pulling him close again, she began whispering.

Pip twitched his good ear, but heard nothing. “What?”

Ke ke ke!

“Okay, okay,” she said once she was done snickering. “We’ll talk about that later! Oh! I have something else I want to tell you! When we were training in the Night Guard, do you know who I thought would make a good couple? Phantom Shade and Equinox. Can’t you just imagine their cute little foals?”

Pip glanced to Phantom Shade, who was still at the bar. Equinox was… distant lately. “Their foals wouldn’t cry. They would file complaints with their local registrar.”

Ke ke ke! “Adorable!”

The music picked up and began to drown everything else out. Pip didn’t mind. He and Mist watched the massive game of pirate’s dice and relaxed in each other’s presence.

“I… hate… running…” Rumble huffed.

“What?” Scootaloo balked. “Running is awesome!”

Rumble continued to breathe heavily as he jumped over a large root. When they had trained near Canterlot, there had been a nice, flat track for them to run on. Training in Hollow Shades was like running along a trap-infested dungeon. There were pitfalls hidden by leaves, roots in odd places they had to get over, and spring loaded nets. Apparently, the citizens of Hollow Shades hunted junglefowl, a feral version of chickens.

Specter motioned for Rumble to look ahead. “Look out for that-”

Snap! Whoosh!

One of Rumble’s legs became caught in a snare.

“-trap,” Specter finished with a snicker. “Oh man, Bumble. You are awful at spotting those!”

With a forced laugh, Rumble snapped the snare and shook the rope off his leg. “It’s dark,” he complained. “And it was covered by twigs and leaves!” Now that they had all stopped, Rumble took the moment to catch his breath.

Scootaloo smirked. “Hey, I don’t get caught.”

“But you trigger the traps all the time! You’re just fast enough to jump out of them before they get you!”

“Whoa, whoa,” Specter came between them and pushed them apart. “I hate seeing my two favorite bird ponies fighting. Let’s just all agree that I’m awesome because I never get caught.”

“You can see in the dark,” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. “It’s not even fair.”

“Yeah,” Rumble chimed in. “Not even fair!”

“Rumble? Is that you?”

All three members of the Star Guard turned toward the new voice. Rumble squinted through the darkness. Much to his surprise, Starlight Apogee and two other bat pony mares came trotting up to them. The mares all had saddlebags that were full.

“Rumble! It really is you!” Starlight Apogee exclaimed. She galloped over to him and smiled. “I’ve been telling everypony in Hollow Shades all about you and the Star Guard! About how brave and wonderful you are!”

The other two mares ran up and smiled at him. Rumble nervously rubbed at his mane. “Shucks, it was nothin’.”

The mares began giggling. Starlight Apogee turned her head back to her saddlebag and pulled out a plump piece of fruit. It was bright yellow and spherical. Rumble had never seen a fruit quite like it. “Here! I want you to have this!”

Rumble took the piece of fruit and placed it in his own satchel. “Thank you. What is it?”

“It’s a Sun Fruit. They’re super rare!” She suddenly embraced Rumble before quickly pulling away. “I have to get back to helping my mom and the others! I’ll keep telling everypony how great you are!”

Rumble waved as the group of bat pony mares ran off. “You know, I thought I wasn’t going to like this place… but it’s starting to grow on me.”

Specter trotted up next to him and nudged him. “You sly dog. Helping all the mares? I see what you did there. Clever. I should have thought about that.”

“What?” Rumble asked, taken aback. “It was nothing like that!”

“Seriously, Rumble?” Scootaloo asked, glaring at him. “How old was she? A little young, don’t you think?”

“I said it was nothing like that!”

“Uh-huh.”

“It wasn’t, you guys!”

“Whatever you say, Bumble,” Specter said as he resumed his run. Scootaloo ran after him, laughing the entire way.

“We’re just playing with you,” she said to Rumble over her shoulder. “C’mon! We should be getting back to base! I’m ready to be done with training!”

All three of them ran back to their base, even though Rumble wouldn’t have said no to relaxing. The bat pony halfway house they called home was dingy, but it was more welcoming than their old barracks back in Night Guard training.

They rushed through the doors and nearly ran into Pipsqueak, who was busy taping something to the wall. Like Rumble, Pip was slightly larger than most stallions, but that wasn’t a problem.

“Scootaloo,” Pip said. “Do you mind running to the willow gates of the city? I have a letter I need delivered.”

Scootaloo gave him a cocky half-smile. “Consider it done.”

Pip trotted over to a table, picked up the letter with his mouth and brought it back to her. Scootaloo placed it in her bag.

“Did you already finish your exercises?” Specter asked Pip, crossing his hooves over his chest as he flew around the room. “How are you back here already?”

“I wasn’t goofing off,” Pip replied with a hint of disapproval.

Specter snickered. “Goofing off? Whatever are you talking about? We got our exercises done! Even if we took the long way around the fruit trees…”

“Who is this letter for?” Scootaloo asked, one hoof out the door.

Pip began straightening out the rest of the room. “It’s for Featherweight, in Canterlot.”

“That photographer? Why?”

“I want him to come take pictures of Hollow Shades for the newspaper. I think, once they see how amazing it is, people will stop thinking bat ponies are nothing but killers.”

“I thought our primary focus was to stop the Nightmare Forces?”

Pip shrugged, but flinched slightly and rubbed at his still-injured shoulder. Rumble was impressed at how Pip just kept going, despite the many wounds he was accumulating. “Luna asked me to help the bat ponies. Plus, it’s not going to get in the way of our duties.”

“All right then.”

Rumble watched Scootaloo go. He trotted over to his cot and began stretching. Soon it would be time to go to bed. Then, when they woke, they would go back to dream walking. Just a typical night for the Star Guard.