Insomnia

"What I don't understand is how those guards got the drop on us in the first place," Starfire huffed, pacing his breaths as he and Candy pulled the chariot through the air. "They shouldn't have been able to recognize Silver at all."

"Are you quite alright?" Aura questioned, pulling me away from my eavesdropping.

"Oh sorry, I just zoned out for a minute, what were you saying?" I asked with genuine interest. Aura seemed to be the most sane pony of the bunch, not to mention a fellow unicorn, so I enjoyed our chatting on the way back to Canterlot.

She had shared a bit about her life in Manehattan with me, and about learning the art of illusion from her aunt Trixie, whom she admired greatly. In turn I was sharing what I could about Canterlot with her.

"So have you ever been to the castle? I hear they throw the grandest of galas there," she sing-songed.

I shook my head.

"I haven't been there myself, but my parents have shown me pictures from a gala they once attended."

"Are your parents nobles then?" Aura kept her gaze fixed firmly upon me.

"Unfortunately, no. My father simply won the lottery when I was a filly, and it had always been my mother's dream to live in Canterlot. He used up most of the money for a home on the main street, and we moved there from Baltimare."

"Oh, how romantic of him to do such a thing." Aura sighed, "And what do you mean ‘unfortunately’? I know ponies that would give their right foreleg just to visit Canterlot, let alone live there, noble or not."

"It's not as great as it sounds, trust me," I stated dismissively.

Aura frowned, then turned to look out the window.

"You might be upset to hear we're making our arrival now in that case," Starfire said quietly, looking back at us. "I want quiet until we land now, hear? We don't need to attract no attention."

After a quick circle to scout for any guard activity, we approached one of the landing areas on the outskirts of the city. We silently landed and disembarked. Candy flew ahead to make sure the coast was clear, and we began heading to the hideout.

"So I may just be remembering this wrong because of the whole head trauma thing, but wasn't you guys' headquarters another three or four miles from here? Couldn't we have landed closer?" I asked.

"We're closer than you think," Candy assured me, tapping her forehead with a hoof. I didn't understand the gesture, but I had given up trying to make sense of her already.

After another five minutes or so of walking, Starfire motioned for us to stop. Crush trotted ahead and went down an alley a few yards ahead of our party. He quickly re-emerged and motioned for us to follow.

We did so, walking into the alley. There was nothing there but a brick wall, however.

"So what now exactly?" Aura said, looking at the bare walls surrounding us.

"Yeah, what are we waiting for?"

No sooner than I had asked, there was a flash of light powerful enough to force my eyes shut for a moment. When I opened them, two unicorns had appeared between us and the wall. I was about ready to turn tail and run before I noticed that they weren't facing us. Instead, their horns were poised at the wall in front of us.

With the light from their horns, I could see some chalk drawing what appeared to be some type of symbols on the wall. They touched their horns to two of the symbols, causing the entire drawing to glow. The glow intensified until a solid circle of magical energy formed.

One of the unicorns spoke.

"Alright ponies, through the portal, quickly and quietly."

Starfire and Crush immediately proceeded through the swirling portal, and Candy looked to Aura and I expectantly.

Aura was grimacing; she seemed no more eager than I to walk through the thing.

I decided to speak up to save her the trouble.

"Teleporting is one thing, but a portal? Are you sure it's safe?"

Candy smiled and nodded her head, her mane falling into her face.

"It's absolutely safe! Just don't go through too slowly, or you'll... well just don't, okay?"

Well that's comforting.

I gulped, and slowly approached the portal.

"Take your time, this isn't a strain or anything," one of the unicorns powering the portal said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

I started to snap back, but bit my tongue. I had never mastered teleporting myself, and it had to be much worse trying to hold open a portal for multiple ponies to pass through.

I stepped through, making sure to move quickly. I don't know what I had been expecting, but it was just like stepping through a doorway into a new room, without delay. It wasn't as disorienting as I had imagined it would be. Something wasn't quite right though.

Oh goddesses, I don't feel so good.

My stomach had begun churning violently, and before I had time to think, I emptied its contents onto the floor.

"Damn it, no one warned me we had first timers," I heard the voice of a younger pony saying. I could only assume he was in charge of keeping things clean in this place.

"Heh, sorry, slipped my mind." Starfire scratched the back of his neck with a forehoof.

I turned back to face the portal, and saw that Candy and Aura had passed through. The latter was chuckling at me, but that only lasted a moment. Her face quickly grew serious, and she began looking around frantically. One of the unicorns levitated a bucket to her, which she promptly shoved her head into.

"You get used to it eventually," Starfire said, "They say it's something about movin' in little pieces instead of one big one, like with teleporting."

"I'll get you two somewhere to rest for a bit before debriefing," Candy said, facing Aura and me.

Aura pulled her head out of the bucket. "A shower wouldn't hurt either."

I sat on the edge of a hay-filled sack that was working as a makeshift bed while Aura cleaned up in a nearby room. Running water seemed to be one of the few commodities this place actually had.

Not really that impressive of a headquarters. That one pony in charge, Princess, must be flat broke.

As I had been sitting in relative silence for the past few minutes, I replayed the events of the chase in Manehattan in my mind. If Candy hadn't helped out when the guards cornered Aura and me, I'd be dead right now, no question. On top of that, if Aura hadn't teleported us away from the guards in the first place, I'd probably have been arrested just for having the anti-magic ring.

Whatever cause this group fought for couldn't be a selfish endeavor, I thought, simply based on how much the others went through to help each other, and even me.

Aura walked back into the room, a towel wrapped around her mane.

"Any word yet?" she asked.

"Not yet. I was wondering if I could ask you a question though." I rubbed my forehoof along the edge of the hay-sack bed.

"I believe you just did." She gave a half smile, then motioned for me to continue.

"How did you get recruited? I meant to ask sooner but didn't really feel comfortable around the others."

She scratched her chin.

"It was the queerest thing really, I started seeing these strange visions, and then shortly after that I started receiving letters. The letters offered to explain the visions to me, with the very letter that you carried being the final letter that held the remaining details."

Strange visions? That seems familiar.

"When you say strange visions do you mean, like, a dream?"

"Yes, I suppose you could call them that."

Crush suddenly walked in and tapped his hoof on the door jamb. He tilted his head in a gesture for us to follow him.

How the hell did he just sneak up on us like that? He's gotta be twice my size! Regardless, looks like I'll get the rest of Aura's story later.

We walked into the same room with the long table as I had first met everypony. The others, along with Princess, were already present in their seats.

"Please sit," Princess said. I almost didn't recognize her voice. She was speaking in a much softer tone than before, though it still bore a great amount of authority. “We take it by Aura’s presence that the mission was a success?”

“Yes Princess. It didn’t exactly go off without a hitch though,” Starfire replied.

“Oh? What went wrong, then?” She tilted her hooded head. “None of you appear worse for the wear.”

“Some guards in Manehattan recognized Silver somehow, and we had to make a run for it.... Had to take a few lives as well.” Starfire looked at the floor.

Princess nodded.

“We trust your judgement; it had to have been unavoidable.”

"Yes Princess." Starfire didn’t appear to be any less upset over the matter. “I just don’t understand how-”

"Silver kept some of the guards distracted for me while I powered a teleport for our escape," Aura interjected. “She stood her ground with us when we were cornered as well.”

"It is good to hear that we were not mistaken in allowing her to remain among us,” Princess said pleasantly. “Are the others in agreement that she should remain?"

The others nodded in unison.

“Very well, then we shall see both Aura and Silver accepted into the ranks of the Lunar Offensive,” Princess said, throwing back her hood to reveal her face.

Princess Luna?!

I found myself utterly speechless. I thought to kneel, but my muscles were frozen in shock.

What in Equestria is Princess Luna leading a cult for? The Lunar Offensive, what does that even mean?

I finally managed to lower my head in a shallow bow and speak, albeit it weakly.

“Your Majesty, I-”

"Do not feel the need to show us reverence, we have no authority in Equestria any longer," she deadpanned, head held high, her eyes betraying no emotion.

"But, what do you mean Princess Luna? Do you not rule with your sister?"

"Not in quite a while." She had approached me now, and was holding a hoof out to me. I hesitated to reach for it. Luna retracted her hoof, sighed, and walked to an old painting on the wall. "We shall provide more details at another time, but know simply that our sister is no longer the benevolent ruler you think her to be. For the moment we shall simply provide you all with your next task."

Luna's horn glowed brightly, and a map of Equestria appeared on the table. She pointed to a railroad, one not too far from Canterlot.

"In the next forty-eight hours there is going to be a cargo train of supplies meant for Celestia's military. As far as we know the only ponies on board will be the train's crew. You'll need to stop the train in the valley and gather as many supplies as you can get, and hide them for a second crew to pick up when you finish."

Just then, another pony came into the room. He bowed slightly to Luna.

"Sorry for the interruption Princess, but I'm ready for the unicorns whenever you're through with them."

"You may take them. We will finish discussing the plan with the others."

"Yes, Princess. Ladies, follow me, and I'll help you out with those rings."

That was music to my ears.

Thank goodness, I can finally get back in business.

Aura and I followed the pony to what appeared to be an empty room. He shut and barred the doors once we were inside.

“Uh, what’s with the door-locking? What does this entail exactly?” I was suddenly quite suspicious of this stallion.

“Don’t get your reins in a tangle; we’re just taking precautions.”

“Precautions for what, exactly? I thought we were just getting these rings off.”

The stallion nodded, squinting his eyes at us.

“Sure, I could just take ‘em off and be done with it, but that won’t help you much if a guard ever pops one of these suckers on ya in the future will it?”

“I suppose not, it’s not like we can just take them off if that happens. Hooves aren’t exactly useful when it comes to such things,” Aura said, nodding agreeably.

“You’d be surprised what one can do with their hooves.... Uh, don’t make that weird,” chuckled the stallion. “Anyway, you might remember what that buck you bumped into did when he got ringed yeah?”

I recalled the unicorn stallion I had run into in Canterlot, and the shockwave he was able to emit despite having an anti-magic ring.

“The problem is in how you’ve been taught since the day you were old enough to use your magic. Focus your energy into the tip of your horn, you know, all that noise. What most ponies don’t learn is that your whole horn is a catalyst for magic, the tip just has the most focusing ability.

Now the reason they don’t teach you this in school is because you can lose control of your magic a lot easier when it isn’t focused. So, I’m gonna leave the rings on you two and teach you how to do a proper shockwave using only half your horn. I’d take ‘em off, but since these things redirect the magic back into ya, I figure if you accidentally blow your brains out, you might as well do it now rather than out on the field.”

“Oh how dreadful.” Aura covered her muzzle with a hoof.

Well, that explains the empty room at least.

After what seemed like an eternity, a terrible migraine, and too many nose-bleeds to count on both our parts, Aura and I were able to emit powerful enough shockwaves while “ringed” to please our teacher.

He gave us each our rings to keep. He said they were for souvenirs, but I think he just wanted someone to dump them on.

“I feel like I was hit by a sixteen-pony carriage.” Aura was splayed out on the floor panting, her horn occasionally sparking of its own volition. “Illusion is foal’s play compared to that training. I hope we actually have a reason to use this ability at some point.”

“I’d rather not actually, as that would mean we probably got caught,” I said morosely, lying down on my hay-sack bed. “I would like my old mattress though.”

“Oh don’t even remind me of home,” she said half groaning, half laughing. “It’s only been a day and I’m having horrible withdrawals without my coffee.”

Home... I wonder if Ma and Dad are okay. They have to be worried that I’m gone. I hope they are anyway.

Aura rolled over onto her belly and stood, shivering from the cold of the stone floor.

“I’m going to retire for the night. Would you like me to douse your lights on the way out?” she asked kindly.

“Nah, I’m not going to turn in just yet. I’m gonna snoop around this place for something to eat.”

“Very well, good night then dear.” She walked out of the room with her usual grace, despite having been a disheveled mess on the floor moments ago.

I got up and left the room as well, making sure to move quietly, as it was in fact late in the evening. I moved through the halls of the building, looking down each corridor as I went, seeing what each room contained.

Most rooms simply held more beds and bunks for other ponies, the others just being a few storage areas and some restrooms. My best guess is that the building had once been an office for some business, the rooms just repurposed for housing now.

Distracted by my thoughts, I bumped into a large object, knocking me on my hindquarters. I shook my head, regaining my composure.

“To not be a pegasus you sure have your head in the clouds,” a feminine voice said.

I looked up only to see Crush towering over me. I blinked hard in confusion, before Candy came hovering around from behind him and offered a hoof to help me up. I accepted it.

“What are you doing wandering the halls? Not that it’s wrong, since you’re official now, I was just asking,” Candy said, inhaling and awkwardly shifting her weight against the wall.

Crush nodded and continued wherever he was heading.

“Just exploring I guess, though since I found you, I guess I could ask you a bit about this place.”

“Oh that reminds me, the princess told me to give you these.” Candy reached her head into her saddlebag and brought out an old scroll. I was about to reach for it, but then used my magic to levitate it over to me. “She said it will explain what’s going on for you.”

“That saves me from bothering you with it at least,” I said in as friendly a tone as I could muster. “There is something else though.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I never really thanked you.” I looked down at the floor, wondering how much a fool I must have appeared.

“Thanked me? For what?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I guess for standing up for me. I spent some time thinking earlier. I hardly even know you, and yet you were willing to vouch for me when I was gonna get my mind wiped. You protected me when the guards had me cornered, and I’ve... well I haven’t done anything actually.” I lowered my ears.

“Hey, don’t be hard on yourself, I just haven’t been in big trouble yet, I’m sure you’d jump right in to action. That’s what friends do.”

When she said that, I felt strange, like something long forgotten had been remembered. She had called me her friend.

“I guess I’ve not really had a friend... not since I was a filly, in Baltimare.” I swallowed back a lump in my throat.

I felt her forehoof on my shoulder, and when I looked up she wrapped both forelegs around my neck. She only held on for a moment, but the comforting feeling remained long after she let go.

“Thanks.” I wiped my face on my foreleg, trying not to show so much emotion. I had no idea what had just come over me.

“Anything you need before I go? I’ve gotta catch up with Crush.”

I hadn’t even opened my mouth when my stomach answered her question.

“Where’s the kitchen around here?”