No Light

Chapters

Prologue - Tea for Two
Act 1 | Chapter 1: An Honest Mistake
Act 1 | Chapter 2: The Long Version
Act 1 | Chapter 3: Welcome Home
Act 1 | Chapter 4: The Shady Trough
Act 1 | Chapter 5: She of the Night
Act 1 | Chapter 6: Shifting Shadows

Prologue - Tea for Two

Tea for two — never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed that such an inconspicuous term would cause her to be so afraid. To any other pony, an invitation to have tea with Princess Luna seemed like a rather lovely state of affairs, especially after her thousand-year absence. Few ponies ever got to have any personal time with the Royal Sisters, and to have a chance at such a thing seemed like it would be sure to make one's day.

Captain Procella, of course, knew otherwise. Despite being one of the many bat ponies or, as she would be quick to correct, 'opliptera', the captain had managed to make a bit of a name for herself. Built just as thinly as their pegasi cousins, she wasn't exactly an intimidating figure to begin with, but she more than made up for that with her demeanor, something which had quickly allowed her to advance through the ranks. With a huff, the mare muscled her way past a pair of royal guards and simply proceeded onwards, leaving them with nothing to look at but a charcoal coat and a light gray mane as she disappeared down a side passage.

As captain of the Night Guard, she had grown used to these little meetings, and what appeared to be a simple social visit was, in actuality, both something more and something that lacked a clear definition. Tea with Princess Luna could be a debriefing, or it could be an assignment. Tea with the Princess held the potential of either a promotion, or something far worse. However, several years spent in the employ of the Royal Sisters had allowed Procella to wisen up — by now, she certainly knew what to watch and listen for. The oh-so-subtle changes in body language, those faint inflections in speech — each of them a hint, a way to read the Royal Sisters and know how they felt about every little thing they said or did.

Given how the invitation had been worded, Princess Luna was... displeased, though 'impatient' might have been a better word. The why wasn't the question — Procella knew that answer already. The Princess of the Night wished to know the results of the latest mission carried out by her own Night Guard, something she had every right to know. If anything, it was the how, and the captain was rather hesitant to talk about that. With a sigh, the mare ducked down another side passage and approached a pair of unassuming doors, slate blue eyes looking up to inspect them. Despite being of medium height compared to most other ponies her age, the doors themselves still managed to tower above her. Even after seeing them before, they were just as intimidating as ever. After glancing about to make sure the area was clear, she cracked one open and slipped inside, quickly shutting it behind herself.

Past the doors was a very small room—the former war room of the castle, fallen into disuse due to the countless truces and peace treaties that had been arranged over the years—with a map of Equestria covering the entirety of the walls. At the center of the room was a table and two seats, and in one of those seats, Princess Luna herself. The dusky alicorn eyed her visitor carefully, taking a sip of her tea and setting down the cup before gesturing towards the empty seat. "Sit."

Procella quickly made her towards the empty seat and did as told, sitting down and facing the Princess from the opposite side of the table. And then, she waited — hierarchy dictated that, with Princess Luna grossly outranking her, she ought to speak only when spoken to. The captain stared at the Princess of the Night, occasionally glancing downwards at the cup of tea in front of her, only to direct her attention back towards the alicorn. The magically-lit candles which dotted the room served only to make the experience all the more unsettling for her. The blue light they had the tendency to create had always been too eerie, too... wrong, and in such a light, it made Luna herself seem more terrible than Procella thought possible.

But perhaps that had been the intent, to weaken the resolve of any others within the room, and to make it clear that this was her domain. Regardless, the Princess found her captain's lack of comfort to be somewhat amusing, a faint grin spreading across her face. Rather than speak to her guest, Luna turned towards the vast map that lined the walls of the room, and appeared to study it for several moments, eyes darting here and there as she charted out... something. She soon spoke once more, staring at Procella out of the corner of her eye. "Not in the mood for tea, captain?"

"No, milady."

"Business as usual, then."

"Yes, milady."

Princess Luna slowly nodded and levitated her cup up once more, giving it a sip before turning and narrowing her eyes at the mare. "Well?"

"Oh!" Procella momentarily panicked and quickly hopped to her hooves, running over towards a spot on the map and clearing her throat before pointing at an area with her hoof. "Well, we... we moved along to the designated area, as you ordered."

"Trotsdam, which has been a fairly active area as of late."

"Correct. We arrived not long after midnight and immediately began a sweep of the area. All citizens asleep, so no interference from any of them."

"Good."

"Things continued along until roughly three hours after we arrived, at which point we were about..." Procella moved her hoof along the map, tracing a path that lead from the town of Trotsdam to a spot outside the Everfree Forest. "...here. It was at this point that both Sergeant Noctis and Neophyte Lepus began to report feeling... uneasy."

Luna leaned forward in her seat, narrowing her eyes once more. "Uneasy about what?"

"They... they didn't say, milady. Just said that they had a bad feeling about things."

"And you ignored it, didn't you?"

The captain lowered her voice and slowly nodded. "...Yes, milady."

With a huff, the alicorn waved a hoof. "Continue."

"We moved on for about another hour, continuing our route along the border of the Everfree Forest, at which point we were ambushed."

"As to be expected. I didn't send you out there for nothing, after all. Your results?"

"Well, milady, Neophyte Lepus fell almost immediately."

Princess Luna slowly nodded, and though her ears had quickly flattened from such news, she instead remained stoic. "Tell me, captain — did he suffer?"

Procella stared back at the Princess of the Night for a moment, swallowing hard, and carefully broached the subject. "No, milady. It... I'm almost certain it was instantaneous."

"...'Say not in grief: "He is no more." but live in thankfulness that he was'." The alicorn sighed and took another sip of tea, and despite her best attempts to appear calm and collected, her expression had already softened considerably. "'Tis an old saying my sister told to me, one she picked up from the gryphons. I believe she learned it shortly after negotiating the peace treaty with them, which was well over a thousand years ago. Very nice kingdom they have, albeit a little too militaristic for Celestia's tastes. Then again, she was always—"

The captain softly coughed, drawing Luna's attention towards herself. "Milady?"

"I'm... rambling again, aren't I? Apologies, captain, 'tis a—"

"Coping mechanism. I know, milady." Procella allowed the Princess a brief moment of silence, shifting on her hooves somewhat. "When you're ready, milady."

"Right, yes." Luna relaxed in her seat, pressing one hoof to her forehead and waving the other in the direction of the opliptera. "Continue, please."

"As you wish. At that point, myself, Lieutenant Caelum, Sergeant Noctis, and Sergeant Corvus all made our way towards a clearing."

"...I assume you were waiting for the fighting to subside before taking off?"

"Yes, milady. By the time we managed to scare off what was left of the enemy, Lieutenant Caelum was missing entirely. No trace at all."

Upon hearing this, Luna scowled and stared at Procella. "So, on what was to be a routine cleanup job, you managed to lose two of my children?"

"Not... not entirely, milady." The captain quickly trotted along the wall and towards the spot of Canterlot on the map, placing a hoof on it. "We managed to find the lieutenant again, though there's been a... complication, of sorts."

The Princess slowly eased back in her chair, eyes locked upon the opliptera. "Explain."

"The Royal Guard found her wandering the streets of Canterlot, yelling all manner of obscenities. They apparently recognized the uniform, suspected her of desertion, and threw her in the brig."

"I know there's a 'but' in this, captain."

"One of our informants within the Royal Guard evidently stopped by her cell and got a good look at her. They said that it's possible we may have an incident unless it's contained."

Luna let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead with one of her hooves. "...Well then."

Slowly, Procella walked away from the map and towards the sitting Princess, stopping only to stand at attention in front of her. "I... know it's not the news you were hoping for, milady, but... your orders?"

"Send somepony to retrieve Neophyte Lepus, and see to it he receives the honors he deserves."

"And the lieutenant?"

The alicorn sighed once more and shook her head. "...Purge the lieutenant, captain. We can't afford to have an incident on our hooves, especially with her in the Royal Guard's custody. Just be quick about it. It's what she deserves."

"It will be done, milady." Procella placed a single hoof to her chest and took a brief bow before quickly leaving the room, shutting the door behind herself.

Alone again, Princess Luna picked up her cup of tea and took another sip, her eyes darting across the map once more. Her plans, for the time being, were hers alone, but soon they would be made manifest. Until then, she would simply have to bide her time, watching and waiting. A sigh, another sip, and a single line, spoken towards the map.

"As it should be."

Act 1 | Chapter 1: An Honest Mistake

Another day of training had come to a close, and with it came some much anticipated free time. Even as the guards began to crowd into the armory, a few of them had already begun to discuss their plans for the evening — Captain Shining Armor paid them no mind for the time being. Such talk was to be expected, after all, and it was often harmless.

"Think I might go up to one of them batponies, invite her out for a drink or two. That Noctis one's a looker, yeah? And who knows, maybe I'll get a little somethin'-somethin' at the end of it!"

"Hey, put in a good word for me, and maybe she'll be lookin' for a third!"

"Why the hell would I do that? She ain't gonna feel nothin'!"

The comment was met with boisterous laughter, though it quickly died down once another voice spoke up. "Please don't speak about the sergeant like that."

That one phrase alone had left the entire room silent, and Shining Armor glanced over his shoulder to see that three guards had crowded around a fourth. "And who are you supposed to be, kid? Her boyfriend?"

"I... well, n-no. Just... just a friend."

"Just a friend, huh? I mean, ain't exactly a secret that you got a thing for 'em yourself, newblood! We've seen ya up there every single night, chattin' it up with that one batpo—"

"Opliptera."

One of the three guards, a more senior member, narrowed his eyes at the pegasus they had surrounded. "...what?"

"Opliptera. It's... um, the official term for them."

"Is that so?" Another of the three took a step towards their target. "Look, kid. I know you're new, so lemme fill you in on a little somethin'. Those batponies you're so fond of? They ain't your friends. They're the whole reason Princess Luna up and disappeared all those years ago — didja know that?"

The pegasus scowled up at him, hissing through his teeth. "I know more than you think."

"I bet you do. We clear, bat boy?"

By now, things had quickly gotten a little too tense for the captain's tastes, and he muscled his way through the crowd, trying to make his way to the group before a fight broke out. Even as he drew closer, he could see that rather than answer, 'bat boy' had decided to simply stare down the other guard, something which was quickly beginning to aggravate the aggressors.

"Silent treatment, huh? Alright, dumbass, lemme break it down a bit so you can understand it. I said, 'ARE. WE. CLEAR. BAT BOY'. You understand that easy enough, shit-for-brains?"

Shining Armor had finally managed to squeeze through the gathered crowd, and with a clear view of the gang of guards, he unceremoniously hefted the three of them into the air with his magic, leaving the fourth where he stood. "You're dismissed for the day. All of you are. I need to have a little chat with some of your friends."

Several of the guards loudly grumbled as they shuffled out the door, and though they had been packed in the room, they had still managed to leave surprisingly quickly. With the onlookers gone, the four remaining guards found themselves stuck with a very irate captain, and one of them felt the need to apologize. "Captain, we were just... uh... having fun! Ya know, poking a bit of fun at the new guy! Nothin' bad!"

"That's not what I heard and saw. I heard three guards try and intimidate a recruit when they should know better, and I saw them getting much closer than they should. If I catch it again, I'll have you three scrubbing toilets for a month. Got it?"

One of the guards huffed and slowly nodded. "...yes, sir."

"Good. You three are dismissed. I still need to talk with your friend here." Shining Armor took a seat in front of the pegasus, eying him even as the other three made their way out the door — and grimaced somewhat as one made a rather lewd gesture at the both of them. With the three offenders gone, the unicorn closed the door to give them a bit of privacy, his horn briefly glowing as he did. "Sorry about that, kid. Wish I could've gotten to ya sooner."

The pegasus sighed and wandered over towards a book, one that had evidently been stomped on during the ruckus. He carefully picked it up and brushed the dirt off the cover, casting a glance over his shoulder at the captain. "It's fine, sir."

"No, it's not fine — I've got a bunch of smartasses talking smack about the Night Guard and ganging up on recruits who don't agree with them." Shining Armor slowly began to approach the recruit, only to stop a few steps from him. "You... really do have a bit of a thing for the batponies, don't you?"

"Just curiosity, sir."

The unicorn grinned and turned towards one of the weapon racks, giving a spear a poke with his hoof. "I know that feeling. Not personally or anything, just... little sister's always been like that. Always wanting to know."

"Yeah." The pegasus sighed once more, and as he opened a locker and put the book away, he glanced over his shoulder at Shining Armor. "They're not nearly as bad as other ponies think they are."

"Nah. They're not bad at all." The captain took a few more steps towards the stallion and paused once more, tilting his head somewhat. "...what's your name, kid?"

Upon being asked such a question, the recruit stepped up towards the unicorn and snapped a salute, smiling faintly.

"Ferous, sir. Just Ferous."

"Who's she?"

Captain Shining Armor stopped and shut his eyes, sighing. He was so close to the door, so very close to leaving for the day and heading back home to his wife, and then he allowed himself to get distracted with a bit of reminiscing... which had ended up costing him. He didn't really mind some of the questions that this recruit had the tendency to ask — after all, his very own sister was also the inquisitive sort — but sometimes it became a little too much. Curiosity killed the cat, as the saying went. The unicorn slowly turned about to face the recruit, and he opened his eyes once more as he looked upon the guard. "Do you really need to know, Neophyte Ferous?"

"Well, I... I think I have a right to know, sir." Ferous gave his wings a nervous flap and cleared his throat. "I mean, I'm the one guarding her and the brig, you know? Kinda helps if I know what I'm dealing with."

Shining Armor sighed once more and nodded. "...I guess you have a point. Can't blame ya, really. Just a heads up, though — anypony comes in here asking questions, you tell them that you're not allowed to tell them anything."

The pegasus blinked at the captain. "...Sir?"

"All I know is that she's with the Night Guard. Rest of her file was sealed under Princess Luna's orders, so everything I'm telling you is on a strictly need-to-know basis. Got it?"

Ferous quickly nodded, his bright green eyes never breaking away from Shining Armor. "Yes, sir. Anything else?"

"Let's see." The unicorn quickly fetched a scroll and yanked it towards himself, unfurling it and reading from it after clearing his throat. "Lieutenant Caelum, Night Guard — sort of a given, based on the armor and race. Colors are all off, though... Night Guard usually just wears purple armor, and this looks customized."

"Desertion?"

"Maybe." Shining Armor tossed a glance towards the recruit and soon continued. "That's what they charged her with, anyways. Said she was wandering Canterlot in the morning, yelling a bunch in some funny language."

"Isn't that a little odd? The batpo— er, opliptera usually don't go out during the day."

Shining Armor raised a brow upon hearing the recruit correct himself mid-sentence, but said nothing of it. "A little bit."

The pegasus frowned somewhat. "And a funny language? Like what the gryphons speak, or—"

"No idea, Ferous. Even after they brought her here, she was still talking in it, and none of our scholars have any idea what it's supposed to be. Far as we know, poor girl's gone out of her mind."

"Oh."

The captain quickly rolled up the scroll and sent it flying across the room and back into its place. "Not much else to say. I doubt she'll give you too much trouble — she's apparently been coming and going, as far as wakefulness goes. If she's up and about, though, try not to listen to her too much. Just a bunch of gibberish. Got it?"

Ferous gave the unicorn a prompt salute and nodded. "Yes, sir!"

"Great. Don't be afraid to find somepony else if ya need help. I'll see you tomorrow, kid." Shining Armor gave the recruit one last grin and headed for the door once more, eager to finally leave — he didn't exactly want to be caught with another question either.

As his superior headed out the door, Ferous continued to maintain the salute until the unicorn had fully departed, at which point he allowed himself to relax. Brig duty wasn't exactly... ideal, but it was easy work, and it had given him an opportunity to speak with his captain at length. He was something of a hero, after all — helped save Canterlot from the changelings and he was related to Twilight Sparkle. Shining Armor was the very sort of pony that Ferous' father had often told him about when he was but a foal, and to actually meet such a pony had been rather exciting. Still, duty came first, and Shining Armor had been eager to get back home after the end of his shift — Ferous could hardly blame him for that.

And so, while his captain and several other ponies would be heading off to enjoy the evening, he would be stuck here, guarding a single pony who was very likely to be completely mad. How incredibly... boring. The pegasus sighed and took a seat upon the ground, removing his helmet and setting it aside — this definitely hadn't been what he signed up for when he had first joined the Royal Guard. He had signed up for adventure, for a chance to defend Equestria from all sorts of dangers, just like his father had told him in countless tales, and yet he was stuck doing... this.

Ferous sighed and brushed a bit of his brown mane away from his eyes. Scarcely five minutes had passed, and he was already starting to get bored — not a good sign. The pegasus quickly glanced towards the cell—still asleep—and then headed towards his pack, pulling open the flap and rummaging through it before removing a book. It was a book he had recently checked out from the Royal Library, one of the few they even had that was about the opliptera, and with the book in his mouth, Ferous soon took a seat near the cell once more.

It's not like he would get to read it, though. Before he could even open the book, his ears twitched as he heard the shuffling of hay within the room, and he looked up to see that the prisoner was unfortunately up and about. She had a wild and disheveled look about her, and even as she began to pace around in her cell, her eyes were already beginning to frantically look to and fro. She hadn't even noticed him yet, it would seem, something he was more than okay with. Something about her just seemed... off. Not quite right.

He took advantage of her relative lack of attention and stood up, taking a few steps towards the cell and inspecting what was left of her armor as he drew closer. Though it resembled what the Night Guard often wore, Shining Armor had indeed been correct when he said that the colors had been wrong — this was both purple and gold, and he certainly hadn't seen those colors on any of the guards before. Perhaps she was a special member of the Night Guard, one with seniority of some sort. If so, she would have been highly trained, and definitely experienced, which made her madness all the more perplexing. Few things were capable of driving such a seasoned pony to insanity, and fewer could do it in such a short amount of time.

Ferous soon found his train of thought interrupted as he heard a rather sickening thud from within the cell. The batpony within the cell had, for some indescribable reason, smacked her head against one of the stone walls, and she had managed to do so hard enough to cause bleeding. And then she did it again, and again, and again. Such a sight was rather unsettling, even more so given the situation, and he cautiously approached her. "M-ma'am, you should... you should stop. Don't want you to hurt yourself or anything."

She ignored him, and instead, placed one of her hooves within the spatter of blood upon the wall. The hoof quickly swung out to the side, smearing the blood upon the wall, and then made several more movements. Ferous was equal parts horrified and curious at this point, something she was seemingly aware of, and her pace quickened as he continued to watch in silence. It almost looked like she was...

"...writing." Ferous scowled somewhat as he looked at the message on the wall. It was definitely a language he had never seen before — the text somehow managed to be graceful yet ugly, and simply reading it was slightly painful. It was a language that couldn't—shouldn't—exist, and yet it did. There was another thud within the cell, and the pegasus snapped to attention once more as he watched the prisoner begin to write another message out.

This message was just as cryptic as the last, but it had been done much quicker than the other. Her pace had almost been frantic, as if she were trying to tell him something. If it had managed to confuse their top scholars, though, then he had almost no chance at all of deciphering it. He took another look, cringing after just a few seconds as the words burrowed into his mind. "I'm sorry, I... I don't know—"

Yet another smack, and though the walls were beginning to literally run red, it seemed she wasn't finished just yet. She ran to another wall, her body visibly shaking now, and she hastily scrawled out another message for him.

Upon finishing it, she ran over towards the bars, and it quickly became obvious that she was... different. She didn't look insane or crazed in any way at all. If anything, she looked... terrified. Even as the blood ran down her face from the wound upon her forehead, she shoved her muzzle and both forelegs through the bars, wildly grabbing for him, fear in her voice as she spoke. "Zhou mooz knoowh! Deht komehz!"

The pegasus cringed once more, shaking his head even as she spoke. If reading it was painful, hearing it had been even worse. He slowly backed away from her even as she continued to reach out for him, and he gave his head another shake as his own fear quickly became apparent. "I... I don't... j-just stay here, I'll be back with help!"

Despite her rather vocal protests against it, he had already turned away and had begun to head for the door. Another loud smack made him stop, however, and he reluctantly began to turn around to face the cell. The opliptera had gone strangely quiet, and he soon found out why. The pony within the cell had bashed her head against the bars quite hard, and her horrified expression had been replaced with one that was far too happy. From her spot within the cell, she simply stared and grinned at him, even as the blood continued to run down her face. Slowly, she reached a hoof through the bars once more, pointing at him as she opened her mouth to speak. This time would be different, however — this time, she decided to speak, and what made it worse was that he could actually understand it. "...You."

Ferous bit his lip for a moment, then took a few tentative steps towards her and stared back. Just to look at her in this state was unnerving, and he had to fight with himself repeatedly just so he could continue to look. "W-what do you want?"

The prisoner smacked her head against the bars once more, turning a portion of the bars red and intensifying the bleeding. Rather than show any expression of pain, she simply continued to grin and stare, her head tilting slightly. "A message."

The pegasus swallowed hard and took a few cautious steps towards the cell. Common sense told him to ignore her — curiosity told him to ask. "What sort of message?"

"Little pony, coat of white
Strong and stubborn, none too bright
Betray the day, love the night
In the end, there is no light."

"A... a poem? That's your message?" Part of Ferous wanted to laugh. The other part found all of it very unsettling. "I... I'm not sure I understand."

"You will." At this, the prisoner grinned the widest she had and slammed her head into the bars once more, turning her forehead into a bloody mess. With one last laugh, her eyes rolled into the back of her, and she slumped to the floor, motionless.

Things for Ferous had quickly turned from 'very unsettling' to 'extremely unsettling', and the white pegasus quickly began to panic. To have a crazy prisoner was one thing, but to have said prisoner die while he was on duty? That was very, very bad, especially with him being nothing more than a recruit. With a few brief flap of his wings to aid his speed, Ferous bolted past the nearby rack and yanked the ring of keys off it, skidding to a halt right outside the cell. He began to try key after key, angrily grumbling to himself when the lock wouldn't budge, and occasionally glancing through the bars at the still form of his one and only prisoner. Even now, she still had that grin on her face, and the pegasus shut his eyes and shuddered before returning to the task at hand. "C'mon, damnit! Right key has to be in here somewhere!"

A silver key, nothing. A bronze key and a gold key, no dice. The neophyte had been through nearly every key on the ring and still couldn't find the right one, even as precious seconds ticked by. He finally came to one of the last keys on the ring, an old and rusted key that had obviously seen better days, and with a sigh, he shoved it into the lock and gave it a turn... and it worked. The cell door softly clicked and slowly began to swing open, and Ferous quickly decided to help out by giving it a firm kick to open it all the way. With the way clear, he hurried inside and began to tend to the prisoner.

He wasn't exactly a medical professional, but just a cursory glance made it obvious that this particular pony was in rough shape. The blood on her face had left her coat and hair matted and red, and her wings and legs lay sprawled out upon the floor. Ferous took a few more cautious steps towards her, and gave her side a gentle poke with one of his hooves — no response. Slowly, he leaned down towards her face, inspecting her as he looked for any visible signs of life. "Lieutenant? Lieutenant, you alright?"

Her eyes fluttered open, and those same wild, bloodshot eyes soon stared back at him. "Surprise."

"Wha—" Before he could say another word, he felt the wind knocked out of him as the batpony gave his stomach a hard kick, and as he fought to regain his footing, she bolted out of the brig. With a groan, Ferous forced himself to give chase, weakly calling out after her as he struggled to get his breath back. "St... stop! I order you to stop!"

Orders mean little when they can't be enforced, something the pegasus had been forcibly reminded of as he ran after the wayward lieutenant. He had managed to catch his breath by now, and though she had gotten both a headstart and was faster than him, he had an advantage she didn't — he knew the castle. As the two ran through the stone halls of the Royal Guard, Ferous ducked down side passage after side passage, always inching a little bit closer to his fugitive. Even over his own panting, he could've sworn she was laughing at him, something which simply drove him even harder. The chase went on for several minutes, with the neophyte always gaining on but never quite catching the lieutenant, and they both eventually took a turn down a much larger passage, lined with stained glass windows on both sides. The windows were chronicles of the tales of the Royal Guard and not much else, but they were still deemed to be invaluable.

They were also, to some, expendable. Right as Ferous began to catch up to his prisoner, there was a deafening crash as several of the windows were broken, and three figures on dark wings swooped in. Before the neophyte even had time to comprehend what was going on, the chase came to an abrupt end — Lieutenant Caelum's body crumpled to the ground, and her head, severed cleanly from the shoulders, rolled about on the ground before coming to rest against one of the pillars. Even in these darkened halls, enough daylight shone in through the windows to illuminate things, and Ferous caught the glint of bloodied steel.

Before him stood three more opliptera, their armor bearing the same colors as the... late Lieutenant Caelum. The leader of the bunch slowly walked towards him, giving her wings—and the stained wingblades upon them—a showing. "Incompetent fool."

Ferous was briefly taken aback, and glanced at the headless corpse in front of him before looking at the trio once more. "W-what?!"

The leader huffed. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

"What about what you just did?! I... you killed my prisoner!"

"Your 'prisoner' was due to be purged — a necessary evil. And you, neophyte, are hereby guilty of aiding an enemy of the state."

He blinked. "What?! I was doing my job! I was guarding her and something weird happened, so I went to help her and-"

"And you were tricked. Regardless of your intentions, you aided an enemy of the state, a crime tantamount to treason — and punishable by death."

"...you... you can't be serious."

The leader shook her head, her pale blue eyes gleaming in the faint daylight, and she gave her wings another flex. "I'm afraid I am. We'll be sure you receive a proper burial, in accordance with—"

There was another voice that soon joined the conversation, much louder—and angrier—than either of the two. "Captain Procella, you will do no such thing!"

The blue-eyed batpony let out a growl and quickly stepped to the side to stare down the hallway at the approaching figure. "Don't you dare get in my way, sergeant. This was my duty to fulfill, not yours!"

"And your duty is done!" The gray newcomer slowly stepped into the light, her amber eyes narrowed at her captain, and she let out a growl of her own as her black mane began to partially cover her eyes. "I refuse to stand idle while you try and threaten another pony, especially when their only crime is doing their job!"

"Were you spying on me, sergeant? Insubordination of this caliber can only be punishable with—"

"I'm here on Lady Luna's orders."

The captain was visibly shaken, and she glanced towards the two ponies in her company before looking back towards the sergeant. "You what?"

"You heard me. The Princess knows you're a bit of a hothead and thought it might do you some good to have a calming element following you, however far they may be... and especially in cases such as this." The Sergeant brushed a bit of her mane aside and glanced towards Ferous, a faint grin spreading across her face. "'Tis good to see you again, Neophyte, even in situations such as this."

The pegasus tilted his head and leaned forward somewhat, incredulous. "...Noctis?"

"Who else?"

Ferous let out a faint laugh, something somewhat out of place given the situation. He and Noctis had met many weeks ago, up on the ramparts of Canterlot, and their meeting had been more due to his own curiosity than anything else. He had just joined the Royal Guard, he had seen her and wanted to know more about the opliptera, and so he went up and... talked. She had given him a story about the origins of her kind in return, if only to sate his curiosity and send him on his way, and instead, he had simply turned up the next night... and the night after that... and the night after that. Always eager for a story, always eager to learn and to know more, and what had originally been a chance encounter had quickly turned into a rather unorthodox friendship. Pegasi and opliptera typically didn't socialize with one another, and yet they had been the exception. "It's... good to see you too. Almost didn't recognize you."

Captain Procella flared her wings once more and glared at Noctis. "You two know each other?!"

Noctis' response was simple enough, and very much the opposite of her captain's reaction. "Yes."

"Inexcusable! First you try and tell me that you're here on Lady Luna's orders, and now I find out that you two know each other? What the hell are you trying to play, sergeant?!"

"Nothing at all. I had no way of knowing that the Neophyte would be involved in this."

Procella fumed and folded her wings once more, pacing back and forth in front of them both. "This... pathetic excuse for a guard nearly let Lieutenant Caelum get away. He helped her almost-"

"Emphasis on 'nearly' and 'almost', captain. You gave the lieutenant the rest she deserved, and though the neophyte unwittingly helped her, he did it with good intentions and in the end, no harm was done." Noctis approached her captain and stared the mare right in the eyes. "Your duty is done, captain. Leave."

"I think not. I am captain of the Night Guard and the Vigil, not you, and if I deem him guilty of treason, then he deserves his fate!" Procella narrowed her eyes and had butted her head up against Noctis', growling at her. "Out. Of. My. Way."

"...Very well then, captain." The last word was practically dripping with sarcasm, and Noctis stepped aside, allowing the captain to approach Ferous.

Pleased to get her way, the captain began to slowly approach the Neophyte, her wings outstretched and the bloodstained wingblades clearly visible. Worst of all, she was grinning—grinning—not unlike what the lieutenant had done before attempting to make her escape. "Face your fate, pegasus."

The turn of events had left Ferous in a state of shock. Noctis had been his friend, and just as she had seemingly showed up to save him, she had simply stepped to the side in order to let her superior have her way. And so, this was how the illustrious career of Ferous was to end — not in battle, or after a long and storied career, but silenced by the very same Night Guard he served alongside, if only so they could keep some things a secret. Procella now stood directly in front of him, and he shut his eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable bite of cold steel upon his flesh.

The captain's grin had turned into a scowl, and as she stood before the pegasus, she raised one of her wings up above his head in preparation for the deathblow. "Neophyte, you are hereby guilty of crimes against the Crown. Your sentence is death. May the Sisters grant you mercy in the afterlife."

Ferous audibly gulped, his eyes still closed, and just as he began to hear the whistle of the captain's wing as it cut through the air, it came to an abrupt stop - all because of a single spoken phrase.

"I hereby invoke the Rite of Conscription."

Procella froze in place and quickly withdrew her wing, which had been only inches away from Ferous' neck, if only so she could stomp over towards the sergeant. "...What did you just say?"

"I said that I hereby invoke the Rite of Conscription." Noctis, as calm as she had been beforehand, simply smiled at her captain. "Or did you mishear me?"

"You... you dare?"

"The Rite may be invoked by any standing member of the Vigil for any suitable reason, captain... or did you forget that?"

Captain Procella's jaw slowly worked up and down as she tried to make some sort of attempt at a retort - instead, all she found was silence. The anger was clearly evident in her eyes, however, and she shoved past the sergeant, her two comrades in tow. "The Lady will hear of this, whelp."

"I'm sure she'll have me executed, just like all the other times you've complained about me to her." Noctis watched as the trio made their way down the hallway, and as they finally disappeared around a corner, she hurried over towards the neophyte. "You okay, Ferous?"

The pegasus was seated upon the ground, simply staring off down the hallway at the spot formerly occupied by Captain Procella. "I... what the hell just happened?"

"You want the long version or the short version?"

He blinked and looked about, his expression somewhat uncertain as he caught sight of Noctis once again. "I um... whichever. I just... I'm really confused right now. I mean, almost dying, and then... you know... not dying."

"Right, well... the short version is that I just saved your ass."

"Sorta gathered that."

Noctis allowed herself a snicker and grinned at him. "You're welcome?"

"Oh! Right, uh, thanks. So what the hell did you say back there that got her to stop? Something about a rite?"

"Ah, that. The Rite of Conscription basically means that you're more or less bound to my service."

"So." Ferous looked at her, a brow raised. "Is that... sorta like a slave or something?"

Noctis blinked in return and quickly shook her head. "What?! No! It's... it's complicated, I suppose."

"That long version might be for the best."

"Perhaps." The mare glanced over her shoulder. "I'll need to send somepony out to retrieve the lieutenant, but for now, how about we go for a little walk and I'll give you the full explanation of things on the way."

"Walk? To where?"

To that, Noctis simply grinned and turned about as she began to slowly walk down one of the hallways, with Ferous quickly running to catch up to her.

"Your new home."

Act 1 | Chapter 2: The Long Version

"New home? I... what? What?"

"Had a feeling you might say that."

"...okay, just... stop for a second."

Noctis sighed and lowered her head somewhat, pausing mid-stride so she could turn towards her companion. They honestly hadn't gotten far at all—Lieutenant Caelum's body was still easily visible, and that was roughly a hundred yards away or so—and already, Ferous' overly-curious nature had gotten the better of him. It hadn't been entirely unexpected, but she had hoped to avoid it for the time being. "What is it?"

"You know what it is."

She smirked. "Do I?"

"Look, just a few minutes ago, I was a couple inches away from ending up like the lieutenant over there." The pegasus scowled at her, then promptly took a seat upon the ground. "You give me some answers, or I'm not moving another step."

"Ferous, it's not that simple."

"Yes it is! I just watched a pony get decapitated, had a run-in with a very grumpy captain and her two lackies, and now I'm 'bound to your service' or something — I just had more happen to me in ten minutes than I thought would ever happen in the past ten years. I deserve some damn answers, and you know that."

"I do, but..." The opliptera sighed and walked over towards one of the walls, placing her hoof upon it and briefly studying the granite surface. "As I said, it's not that simple. This isn't something I can just tell you. It's something that needs to be shown in order for you to truly understand it."

"Noctis, I need to know what the hell is going on, otherwise I don't know wha—"

"Do you trust me?"

The stallion was taken aback by the question and stared blankly at her, though he soon managed to come up with the answer. "I... of course I do. I mean, we're friends... guards, even. That's gotta count for something."

"And it does." Noctis turned away from the wall and quickly approached the sitting pegasus, eying him as she took step after step towards him. "But I need you to trust me on this, Ferous — just this once. You'll get the answers you need, I promise you. Just... trust me. Please."

He huffed in response, his ears flattening as he glanced away from her. "...I hate when you do this, you know."

It was her turn to be surprised. "Do what?"

"Always setting things up so you have the advantage. You did it with your stories, and you're doing it now."

The opliptera shook her head and took a step towards him, giving his flank a poke with her hoof. "Given how I just saved your ass a few minutes ago, I don't think you're in much of a position to even have any sort of advantage."

"...fair enough." Ferous sighed and stood up from his spot, and though he did his best to hide his irritation, the near-constant flapping of his ears gave it away. "You better keep that promise."

"I keep my promises, Ferous — you, of all ponies, should know that."

He simply grumbled in return and began to walk once more, allowing Noctis to take the lead. She certainly had something in mind for him, but he hadn't the foggiest idea of what it could possibly be. She intended to take him somewhere, a place she had described earlier as his new home, but... where? They were still in the bowels of the Royal Guard headquarters, that much he knew — it wasn't as if they could go any place else. Every step they took brought them through progressively older hallways, however, and in these passages, the light struggled to reach such depths. Instead, they now found their trek lit up by torchlight rather than sunlight, a definite sign that they were likely within the deepest areas of the castle.

They had already ducked down several hallways and passed through several doors, many of which he had no idea even existed, and yet she had. It was enough to pique his curiosity, and he spoke up once more. "How—"

"...do I know where we're going, and you don't?" The mare glanced over her shoulder at him, laughing softly before looking back ahead. "It's my very duty to know anything and everything in Canterlot. I'm sure I mentioned that the first time we met... or do you not remember?"

"I remember, just... not very well."

She glanced over her shoulder at him once more, a brow raised. "You at least remember the stories I told you, yes?"

"For the most part."

A sigh. "I take it you'll need a refresher, then?"

"It... wouldn't hurt." He appeared rather embarrassed by such a prospect and lowered his head somewhat.

Noctis slowed her pace, however, and placed a wing beneath his chin, smiling faintly as she brought him back up. "Simply look to the walls, then."

It had managed to elude him up until now, but lining both sides of the hallway were countless engravings, all of them equally elaborate. Ferous quickly broke away from her side, trotting up to one of the walls and inspecting it. It was certainly old, much older than most of the buildings the Royal Guard called home. Not only that, but the engravings themselves depicted not a single pegasus — rather, every pony featured seemed to have wings not unlike that of a bat. "This is... all of these are about the opliptera, aren't they?"

She stepped up alongside him, smiling as she looked over one of the engravings herself, and she appeared quite proud of the work. "We always felt that to forget where you come from is the most grievous of sins one could commit."

"And so you recorded it." The pegasus placed a hoof upon the stone, tracing the engravings as he followed them along. "This must have taken ages to do."

"Three years."

He whirled about, a brow raised. "...What?"

Noctis' smile had widened, and she seemed rather amused as she eyed him. "It took three years, if the books are to be believed."

"That can't be right. I mean..." The pegasus turned, pointing a hoof at an engraving that seemingly showed a group of opliptera fighting a dragon. "...with the amount of detail this has, it'd take a group of unicorns at least five years to do it. At least."

"We tend to be nothing if not efficient." She beamed at him, rocking on her hooves somewhat as she inspected the engravings herself. "If I remember correctly, all of this was done after my people were exiled from Canterlot following the Eternal Night. They were trying to complete everything, make sure history didn't forget us like the ponies of Equestria tried to do."

"Looks like they succeeded..."

"Aye." The mare turned away from him, walking towards an opposite wall and squinting her eyes as she traced the outlines of the engravings. "...I believe this is the chronological start, Ferous, if you'd like to take a look."

The pegasus hurried over, standing at her side as he looked over the engraving. It seemed to portray a scene of sorts — on one side, a group of pegasi, and on the other, a group of opliptera. Between the two sides stood two alicorns, both looking rather prominent in comparison to their surroundings. "Right... what am I looking at here?"

"This was how it all began, Ferous. The two alicorns, plainly visible compared to the others, are the Royal Sisters. After everything they had done for Equestria, they were venerated as goddesses, a label that the Sisters didn't particularly enjoy but couldn't do much about — ponies were a rather zealous sort back then. One fateful year, word began to spread that one of the towns on the borders of Equestria had been having some rather strange births, ponies that were born looking akin to monsters."

"The birth of the opliptera, right?"

"Correct." Noctis placed a hoof upon the crowd of pegasi, glancing over towards Ferous as she spoke. "The ponies back then, being a very religious sort, saw the births as being abhorrent and blasphemous. To them, we were crimes against the Sisters, unfit to walk the same earth as they. And so they wished to destroy us and to erase any trace of us ever existing."

Ferous tilted his head as he peered at the engraving. "I'm guessing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn't take kindly to that."

"Not at all. Upon finding out, the Sisters were furious, and personally intervened." The opliptera moved her hoof over to the two alicorns, pressing firmly upon them. "Had they not arrived when they did, I doubt we'd be having this conversation right now. However, they did, and we were taken under their wing... figuratively speaking."

"And so you all went to Canterlot."

"Mhm." She stepped away from the engraving and moved towards another one. "We arrived in Canterlot and attempted to settle down — keyword being 'attempted'. It had been hoped that the first string of births had just been a fluke, but that wasn't the case. Many of my ancestors felt lost back then. They had been given a home, and yet they still had no real purpose in life. They were ponies, and yet they weren't."

The pegasus followed her over, inspecting the carving as he listened to her speak. The carving seemed to depict a single alicorn, with several opliptera kneeling before her, and a large crescent moon in the background. "I'm guessing this one is about Luna and the opliptera?"

"I was getting to that, actually. Lady Celestia and Lady Luna had always viewed us as their surrogate children, but Luna had the tendency to see us a bit... differently. She's always been the exceedingly clever sort, and she saw a potential use for us."

"So you became guards."

"That we did." Noctis smiled, her expression softening somewhat as she traced a hoof along the engraved moon. "We served the Sisters proudly and honorably for hundreds of years. Little by little, we managed to redeem ourselves, and it looked like we might get that happily-ever-after."

"But you... didn't."

"...no. We didn't." She sighed and made her way towards another engraving, the smile having already left her features. Noctis seemingly glared at the stone, and her voice sounded somewhat bitter as she continued the tale. "Something eventually went wrong, and Lady Luna ceased to be herself. That was the turning point, and is where everything began to go wrong."

Ferous trotted over to her side once more and took a look at the next engraving, which depicted a scene showing two groups at war with one another. On one side were several menacing-looking opliptera, and on the other was a much more somber group. At the heads of both groups stood an alicorn, locked in battle with the other. "...that's Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, isn't it?"

"She was no longer 'Princess Luna' at this point, but yes — strange as it may seem, Lady Celestia did battle with her own sister once upon a time. The Eternal Night, as we now call it, was a sundering of the opliptera. One side chose to support Lady Celestia, and the other chose to support the usurper, Nightmare Moon. History will record that Nightmare Moon ultimately lost the battle and was banished for a thousand years, but it has never included the fate that befell my people."

"...exile."

"Precisely. The Eternal Night was costly, and with Nightmare Moon gone, the ponies of Equestria had nopony else left to blame — except us. With such hatred in their hearts and little to stop them, we rightfully feared for our lives, and so we left. We became little more than nomads, living in a world that did not want us, and in time, the population of Equestria forgot about us entirely. Even now, despite how many of us guard during the night, many don't know we even exist."

Ferous frowned, troubled somewhat by the tale, and moved to what would have been the next engraving — if it had existed. "Noctis, there's... there's nothing here."

"I know. They either had nothing left to record, or they ran out of time. As much as I wish it was the former, I get the feeling it was the latter..." The opliptera sighed deeply and hung her head, glancing down the hallway and towards an unopened door. "Depressing as it may be, we do what we must, even if it means fleeing the very kingdom we had sworn to protect. Such is the opliptera way of life."

"An awful shitty way of life, if you ask me."

"Yes, well... we've learned to cope. It hasn't exactly been easy, but few things in life ever are." She spoke with a hint of weariness in her voice, but Ferous hardly seemed to notice, and she didn't mind either — it was something she had learned to hide very well over the years. Instead, she took a few tentative steps down the hallway and toward the closed door. "Come. We still have other things I need to show you."

The pegasus hesitantly pulled away from yet another engraving and trotted over towards her side, keeping pace with her as the two of them continued their trek. "So... you weren't kidding when you said this was something I needed to be shown, rather than told."

"Not at all."

"There's still quite a few things I don't get, though."

"We're getting to that, Ferous." The opliptera stopped a few paces short of the door and slowly leaned forward, grasping hold of the handle with her mouth and opening it, revealing a set of stairs that disappeared into the darkness. Even as she did, dust shifted from both the door and the frame, causing Ferous to take a few cautious steps backward. It was enough to lighten her mood somewhat, and as she stood back up, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, grinning faintly. "What, afraid of the dark?"

He slowly shook his head and squinted his eyes as he peered into the blackness, frowning somewhat. "It's not that. Just... if it's been untouched long enough to have dust on it..."

"It's safe enough. It's just been a very long time since anypony else has been this way."

"Now, when you say 'safe enough'..."

"Neophyte Ferous, if you don't get your ass down those stairs, I'll send it down them myself."

The stallion stiffened and hastily walked through the doorway, pausing once inside. As it had been on the outside, the stairs themselves were lit by the light of the hallway for the first few steps, and then seemingly vanished into nothingness. He wasn't afraid of the dark, heavens no — that was something he had gotten over when he was but a foal. A fear of the unknown, however, was something very real. To go in blind—literally, in this case—wasn't exactly tactically sound, and he turned towards the doorway and watched as his companion made her way in. "Noctis, you're gonna lead, right? 'Cause uh... yeah. Me and dark stairs don't exactly mix."

There was a soft sigh to his side, and he turned just in time to see her shut the door on the both of them... and plunge them into darkness. "Of course I'll lead. Just be patient."

"...Noctis? Can't see shit... where are you?"

"Patience, Ferous."

"Patience for what? You expecting the lights to just come on themselves? 'Cause I really doubt it's gonna—"

As if to prove him wrong, row upon row of torches began to spontaneously ignite, bathing the staircase and the both of them in pale blue light. It was still a little too dark for Ferous' tastes, but it was now light enough for him to see the entirety of the staircase and the glint of Noctis' teeth. The opliptera ran a hoof through one of the nearby torches, smiling to herself as the flame seemed to bend away from her. "Magical torches always did seem a bit gimmicky to me, but they have their uses."

Eager to try for himself, Ferous stepped up beside her and did the same, placing a hoof in the torch and watching as the blue flame seemed to purposely avoid him. "Huh."

She glanced over towards him, still smiling. "First time?"

"I uh... yeah. We don't really see this sort of thing in the Royal Guard."

"I'm not surprised. They're a favorite of Lady Luna's, though from what I understand, Lady Celestia isn't too keen on them."

"They're... kinda spooky."

"Precisely why she doesn't like them." Noctis began to descend the first few steps, stopping to briefly look over her shoulder. "Coming?"

"Yeah, yeah." He took a short jump and glided over to her side, giving her a confident nod. "Ready for... whatever it is you're taking me to."

"You'll see soon enough. We only have one more stop before reaching our destination."

"And that is?"

"Ever the curious one, aren't you?" The opliptera snickered and continued to face forward as they traveled ever deeper into the depths of Canterlot. "As I said, you'll see soon enough. It isn't much further."

The pegasus huffed and directed his attention towards the stairs in front of him, shaking his head somewhat. "All this waiting is killing me."

"I suppose that compared to the alternative, this form of being killed is much better, hm?"

He could hardly muster much of a response to that, and instead, remained quiet.

"I thought so. I know you hate secrets, Ferous — that much was rather evident during our first few meetings. It goes in direct opposition of who you are." She let out a soft sigh and briefly looked over in his direction. "Canterlot has several secrets, many of which I will reveal to you in due time. But for now, you simply aren't ready for all of them. You understand, don't you?"

"I... think so. My father told me a saying once, that ones reach should never exceed their grasp. That's roughly the same thing, right?"

"Indeed — your father sounds like a very wise pony. I'll admit, I'm rather surprised you haven't mentioned him before."

The pegasus' ears quickly flattened and he sighed. "He um... he passed away a few years back."

"Oh." Noctis frowned and quickly looked away from him, not wanting to make things any more awkward than they already were. "I... I apologize, Ferous."

"No, it's... it's fine. He was the main reason I joined the Royal Guard in the first place."

"Was he now?"

Ferous' ears perked up as he nodded. "Yeah... always told me stories before I went to sleep, every single night. Those stories made me look up to 'em all."

"Your father was also a guard?"

"Huh? Oh, no... he was a blacksmith. Wasn't a guard himself, but he helped out with a lot of their weapons and armor. I think he had always wanted to join himself and never got the chance to."

"Well, I'm..." The mare paused and briefly glanced around before looking back over towards Ferous and offering him a smile. "I'm sure he would be proud of you."

"Yeah. He probably would be..." Ferous also paused, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, though he quickly snapped back to attention. "So what's the next stop anyways?"

"I'm glad you asked, because..." Noctis hopped off the stairs and unfolded her wings, gliding down to yet another door and landing in front of it. "...we're here."

"And... where is 'here', exactly?"

"You'll see in just a moment." As with the previous door, she leaned down and grabbed hold of the handle, slowly pulling it open. This one seemed to require a bit more effort than the last one, though she still didn't have much trouble with it. "Step inside, Ferous. I'll be right behind you."

He sighed once more and reluctantly did as told, stepping out of the blue light of the staircase and into darkness once more. The magical torches from the staircase did little to help him see, though off in the distance, he could faintly make out what appeared to be a basin of sorts. "Right, so... where are we again?"

"This, Ferous... is the Codex."

The stallion coughed and looked around. "...I don't see any books."

"That's because the Codex isn't a book. It's a thing."

"...come again?"

Noctis pushed past him and instead proceeded towards the basin, stopping in front of it and raising one of her forelegs to her mouth. She knew it was something that he likely wouldn't approve of at first, but after it had all been explained, well... that would be a different matter. Actions speak louder than words, however, and so Noctis proceeded to the next step.

She bit herself.

Tiny as they may be, the fangs of the opliptera are still often long enough to pierce flesh, and Noctis had just done precisely that. Even as she drew the foreleg away from her mouth and placed it into the basin, she could already hear Ferous taking a few steps — away from her. "Ferous...?"

"B-blood?!"

"Don't be squeamish."

"I... I always heard them telling stories about you all, but I didn't think..." The pegasus took a few more steps away from her, clearly nervous. "Goddess, I didn't think the stories were true!"

"Because they're not."

"You just bit yourself and now you're—"

"Ferous. It's not a damned ritual."

"Then why use blood?!"

"Neophyte Ferous, I'm saying it because I've heard those same tales time and time again, and they're equal parts horrendous and offensive. I thought you would've known better by now than to buy into such folly."

Ferous stopped in place, and instead, continued to look back towards her. "Okay, if they're not true, then... then what are you doing right now?"

"All of this is necessary in order to properly utilize the Codex. It won't activate without opliptera blood, or a suitable replacement. This is runic magic we're talking about."

"R... runic magic?"

A sigh. "Runic magic is an ancient and deceptively powerful form of magic, created in secret by the earth ponies during Discord's reign. Unicorn magic was easily detected by him, but runic magic was something he couldn't. Strong as it may have been, though, the fuel sources were often rather... exotic."

"Like... like blood."

"Precisely."

"So it's... not some dark ritual?"

"No, Ferous, it isn't. Now come over here — it's almost finished."

With a hint of reluctance, the pegasus took a step forward, and then another, and another. A few more steps, and he was once again at Noctis' side, nervously glancing down towards the self-inflicted wound on her leg. "Was all of that really necessary?"

"It was that, or have you do it. Which would you prefer?"

"I um... yeah, you can do that."

"Thought so."

"So is the runic magic broken or something? Because—"

As with the torches, the neophyte quickly found himself silenced as the runes slowly began to activate. It was indeed a slow process at first, but it quickly began to escalate — one rune would light, then two, then four, and they steadily began to trail away from the basin. They soon ended at what seemed to be a wall, and just as Ferous was about to speak up once more, he once again was cut off as several murals suddenly sprang to life, lighting up and illuminating the very room they were in. The change had been sudden enough to catch him off guard, and the pegasus instinctively leapt backwards, drawing a laugh from Noctis. "Easy there. Just because it's slow, doesn't mean it doesn't work anymore."

"...I've got some awful timing, don't I? First the torches, now this."

"Could certainly use some work."

"No kidding..." Ferous gradually approached the basin once more and took his spot next to the opliptera, tilting his head and slowly turning around as he tried to get a look at the full picture. The murals themselves glowed a soft white, and though it wasn't bright enough to light the room at all, it had been enough to reveal that the room itself was circular, and that they stood in the very center of it all. Each and every image seemed somewhat similar to the engravings from before, and yet there were subtle differences — next to some of the opliptera figures were ponies that appeared quite normal, and almost all the murals seemed to feature them fighting some manner of beast. He glanced around a few more times, tilting his head a bit every now and then, and eventually let out a sigh. "Okay, so... mind explaining all this?"

"Certainly." As if to point, Noctis extended a single wing, gesturing to several of the glowing murals. "This is the history of the Vigil."

"I... heard that mentioned earlier, by your captain."

"That you did. The Vigil is a highly specialized group, with one job and one alone."

"And that would be?"

"Demon hunting."

Upon hearing mention of that, he balked and turned to stare at her incredulously. "...demon hunting? Did I hear that right?"

"You did. Why?"

"I... I thought demons were just a folktale, meant to scare foals into doing as told."

Noctis narrowed her eyes at him, huffing slightly. "And the same happened to my kind. But I assure you, demons are as real as the stone beneath your hooves."

He swallowed hard and quickly returned his attention to the murals before him. "...how long have your people hunted demons? And why?"

"Since the birth of our people and the formation of the Night Guard, a small sect have fulfilled their duties to the Sisters as demon hunters. This sect simply had no name at first, but later came to be known as The Vigil. Time has not stopped us, nor has the Endless Night — we simply carry on. And as for the why... remember when I told you that we do what must be done?"

"I do."

"Same thing. We do it because no others can, because no others should. Our birthright, our 'gift', has made us uniquely suited for such a task. Not only that, but... when you've been spat upon by society as a whole, you tend to become a rather vengeful bastard. Instead of allowing our anger and rage to fester and grow, we guide it and redirect it to targets much more... worthy of our wrath."

"But what about the others? I mean... there's a few ponies in the murals who... aren't exactly opliptera."

"We sometimes recruit outside the Night Guard when we find individuals who possess certain... qualities that we see as useful. Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi have all served under the banner of the Vigil."

"And Princess Celestia is okay with that?"

"She approves of it. The Vigil was something created solely by Lady Luna, but Lady Celestia has always been aware of its existence. The numbers were unfortunately thin during Lady Luna's absence, but we've managed to fix that." Noctis straightened up slightly and turned to face Ferous, a faint smile on her face. "It's not often that we extend the invitation to outsiders, though sometimes we're forced to do so because of other circumstances."

Ferous blinked at her and tilted his head, raising a brow as he did. "So that's what this is about?"

She nodded. "An opportunity has presented itself to you, Ferous. In invoking the Rite of Conscription and binding you to my service, you aren't necessarily part of the Royal Guard anymore — such a thing leaves you in a unique position."

"...to do what, exactly?"

"You have the opportunity to take on one of the highest honors in Equestria, and to serve both Sisters in the process. But, the question is..." The opliptera drew closer to him, placing a wing beneath his chin and raising his head slightly as she spoke to him. "...will you accept?"

He quickly pulled away from her, unsure of the choice that lay before him. "I... I don't know. I mean, yeah, I signed up to protect Equestria, but... hunting demons? Magical devices fueled by blood? This... this seems a bit much."

"So all of this talk of demons, eldritch devices, and killing our own just for the sake of preserving a secret... something about that implied to you that we're just as happy-go-lucky and shiny as you sun-loving colts and fillies? This is the real stuff, Ferous. The magic that cuts all the way to the blood and bone, the very things the Sisters try so very hard to keep in the dark because the rest of Equestria will never be ready for it. If you can't handle that..." Noctis paused, her jaw slowly working itself as she seemed to struggle for the right words — or, perhaps, the delivery. "...now's your chance to leave."

Ferous opened his mouth to speak, closed it, then briefly glanced towards the only door within the room. "...what would happen if I do leave?"

"Then... that would be the end of things. You would simply go back to being a Royal Guard, no doubt spending most of your career standing atop a wall."

"And... what about you? What would happen to you if they found out what you did?"

"They won't know."

"But what if—"

"I said they won't know." Though she had spoken it with a growl, Noctis quickly sighed and placed a hoof to her forehead, closing her eyes. "Look. If you don't want to do this, then go. The sooner you leave, the better."

He was already facing the door and could have just as easily left, right then and there. And yet... he didn't. Rather than leave, the pegasus instead turned towards one of the glowing murals and placed a hoof upon it, his voice soft as he spoke. "...my father told me something once, during one of his bedtime stories. He told me that... the true heroes are those willing to do what no other pony would dare do, those willing to stare danger and fear in the eye with their chins held high and their hooves firmly planted. And... that's you, isn't it? That's what the Vigil does."

Slowly, the opliptera opened her eyes and glanced over in his direction, nodding as a faint smile made its way to the surface. "That we do. So... what say you, Neophyte Ferous? Do you accept?"

"Eh, why the hell not? It'd probably look pretty good on my resume anyways." The stallion trotted back over towards Noctis and paused in front of her, grinning slightly as he eyed her. "Just... don't make me regret this or anything."

"I won't." The smile had already grown a bit, and by this point, her fangs were clearly visible. "Now, before we proceed, there's something we need to do in order to properly initiate you."

"I've gotta take an oath or something, right?"

"Oh no, you'll do that later on, and in the presence of Lady Luna." Noctis took a step towards him and placed a hoof behind one of his forelegs, raising it up. "You'll be swearing a very different kind of oath... one of blood."

"...already regretting this."

"Ferous, every new recruit to the Vigil has to go through with this — I went through it myself when we first joined. A drop of blood is drawn and added to the Codex. It signifies the blood you're willing to shed in defense of the kingdom."

He sighed. "Alright, so how do we go about doing that?"

"Well... new recruits often have a rather special bond with the pony who recruited them, and it's partially due to how we gather the drop of blood."

"And how's that?"

"Do you remember how I bit myself so that I could activate the Codex?"

"Yeah, I... wait." He blinked at her and slowly pointed a hoof at her and then himself. "...let me get this straight. You're gonna bite me?"

She nodded.

"Doesn't that seem a little... personal? I mean, biting another pony?"

"Such is the way of things, Ferous, eccentric as they may be." She placed a hoof behind one of his forelegs once more, raising it up and pausing as she briefly stared at the exposed limb. "I'll... admit, though. You're the first one I've recruited, so I've never really had to do this before."

"So we really have to go through with this?"

"I'm afraid so. I'll do what I can to make it as painless as possible, but... no guarantees or anything." Noctis sighed and raised the pegasus' leg a bit more, bringing it level with her mouth. "Are you ready?"

Ferous sighed and slowly nodded, shutting his eyes as he did. "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this over with."

"Very well then." She opened her mouth, fangs bared and at the ready, and paused one last time.

And then she bit. The stallion's eyes immediately flew open, and he soon found himself staring at Noctis as she continued to bite down on his leg. It wasn't as if it hurt too much or anything—he had certainly had far worse—but to have a pair of fangs sink into your flesh was still a painful experience, and he had never really expected a pony to do it, nor did he expect himself to willingly submit to it. She soon released her hold of him, and even as she pulled away and went to cover her mouth, he had still taken a quick enough peek to spot the tell-tale color of blood upon her teeth. At the very least, she had done what she had intended.

"Sorry, Ferous, I didn't think—"

He quickly shook his head, even as he inspected the fresh wound. "No no, it's fine. You did what you had to... right?"

"I... yes. Of course." Noctis had already wiped her mouth with one of her own legs, no doubt trying to get rid of any traces of blood, but she soon grimaced. "Blegh."

"What?"

"...just got a taste."

"Oh." The pegasus let out a nervous cough and glanced over in her direction. "I um... I just hold my leg over the basin and wait to get a drop in, right?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Shouldn't take long." The opliptera let out a cough of her own and made another face. "Egh. Water would be nice about now."

"Afraid you're gonna have to wait on that."

"I wish that weren't the case."

"Yeah, well..." Ferous redirected his attention back towards his own leg and the basin, and silently watched as a trail of blood made its way down his leg, to the hoof, and slowly onto the basin itself... at which point it promptly disappeared. He simply blinked in confusion and raised a brow, tilting his head as he stared at the stone. "Uh... Noctis? The basin just... ate my blood."

"Did it now?"

He scoffed. "You make it sound like it's supposed to do that!"

"Mm, we'll see soon enough." Noctis made her way over towards him, looked down at the basin and his leg, and then stared at one of the murals. "If everything worked right, it should..."

"...should what?"

"Just watch."

Slowly, the center mural began to blink — once, twice, then three times. The other murals soon followed suit, briefly blinking, and then resuming their steady glow. The pattern slowly made its way around the entirety of the room, and once it had managed to finish, every mural glowed a brilliant yellow, shutting itself off seconds later. Just as quickly as they had appeared, the murals had disappeared once more, and Ferous tilted his head as he stared at the wall. "Huh. So what does that mean?"

"Means you're done."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"So... what next?"

"Next?" Noctis faintly laughed and smiled at him, even as she began to walk towards the door. "Next, I show you what I've been meaning to show you."

He quickly trotted off after her, catching up and walking alongside her. "Last stop?"

"Aye."

"Finally." The pegasus sighed and gave his wings a brief stretch, and as they exited the Codex, he found himself being lead down a hallway he hadn't seen on their way in. "So what's all this?"

"Don't think you're finished just yet. There's one more thing in the way."

They arrived at another darkened landing, and when the torches slowly flickered to life, Ferous let out a groan. "...oh no."

Noctis' only response was another laugh, louder than the previous one, and she grinned widely as she looked upon what lay before them.

"More stairs."

Act 1 | Chapter 3: Welcome Home

Time was a difficult concept in the depths beneath Canterlot, something Ferous was quickly being reminded of. Without a line of sight to Celestia's sun, it was impossible to tell just what time of the day it was, or if it was even still day at all. His best guess was that they had been down here for hours, but even that might have been wrong — it was impossible to tell. For now, his attention was focused upon the stairs before him, which seemed to stretch on and into the infinite. He had lost count of the steps several minutes ago, and with his legs beginning to ache from the strain, he had already begun to use his wings to help himself out.

Unlike him, Noctis hardly seemed winded at all. Instead, the opliptera quietly hummed to herself as she hopped down several steps at a time, keeping herself well ahead of the pegasus. It was almost as if she were making a game of it, and the faint smile upon her face seemed to confirm it. "How are you holding up?"

"My everything hurts, Noctis."

"'tis expected. You're going to be working for your meals now — no more standing on walls and collecting your pay after several hours of nothing."

In between his own wheezes, Ferous let out an irritated huff. "Lucky me."

"You're just too stiff from all that time with the Royal Guard. We'll get you limbered up soon enough."

"We?"

"The Vigil, of course, as well as some other things. My kind tends to be more proactive than the ponies you've got wandering around Canterlot." Noctis leaped down another set of steps—ten this time—and continued to muse to herself. "Not much further."

He groaned. "You said that at least ten minutes ago!"

"I mean it this time."

"Hope so... feel like I'm gonna die."

"Mm, no dying just yet. You haven't sworn your oath to Lady Luna." She giggled and grinned to herself, promptly leaping off a step and gliding down to another landing before skidding to a stop. "And besides, if you died, I wouldn't be able to show you the biggest surprise of all."

"And..." Ferous landed beside her, though it wasn't nearly as graceful as her own landing. Instead, he simply collapsed into a sweating and panting heap, looking up to her as he caught his breath. "...that would be?"

"First, there's something I need to ask you. While you were in school in Equestria, did they ever teach you anything at all about the gryphons? History, anything of that sort?"

He appeared slightly confused at first, but slowly nodded. "...yeah? I mean, it wasn't anything specific. Just the bare bones stuff."

"They taught you about the war between Equestria and the gryphons, then?"

"Sure. Happened over 1500 years ago or something." The stallion slowly stood up, groaning as he did, and he looked forward as he did. Before him was a simple door, though he certainly had no idea what was behind it. Rather than attempt to open it, however, he turned his attention back to his companion — this was her territory, after all, not his. "Why are you asking?"

To that, Noctis simply smiled and wandered over towards one of the stone walls. "Tell me, Ferous... how did the war end?"

"Er... well, the gryphons launched a massive attack and razed Canterlot to the ground. Shortly afterwards, Princess Celestia negotiated a truce with the gryphons, and then they rebuilt the city. I... think that's how it ended, if I'm remembering it right."

The opliptera seemed somewhat amused by the answer and turned to face the door. "And what would you say if I told you that Canterlot... isn't the only Canterlot?"

Ferous simply appeared even more confused, his head tilting as he mulled it over out loud. "N-no, that can't be right. If there was another Canterlot, we'd know about it. We would've known years ago."

"All you have to do is open the door, Ferous. Then you'll see which one of us is right."

"...you're playing mind games again, aren't you?"

"Perhaps. Only one way to find out."

With a sigh, the pegasus reluctantly began to approach the door, stopping just before it. He at least knew that whatever was behind the door was safe — Noctis wouldn't let him open it otherwise. Still, there was an awful lot he didn't know, and that alone was enough to make him uneasy. As she had said, however, there was only one way to find out, and Ferous slowly pushed the door open. What he saw was something he never even dreamed possible, and he quietly gasped. "...Goddess."

The door did not lead to another room, but rather, to a cavernous area — literally. The countless steps they had taken down had evidently placed them in the caves beneath Canterlot, and the latest doorway had simply opened up into a gargantuan area within the cave system. At the very top of the enclosure, far in the distance, was an opening, just wide enough for the light of a dying day to leak in... but that wasn't what Ferous was fixated upon. In the midst of this vast space, all the way down here in the depths of Equestria, was a castle nearly as grand as the one within Canterlot. It had certainly seen better days, something made obvious by the crumbling spires, torn and tattered banners, and fading paint. All around it, however, life had managed to spring up — countless buildings dotted the landscape, and it was quickly becoming evident that these weren't just ruins... this was a city. This was...

"Home." Noctis strode forth and stood beside Ferous, beaming as she looked down upon the city. "Welcome to Old Canterlot."

The pegasus continued to stare at the city below, wide-eyed as he took it in. "I... this is..."

"Unbelievable? Amazing? Beyond your wildest dreams?"

"One of those, yeah." Ferous took a few tentative steps forward, blinking and looking about. "Noctis, this is... how long has this been down here?"

"Over a thousand years, give or take."

"What?! That long?"

"Mhm. You see, Canterlot—the original Canterlot—was never on top of a mountain, but rather, in a caldera. Once upon a time, this place was evidently a volcano, and the very cave we're in now would've been filled with magma."

"No shit?"

She nodded. "Placing the city within a caldera gave it good protection from just about everything, except... well, from the air. Predictably enough, that did little to stop the gryphons during the war, and they razed it to the ground — not completely, obviously. After negotiating the truce with the gryphons, the Royal Sisters decided that rather than build yet another fortress, they would build a shining beacon for all of Equestria."

"So they built... over it?"

"Precisely. For all their power, it took a bit of time and effort on their part to move that much rock, but they eventually formed a decent enough spot on top of the ruins for them to build—"

"Which is why Canterlot is on top of a mountain."

"Fast learner." She flashed him a quick grin and took a few steps of her own, approaching the edge of the overlook and gesturing out towards the city. "With their new Canterlot to watch over, the old one was largely forgotten... until the Royal Sisters discovered us. When they offered us a home within Canterlot, this is what they gave us: a city of our own, hidden in the shadows and safe from those who would wish us harm. It worked out well enough, until the Eternal Night rolled around and we found ourselves on the run."

"And now you're back."

"Mhm. Things got rather messy while we were away, so we're still in the process of cleaning up." The opliptera promptly turned to one side and began to walk down a nearby trail, pausing to glance over her shoulder at him. "Coming?"

Ferous tilted his head, ears perked. "To where?"

Such a response was evidently amusing to her, and she laughed at him before pointing downwards with a hoof. "To the city, of course. 'tis your home now."

"So this is what you meant?"

"Aye."

The pegasus lowered his head and pawed at the ground with a hoof. "So is this... permanent?"

A nod. "For the most part. All members of the Vigil live down here, opliptera or not. It's easier that way."

"Oh. Well it's just—"

"If you're worried about family, you're allowed to go on leave for that."

"That'd be nice and all, if I uh... you know, had any family left."

"Oh." Noctis frowned somewhat, ears flattening, and she quickly looked off to the side. "Apologies."

"S'fine. Mostly just wanted to talk to my captain one last time."

"Captain Shining Armor will be informed of your promotion. Don't worry about that too much."

"Right, well..." The latest bit of information had perked up Ferous a bit, and the stallion had already trotted over to her side, seemingly at the ready. "Let's get a move on, then."

"Excellent." The opliptera promptly began to walk down the path, and Ferous quickly took off after her, sticking to Noctis' side as they zigzagged their way down to the city below. While it was certainly lacking in steps, it was still a little rough on the legs, and the pegasus eventually settled for simply flying beside his companion. She had hardly seemed to notice, and if she had, she had simply decided to say nothing of it. Instead, she glanced down towards some of the houses and soon directed her attention back towards him. "Before we enter the city itself, let me go over a few things for you."

"Such as?"

"Well, for starters, you're an outsider."

He huffed. "Meaning?"

"For me, nothing. But for many opliptera down here, you're going to be the first outsider they see, and their first exposure to much of anything from the outside world. It's usually just the foals, but there's a few mares and stallions who have never seen a non-opliptera."

"So... make a good impression?"

"Essentially. Your coat color complicates things slightly, though."

Ferous glanced down at his own white wings and raised a brow. "How?"

"You're white. Lady Celestia is white."

"...oh."

"Yeah. Don't be surprised if some of them get a little weird around you. It's happened before and it'll happen again." Noctis sighed and shook her head. "As long as you stay by my side, we'll be fine. In addition, there's also the matter of your housing — until we can get you properly set up elsewhere, you'll be staying with me."

"...isn't that a little—"

"I have a spare bed you can sleep in." She looked over in his direction, eyes narrowed somewhat. "You were going to say 'awkward', weren't you?"

"M-maybe?"

"Yes, well... that won't be the case. Separate beds. Of course, even after we do find some place else for you, you can simply choose to stay with me if you want. The Vigil is fairly relaxed in regards to a lot of things, and it isn't uncommon for recruits to stay with their recruiter for extended periods of time."

"Ah." The pegasus let out a sigh of relief, relaxing somewhat. "Anything else?"

"For now, no. We'll get you to my home and get you settled in, and then you'll have the rest of the night off. Tomorrow will be spent getting you oriented and informing you on how we run things. Nothing strenuous."

"Works for me."

"I'm sure it does."

Rather than immediately answer, he looked out and towards the place that was to be his new home. Their trek downwards had brought them closer and closer, and they were now at a distance to where he could begin to see things a bit more clearly. Despite still being rather far, it was plain to see that this was an actual, living city — ponies roamed the streets below, some of them fixing roads or lamps, and others tending to gardens. There even seemed to be quite a few stores, with several opliptera looking through the windows of some, and if Ferous looked hard enough, he could make out what he thought to be a school group of colts and fillies. "It's so... normal."

Noctis glanced over her shoulder at him, a brow raised. "Expecting worse?"

"Sort of. I mean... a lot of Equestria has treated your kind like dirt, and yet, this is... almost just like Canterlot. It's clean. Everypony seems happy. It's normal."

"We do what must be done, Ferous — 'tis a recurring theme amongst my kind, if you couldn't tell by now. Even if we're quite literally living under the noses of those in Canterlot, life still has to go on for us. We can't continue to mope and lament our fate. We simply have to push past it and... well, live. It may not be much of a home, but it's ours."

"Yeah... looks like you treat it fairly well."

"It's the only home we have. We have to treat it well."

"Good point."

She nodded and directed her attention forwards. They were nearing the bottom of the path, and as the stone beneath their hooves began to gradually even out, she threw one last glance over her shoulder. "We're almost in the city now. Remember, just stick by my side, and we should reach my home with little trouble."

He snickered in return, landing and folding his wings as he began to walk once more. "You say that like you're expecting trouble."

"Down here, Ferous, you learn to expect anything — if you don't, you might not live to see another day. Stay close."

Rather than verbally answer, he instead nodded and took his place at her side. Their entrance into Old Canterlot was simple enough, and had involved nothing more than transition from unhewn stone to paved brick. Given how careful Noctis had wanted to be, however, Ferous had expected them to duck down an alley or use some sort of secret passage... and instead, they were simply walking down the street. He, of course, stuck out rather easily compared to most everything else, and they had already begun to draw stares. Even after the warning earlier, it had been a little unexpected — ponies stopped in the midst of their own activities, if only to get a look at this strange visitor.

A mare tending to her garden dropped her hoe and tilted her head, eying him curiously.

A school group, teacher included, paused in the middle of the street, looking at him with awe.

An elderly stallion, seemingly out for a walk, caught sight of him and quickly dropped to the ground, quietly uttering something as they walked past.

Ferous briefly glanced at the stallion and leaned towards Noctis, whispering to her as they continued on through the city. "What was he doing?"

"Likely reciting a prayer."

"...what for?"

"As I said earlier, Lady Celestia is white, and so are you. He likely thought you were a demigod of some sort."

The pegasus frowned somewhat. "They don't really think that, do they?"

"Ferous, it's a very common belief down here that the Sisters are goddesses. Some of them can and will think of you as a demigod, simply because of the white coat and the wings."

"Do you believe that?"

She sighed, briefly eyed him, and shook her head. "I'm inclined to say 'No', if only because I know that the Sisters themselves don't appreciate being called goddesses. Maybe they are, and maybe they aren't."

"Hrm." He could have just as easily pressed the issue, but he instead decided to take in his surroundings a bit more. Now that they were actually much closer than an overlook, the similarities between this and the Canterlot on the surface were startling — this essentially was Canterlot, albeit slightly dilapidated. There was another thing Ferous noticed, though, and it was most noticeable now that they had hit one of the busier sections of the city. All of the opliptera present on the street had given both him and Noctis a rather wide berth, and he leaned over towards her once more. "...they're avoiding us."

"It happens."

"Why, though?"

Noctis turned to face him, a smirk easily visible on her face. "Never run out of questions, do you? They do it because they recognize me — because the Vigil answers directly to the Sisters, simply being a member commands a great deal of respect around here."

"...and fear, it looks like."

"Not always."

"What about me, though?"

"Well, since you're with me, you're one of two things. You're either an ally, or a friend, and either one means that nopony will likely mess with you if they have any common sense."

"Guessing that means 'prisoner' isn't a possibility?"

She turned away, her expression darkening. "We don't take prisoners."

"Oh." The pegasus audibly gulped and glanced around, more than eager to change topics. "So uh... how much further?"

"To my place? Not very. We're only about a block away, if that."

"Good. I'm about ready for a break."

Noctis faintly laughed at that, turning to face her companion as they rounded a corner. "Is that so?"

"Hey, I think after everything that's happened today, I deserve a bit of a nap!"

"Perhaps! I think I'll be the judge of that, though." She stuck her tongue out at him, something that drew an audible groan from him and quickly caused her to laugh in return. "A nap might be a bit much, but I suppose I can let you take a break. The stairs haven't exactly been kind to you, hm?"

"Please don't mention stairs."

"If only you were so lucky — all the beds are on the second floor. And speaking of which..." Noctis paused in front of a storefront and stuck out a hoof, gesturing to the building and sign behind her. "...we're here!"

Ferous craned his neck as he tried to get a good look at the sign, and though it was heavily weathered, he could still make out the lettering on it. "...Old Canterlot Library? You live in a library?"

"I also run it during my free time... what little I get, of course. This should hardly be surprising to you, Ferous, given my status as the Lorekeeper of the Night Guard and the Vigil."

"Er... right. Of course."

She leered at him. "Did you forget that too?"

"N-no! Of course not! It just... slipped my mind for a moment."

"I bet it did." The opliptera rolled her eyes and approached the door, fiddling with the lock briefly before nudging it open. "There. Oh, and Ferous?"

"Yeah?"

She promptly stepped inside the library, turning around to face him and holding the door open, even as she gave him what was possibly the most genuine smile he had ever seen before.

"Welcome home."

Act 1 | Chapter 4: The Shady Trough

"Have a look around, Ferous. I'll be upstairs if you need me."

So this was to be home — the outside had been unassuming enough, and the inside wasn't much different. The first floor consisted of little more than a wobbly-looking desk and two or three rows of books, all of which sat neatly arranged upon the makeshift shelves. It honestly wasn't much of a library at all, but Ferous quickly reminded himself of the predicament down here. It was highly likely that this was all they even had, and though it paled in comparison to one of Canterlot's libraries, it was still theirs.

That was what mattered to the opliptera, wasn't it? Regardless of their situation, everything down here was theirs. Everything had been reused, repurposed, and what might have simply been tossed aside as trash on the surface was instead mended and put to use once more. It gave him something else to think about: The Night Guard weren't just efficient because of their work — they were efficient because their very way of life demanded it.

The pegasus briefly browsed the shelves—not surprisingly, almost all of them were history books—and soon made his way for the stairs to the second floor. Thankfully, going up stairs seemed to use a completely different group of muscles than going down them, and Ferous seemed to make his way up with little trouble, aside from the rather cramped staircase. As he reached the landing at the top, he quickly surveyed his surroundings. The second floor was little more than two rooms separated by a single wall, and upon spotting a nearby bed, it was rather obvious as to where he would be sleeping.

Something else caught his eye, however. Close to the bed was a desk, and upon it lay several pages, with quills and an inkwell nearby. With his curiosity quickly getting the better of him once more, Ferous strode over and leaned toward the desk, reading over some of the pages. Many of them had been written upon time and time again, and countless edits and corrections covered several of the pages — it seemed as if whatever this was, it was a work in progress. It was difficult to find pages that were clean enough for him to read, but after shuffling through them a bit, he managed to gather enough of them together for him to look over.

She was beautiful in the moonlight. Her coat came alive under what the opliptera called the Grace of Luna; where in the sun she was dull and always seemed uncomfortable, under the moon, her mane shone and her coat glowed. To see her in the light of the moon, as he always did during their nightly meetings, was stunning — she was beautiful beyond belief, and though he had told her such a thing time and time again, he still felt it worth saying.

But now was not the time for words, something she made evident as she leaned up to silence him with a kiss. The night was their time, a time in which the two of them could be away from the prying eyes of those who would no doubt disapprove of their relationship. Forbidden as it may have been, they loved one another, as true as any other. Quietly, and with a faint laugh here and there, the two made their way through the gardens, if only to find a spot where they could truly be alone. They eventually found a clearing, and in the middle, a fountain — such a place would do nicely.

She tossed him a teasing glance and lead him along, her tail dancing back and forth, as if to beckon him along. He hardly needed to be given incentive, and instead, followed her along, eyes affixed upon her toned haunches. It was then that she promptly turned about, pulling him on top of herself as the two of them fell to the ground. They both quickly found themselves consumed by the throes of passion, their lust wholly unbridled as they—

"Ferous?"

The pegasus let out a yelp and quickly backed away from the desk, his face red — and not just because he had been caught. "Y-yes, Noctis?"

She narrowed her eyes at him from her spot within the doorway. "What were you doing just now?"

"I uh... s-settling in, of course."

"Uh huh." Her eyes shifted from him to the desk, and then to the papers upon it. A faint grimace flashed across her face, if only for the briefest of moments, and then she sighed. "You were reading my rough drafts, weren't you?"

"I-I... wait." Ferous blinked, then tilted his head, staring at her. "You wrote that?"

"Aye." The opliptera nodded, walking towards the desk and calmly rearranging the papers. "Curious — what did you think of it?"

He seemed taken aback at first. "Well, it... seemed awfully smutty."

"'tis the point. It wouldn't be a romance novel if it weren't."

"...you write smut?"

Noctis sighed once more, lowering her head and tossing a glare in his direction. "Yes, Ferous, I do. It helps me vent."

"Oh. Sorry, I just... wasn't expecting it or anything."

"Hmph." She shoved the pages to one side, her attention focused upon tidying up the quills. "So did you like it or not?"

He thought back to what he had just read moments before, and though he hadn't been given enough time to read far enough along for it, he had read enough to assume quite a few things, and it was certainly enough to make him blush once more. "It was... good. Yeah."

"Good? How so?"

"Well uh... you know..."

"I'm afraid I don't, Ferous. What was good about it?" Noctis took a step towards him, looking up and grinning rather widely — him being flustered was rather amusing to her, it would seem. "Or is your tongue tied?"

"It was um..." He swallowed hard, frantically glancing about as he searched for an answer. "...very descriptive?"

"Yes, yes, but did you find it erotic?"

The pegasus stared at her dumbfounded, unable to believe that the ever-serious Noctis was asking him if something she wrote was erotic. It seemed rather appropriate, then, that he would also be unable to answer.

She took note of his reaction, however, snickering as she gave his side a prod. "Goddess, it's as if you've never been with a pony. So easily flustered!"

Ferous huffed, his face still quite red. "I have been, just... this is different!"

"I bet it is." The opliptera laughed once more and returned her attention to cleaning up her desk, though she stopped upon finding an unopened letter buried in the midst of her own work. "And what's this?"

He leaned over, eager for a look. "What's what?"

"A letter, bearing Lady Luna's seal — and the wax is still warm." With her own fangs acting as makeshift letter openers, Noctis hastily tore it open and began to read the contents aloud. "Sergeant Noctis — Captain Procella, displeased as she may be, as informed me of your latest acquisition. Per my orders, and once again causing Captain Procella displeasure, you are given leave for the evening so that you may properly introduce our newest recruit to his new home. Despite your captain's very vocal protests, I'm quite eager to hear the story behind this latest joining. Have him ready for introductions tomorrow. Signed, Princess Luna."

"Your captain's probably pissed."

Noctis rolled her eyes. "She's always pissed. It matters little."

"So what now?"

"Well, I now have leave for the night, as well as orders to properly introduce you to Old Canterlot."

Ferous seemed to study her, his eyes squinting. "You're planning something."

"That I am. Tell me, Ferous... how do you feel about bars?"

In a society as strict and religious as that of the opliptera's, one didn't really expect a bar within city limits, and despite having that very same mindset, Ferous now found himself standing outside the entrance to one. It was ramshackle at best, and painfully evident that the original sign had long since been painted over numerous times — regardless of what this building used to be, it had since been repurposed to see to the needs of a people. The sign itself bore no special markings, aside from a name.

"The Shady Trough?"

"A bit of a dive, but..." Noctis let slip a soft laugh and glanced towards the door. "Only place in the city that sells alcohol. Rather popular with a great many ponies as a result."

"Can't be that much of a dump."

"You'd be surprised. If we're lucky, they'll still be selling shroom stouts at half price."

The pegasus blinked, brow raised. "Okay, I gotta ask... shroom stout?"

"Oh. Well." She cleared her throat and gave a quick nod. "We don't get enough light down here to grow a lot of crops, so we often have to improvise — you've no doubt seen it with the buildings and such. Before our exile, we managed to devise a way to make beer based off the mushrooms that grow down here, and those are rather plentiful."

"So... shroom stouts."

"Shroom stouts."

Ferous sighed. "Lead on."

"Perfect! I'm sure you'll grow to love this place, in due time." Without further ado, the opliptera promptly turned towards the door and made her way inside, her companion in tow. The entry way immediately gave way to a sharp right, which in turn lead down a staircase (much to Ferous' chagrin), and at last opened into another area — a very big area. It may have been naught but a cellar, but it was a large one, and currently held well over a hundred ponies. Dotting the room were numerous tables, nearly every seat filled by an opliptera with a mug close by. Magical torches, similar to the ones he had seen earlier, lined the room, as well as several banners bearing the insignias of the Royal Sisters. Despite being extremely crowded, it still somehow gave the sense of being cozy — perhaps it was due to being situated in a basement.

The clamor of so many ponies certainly made things louder than the pegasus would've liked, and he found himself speaking up if only so Noctis could hear him. "Little busy, isn't it?"

"This is normal!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! Hold on, I think I see a few other Vigil members — stay close!"

Stay close, she said. It was certainly amusing, given how packed the place was, and he found himself struggling to squeeze through the crowd at times. He repeatedly apologized each time, but it hardly seemed necessary — simply seeing him was often enough to cause others to give him space, and though he would've hated that at any other point, it was more than welcome right now. By the time he had managed to catch up to Noctis, she had stopped at a table that currently seated three ponies, all of them still in their armor. From the looks of things, they were in the middle of a card game and had put a stop to it once he and Noctis had arrived.

"Ah, good. There you are."

The lone opliptera mare at the table narrowed a single purple eye at him, the other hidden behind a patch. She huffed, taking a quick drink of whatever was in her mug before brushing a bit of blonde hair away from her face — a curious color combination for an opliptera. "This the guy Procella was bitchin' about?"

"Aye. Ferous, this is Lieutenant Acuta. Acuta, this is Neophyte Ferous."

"Hmph." Another quick drink, and her tone became noticeably more sarcastic. "Cute lookin' guy. Let's see if you actually manage to hold onto this one this time."

Such a remark quickly drew a growl from Noctis, who slammed a hoof upon the table. "I thought we agreed that you weren't to talk about that in public."

"Ain't exactly a secret that you're shit at relationships, Noctis. You're good at your job, but that's about it."

A second opliptera, a stallion, quickly spoke up. His own mane was about as black as Noctis', though the orange eyes certainly set him apart from her. "That's enough, Acuta. You shouldn't be talking about that, especially in front of recruits."

Noctis huffed and gestured towards the latest participant. "That's Corporal Asclepius, medical officer for the Vigil."

"Simply calling me 'doc' will suffice, Neophyte Ferous. As inaccurate as it may be, most of the others within the Vigil do it anyways." Asclepius gave a smile, though it didn't really seem to do much other than counteract Acuta's own scowl. He took a quick drink of his own beer before gesturing to his right and towards a rather brutish looking pegasus. "Sergeant Corvus. Quiet guy. Usually doesn't talk unless it's needed."

The pegasus in question was certainly large in comparison to other stallions, and both a black mane and brown coat made him stand out quite a bit compared to the other ponies within the bar, though certainly not as badly as Ferous stood out. Curiously enough, Corvus' eyes were closed, and it looked like he was thinking — with how loud the bar was, it was any wonder he could do anything of the sort.

"He's trying to work out his chances. Let it never be said that Corvus was a dumb stallion."

From the other side of the table, Acuta laughed. "He can think all he wants. Isn't gonna change how bad his hand is!"

"Maybe if somepony other than you were dealing, that wouldn't be an issue."

"You trying to say I'm a bad dealer, doc?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Acuta. So bad, in fact, that you'll lose the next hand — which you dealt."

"Is that a bet?"

"Ten bits says you lose."

"Fine! Lookin' forward to buying myself another drink with your money!"

With the game newly rekindled, Noctis let out a groan and quickly placed a wing around Ferous, shepherding him towards a more quiet area of the bar. In the midst of all this chaos, she had somehow managed to spot a counter in the corner with several open stools, and a bartender currently cleaning a few mugs. It was a welcome sight, even for him, and as they broke into the clearing surrounding it, Noctis sighed. "Sorry, I just... I was hoping that would've gone better than it did, but—"

"It's fine, Noctis."

"No, it's not fine! I was hoping to give you a good introduction to some of the other ponies that you'll be working with, and instead, I get Acuta being a bitch."

"Noctis." It was Ferous' turn to place a wing around her, and in doing so, he gave her a gentle nudge towards the bar. "Don't worry about it. Let's just have some drinks, yeah?"

"Fine." The opliptera huffed once more and trotted towards the bar, taking a seat upon one of the vacant stools, with Ferous close behind. As soon as they sat down, the bartender had already wordlessly slid them two glass mugs, both of which were filled with a glowing blue liquid. Rather than question it, Noctis instead grabbed hold of it and promptly took a drink, tossing him a glance afterwards. "What?"

"...it's glowing."

"All the mushrooms down here glow. So does the booze. Best get used to it."

"Er, right." He would hold off on tasting it for the time being — his attention was currently more focused on his visibly irritated companion. "So um... about what Acuta said back there."

"As much as I'd love to simply tell you not to ask, I know how you are, and I also know you're not going to stop wondering until I tell you, so..." Noctis sighed and set her mug down, giving it a poke as she leaned upon the bar. "Let's just say that I'm not particularly lucky at love, and we'll leave it at that."

"Oh. If it makes you feel any better, I'm sort of the same way."

She slowly glanced up towards him, a brow raised. "...really?"

"I uh... I was a bit of a stud in my younger years, but nothing really permanent."

"You're still pretty young, you know. I think calling yourself a stud might be a bit much, however."

Ferous smirked. "Yeah, well... had quite a few girls tell me I was cute, but none of 'em ever stuck around all that long. Sorta gave up on it shortly before I joined up with the Royal Guard."

"You're a good-looking guy, Ferous. You were told that for a reason." The opliptera paused, but upon realizing the potential implications of what she just said, quickly spoke up once more. "You gonna try that beer yet? Wanna see what you think."

Ferous was still just the slightest bit surprised by the compliment, though he soon regained his senses. "I uh... y-yeah. Sure."

He paused and stared at the mug before him once more, chewing on his lip — all he was really doing at this point was biding his time, something that both of them knew quite well. At the very least, he knew it was safe to drink, something made evident by the fact that the entire bar was drinking it. That still didn't really change the fact that it was glowing, something that made him—and likely any other pony who hadn't seen it before—incredibly wary. There was no way to get out of it now, though, something made sure of by the scrutinizing eye of Noctis. The pegasus grabbed the mug, paused and uttered what he was sure would be his last words, and then took a drink.

The results were rather tame compared to what he had imagined would happen. Instead of being some of the most pungent and potent beer he had ever encountered, it instead tasted watery and sweet — if anypony above ground had dared to call it alcoholic, they would likely be laughed at.

"Well?" Noctis was leaning forward a bit on her stool, a grin upon her face. "How is it?"

"It's uh..." Ferous cleared his throat, glancing around briefly — tempted as he may have been to tell her how he really felt, he had to quickly remind himself that the beer wasn't like this for lack of effort, but because this was simply all they had. With that in mind, he forced a smile and raised his mug once more. "Better than I thought it'd be!"

"Ah, good! I had a feeling you'd enjoy it!" Her face brightened somewhat, and as it did, she was quick to raise her own mug and place it against his. "Here's to your future within the Vigil. May your strikes be true, your hooves steady, your wings swift, and your head firmly atop your shoulders at the end of the day, else you'll have no way to drink."

Dark as it may have been, something about the wish amused him, causing the pegasus to grin widely. "I'll drink to that. Bottoms up?"

"Aye." The words had scarcely left her mouth, and already, Noctis was busy gulping down her mug. A bit leaked out here and there, the glowing blue beer dripping down her muzzle and neck, and she gave her mouth a quick wipe with her foreleg after slamming the mug down. "Ahh goddess, I needed that. Barkeep, another for me!"

Another mug of beer was wordlessly pushed forward once more, and Ferous had barely even gone through half of his by the time Noctis had reached her second. He stared at the empty mug in front of her, due partially to both confusion and awe, and he raised a brow as he eyed her. "You... never really struck me as the drinking sort."

She turned towards him and giggled, surprising him once more — weak as the beer may have been, it seemed as if Noctis was already tipsy from it. Either she was a lightweight, or the opliptera as a whole had a very low alcohol tolerance. "Ferous, I'm but a simple mare with simple needs! Warm food, a bed, a roof over my head, and beer — s'all I need. And you'd best finish your beer before it gets warm!"

Ferous had never really been keen on being rushed through his booze, and decided to make a point of it. Rather than give her the chance to object, the pegasus promptly downed what was left of his mug, as well as the entirety of Noctis' second mug, placing both empty glasses in front of her as he finished. A quick wipe of the muzzle and a belch later, and he was staring and grinning at her. "Fast enough for ya?"

Rather than elicit a reaction from just her, however, he had drawn the attention of a few others as well — several dozen pairs of eyes were locked upon him, many of them quietly whispering and murmuring about him. Noctis simply stared at him blankly, her mouth hanging open, and she slowly began to lean towards him. "...goddess, did... did you just have two back to back?"

"...er, yeah? Why?"

"Nopony's ever had two... at least, not so quickly like that."

He simply shrugged. "It's... really not that strong."

She placed a hoof upon his shoulder, narrowing her eyes. "Betcha can't do it again."

At this, the crowd began to murmur and speak amongst themselves once more — if two was something worth talking about, four was apparently nigh impossible. Still, he didn't think much of it. "Alright."

The bartender had taken notice by now, and appeared hesitant to even serve them. However, with several ponies now loudly cheering, the opliptera relented and poured four more mugs, placing two in front of Ferous and the other two in front of Noctis. She had already taken hold of one mug, her face flushed as she gave him a grin. "Ready?"

"Aye."

"Go!" Noctis was quick off the line once more, hastily gulping down her first mug and slamming it onto the counter as she finished, though doing so had seemingly left her winded. She paused and briefly glanced over towards her companion, who was only half-finished with his first mug, and quickly grabbed her second beer, downing it as fast as she could. It seemed to be one too many, however, and no sooner had she finished it than she was already upon the floor.

Ferous had seen it, of course, and with a sigh, he quickly downed one beer and the other, setting both upon the counter before attending to his friend. Getting her onto his back was a tricky affair, given that she was now squirming in the midst of her drunken stupor, but he managed easily enough after using his wings. With Noctis slung over his back, the pegasus stood up once more and turned towards the bartender. "Could uh... we get our tabs, please?"

The bartender simply shook his head in return, seemingly in awe of Ferous' apparent feat of drinking. "S'on the house."

"Oh. Well, thank you." He had already turned towards the exit, and was rather surprised to see that the crowd had already made a path for him. He wasn't one to complain, of course, and quickly began to trot for the door — the sooner he could put Noctis to bed, the better. Out of the corner of his eye, he could almost spot the trio from earlier, but such a thing was the least of his worries, and it only took a few minutes more before the two of them were once again on the streets of Old Canterlot.

Night had fallen while they had been in the bar, something made evident by the appearance of the moon through the hole in the cave's ceiling, though it certainly hadn't felt like it — time was a tricky thing down here, after all. They drew their fair share of glances as they made their way through the city, of course, which was fully expected when one saw a member of the Night Guard slung over the back of another pony. Still, Noctis' own drunken ramblings were managing to drive quite a few ponies away from them, something that Ferous was silently thankful for.

They had taken a turn down a quiet street, and the pegasus found himself slightly unnerved by the lack of noise — no matter where you went in Canterlot, one could always her ponies talking or moving about. Down here? There was nothing. Unless there were other ponies sharing a street with you, things were eerily silent, and Ferous was already throwing around several nervous glances as he tried to retrace his steps towards Noctis' home.

The opliptera was too busy poking his side to really give directions, and she lifted her head somewhat, her eyes half-lidded as she stared at him. "Yer... yer not..."

He threw a glance over his shoulder, briefly eying her. "Hm?"

"Yer not... gonna leave... right? 'Cause... wut Acuta said n' all." Noctis huffed, slumping once more. "...'bout guys leavin' me n' stuff."

"Oh..." Ferous hesitated in his answer, briefly unsure of how to word it. "Well, um... I don't really plan on leaving just yet or anything. You're a good friend, Noctis."

"Good. S'good." She hiccuped and squirmed a bit before settling down once more, her voice taking on a more somber tone. "S'not fun bein' alone..."

His expression darkened somewhat as he turned down another street, his eyes locked forward. "No. No it's not."

The sight of the library's sign within the distance at least told him that he had remembered his directions correctly, and he quickened his pace, eager to have the day done with — he certainly deserved a break after everything that had happened. The door's lock took a bit of trial-and-error on his part, as well as a fair bit of shoving and cursing, but it eventually opened up. The stairs, given that he could barely squeeze up them himself and was now carrying another pony upon his back, proved to be a bigger pain than he would care to admit, but that eventually proved to be a success after a great deal of pushing and tugging.

He made his way towards what he assumed to be Noctis' room and pushed the door open. The inside was rather sparse, featuring few things of note other than a bed and cabinet — it seemed she truly was a mare of simple needs. With his companion still draped over his back, he carefully turned back the blankets and rolled her into bed, dragging them back over her once more after he made sure that she was actually in the bed rather than hanging off the side. It would've ended there if it weren't for one thing.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

It was a thing of innocence, done mostly as a sign of thanks than as a true display of affection, but Ferous couldn't help but blush upon receiving it. Noctis, drunk as she may have been, simply gave him a smile in return and shut her eyes. "G'night Ferous, n'... thanks."

He may have been briefly taken aback, but ultimately decided against saying anything more — it wasn't as if she would remember it the next day anyways. Ferous quietly excused himself from the room and shut the door behind himself, and it wasn't much longer before he was laying upon the guest bed and reading himself for some much-needed sleep. He had been through an awful lot in just one day, more than what some ponies go through in a lifetime, and yet as he began to doze off, Ferous was sure of one thing.

He certainly didn't envy the hangover she would have the next day.

Act 1 | Chapter 5: She of the Night

As night turned into day—or perhaps it was still night, he honestly wasn't sure—Ferous awoke once more, and to a rather peculiar scratching sound. He sighed and closed his eyes once more, trying in vain to block out the sound so he could just go back to sleep, but it largely proved pointless. Despite his best efforts, the sound persisted, pausing at some points and picking up in volume and intensity at others. His curiosity once more got the better of him, and the pegasus rolled over in bed, if only to try and see the source of the noise.

Seated at the desk right beside his bed was Noctis, a quill in her mouth and a candle upon the table as she continued to write, seemingly unaware of the fact that he was wide awake and watching her — too caught up in her work, it would seem. Perhaps it was the lone candle lighting the room, but he simply couldn't get over how tired she looked. Her own eyes seemed heavy, the circles around them dark enough to even be visible beneath her coat, and she struggled to fight off a yawn on numerous occasions.

"Noctis...?"

She paused, quietly placed the quill back within the ink well, and glanced over in his direction. "Ferous."

"Why are you up?"

"Couldn't sleep. Felt like writing."

Ferous sat up in bed somewhat, narrowing his eyes. "You couldn't sleep because you wanted to write, or you couldn't sleep and you're writing to kill time?"

"The latter."

"...you really should go back to bed, you know."

"And why should I?" Noctis scowled at him, her voice taking on an irritated tone. "Who are you to tell me what to do, and in my home no less?"

A hostile Noctis had been rather unexpected and Ferous quickly found himself on the defensive, his ears flattened as he stared at her. "Look, all I'm saying is that maybe you should get some more sleep. You were drunk as hell just a few hours ago, to the point that I had to drag you back here and put you to bed myself, and you may or may not have a hangover — I don't know. All I'm doing is trying to help, so how about you pull the stick out of your ass when you've got a friend trying to support you."

For most any other pony, such a message might have been a little too frank, but Noctis was not most ponies. To see curious and naive Ferous become so serious so quickly had a bit of a sobering effect on her, and her own expression softened. "...right. Apologies. I've just been... thinking about something, is all. I'll be fine."

"Noctis. It was enough to keep you from sleeping. What is it?"

She lowered her head somewhat, refusing to answer, yet still looking at him out of the corner of her eye. She had always seemed so proud, so confident, and yet... she bore the look of one whose pride had been wounded.

"C'mon, Noctis. You can tell me — you trust me, right? I mean, I had to trust you earlier, so..."

"Yes, yes." The opliptera sighed and lifted her head slightly. "I've just been thinking about what Acuta said earlier. Can't get it out of my head."

Ferous shifted somewhat, eying her. "It's bothering you that much?"

"Aye. She's always been rather harsh with her words, but... they've always been true too." Noctis turned toward the desk once more and spread some of the papers out before herself. "Sad as it may be, I've often lived vicariously through some of these stories. Gives me a bit of something that I haven't been fortunate enough to have."

"Love?"

She nodded. "I have no living relatives — my mother and father both served in the Night Guard, and both were killed in action. Mother died defending a convoy from a hydra, and father died while trying to stop a group of bandits. I had always been an only-child, so I have no siblings, and there's no extended family either as far as I'm aware."

"And... relationships?"

Noctis frowned and hung her head. "Disastrous. I'm often little more than a sexual conquest to them — to those who aren't opliptera, I'm 'exotic'. 'Wild'. 'Forbidden'. To those who can see past that or are opliptera, I'm married to my work. I just... want to be good at what I do."

"You are good at what you do." He sighed, placing a foreleg to his eyes and rubbing at them — tired as he may have been, he was doing his best to hide it. "How about you go get some rest... you've gotta introduce me to Princess Luna in a few hours, remember?"

"I suppose. Still, I just have to ask... I didn't do anything stupid while I was drunk, did I?"

Ferous' thoughts immediately went back to the kiss he had been given just a few hours before, as well as her own ramblings about not wanting him to leave. There was nothing to gain in telling the truth, however, so he did the next best thing. "...Nah, you didn't."

"Mm. Good. I tend to get rather careless when I'm drunk." She gave a satisfied nod and snuffed out the candle, hopping off the stool and walking towards her room. "Good night, Ferous."

The sound of her bedroom door shutting ended any attempts at bidding her goodnight, and instead, the pegasus simply laid back down and rolled onto his side — this time, however, it would be with the knowledge that the pony known as 'Noctis' wasn't nearly as confident as he had thought.

All he had gotten in the end were a scant few hours of rest, but it was more than enough compared to what Noctis had gotten herself. His morning bath consisted of little more than a wet rag, and breakfast was a bowl of oats eaten at the desk on the first floor — Noctis apparently hated the idea of eating anywhere near where she slept or worked. Despite his wanting to look his best for royalty, he had also been forbidden from polishing his armor, and any questions he asked in regards to it were answered with a rather cryptic answer of "You'll see why".

The left Noctis' home at roughly eight in the morning—if only because the clock on the wall said so—and promptly departed for the castle in the middle of Old Canterlot. In spite of how often they gave the impression of being nocturnal, the opliptera seemed to be anything but. Ponies walked up and down the street, many of them either running errands or simply out for a walk, and unlike the day before, none of them seemed to pay him or Noctis any mind.

Ferous briefly watched another pony as they walked by, his gaze following them even as they rounded a corner. "So what's with the change in behavior?"

"It's morning, Ferous — they're either too tired or too busy to notice you."

"I uh... right. I knew that."

Noctis quietly yawned and gave him a quick grin, snickering as she did. "I bet you did."

"I did!"

"Mhmm. Still, as with the city, I feel it might be in your best interests if I go over some things with you before we arrive." They promptly turned down another street, and based on both the abundance of banners and the sight of the castle directly in front of them, it was safe to assume that this was the city's main street. "First and foremost, you must show Lady Luna the utmost respect — I can't stress that enough."

"That's... sort of a given, Noctis. She's royalty."

"You don't understand." She sighed and shut her eyes, even as they passed through the main gate to the castle. All of the guards on duty snapped her a salute, but it wasn't as if she noticed, and she soon continued. "Lady Luna isn't just royalty to us — she is our surrogate mother, a paragon of all things we value, and above all else, she is a goddess."

He raised a brow at her. "Didn't you say just the other night that you didn't think they were goddesses?"

"All I said was that they don't appreciate being called goddesses. To actually be in their presence, though, is... well, there's a reason so many of us think of them as such." They gradually began to approach the entrance, and as they did, two gargantuan doors in front of them slowly swung open, allowing them to step into the castle itself. Once inside, Noctis spoke once more. "You'll see soon enough. And, as part of showing the proper respect, don't speak to Lady Luna unless you're spoken to."

"Why?"

She showed a hint of irritation at the question, but quickly hid it. "'tis polite."

"Ah. Right."

He had fully expected the castle to be dimly lit, but quite the opposite was true — mounted on every single pillar was one of the magical torches that Princess Luna seemed so very fond of, and while it didn't necessarily leave things dark, it did make them a bit... different. The castle itself seemed to be in various states of repair, and if a guard wasn't nearby, a worker almost certainly was, no doubt aiding in the restoration. Countless banners hung from the walls, almost all of them bearing Princess Luna's cutie mark, and surprisingly enough, some even bore Princess Celestia's. In addition to the banners, there were also several stained-glass windows, and it didn't take long for Ferous to realize that they were all the very same scenes he had seen in the engravings just the day before.

They rounded another corner, and it was rather obvious at this point that they were nearing the throne room — the ceiling had given way to several high arches, the mounted torches now hung from chandeliers, and the workers were completely gone, instead replaced wholly by guards. They soon approached another set of doors and Noctis paused in front of them, turning to face one of the attending guards. "Gentlemen."

One of the ponies, a stallion, snapped a salute. "Her Majesty is expecting you, Sergeant."

"No sense in keeping her waiting, then."

"Aye." The guard grabbed hold of one door, his counterpart doing the same, and they slowly pulled the doors open, allowing Noctis and Ferous entrance into the throne room itself. Ferous had only ever been in Canterlot's throne room on just a few occasions, but from what little he could remember, this was almost identical to it — hardly surprising, given that this had evidently been the first Canterlot. Compared to the outside of the throne room, the inside was sparsely guarded, something that confused him somewhat.

It was certainly extravagantly decorated, however — the chandeliers and stained-glass windows continued to be present, though they were now joined by several statues, many of which lined both sides of the hallway. The pegasus paused in front of one, eying both the inscription and the statue itself, which seemed to be an opliptera locked in a heroic pose. "Who is this?"

"That would be Lady Clementia." The voice that spoke up was not, as he was expecting, Noctis. Instead, it was much louder, yet still managed to sound sweet and gentle to the ears. "Arguably the most famous one of our order."

He slowly looked away from the statue, and instead, to the throne itself. Seated atop it, and with a guard on either side of herself, was Princess Luna herself. He had heard the stories before, of course, and had even seen a few paintings as well, but to actually see her for herself was something else entirely. Luna truly seemed larger than life, and indeed, she managed to dwarf both of the guards at her side, beating them both by several feet. Her mane and tail seemed to constantly billow and move in an unseen wind, and the sea of stars within both flickered with their very own light, the image shifting and changing with every movement. Noctis had said before that there was a reason so many opliptera thought of the Sisters as goddesses, and he was seeing the 'why' for himself. Ferous had been completely awestruck by the sight of the princess and certainly hadn't noticed that Noctis was already bowing — instead, she hastily placed a wing upon his back and pushed him down to the floor, forcing him into a bow.

To see such an impromptu sign of respect was evidently amusing to the princess and she was already leaning forward slightly, a faint smile upon her face. Noctis' own head was hung low, her face hidden, and in spite of his own bow, Ferous couldn't help but continue to look at the alicorn. Luna took notice of this, her eyes locking with his as she shifted upon the throne.

I've heard much of you, little one.

The pegasus' eyes widened and he began to nervously glance about the room as he searched for the source of the voice — Luna's own gaze remained locked upon him, however, and her amused smile continued to grow.

So quick to act, even with so little to go by — reflexes alone shall only do so much for you down here.

It was only now that Ferous began to truly realize what was going on, and he looked up at the princess, his expression turning into one of confusion. ...Princess Luna?

The alicorn gave a simple nod. I go by a great many names, Neophyte Ferous — She of the Night, Daughter of Selene, Princess of the Night, Lady Luna, Princess Luna... there's several others, but I have neither the time nor the patience to list them.

B-but... how—

Do I know your name? How are we able to speak to one another through thoughts alone? You must remember, little one, that this is my domain that we're in — the question isn't what I am capable of, but rather, what I am not capable of.

Noctis' legs had begun to tremble from the rather extended bow, but she remained quiet. It was something that Princess Luna silently took note of before returning her gaze to Ferous once more.

Your friend has told her fair share of tales that involve you — learning your name wasn't exactly difficult. And telepathy is trivial in comparison to what I've done over the course of centuries... or are the tales of my sister and I not nearly as grand as I had remembered?

Ferous gave his head a quick shake. N-no, your majesty.

Mm. Good. Princess Luna straightened up somewhat, her smile remaining present as she decided to finally address Noctis. "Sergeant, terribly sorry to keep you waiting — I'm afraid I was caught up in my thoughts. I see you've brought a guest along."

Perhaps it was experience from past encounters, but Noctis took this as her cue to stand, and she let out an audible sigh as she did. "Lady Luna, I give you Neophyte Ferous of the Royal Guard."

"Formerly of the Royal Guard, I presume? Else he wouldn't be down here, now would he?" The dusky alicorn took a brief glance at Ferous and softly laughed. "Such a messy bite, Noctis. I thought I trained you better than that!"

The opliptera shifted on her hooves, seemingly embarrassed by such a statement. "Using my fangs on another pony wasn't exactly part of the training, milady."

"Ahh, but perhaps we should change that, lest you start leaving all the recruits with nasty looking scars." Luna gave the sergeant a playful look, even as she reclined slightly upon the throne. "He is a rather curious thing, isn't he?"

"...Milady, are you referring to the fact that you find him intriguing, or—"

The alicorn promptly let out a laugh, the grin on her face widening further. "His own curiosity, of course! What did you think I was referring to?"

Noctis' jaw briefly worked itself, but she eventually settled for a sigh and a shake of the head. "...nothing, milady."

"Mm. As you say." Luna briefly eyed the opliptera for a few seconds more, her attention soon shifting to the pegasus in her midst. "Still in a bow? My, such dedication!"

Ferous awkwardly glanced about and soon rose to his hooves, tilting his head as he looked up at the princess. "Er... thank you, your majesty...?"

"A compliment is a compliment, Neophyte Ferous. I see that Captain Shining Armor has trained you well, hm?"

"Oh, yeah! He did a fantastic job training me and—"

"'twas a rhetorical question, neophyte. After the changeling attack on Canterlot, Captain Shining Armor's abilities are without question, as are the abilities of those who have been under his command." Luna cocked her head and eyed the pegasus, seemingly inspecting him. "Captain Procella raised such a fuss over you, and I can't help but wonder why."

At the mention of her captain, Noctis' own expression soured somewhat, and she spoke up. "Perhaps because she was denied a purge she felt was necessary, milady."

The Princess raised a brow upon hearing this, her curiosity piqued. "Is that so?"

"Aye, milady."

"Procella mentioned nothing of the sort within her report, perhaps because she felt that I might disprove of such a thing." Luna's wings briefly flared, perhaps as a display of irritation — regardless, they soon folded back to her side. "She would be right. I assume she wished to do so to ensure silence on the matter?"

"Aye, milady."

"...and you invoked the Rite of Conscription."

Noctis nodded once. "Aye, milady."

"Such a thing is normally reserved for ponies who would prove valuable to the Vigil, and yet you did it to save the life of a friend. Procella might see such a thing as a selfish and useless endeavor, a waste of the Vigil's time and resources, and yet..." The alicorn placed a hoof to her chin, her eyes narrowing as she looked over Ferous. "...I have vision she lacks. The neophyte is but untempered steel, malleable yet easily capable of being forged into an instrument of my might — all things in due time, of course."

"Aye, milady."

Luna faintly grinned, her gaze locked upon the pegasus. I truly don't know if she's saying that because of her training, or simply because she's bored.

Ferous briefly smirked and forced himself to stifle a snicker, something which drew a rather harsh look from Noctis. "Ferous!"

The opliptera's irritation apparently amused the princess once more, causing her grin to grow ever so slightly. She's always been so very prim and proper when on duty — I doubt it'd hurt her to loosen up a bit more often, have a drink or two... but you two did just that, didn't you?

The stallion smirked once more, a faint snicker slipping out as he struggled to maintain his composure, much to Noctis' chagrin.

Wouldn't surprise me if you drank her under the table.

Unable to hold back any longer, Ferous openly burst into laughter, drawing some surprised looks from the guards at Princess Luna's side. Noctis looked utterly aghast and seemed to be equal parts embarrassed, shocked, and infuriated, her wings flaring out as she growled at him. "Neophyte Ferous!"

"At ease, sergeant." Luna reclined upon her throne, the grin still evident as she watched the scene unfold before her. "I find the neophyte's... spontaneous sense of humor to be a breath of fresh air, especially in a place such as this. A bit of laughter can do wonders for one's disposition."

To hear that such conduct was allowed—no, encouraged—by Princess Luna was something that left Noctis confused, and she tilted her head. "I... but milady, I simply didn't wish for him to offend you."

"And he did nothing of the sort, Noctis. I assure you, I'm quite unoffended." The princess gave her head a simple shake, though one couldn't be sure if she did in regards to Ferous' or Noctis' conduct — or perhaps both. Whatever the case, she had already stood up from her throne and was beginning to make her way down the steps, slowly approaching the both of them. If Ferous had thought of Luna as being tall before, seeing her up close simply gave him the impression that he had grossly underestimated things. Despite the fact that he had always been a bit tall for a stallion, Princess Luna still stood several feet above him, and even though she was now seated before them, it was still incredibly obvious that she dwarfed him. "Isn't there something else you need to take care of, Noctis?"

The opliptera blinked, a brow raised. "...milady?"

"Perhaps something to make things more official?"

"Oh, yes! Of course!"

Luna quietly snickered and shook her head. Not exactly a forgetful girl, but perhaps overburdened. Such is the life of a lorekeeper.

Rather than answer, Ferous instead nodded. Noctis seemed to be mulling over a few more details, possibly rehearsing things within her head before going through with things — it wasn't as if either Princess Luna or Ferous were in any real hurry. The opliptera seemed to be confident in herself, however, and she calmly turned towards the pegasus at her side. "Neophyte Ferous, please turn to Lady Luna, bow, and repeat after me — I, Neophyte Ferous, now kneel before you."

Apologies — the opliptera have always been so very formal with things that involve myself, and I've learned that it's best to go with their wishes rather than against them.

He briefly ignored the message for the time being and instead did as told, turning to face Luna and bowing before her. "I, Neophyte Ferous, now kneel before you."

"I relinquish all that I am and all that I was. My life is the Vigil's, just as my life is yours."

"...I relinquish all that I am and all that I was. My life is the Vigil's, just as my life is yours."

Noctis briefly paused and swallowed, continuing soon after. "My foes will be plentiful and my paths arduous, but I will not bend and I will not break. The might of Luna and the grace of Celestia are my sword and shield, and with them, I shall stand for those who cannot."

"My foes will be plentiful and my paths arduous, but I will not bend and I will not break. The might of Luna and the grace of Celestia are my sword and shield, and with them, I shall stand for those who cannot." It was only after he finished the most recent line that he realized that both Sisters were not referred to by their titles within the oath — a tad unusual, given how formal the opliptera were.

"For honor, for family, and for home. For Equestria and Crown — vigilo aeterna, nox aeterna."

"For honor, for family, and for home. For Equestria and Crown... vigilo aeterna, nox aeterna."

"Rise, Neophyte Ferous, and be welcome, for you are now a brother of the Vigil." In spite of her earlier irritation, Noctis now appeared quite pleased with the oath seemingly complete — it wasn't hard to guess why. "Congratulations."

The pegasus slowly got to his hooves, his legs shaking somewhat — he had apparently been kneeling longer than he thought. "That's it?"

"Aye. The Codex was the worst of it, in regards to the initiation."

Unless you think swearing an oath to me is somehow worse.

Ferous glanced up at the princess, and was hardly surprised to see her smiling faintly. Not at all, your majesty.

A good answer, lest my pride be wounded.

Noctis had apparently taken notice of the fact that both Ferous and Princess Luna were staring at one another, and she quietly coughed to get their attention. "Milady, with Neophyte Ferous now sworn to your service, what do you wish of me... or us, rather?"

The alicorn briefly eyed the both of them, her expression one of mild amusement — she seemed to enjoy a great many things, it would seem. "As much as I enjoy my sister's choice of colors, I doubt the neophyte will be of much use to the Vigil unless we give him the proper equipment... don't you agree?"

"I... of course, milady. I'll have him outfitted at once."

"See to it, then. I'd like for the both of you to be ready, in case I have need of your services."

"As you wish, milady. It shall be done." Noctis gave the princess a quick bow, and a forceful wing upon Ferous' back encouraged him to do the same. They both quickly rose and gave Luna one last look before turning about and departing, but not before the alicorn left Ferous with a parting message, one that caused him to look over his shoulder.

You are a variable, neophyte, an unknown, and one that I failed to account for before your arrival. I do not yet know what role you may play in the days to come, but be ready for anything. Time stops for nopony, and fate is a fickle thing indeed.

As enigmatic as such a message may have been, it was useless to ask for a meaning. Instead, Ferous took one last look at the princess as they left the throne room.

And all he saw was a knowing smile.

Act 1 | Chapter 6: Shifting Shadows

It's been four months since the last update of 'No Light'. Not everyone remembers everything that has happened without rereading previous chapters, and some of you may wish not to do so — however, I've made a brief recap for those of you wanting to get back into the story.

Ferous, a pegasus, has just recently been recruited by the Royal Guard. Despite only being in their ranks for a few weeks, he's already had his fair share of trouble: run-ins with senior members, a chance encounter with a a certain batpony (formally known as 'opliptera'), and to top it all off, a mishap with a prisoner has gotten him involved with a side of Equestria he didn't know existed.

The prisoner he attempted to help was, unbeknownst to him, possessed by a darker force. Accused of crimes against the state, Captain Procella of the Night Guard stood poised to execute him, if only to keep what he had seen a secret. Sergeant Noctis, the batpony he had befriended earlier on, had a timely intervention and put a stop to the execution by means of the Rite of Conscription, recruiting him into a shadowy organization known as the Vigil, and saving his life in the process.

As explained during their journey to destinations unknown, the Vigil was a group of ponies founded over a thousand years ago, and dedicated wholly to the destruction of malevolent entities within Equestria, namely demons. Noctis spoke of the origins of the opliptera, the Night Guard, the Vigil, and also of Luna's fall from grace.

Ferous was eventually introduced to something he never dreamt possible. Beneath Canterlot itself sat an older, original version of the city, one that was now home to the entire population of opliptera — Old Canterlot. After being given a brief tour of the city and Noctis' home, the two of them—under Luna's orders—took a trip to a nearby bar in order to get further acquainted with other members of the Vigil, and a night of drinking commenced, culminating in Noctis being carried back to her own home by Ferous.

The next day was no less busy, with Ferous being introduced to Luna and formally inducted into the Night Guard. Luna was every bit the definition of "goddess", and playful as she may have been, she discretely showed to Ferous a much more cunning side, one that would no doubt have plans for him in the coming days.

Now an official member of the Vigil, Noctis has taken Ferous off to the armory in order to be fully outfitted for the future. Others within the city have their own plans, however...

For the past several hours, Procella had been pacing back and forth within the confines of her office, privately mulling over several thoughts and plans within her head as she roamed the room. Standing in her midst were those she trusted most, personally selected for their dedication to both the Vigil and Procella herself — regardless of how close they may have been to the captain, however, she had never been one to reveal things to them unless it was appropriate. After all, to play one's hand too early was foolish, something she knew quite well.

Instead, there was one thing Procella had been open about with them, and it was something that honestly wasn't surprising to any of the veterans within both the Night Guard and the Vigil. Over the years, a schism had begun to form within their ranks, and it was something the captain found deeply troubling: On one side stood the traditionalists, those who most firmly believed in the teachings of the Sisters that had been passed down over the centuries. and who believed that the most righteous path was one of staunch servitude to the Sisters — and little else. They saw no reason to reconnect with a society that had looked down upon them and reviled them, and instead, believed that it was best to keep the opliptera bloodlines pure. Such a group was often filled with the veterans of the Guard and Vigil, those who felt that they best adhered to the 'proper' ways, and it was a group Procella was firmly a part of.

In direct opposition to her and a great many others stood the reformists, younger opliptera who had begun to question their way of life. To them, the teachings of Celestia and Luna alone hadn't been enough — instead, they wished to discover and explore, to branch out and return to a world that had always shunned them. Serving under the Crown wasn't enough either, and it was becoming increasingly more common for opliptera to sneak to the surface, if only for a while. This often brought them into contact with the other ponies, and this contact sometimes grew into something more, which brought with it the potential of interbreeding. Such a lifestyle went against everything the traditionalists had ever stood for, and when Princess Luna finally returned from her thousand-year exile, many of them had hoped that her return would have heralded a return to the old ways.

To their horror, it had been anything but — a thousand years is a very long time for any pony to be away, and her subsequent redemption and return to her sister's side left Luna changed. 'Luna the Warbringer' from the stories of old had simply ceased to be, and was seemingly replaced by a happier and more playful princess. More worrying was the fact that this new Luna very often encouraged the very same lifestyle that so many young opliptera were beginning to pursue, insisting that one's self was more important than serving under her or her sister. Such a thing had simply incensed Procella further, and that wasn't helped by the increasing amounts of insubordination that Sergeant Noctis had shown while under her command.

And then, of course, there was that damned neophyte. That idiotic, wretched little pegasus who had very nearly allowed a demon to escape, and one she had so badly wished to kill... and then to be denied of that by the very same brat who continued to be a constant thorn in her side? It was infuriating. It was blasphemous. It needed to end.

"Captain Procella."

Unbeknownst to her, her own thoughts had twisted her face into a sneer, and her acknowledgement was little more than a snarl. "What is it?"

A stallion strode forth, naught but a neophyte within the Night Guard. Despite his relative inexperience, however, he had always been so very desperate to get on Procella's good side — such a thing made him valuable. He quickly cleared his throat and did his best to look straight ahead, rather than at the captain, perhaps due to fear more than respect. "Princess Luna has finished her meeting with the sergeant and the neophyte."

"Noctis and Ferous?"

"Aye."

The captain took a few tentative steps towards him, pale blue eyes upon him as she awaited the rest of the report. "...And?"

"Princess Luna..." The neophyte swallowed hard and took a quick glance around the room — no friendly faces here. "...approves of the neophyte. She also seemed unamused upon being told of your original plans for him."

"I'm hardly surprised that Noctis went and squealed, but Luna's approval of this pegasus is..." Procella closed her eyes and turned about, pacing back towards her desk before stopping. "Acuta."

The opliptera perked up upon hearing her name, stepping forth and saluting. "Captain?"

"Arrange for the breach."

Acuta blinked with her one good eye, somewhat surprised. "Already? But our magi have hardly had time to study the tomes — we don't even know if they'll work."

"They'll work, Acuta. I had those books taken straight from the Starswirl the Bearded wing in the Canterlot Library. Gather the tomes and begin the breach."

Through it all, the neophyte who had carried the message had simply listened, and his curiosity began to get the better of him. "Captain Procella... breach? What breach?"

Silencing him then and now would have been the simplest thing to do, and yet Procella knew better than that. He was still young, still impressionable, and still easily swayed — there was a chance he could be convinced of their cause. "Neophyte... you believe in our people, don't you? That we can restore our race to what it once was? That we are entitled to more than this miserable little hole in the ground?"

He began to back away from her, slowly but surely. "I... I don't follow, milady."

"This world has always spat on us, neophyte. Always. Celestia and all her little ponies prance about above, while we're forced to grovel here in the shadows. Luna sits upon her throne, and rather than demand the treatment and respect we so rightfully deserve, she's content to simply play games and be a diplomat! She's encouraging our own to abandon us and to flee to the surface, so that they might find such trivial things like love! She's thinning our bloodlines in front of our very eyes, and in the end, it will leave us with little more than halfbreeds! Our entire identity as a people will be gone, because of the incompetence and radical thinking of her and a select few! Do you really want that, neophyte?"

His fear was palpable now, breaths rapid as he continued to back towards the door. "W-what are you s-suggesting?"

"My dear neophyte... the very same thing that anypony suggests when those in power decide to abandon them. You show them that you refuse to tolerate their presence, and so... you remove them." The mare calmly approached a chess board, her teeth glinting in the light. Slowly, ever so slowly, she placed a hoof upon the board and moved it towards a singular piece. With but a single, brief movement, the piece in question toppled over, and Procella let out a brief little sigh as she watched the queen tumble to the floor. "Perhaps through subtlety. Perhaps through force."

"You... what you say is treasonous!"

The mare clicked her tongue and slowly shook her head, turning to approach him, and her eyes had taken on a murderous glint. "Such a nasty word for it. You... don't approve?"

"Captain, I... I can't allow you to do that! In the name of the Crown, I hereby place you under arrest for the crimes of—" He suddenly found himself cut off as Procella simply disappeared before him... and the blood began to flow down his neck.

As the neophyte slumped to the floor, gasping and gurgling whilst his life slowly left him, the captain gave her wings a brief flick, removing any trace of blood from the blades upon her wings. She briefly surveyed the scene and let out an irritated huff. "The Crown can rot, just as you no doubt will. Acuta."

Lieutenant Acuta took a few steps forward, briefly eying what remained of the neophyte — he was no doubt dead at this point, and she grimaced somewhat. "...Captain, your orders?"

"Take him to the infirmary, and tell everypony there that he was mortally wounded by a demon."

"...milady, Asclepius is growing suspicious of us. Several ponies killed by demons, and we're the only ones who were there when it happened? We can't continue to do this for much longer."

"We won't need to, Acuta. The time grows near, and with it, Luna's reckoning. We use the tomes, cause a containment breach, allow it to run loose..."

Acuta had already begin to put the pieces together for herself, and spoke up. "...let it kill a few civilians, Sergeant Noctis and Neophyte Ferous included..."

"...and then we arrive to save the day." Procella grinned and returned to the chess board, moving and removing pieces here and there. "The people will begin to doubt Luna's ability to protect them, and will view us as heroes. She grows unpopular, then we begin our takeover and say that it's simply us trying to protect the public. I remove two thorns in my side, and I ensure that Luna no longer sullies our kind."

"That's... quite clever, milady."

"I'm glad you think so, Acuta." The mare placed a hoof near a king, sliding it from one end of the board and placing it next to the other on the opposite. "I'll be sure to give us the future we all deserve. But, for now... make sure those tomes get to the magi, and tell them to begin the summoning. We have reached the point of no return — either we stop Luna and her pets, or they stop us. Now go."

"As you wish, milady." With that, Acuta gave Procella a single bow and quietly exited the room, and not far behind her was every other pony who had been in attendance. The captain's ideas may have been radical—possibly even 'treasonous', as they were declared earlier—but she was doing this for the sake of all opliptera.

Every revolution, it would seem, is fueled by blood.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"How do I look?"

Noctis sighed and rolled her eyes, unamused by Ferous' actions. "You're more worried about how you look rather than how well it fits? How well it functions?"

"Hey, cut me some slack — "looking good" is basically all we did up top."

She could hardly argue with that, and admitted defeat with another sigh. "Fine, fine."

Content with having won a personal victory, Ferous decided to look over things once more in the provided mirror — an armory seemed like an odd place to have one, and yet, it still made some sense. His golden Royal Guard armor had been replaced by a much darker purple set, closely mimicking that of the Night Guard's. It wasn't entirely identical, of course, as there were numerous cosmetic and functional differences that certainly differentiated it from what it had been based upon. Adorning the purple armor was a single golden stripe along the bottom edge, apparently meant to represent those who had initially come from the Royal Guard. The armor seemed a bit heavier than what somepony in the Royal or Night Guard might wear, but it made up for it with increased protection.

Wing blades had been provided and strapped to Ferous' wings, though he currently found them equal parts itchy and cumbersome. Of course, he had already been assured by Noctis that he would get used to them "in due time". Spiked horseshoes had also been given, and it was quite obvious that these were for function rather than form, given that they had been handled with a rather long set of tongs. Evidently, some members would elect to have a mace tied to their tail, though most chose to forgo it for a variety of reasons, some of which were more obvious than others. The pegasus groaned and gave his wings several quick flexes, grimacing as he did. "Agh."

"Still itchy?"

He sighed and nodded. "Very."

"You'll live." Noctis grinned and gave his flank a quick kick, as if she were testing the armor — her hooves easily rebounded off the plating, proving her right. "Or you should, at least. 'tis what we tell the new recruits."

"...not helping, Noctis."

A smirk. "I know."

"Do I really need to wear these damned wingblades? I just feel like they're getting in the way."

"Take them off, and you have no way to retaliate against your foes, save for the shoes. Wingblades are faster, more efficient, and allow for guerrilla tactics." The opliptera walked up beside him, giving the blades a quick lookover. "And besides, it's a good look for you. Makes you look reasonably threatening."

He glanced over his shoulder and huffed, shooting an irritated look her way. "Are you saying I'm not threatening?"

"Well... not exactly. You've never seemed the rough-and-tumble sort. You're far too kind, far too... good."

It was an answer that was mildly confusing for him. "Isn't that what guards are supposed to be like?"

"Mm, perhaps. But you're no mere guard anymore, now are you?"

Though he wished to give an answer more definitive than a simple shake of the head, he was cut off by a sudden clamor from outside the armory. It was far more noise than one would expect from a simple changing of the guard, and it had aroused Noctis' suspicions. She quickly—and quietly—made her way towards the door and nudged it open, a sliver of light falling upon her muzzle as she peeked outside.

"Noctis, what's going on?"

"They're spooked."

"Spooked?" Ferous looked away from his own reflection in one of the mirrors and trotted over towards his companion, the armor softly clinking and clanking as he moved. "From what?"

"I don't know." She grimaced and stuck her face out a bit further, taking a quick glance down the hall before pulling back inside the safety of the armory. "And that's what worries me. Ferous, how quick of a learner are you?"

He blinked and tilted his head as he stared back. "Er... reasonably well?"

"Let's hope so. Time to temper those weapons with a bit of blood." One of her wings unfurled and beckoned him closer towards her position. "Ready to move?"

Rather than hearing the expected response of a "yes ma'am" or anything remotely similar to it, Noctis instead heard a soft whimper from behind her. As she glanced over her shoulder, she was greeted with a site she hadn't exactly been expecting — Ferous had retreated from the door, his ears flattened as he tried to hide his gaze from her. "Noctis, I..."

Her expression remained serious, as one wouldn't expect anything else in a situation such as this, but it had softened somewhat. "...you've never fought before, have you?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Never. I've trained, but... never any actual combat."

"Ferous, you have nothing to fear. Follow my lead, do as I say, and you'll make it through this."

The stallion looked up at her, his eyes holding the slightest hint of hope. "Promise?"

"I can't promise you that. You know that."

"Yeah. I know." Ferous paused, then took a few tentative steps towards her, and then a few more confident ones. The pegasus had seemingly composed himself, and he gave the opliptera a determined look. "If I die, I'm going to haunt you."

Noctis chuckled softly and gently nudged the door open further. "You'd make a terrible ghost."

"I'd try."

"I know you would. Stay close, and try to keep up." The sergeant gave the door a rough push open and trotted out into the midst of the hall. Every guard who had been stationed there when they had arrived were now unaccounted for — no doubt after whatever it was that had managed to draw the ire of the Night Guard. She briefly surveyed the area and then took a sharp left, galloping down the hallway. Despite bearing her own suit of armor, it seemed to hardly slow her down at all, which was something that couldn't be said for Ferous.

The pegasus was struggling to keep up, as no amount of training could have ever prepared him for having to wear something so clunky or so heavy. He had managed to gain a bit of ground, but that was soon erased as Noctis took another turn, bolting to the right this time. Just where she was leading them was a mystery, but this was her territory, and trusting her was all he could do at this point. Luckily for him, she had managed to stop just up ahead, and as he made his way through one doorway, he found himself out on the ramparts of the castle. Noctis was in the midst of talking with some other pony, and his own gallops soon slowed to a canter, and then a trot, finally ending in a very slow walk.

The pony in question was another guard — wide-eyed, jumpy, and most worryingly, slightly bloodied. One of his ears had been freshly nicked, and though the tip was completely gone, he hadn't even seemed to notice. "...everywhere! They're all over the damned place!"

Noctis firmly placed a hoof upon the guard's shoulder and stared him in the eye, her voice stern yet surprisingly calm. "What is? What's everywhere?"

"Demons!"

She balked at the mention of this, quickly giving the guard another shake. "Make sense, damn you!"

"D-demons! In the city! I'm telling the truth, I swear!"

"That's impossible! The wards were supposed to keep them from ever coalescing here!"

"I know, b-but..."

"Make yourself useful and go contact the others!" The sergeant removed her hooves from him and gave him a quick kick as incentive, spurring him off towards help. She turned back towards the horizon, growling as she looked out over the city below. "Useless, blabbering fool! No demons have been sighted within the city since we returned. Lady Luna even put magical wards in place to prevent such a thing from ever happening again."

Ferous had trotted up alongside her and looked out as well, his expression worried. "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

"Can't be. It makes no sense."

"You saw how shaken up he was, and how quickly everypony else has moved. Could it be anything else? Maybe... something happened to the wards and that's how they got in?"

Noctis' eyes narrowed, her face a scowl as she hissed. "...Treasonous filth."

"You think it was treason?"

"I don't know for certain, Ferous." Her head quickly shifted, her gaze locked upon a new area of interest — smoke had begun to billow from one of the buildings, and as a distant roar rang out, her wings had already unfurled. "Come. It's time we put you through your paces."

The pegasus followed suit, and by the time he had taken off, Noctis was already quite a ways ahead of him. Flying with both armor and wingblades alike proved to be an especially awkward affair, and his sense of balance seemed in complete disarray. It was taking all of his concentration and strength just to stay airborne, and yet his companion made it look so easy — she had already banked to the right and was slowly circling down to a landing in a nearby market, and he did his best to follow.

Landing would prove to be no easy feat — the entire market was ablaze, and the smoke limited visibility to abysmally low distances. Not only that, but it proved especially taxing on one's ability to breathe, and Ferous quickly found himself losing altitude as he coughed and gagged on the noxious fumes. He dodged an errant flame here and there as he descended, though he was sure it was more due to luck than any real skill on his part, and he soon—thankfully—found himself on solid ground, skidding along the bricks of the market until he came to a stop.

Noctis had beaten him by almost a minute, but she stood poised, wingblades on full display as she glanced around the market. "Be careful, Ferous. We're not alone here."

He would have asked just what she meant by that, if it hadn't been for a crate of fruit sailing right past his head. The speed at which it had been thrown was frightening, and it was certainly something that no pony could have ever done, regardless of how strong they were. No, the culprit was something much less pleasant — a few more crates sailed through the air as some manner of creature charged into the market and smacked into a wall, letting out a horrid howl as it got back to its feet. It was an ugly thing, and though it resembled a dog, it was anything but. A red, chitinous 'hide' of sorts covered much of its body, and its feet were little more than grossly over-sized claws. The head was completely devoid of any eyes or ears, and it instead bore a row of very sharp teeth, with a pair of horns on either side. The creature let out another roar, this time belching flames into the air, and Ferous gave a startled gasp. "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Your very first demon, neophyte — a hellhound. Avoid the mouth."

"You don't say!"

The beast had somehow managed to sense the two of them and cried out once more, charging headlong at the duo. Noctis skillfully leaped to the side, and though Ferous' own attempt at a dodge was more akin to a stumble, it managed to get him out of harm's way — the hellhound ran past the two of them, obliterating a stall as it crashed into yet another wall. The collision left it momentarily dazed, and as it wavered about, black ichor had already begun to drip from a gaping wound upon its head, hissing and sizzling as it came into contact with the bricks below.

Its hide had certainly looked tough enough at first, and yet it had been cut wide open, as if it had been little more than paper. There were a few more brief sizzles and pops to his right, and a cursory glance revealed the cause — black blood bathed Noctis' wingblades. She had managed to strike it in the midst of its charge.

I... I didn't even see it. How is she moving so fast?

The hound had since turned about and bared its teeth, howling as it began to charge at its assailant, and curiously enough, the opliptera made no attempts to move. She simply stood still, eyes narrowed and fangs bared as she stared down her target... and then vanished, quite literally, in a cloud of smoke. There one moment, gone the next.

Wha—

The next glimpse he caught of her was Noctis somehow appearing behind her target, letting loose a roar of her own as her wing swept up its backside, slicing through the demon's chitin once more. It seemed none too pleased by the attack and dug its claws into the ground, churning up bricks and stone as it attempted to make another run at her. There was another cloud of smoke where the mare used to be, and she soon stood in yet another spot, her body in a combative stance.

Goddess, it's like she isn't even there...

Though he stood in awe of his companion's prowess, Ferous wasn't about to let her do all the work, and he quickly summoned up the courage to charge headlong into battle. His hooves thundered against the brick pavement, armor clattering and bouncing about as he began to line up his run, and his wings stood poised to strike. Every time he was just about to attack, however, Noctis managed to hit first, drawing the beast's ire and causing it to move elsewhere. It was also causing him to miss, and all the extra armaments had added a considerable amount to his momentum — even when using his wings as a brake, he continued to slide across the stone as he missed charge after charge.

His luck—and Noctis'—quickly changed. In the midst of one of the hellhound's charges, the opliptera had attempted to dodge once more, and something had tipped off the beast. With a speed neither of them had expected of such a lumbering creature, it had quickly changed course and managed to ram directly into Noctis, carrying her all the way to the wall and pinning her against it. The force of the impact had been enough to crack and crumble the stone, and the sergeant let out a cry of pain as the demon continued to drive against her, its teeth gnashing at her armor. It would rear back and jump forward again and again, crushing her against the wall repeatedly, and her cries gradually grew weaker and weaker.

Ferous had hardly been idle, but had instead been stuck helplessly sliding about, trying desperately to turn around so he could aid his companion in any way. The pegasus simply continued to careen towards another wall, but rather than crash into it, he decided to make the best of it — as he neared the wall, Ferous promptly turned and readied his hind legs for impact. Perhaps it was impeccable timing, or perhaps luck, but he reared up just in time to plant his hooves directly against the brick, using it as a launching pad as he redirected his momentum—and himself—to a new target.

He was little more than a living battering ram at this point, but... the subtlety of the Night Guard was one often lost upon those who dwelled in the light, and if it were to work, Noctis very likely wouldn't argue with the results. The market was little more than a blur as Ferous rocketed towards the demon, and as he neared it, he lowered his head and readied for impact. Best case scenario, it would simply leave him dazed. Worst case was a broken neck and death.

And regardless of the outcome, well... better on his hooves than lying in bed, as his father would likely have said.

The last things he remembered were a thunderous crack as he collided with the beast, a chilling howl as the hellhound roared in pain, and the sight of the entire world going white for the briefest of moments.

And then it all went so very dark.

It was a curious feeling, to go from "nothing" to "something". He remembered the world flashing white, then disappearing into blackness, and now all that had been replaced by something much more pleasing to the eyes — the soft glow of candlelight.

Ferous' eyes fluttered open, and though his vision was blurred somewhat, he recognized his surroundings. He did not know how or why, but he was back in Noctis' home. But... the demon! The demon was still out there, still in the market, and Noctis was still injured! With his eyes wide and his heart racing, the pegasus attempted to move out of bed — and was stopped by a leathery wing.

"Be still."

Though he couldn't see the source, it was a voice he knew distinctly as belonging to Noctis. His own attempt at a reply came out as something much weaker than he was expecting. "N... Noctis?"

"I'm here, Ferous. Glad you're still with us." She sighed, and her inflection hinted at a fair deal of worry. It was accompanied by the sound of dripping water, and the sergeant had soon placed a cool, wet cloth upon his forehead. "It's a little too early in your career to get yourself killed, don't you think?"

"Maybe..." Ferous shifted in bed slightly, groaning as he did. "...what happened?"

"Suffice to say, your little act of heroism managed to get me free — it also knocked you out cold." Noctis huffed, tutting as she moved the cloth to a different spot. "Honestly, headbutting without a helmet?"

He grinned faintly, staring at her out of the corner of his eye. "...worked, didn't it?"

"Aye. It did. And for that, I'm thankful. Just... try not to die in the process. 'twould be an awful waste."

"A waste of what?"

She paused and glanced towards the floor as she thought of her choice of words. "A waste of a recruit. Of a pony. Of a—"

"Friend?"

It was an answer that caught her slightly off-guard, but she answered it with a faint smile. "Among other things."

"And the demon?"

"It wasn't expecting your little reprisal. I swear, if it had been raining, I would've mistaken the hit for a crack of thunder."

He blinked and raised a brow. "It was that loud?"

"Aye. Threw the beast a fair distance, knocked me free of its grasp. It was about to turn on you when reinforcements arrived. They saw both mine and your injuries and told me to get you clear of the battle whilst they finished up."

"So it's dead, then."

"That it is." The opliptera removed the cloth from Ferous' head and leaned a bit closer, as if to inspect him for any further wounds. "Well, so long as you spend the next day or so resting, you should be fine. I think the worst you got out of that fight was a concussion."

"Asclepius' orders, eh?"

"Well... no. My orders." Noctis' wing pulled back towards her side, and she looked out a nearby window as she spoke. "After today's little event, I thought the corporal will be busy with more pressing matters in the infirmary."

Free from the impromptu restraint, Ferous decided to sit up a bit further in bed, groaning as he did. "So... you brought me here instead."

"I have rudimentary training in medical care, and your injuries didn't seem severe enough to warrant a trip to the infirmary." She turned her gaze back to him and smiled, just enough to allow her fangs to poke out from behind her lips. "And besides, you are under my leadership and protection. It felt appropriate."

"Oh. Alright then." The pegasus quickly laid back down in bed, sighing as he closed his eyes. "Got one hell of a headache right now. Thanks for taking care of me, though."

"'tis the least I could do, Ferous. We have things we must discuss tomorrow, but..." Noctis glanced over her should at a nearby table, and the letter laying upon it — unopened, and bearing Luna's seal. "...for now, just rest. You've earned it."

"Yes ma'am."

Noctis would no doubt be up much of the night, tending to his injuries, but for Ferous, it was time for a hero's respite.

Or hero for a day, at least.