Blood of The Foal

Chapters

Chapter Two - Master and Servant
Chapter Three - Master of Puppets
Chapter Five - Private Investigations
Chapter Six - Black Blood
Chapter Seven - Under a Green Sky
Chapter Eight - Heart of Ice
Chapter Nine - To the Victor the Spoils
Chapter Ten - A Cottage for Three
Chapter Eleven - The Vistor
Chapter Twelve - A New Celebrity in Town
Chapter One - Enemies Amongst Us
Chapter Four - A Change of Heart

Chapter Two - Master and Servant

CHAPTER TWO

MASTER AND SERVANT

I sat on the porch of the Wyverns Tail, a rescued chocolate, a mug of tea and a sneaky pipe of tobacco. Well, what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, right? I’d cut down at least. There was still a decent amount of Starbeard’s tobacco left and when I smoked it, I felt somehow a little nearer to him and our friends in the Withers. I did miss them at times, and at this time of the morning, with the family still in bed, I could enjoy the peace and cool air of the sunrise.

I closed my eyes and took in a mouthful of the pipe smoke, remembering Ember, Short Stride, Thorn…

The world ended in a loud ringing, light and sound disappearing into a black void of nothing. I never even felt myself hit the ground.

My thoughts came back to me in incoherent broken fragments. Memories cried out to me from the depths; images of castles, dragons, wars, it was all there like a giant jigsaw puzzle somepony had completed, then thrown on the floor, little pieces of pictures making up a whole. I was one of the pieces, as was Maroc, Arathea…all of us, one tribe…broken.

What was once whole was gone, buried in time…but maybe, maybe not completely lost. In amongst the shattered pieces of memory, Maroc’s image broke through in a blaze of white and blue, sending sparkling ice fragments into the darkness,

“Fairlight”

I tried to speak but it was so hard to concentrate,

“Fairlight, you’re in danger. You have to wake up.”

I tried to shake my head, but nothing was working the way it should, “Maroc? What’s happening? Where…where am I?”

He stepped closer, “Inside your memories, inside your subconscious. You’ve been hurt, Fairlight, and must awake…”

Fighting my way to consciousness was no easy feat. Smell, taste, sound, all my senses had been shut down and were only now coming back to me inch by agonising inch. With them came a dull ache, a thumping and jarring motion that made my stomach churn and my joints cry out in protest. Some things were immediately apparent; my legs were tied, damned painfully too, my magic had been locked away and I was gagged and blindfolded. By the terrible ache in the back of my skull, some bastard had given me one hell of a crack and here I was, once again, tied up like a carnivores Sunday roast.

One of these days I’d have to get myself fitted with wing mirrors. Having ponies sneaking up on me all the time had become a major problem in my life and some day would probably get me killed. Hmmm. Perhaps I shouldn’t be thinking about that right now? Where the fuck was I?! For that matter, where was my family?

I strained my hearing to try and pick up any sounds, but all I heard was the jostling of a cart, the smell of hay and my bones grating with the overly tight bonds. I’m sure some ponies paid for this sort of treatment, as for me, I just wanted out of here and the first chance I got, somepony was going to find I wasn’t a pony to fuck with.

The cart stopped, rocking back slightly before tilting and the hay being moved away from me. A slight amount of daylight peaked through pinprick holes in my blindfold, but I kept still. Let them think I was still out cold…

“This him?”

“Yeah, it’s him…now, where’s my money?”

“Wait while we check him out.”

A rough pair of claws pulled at me and I heard a piece of paper being rustled, “That’s him alright, look at the cutie mark and the scar. You sure he’s hornlocked and bound properly?”

Another voice answered, “He’s helpless, look at the state of him.”

“You’re not kidding, look at the mess you made of the back of his head. You stupid cunt, you nearly killed him! He’s no good to the mistress if he’s fucking dead.”

“You haven’t seen this guy in action, he’s a fucking killing machine. Beats me why you wanted him alive. I think we should cut his throat and have done with it. Cut his horn off at least, that way he won’t cause you any trouble”

“You’re not paid to think, Shrill, so shut the fuck up.”

There was a clink of coins, “Here’s your money now sod off. Remember, you say anything to anypony…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill”

I was pony handled into another carriage and dumped unceremoniously on the floor before the thing lurched up into the sky. This was definitely becoming a habit, perhaps so much so that I wasn’t freaking out the way I probably should have, particularly at the prospect of having my ‘horn cut off’. Thankfully, whoever the ‘mistress’ was, she wanted me in one piece. Somehow, I guessed the mysterious female wasn’t Luna’s alter ego in Equus.

I listened closely to my captors as we flew, but they kept silent for the whole journey, which by reckoning was at least two hours or so. Hard to say for sure, but we had at least one Pegasus with us and one other in the carriage with me. There were no windows either and I spent the whole, achingly uncomfortable trip in darkness.

We touched down, the carriage landing rather awkwardly on cobbles by the sound of the wheels hitting the hard surface. The door opened and a pair of hooves pulled me by my bindings out and onto what I could only imagine as some sort of stretcher and a blanket thrown over me. The background sounds of voices, horns and shouts reminded me of the city. Where the hell were we? I wracked my brains, taking in as much information about my environment as I could. There was always the chance I could get out of this and knowing where I was could be crucial later.

As the stretcher, trolley or whatever it was, was pushed along I caught glimpses of lights overhead. Was I in a hospital? There were noises I would certainly associate with one, but none of this made sense, why would they bring me here?

Finally, we moved through a set of double doors and into a lift that took us down to a quieter level, quiet except for the hum of machinery; probably the basement by the warm and muggy air. Pinpricks of light appeared through the blindfold and a gruff voice spoke into my ear, “I know you’re awake, freak. Any sign of trouble from you and you’re dead, but not before your family die…slowly. One. By. One.”

I couldn’t have said anything for the gag in any case, but I tried to remember the voice. This bastard was one who sounded like he’d carry out his threat, and probably enjoy it too.

Still incapacitated, they undid my bindings carefully but quickly replaced them with metal cuffs and chains, leaving me suspended painfully from the ceiling from my forelegs. My hind legs, barely touching the ground, were splayed out and similarly chained. Aching already from my journey and head trauma, my spine and muscles felt like they were on fire. With no way to access my magic, at least not without Maroc’s help, I was all but helpless. There had to be some way to get this damned hornlock off…

The sound of hoof steps moving away and a heavy door slamming shut had me wondering what these scum had in store for me next. In the now complete darkness, I hung there. No sound, no light, just pain and that constant discomfort that I could never quite relieve. Somewhere inside, deep down, my magic waited for me but with the hornlock it was as if I were looking at it through a pane of glass. It was there, so near, so tantalisingly near and yet not matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get to it.

Minutes, hours…I lost track of time completely, it didn’t exist here. I’d given up fighting against the pain and simply hung there, enveloped in it.

The door opened and my ears twitched. There were two ponies…one heavy, one light on their hooves. The lighter one came closer, their breath close to my muzzle, I could even sense their body heat. A hoof touched my chin and a feminine voice laughed with a musical quality I’d heard once before, only once…my blood ran cold.

“My, my…dear Captain Fairlight”, the voice was soft, lilting, “I have you at last, my fine stallion.” She laughed. In any other circumstances, it would have been quite exotic. As I was now, I could feel my heart hammering in my ears. It was her, it had to be.

“Wondering where you are? Why you’re here?” she walked around me slowly, occasionally trailing a hoof over me, “Such a fine specimen. Well muscled, toned…what a fine legacy you would leave.”

What the hell was she talking about?

The mare stood before me. Even in the darkness I could sense her presence, her scent, like wild lavender.

“You know who I am, don’t you Captain? Yes…of course you do.” I heard the sound of a drink being poured, “Such a wonderful thing, magic, wouldn’t you agree? Nothing quite like it on my world.”

She drew closer again, “Thirsty?” The mare held up the glass to my lips in her magic but teased me with it before taking it away, clucking her tongue, “Not yet, no…you need a little more ‘training’ first I think”

Training?

The mare turned around and put the glass down, “You see Captain, on my world, ponies…horses, aren’t as ‘eloquent’ as you and I. They’re nothing more than animals, beautiful creatures to be sure, but dumb animals nonetheless. I’ll confess they are really quite wilful creatures, strong in spirit, body and mind.”

She moved closer again, leaning up to my ear, “Do you have a strong spirit, Captain? A strong body…and mind?”

The mare giggled, “We ride ponies in our world. Saddles aren’t just for decoration there. Back home I had many horses, champion race horses…studs. I could ride them all, even the wildest of stallions. Some humans used to ‘break’ their horses, break their spirits, using pain to train and reprogram their minds to obey through fear.”

A rod of some kind was dragged up my stomach and chest until it was under my chin.

“I don’t like those methods,” she said in a seductive voice, “I find it best to leave something of the wilder spirit behind. You see Captain, all a horse needs, is the right kind of…motivation.”

The rod slid back down to my haunches and tapped me firmly on my cutie mark, “One must be sure a mount is safe and obedient before they can be ridden”

I didn’t know what to think, my mind was in a blur with possible scenarios. She wanted something from me, but what I had no idea.

“I’m going to give you a little treat now, ‘stallion’, a taste of what you could have if you…behave yourself. Are you ready?”

The other pony pulled off my blindfold and a dim light assailed my eyes. It took a little while to regain my focus, but there, lying in front of me on a red velvet lounger was one of the most beautiful, graceful unicorns I had ever seen. The first time we’d met, she’d ordered the killing of my friends, the second, she was in the company of that bastard Velvet Cream. This was the human bitch who had the blood of dozens, if not hundreds of ponies on her hooves. It didn’t stop her being a feast for the eyes though, and she knew it. Her pure white alabaster coat, long horn, the lustrous golden mane and tail, all combined made her look like the lost sister of Celestia herself. Tall and elegant, and hating myself for it, it was hard to take my eyes off her despite my current predicament.

She giggled behind a gold shod hoof, speaking in a sultry voice, “Like what you see?” The white mare eyed me with those deep azure eyes from under long flowing lashes, “I know you do…”

The mare looked me up and down from nose to tail, “I’m not averse to partaking of ponies, in a more, shall we say…intimate manner, Captain. If you’re a good boy, maybe you’ll get to have a little sample yourself, a taste of something…forbidden?”

I was desperately trying to think of something else, anything else.

“Nothing to say, Captain? Oh!” she held a hoof to her mouth in mock surprise, “You can’t speak can you? Not with that horrible thing in you mouth.” She waved a hoof and the male trotted back to untie the gag.

“Well?” she said questioningly, “Still nothing to say?”

“Go fuck yourself”, I spat glaring at her.

“Hah!” she clopped her hooves together, “Such spirit! Oh Captain, I’m going to enjoy breaking you…enjoy every moment.”

My goddesses, she was drooling, actually bloody well drooling!

The ‘mistress’ walked up to me, swaying her hips, “I know all about you, you know…that’s right, lord of the four winds, your magic, your mares and your foals. You can’t keep secrets from me, Captain”

I stared my hatred at her, this bitch had it coming. Threatening me was one thing, but my family was all I had…I wouldn’t risk them again. The mare levitated over the rod from earlier,

“You know what this is? It’s a riding crop, we use it to ‘encourage’ our mounts in my world to obey us. You, my find piece of horse flesh, will find that soon you’ll enjoy its sting, want it…need it. Do you like the thought of that?”

“What do you want from me?” I growled.

She looked back me from over her shoulder, “Oh dear! What a way to speak to a lady!” Her magic flared and the crop thwacked across my haunches making me jump. The movement pulled on the chain that in turn hauled on my joints adding a flare of burning pain to my increasingly desperate situation.

“I’ll tell you what I want from you in due time, my stallion” she whacked me hard across the legs and back, grinning menacingly, those beautiful eyes filling my vision, “By the time I’m done with you, I’ll be able to ride you wherever I want, make you do whatever I want and, Fairlight? You’ll be begging me to do it”

“Fuck off”

“I thought you’d say that! Such a dirty mouth too!” She nodded to the male in the room, “He stinks…give him a wash”.

“With pleasure, Mistress”, the stallion growled, lifting up a fire hose from the floor. It was then I noticed the drain below me and knew what was coming next. The water hit me like a freight train, the ice cold blast chilling my body and half drowning me. I tried to breath, to fight back, but I was completely in their power. What the hell could I do now?

I hung there for a day, maybe two. Shaking and hungry, I was desperate for water and some sort of relief, any relief, from the pain. I’d hoped Maroc would rush in to save the day, but of my elusive saviour from my trip to the bottom of the ocean, there was no sign. Every moment I railed against my situation, desperately trying to find the magic and keep what little strength I had left by sleeping when I could. But here, time meant nothing. There was no respite, all there was, was pain, pain and misery.

The mistress walked back into the room and my eyes snapped open. From the complete darkness, to see her was at least something different, a break from the cold, hunger and misery.

“Hello stallion, how are you this morning?”

I kept quiet, hanging from those accursed chains. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of…

She poured a glass of water out, sparkling and cool. I could see the ice in it, hear it cracking and moving in the liquid. I was so thirsty…

“Water”, She said holding the glass up, “Something so simple…so necessary for life, so…delicious”. She took a sip and moved to me slowly waving the glass in front of me.

“I know you want this, my stallion. Tell me…tell me you want this…”

I nodded slowly and she held the glass to me lips and I took a mouthful of the blissfully cold fluid in my mouth, before spitting it in her face.

“I said, go fuck yourself you bitch”, I croaked.

The mares’ cheeks flushed red, dripping with water and she raised the crop to strike me, “You!” Her expression suddenly changed and she laughed, returning it to the table.

“No…no I don’t think so.” The white unicorn chuckled as she wiped the water off her face with a towel, “I thought you may do that, so…I thought I’d explain a few things to you.”

She grabbed my head in her forehooves, her muzzle close to mine, her breath fragrant and sweet, “Don’t think your friends will come charging in here to your rescue, Captain. This room’s shielded, both physically and magically. I know about your ‘bond’ with your followers. I also know where your family live and one of our, ‘friends’ lives there, one who loves bits far more than he loves his ‘lord’. All it would take is one call, one simple sentence, and your family would…well, lets leave it at that shall we?”

“You fucking rat!” I gasped, “You touch my family and I’ll kill you, I’ll kill all of you!”

“Yes…I’m sure you would if you could” she shook her long golden mane, the way it shimmered in the light was like a golden waterfall, “I know what you did to Gates, and poor Melon Patch too. Not that I cared for those murdering rapists. I’m still a mare you know, Captain.” The mare walked slowly around me, her scent tickling my nose, “My fur is soft, my skin is supple, this…” she ran rubbed her flank up against me, “…could all be yours.”

“Don’t flatter yourself”

“Oh Captain, your words say no, but your body…” she looked down at my nethers grabbing me with a forehoof, a feeling of shock running through me, “…your body is a lot more honest than your mouth”.

My head dropped. I was so tired…what did she want from me? If she’d just do something…anything!

“Kill me, if you’re going to, just…just get on with it. But leave my family alone, they haven’t done anything to you.”

“You’re not in any position to ask me anything, are you now?” The mare walked away slowly, “I think I’ll leave you to think on your behaviour, stallion.” She placed the glass of water back on the table before me, “Think about how much you want that water, Captain…and how much you want…me”.

With a flick of her tail, the mare left the room, the door slamming shut with a heavy finality. Total silence once more engulfed me, the lamp on the table highlighting the glass of water sitting tantalisingly just out of reach.

*****

Here, time had no meaning. The constant pain, sleep deprivation, starvation and dehydration were taking their toll me on. One day swirled into the next, with no light to go by and seemingly random visits from the ‘mistress’, I could feel myself drawing closer towards death. The mistress however, would never quite let me pass on. Whenever she felt I was drawing close, she’d have me fed a small amount of a tasteless gruel and hose water. One day, earlier on…I don’t recall when, I’d spat the food back in the face of the mare and she’d gone wild, whipping me until I bled. She’d been steaming and panting with the effort until, in a rage, she’d thrown the crop at me then stormed out ordering the male to clean me up. He’d done as she’d ordered, with a bucket of stinging liquid and yet more hose water.

Goddesses, I wanted to see my family again, it was all I could think of to focus on. I tried to keep my mind together, to retain my sanity…even just a tiny piece, to lock it away and protect it from this madness, but the pain…the torture continued.

The door opened and the mare trotted in happily, “I have a special treat for you Captain!” she cooed, “look! I had it specially made for you too, and its even got you name embroidered on it. Beautiful, no?”

She lifted up the saddle and reigns in front of me. It was purple and white with silver trim, a small ships wheel sewn into the corners and sure enough, on the harness was the name ‘Captain’ in swirling script. So…that was my name now…’Captain’.

The mistress walked over, “Come on, I want you to try it on!” She lifted my head and looked into my eyes, “You poor love, you’ve been through it haven’t you? Are you thirsty?”

My resolve quavered, my body screaming for relief, “Yes”.

“Yes what?”

“Yes Mistress”

“Good boy!” she clopped her hooves together then trotted to the table and collected the glass of water, “And good boys get rewarded.” The mistress moved closer, tilting my head up, “Open your mouth now”

I did as she commanded and she tipped some of the liquid in. I choked; my mouth was so dry I could barely swallow. She clucked her tongue and shook that beautiful golden mane, “No. That won’t do, that wont do at all! Here…”

She took a mouthful of the water and lifted her mouth to mine, slowly dribbling the water into me. Goddess forgive me, I let her. I was starving, beaten and broken down, my body crying out for water, even just the tiniest sip. I opened my mouth and she leaned in, the water slowly entering, along with a tantalising taste…the taste of a mare.

The mistress stroked my chest slowly, smelling my coat and whispering in my ear, “Do you want more?”

My body was on fire, demanding the cooling fluid, “Yes…”

“Yes what?”

“Yes Mistress”

She leaned closer, “Ask me…”

“Mistress…please…water”

“Good boy, very good boy”, she lifted the glass, “Good boys get rewards”. She lifted my muzzle and gave me another mouthful of the amazing drink, it was so good. I could feel life filling me again.

“That’s enough for today I think.”

My eyes opened wide, she was going already?

She gave me a wicked smile, “Don’t worry, Captain, I’ll be back tomorrow and then you can try on your saddle. If you’re a good boy that is.”

No! She was leaving me! In the cold and dark once more. I couldn’t stand it, I had to have water, light…I had to have her touch, I needed it…oh goddesses, what was happening to me? WHAT?!

“Meadow, Tingles, Shadow” I murmured, “Forgive me…I love you so much, I want…I want to go home…” For the first time in I don’t know how long, I felt tears well in my eyes, pouring down my cheeks, “I want to go home…”

I was a foal again, lost in the crowd at the local supermarket, calling for her, needing her there. The place was so big, giants walking around me tutting at me to keep out of their way. The shelves seemed to go up to the sky, the aisles to the horizon. I was so scared, I wanted my mum, I wanted to go home! I ran up one aisle and down the next, but I didn’t recognise any of the ponies there, no smiling faces, no help for the little grey unicorn foal.

One foal in a trolley rumbled past, pushed by his mother, “Look mummy!” he pointed down at me.

“Come away Lime, don’t stare, it’ll follow us”, the mother walked on barely sparing me a second glance.

I’d been reduced to an object, an ‘it’. The world was quickly becoming a terrifying and cold place. I looked around frantically for help, calling for her, “Mummy! Mummy!” but no answer came. Colours, shapes and bright lights pressed in on me, forcing me into a ball of grey fur, too frightened to open my eyes.

“There you are! Where did you wander off to, Silly? Don’t you ever do that again!”

The familiar voice of my mother snapped me out of the black hole I was falling ever deeper into. She was here! Thank Celestia! I smiled up at her through tear filled eyes, those big azure eyes in that pure white coat gazed down at me with such love, such tenderness. Mum had always had such a gorgeous golden mane, the other mares were jealous of how good she looked and the foals envious of me for have such a wonderful mother!

“Come on you! Up you come”.

Mum picked me up in her magic and plopped me onto her back where I rode like a king, smirking at the other foals. My mum was the best pony, and I was her best foal too!

“I love you mum”, I said in my squeaky voice.

“I love you too Captain”

Freezing water hit my body, washing away the sweat and waste produced by bodily functions. The shock of it brought me round, the male roughly towelling me off afterwards. He never spoke, never made eye contact. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, all my attention was on the door…waiting for her.

“Good morning Captain!” she chirped, trotting in and looking me over with a critical eye, “Hmmm, you’re too thin by half. I think you need to put a little weight on those bones, don’t you?”

“Yes, mistress”

She clopped her hooves together, “Excellent, Captain! You’re making your mistress very happy, and when I’m happy, you get rewards.”

My heart beat faster in anticipation, she had something for me?

“Today, I’m going to…aw, wait and see!” she trotted back over to the door and knocked, speaking to the male beyond it who entered, following her to my side.

“Are you sure mistress?” he asked her. The alabaster unicorn span in an eye watering blur of speed, the crop slashing across his face,

“How DARE you question ME?! I know my horses better than anyone and certainly a lot more than some mangy worm like YOU!”

The stallion was all but crying, prostrating himself before her, “I’m sorry mistress! Please, please forgive me…please!”

He was a gibbering wreck of a pony, gasping and sobbing. The mare picked up her crop and pushed it under his chin, tilting his head up, “I know, Pickles, I know. It’s alright…shhhhh, just do as I say and you’ll get a treat too. If you’re a good boy.”

I hated Pickles, how dare he upset the mistress?! I glared at him and strained against my chains. The mistress watched me with a bemused look in her eye and tapped me on the nose with her hoof,

“Now, now, I wont have any of that my stallion. All in my stable must behave themselves and you’re no exception. Mind you…it depends on just how ‘good’ you are.”

She smiled at me, a smile that made my loins burn and my heart ache, “You are a ‘good boy’ aren’t you, Captain?”

“Yes mistress!” I replied excitedly. She was pleased with me!

She nodded to the male who disappeared off into the darkness, and after some clanking and metallic creaking noises, I suddenly dropped bodily to the floor. The shock and pain made me cry out. Muscles, skin, tendons and bones long held in that unnatural position, burned like fire when I hit the ground. The mistress walked over, picking my muzzle up in her hooves,

“Oh Captain! My dear, dear Captain…what have they done to you? Don’t worry, it’s alright now, I’m here for you, I’ll protect you. Nopony will hurt you while I’m here...” She stroked my untidy mane, “Shhhh….quiet now my stallion, mummy’s here for you, you’re safe…”

I felt tears of joy burning in my eyes. I was safe, safe at last, she’d make all the pain go away. I was so happy I didn’t know what to say or do, but it didn’t matter so long as I could see the smile on her face.

The chains were re-adjusted. I was still secured, but now I had enough room to stand on all fours and move a little, if only I could get off the floor. I could move my legs though; days, if not weeks of hanging from the ceiling had caused damage that was preventing me from reaching the mistress as I should, from making her happy. I was so angry with myself! I tried to rise to my hooves, struggled and fell. She reached out and stopped me,

“Don’t struggle now, it’s alright, you’ll get your strength back soon. Here…”

She waved a hoof and the male brought over a sack which he carried in on his back. It was a long bag of sorts with straps which the mistress placed over my head and strapped behind my ears. A sweet, yet malty smell hit me from the bag…food! I stretched out my tongue and tasted it…it was food, and good too!

I looked up to her, unsure of what she wanted me to do. She nodded, “It’s alright Captain, go ahead, I made it just for you…its mummy’s secret recipe”

Not wasting another moment, I took a mouthful of the mixture, one after another, greedily taking it all in. Tears streamed down my face as I ate, it was so good…so good…”

Afterwards, the mistress removed the nose bag and walked around me before shaking her head in disappointment, “It’s no good, your muscle tones lacking and your coat and mane are a mess.”

“I’m sorry mistress!” I cried, desperate for her praise.

She tapped the riding crop against her side in thought, “You need a bath, Captain, and tomorrow…well, we’ll see.” The mistress smiled, “Do you miss me when I’m not here?”

“Yes!”, I nearly shouted. How could she think I didn’t? The mistress was everything to me, everything!

She smiled and ran her hoof down my spine, sending shivers along it despite my pains, “Until tomorrow then…my Captain”

The door banged shut with a terrible finality. I so desperately wanted to go after her, to be by her side. To see her smile was all I desired, to gaze into those azure eyes so big and bright was like heaven! I lay back on the cold hard floor, trying to get my legs to work, my muscles to function. It was so difficult though, nothing seemed to be working the way it should, but I had to do it…tomorrow she’d be back…tomorrow.

Hours, maybe days passed before the mistress returned. I was thirsty, hungry and every second she’d been away had been like an eternity of suffering. If there was a hell, being without the white mare was surely it. The door stayed open as she walked in, two males following close behind carrying a large porcelain bath tub which they placed next to me. Soon after, they began bringing in buckets of hot water, bottles of heavily scented oils and soaps, towels, I couldn’t believe it…was this all for me?

The mistress smiled at me and my knees went weak, would she be happy with me? The mare tapped my neck with the crop, tilting her head on one side, “You’ve done well…I didn’t think you’d be able to stand so soon. Oh, Captain…they’ve been so cruel to you, but don’t worry, mummy’s here to make you better…”

Her horn glowed and the locks on my chains popped off. The sudden release made me gasp as blood flowed back around the areas the tight fitting shackles had held. The other two males remained in the room, watching me closely, but I didn’t care. My mistress was here and her happiness was all that mattered.

At her instruction, I climbed into the bath and sank into the hot water. The heat and steam seemed to melt the pain away and I could feel myself becoming more pony again, clean and alive. Her delicate hooves picked up the sponge and she began working the lather into my coat, my mane, combing through the tangles, wiping and rubbing. It was the most unbelievable, heavenly experience I could have ever had imagined. Her hooves were the touch of an angel, her eyes looking deep into mine…I wanted to be with her forever, that beautiful, precious unicorn.

The mistress smiled at me in that motherly way, washing and lathering, washing and lathering…heaven, simply heaven. Ultimately, she instructed me to stand and the males brought over more buckets which were used to rinse me off. I had to chuckle at their jealous gazes; the mistress was paying attention to me, me! I smirked at them and one of them glared back at me…he knew, he knew I was best pony.

A hot air blower was brought in and switched on, the mistress turning me with prods of her hooves, brushing and curry combing me until I was satisfactory. She nodded her approval and stood back admiring her work, “Good…not excellent, but good. I think we need to do something about your eyes, colouring and cutie mark though. Then…then you’ll be perfect.”

I nearly hopped in anticipation, perfect? Yes! She said perfect!

Mistress clopped her hooves together in excitement, “I nearly forgot! Your present!” She wandered over to the table and picked up the saddle and reigns which she checked over and brought to me.

“Have you ever worn a saddle, Captain?”

“I…I don’t know mistress”

She shook her flowing mane, “No matter, there’s a first time for everything.”

The saddle floated over to me and landed on my back, the unexpected sensation making me buck slightly in surprise. I received a disapproving look that made me drop my head and ears flop,

“I’m sorry, mistress”

“Don’t worry, Captain, I’m not upset with you, not at all. You look so wonderful, I just want you to look your best. You…you do want that…don’t you?”

She looked away shyly, unsure. My heart leaped and my eyes went wide, “Of course, mistress!”

“Good”, she said suddenly turning a beaming smile on me, “Come then, lets get that settled on you and we’ll have you spick and span in no time.”

Straps and belts in place, halter and tack set and secure, the mare tapped a hoof in approval.

“Something’s missing, she muttered, “Ah!”, she clopped her hooves and opened a bag one of the males brought over. Held up in her magic, a metal device appeared with a ring at each end and a long strap slung between them.

The mistress walked over to and brought her muzzle close to mine. I could feel my heart rate accelerating,

“This is a bit, a simple one. We call it a snaffle bit in my world. This one…I’ve brought especially for you though…Captain. Do you want it?”

“I…” I looked at the thing. Something about it caused alarm in my mind, somewhere deep in the recesses of my tortured brain. But the mistress’s eyes…they filled my vision, and my soul. How could I doubt her?

“You…you don’t want my gift?” she sniffed, eyes glistening. I stepped forward eagerly, “No…yes! Please…mistress, I want your gift! Please!”

She turned her head back to me and spoke softly, “It goes behind your teeth, my stallion. Here, let me show you…open your mouth now, nice and wide.”

I did as she ordered and she magicked up the bit into her own mouth. Slowly, bringing her mouth up to mine, using her lips and tongue, she pushed the bit into my mouth. The mistress’ tongue brushed against mine nearly making me cry out in pleasure and excitement, her scent and taste exotic beyond imagining. She positioned the bit in place and withdrew, tossing the reigns up and over my head onto my back. The smiling mare stood back, nodding,

“Excellent. You are a good boy, Captain. Did you enjoy your treat?”

“Yes mistress!” I wanted more, but I couldn’t be impulsive and disobey her, I was a good pony after all.

One of the males brought over a large cushioned blanket. “You’ll sleep on this tonight, my stallion, and I want you to keep the bit in and the saddle on, understand?”

“Yes, mistress, thank you.”

She leaned forward and nibbled my ear causing me to nearly pass out in pleasure, “You’re welcome. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, Captain, so I want you well rested. Will you dream of me tonight? Please?”

The mistress’ plea made my heart nearly burst, “Yes! Mistress I will!”

I stood erect, my ears pert and my tail straight, I wanted her to see how willing I was, how I would make her proud of me. She kissed me on the cheek, barely a brush but it was electrifying.

“Sleep well, my stallion.”

I awoke with the clang of the bolts on the door opening and the mistress trotting in with my breakfast. She was virtually glowing with energy,

“You’ve kept it on! And all night too, well done Captain! I’m so proud of you.”

I shuddered, standing tall and straight for her. The saddle had been a little uncomfortable during the night and the bit made my mouth a bit sore too, but for her…I’d do anything, endure anything. She didn’t bother with the nose bag this time, rather placing the food in a bowl and holding it in her magic while I ate, the glow from her horn tingling my nose. She moved around me, brushing my coat and mane, taking out the tangles from my tail. I risked a glimpse at her flank, no cutie mark, just pure unmarked white…like cake frosting. I wanted to…

A tap on the nose stopped those thoughts, “Naughty! And so early in the morning too. You’re quite eager today Captain, aren’t you?”

I nodded, “Yes mistress”

She laughed, giving me a drink of cool, refreshing water with a hint of something minty in it. I smacked my lips and she smiled, her eyes sparkling,

“I’ve given you a little extra for your breakfast today. I need you to be a little, ‘fizzy’. Are you ready to play a game with me?”

A game? Of course I was!

“Yes mistress”

“Good! Then we’ll begin”

The two males entered, and the chair, table and other accoutrements were taken away. The mistress clopped her hooves and the room was suddenly bathed in a blinding light. I took in a sharp breath as the unfamiliar light hit my eyes and made me flinch back, but soon, after a few blinks, I was able to make out the sheer scale of the room we were in. It was massive.

The white mare trotted over to me, carrying a long rod with a sort of streamer attached to the end. With a glow of magic from her horn, she connected a longer reign to my existing one.

“This is how I train my horses at home, Captain. I don’t think we need to try too hard with you, so we’ll take things…” her voice dropped, “…nice and slow.”

My mane bristled in anticipation. The mistress took up the long reign and rod, “Now, I want you to start walking in a circle around me. Not too fast, not too slow, I want you to listen to my voice, only my voice. You understand?”

I nodded, “Yes mistress”

She grinned then clucked her tongue, tapping me with the long rod thing. I walked, my muscles ached like they were on fire, burning and making me stumble a little,

“You’re doing well, Captain, keep going”.

I nodded my head and, determined to keep the tempo, kept my eyes forward, concentrating on the tension on the reign and the tap of the rod. I circled her and she turned with me, a light touch against my hind legs made me kick a little and she tutted at me, “No bucking now, Captain, be a good boy”

I couldn’t disappoint her, “Yes mistress”

Round and round I went, feeling my muscles warming up, the ache starting to leave me. She must have sensed it and clucked her tongue again, giving a firm tap with the rod and shake on the reign, I picked up speed to a trot.

Round and round, another tap, into a canter, round and round. I was enjoying this, I was warm, my muscles straining, my blood pumping. I felt good! The mistress laughed, “Now Captain! Let’s see how fast you can go!”

She wacked me on the rump and I increased speed to a full gallop, round and round, faster and faster. The artificially lit world was a blur with the focus of it my mistress, watching me with that smile of hers, the one she gave me alone. I was her stallion now, not those other males, I was the best pony.

The mistress pulled on the reigns, making a different noise now, but I knew what she wanted. I slowed, bringing down my speed in a gradual decline until she pulled me up to a halt.

Walking over to me, she eyed my steaming coat, the slight foaming at my muzzle. I watched her respectfully, whilst she checked me over,

“Good”, she nodded to herself, pleased, “You’re doing well Captain. Keep this up and I may have another treat for you. Would you like that?”

I nodded, “Yes mistress!”

“Good boy!” She held up something to my mouth and popped it inside, it was…delicious! A sweet, fresh minty taste enveloped my mouth. I’d never tasted anything like it.

“There’s more where that came from”, she laughed, “For now, let’s get you unsaddled and brushed down. There’s much, much more we need to do, my Captain.”

Days more like today were to come and I relished them, relished the time I could spend with my mistress. Sometimes I would stumble, but she’d simply correct me and we’d carry on. I would do anything to see her smile, all I needed to do was obey her. It was all so, so simple.

I’d been working hard one day and she’d had me washed down and even had my hooves trimmed and oiled until they shone. I had to admit, I looked fantastic as I admired myself in the mirror she held up for me. The mistress was called out on business but returned a little later, smelling of elderberry wine,

“Captain…you’re to be…’changed’ tomorrow”

“Changed, mistress?”

“Yes”, she walked around me, drawing a hoof across my coat, along my spine, flank and…

“Tomorrow, we’ll have to have you looking like a different pony.” She sounded hurt, she didn’t want this!

“Does this make you sad, mistress?”

She looked up at me through those long lashes, pausing in her stroking, “Yes. But you’re still my stallion, Captain. So, tonight, because you’ve been so good, I’m going to give you a treat”.

“Thank you mistress”

“Yes…” she shook her mane, “Follow me, Captain, don’t lag behind now”

I didn’t. I was fit, clean and able. I trotted after her, full of vigour and energy, my mistress was going to give me something and I couldn’t wait to see what it was.

For the first time, we left the room. I was almost reluctant at first; what lay beyond here? It was like leaving my world behind and stepping into the unknown, but, so long as she was with me, the future held no real terrors. We walked down corridor after corridor, pipes running along the walls and ceiling, the smell of steam and damp running through the complex despite it appearing clean and well kept. Baskets of items sat here and there awaiting collection or delivery, rows of large blue bins were lined up along the walls that had something written on them. I paid them little heed, my mistress was my only concern. She turned a corner and I was hot on her heels, still keeping a respectful distance though. I was so happy! I didn’t even need reigns any more!

She stopped in front of a nondescript wooden door and opened it, beckoning me in after her. Inside, the room was quite large with a scattering of chairs, tables, a bar area and a large bed. It was stunningly feminine; the walls covered with paintings of…ponies? No…not ponies, horses, and not quite like the ones I’d seen either. These were…different, somehow and all looked a bit, dull witted?

The mistress saw me looking, “Horses, from my world. Not the same as Equestrians, Captain. Certainly…” she stroked a hoof through my mane making me gasp, “…not like you.”

I faced her, rather impetuously I feared, but she didn’t seem to mind. She took a glass of wine and passed it to me. I was very good at holding things in my hooves, I wonder why? The Mistress laughed and poured some into her mouth, moving up to me smiling. Taking my muzzle in her hooves, she placed her lips against mine and I opened my mouth to the influx of sweet elderberry wine mixed with her breath, and her tongue.

Automatically, I reached up and touched her neck, gingerly at first, not wanting to cause offence. My hooves, no matter how polished, weren’t worthy of touching that pristine white coat of my mistress. She didn’t object as I’d feared, in fact she gave a deliciously soft moan and moved into me, nibbling my neck and sending little bursts of excitement through me.

She worked her way down, increasingly urgent, nibbling becoming biting, her moans now loud gasps as I stroked, nibble and caressed her in return. Suddenly, she pushed me away and climbed onto the bed, holding her forelegs out to me in invitation, “You love your mistress, Captain?”

“Yes, mistress”

“Show her. Show her how much you love her”, her eyes half closed, she drew my mouth down her body and between her haunches.

The smell of femininity hit me like a sledgehammer. Before me, her marehood lay exposed, warm and fragrant. I wasn’t sure what to do; had I done this before? But no matter, I had to do something to please her, so I let my instincts have full reign. My tongue snaked out, running up and down her, eliciting stifled moans and a little cry of pleasure. I was ecstatic, my mistress was happy with me…I gave her more.

She pulled me further into her as I worked, hind legs gripping me and her fore hooves pushing me down. It was a little hard to breath, but all my attention was focussed on satisfying her. Those other stallions weren’t as good as me, I was the best one here, I was the mistress’s favourite, and I would give her my best performance.

Her cries echoing around the room, she began to shake and shuddered once, twice, three times before letting out a cry of passion and pushed me away suddenly. Had I done something wrong?

“Mistress?” I asked in concern.

“Oh, Captain…you’re such a good boy. Now…now its time for your treat.”

Another treat? I thought that had been it! I stood there waiting, but she just looked at me, “You don’t know, do you?”

“I’m sorry mistress”, I hung my head.

She clucked her tongue and leaned forward on the bed, taking my stallionhood in her forehooves, “You want to do something with this thing don’t you?”

A surge of emotion and desire ran through me, my loins burning. Surely she didn’t mean? I looked at her shyly, “Mistress…I…yes”

“Good boy. Now…do what comes naturally, Captain.”

She sat back on her haunches and guided me forward to her, onto her. I could feel her warmth, her heat below me. I felt my member touch her marehood, the moist warmth seeping from it. This felt so…wonderful. The mistress smiled up at me, her azure eyes pulling me in as much her body was, “Now…give yourself to me, my stallion. All of you.”

I reached down and pulled her up slightly, making her gasp in surprise before I pushed my hips forward and entered her smoothly. I kept pushing until I was hilted fully inside. The mistress cried out, digging her forehooves into my shoulders, her eyes shut tight, “Fuck…yes! Captain…do it, now! For god’s sake, now!”

I obeyed and withdrew, pushing forward again. She hissed and groaned, gasping and writhing but I kept my grip on her, ploughing away in increasing strokes, leaning down to kiss and nibble her as we made love.

The mistress shook and moaned beneath me, her feminine noises helping to bring me closer to the edge of release and I felt myself begin to shake as I peaked. The white mare beneath me cried out, “Do it! Inside me, Captain…for gods sake…do it…”

Panting, and with an animalistic grunt, I unloaded everything I had into the wet heat of my mistress. Her chest rose and fell, breath steaming as much as our bodies in the cool air of the room. She looked up at me with wet eyes; was she…crying?

“Mistress? Have I been bad?” I was suddenly panicked.

“No…” she shook her head, “You’ve made your mistress very, very happy. Now, lie next to me and hold me. I want to feel you against me.”

I did as she commanded and the two of us lay there, side by side. I ran my foreleg over her and sniffed her mane, taking in her perfume…she smelt of lavender…it was wonderful…and yet somehow, vaguely familiar. My mind began to reel slightly before I was drawn back by a stifled sniffle, my mistress was crying.

Before I could say anything, she whispered, “I’m sorry…don’t pay me any heed, just…just stay with me…please? I don’t want to be alone.”

“Yes mistress”, I said, holding her in my forelegs and snuggling closer. The smell of wild lavender filled my nostrils, feminine and strong. For some reason it felt so right to be here with her, and yet…mistress…

I fell asleep with her curled up beside me. To my eyes, she looked like a lost and frightened foal.

Chapter Three - Master of Puppets

CHAPTER THREE

MASTER OF PUPPETS

The morning came with little ceremony other than a small communicator buzzing on the table beside us. The mistress rose, yawned and groggily answered the device before we washed and breakfasted. Wearing my reins and head collar, she lead me out and down the muggy corridor to a small room with two waiting mares and a tall male in a white coat. None of them smiled when we entered and I immediately picked up on the hesitation from the mistress.

“Here he is, treat him properly wont you.”

“We will ma’am”, said the male coldly. I had my hackles up, this guy was bothering my mistress and the look on her face said it all.

“I’ve got to leave now Captain, be a good boy and do what they tell you, understand?”

I was distraught, my heart pounding in my chest. She was leaving me here?

“Mistress?”

Tears started to well in her eyes, “It’ll all be alright, I promise.” She looked up at the white coated pony, “I’ll be back in an hour as we agreed. If you harm him in any way…”

He nodded and she left in a flurry of gold and white, all but slamming the door shut behind her. The male turned back to me, looking me up and down while his assistants wheeled over trolleys full of bottles and brushes.

“Right then, Tops, Tails, I want this coat prepped properly before we apply the coating. I’ll get him measured up for the lenses.”

I stood there staring at the door like it would open at any moment and she’d come back for me. I was nearly in tears. Had I always been such an emotional wreck as this?

The mares wiped me down thoroughly, the acrid stink of chemicals burning my nostrils. Paper was placed over my muzzle and stuck in place, my ears plugged and my eyes measured. I had no idea what was going on, but true to his word, the stallion didn’t injure me in any way, in fact the only discomfort I felt was a faint tingling sensation across my fur. While the mares worked, the male brought over two transparent lenses, into which he plopped a couple of drops of some clear liquid. He spoke to me in his monotone voice,

“Hold still, this may feel a little strange but it won’t hurt, do you understand?”

I nodded.

Holding my head to one side, he held my eye open and dropped in one of the lenses which made me struggle slightly with the strange sensation. My eye felt cold and odd, but once again, he was right; whatever it was didn’t cause any pain. The process was repeated for the other eye and he stood back, nodding.

He spoke more to himself than to me, “They cover his eyes well, you can barely see the colour underneath at all.”

The male rose his head up to address the mares, “How’s the coat coming along?”

“Nearly done, doctor”

“Excellent”

The process continued until I was given a damp wipe over and the ‘doctor’ moved to my flank.

“Strange…never seen one like this. The dye doesn’t seem to affect it much, what about alteration magic?”

“We tried that first, doctor, it’s resistant.”

He shook his head, “Very strange. We can’t burn it off or we could maim him permanently.”

The doctor tapped his chin with a hoof, “Shave him”

“Doctor?”

“Do it. Shave the cutie mark off and we’ll apply fake fur, spray on a new cutie mark et voilà.”

“Yes doctor”

He tutted at me, but supervised the work that was going on down my flank. I could feel the buzz of the razor and cold air as my bare skin was exposed. The artificial fur was applied and some even to my face for some reason. After all this though, I was itching to see what I looked like. I could only hope my mistress would be pleased, but there was more to come yet.

My mane and tail were worked on next and clipped shorter than I’d have liked. My mane was normally mid-length, and this made me look like…I wasn’t sure, what did I look like?

Time dragged on and eventually there was a knock at the door. The doctor opened it to a worried white unicorn,

“Mistress!” I said excitedly looking to see if she approved of my new look. She didn’t.

“Is…is that him? My god, he looks completely different”

“As requested ma’am, we’ve done our best. No magic, just cosmetics and ingenuity, he wont get picked up by any magic detectors now.”

She didn’t look happy at all. Her eyes were puffy from tears and her ears drooped slightly,

“Mistress?”

She shook her head, “Come along, Captain. We need to go and see somepony, so let me see those hooves lift neatly now, no slacking!”

The mistress tried to sound upbeat, but her voice was cracking and as much as I tried to obey her, I was more interested in her and spoke out of turn,

“Mistress, you seem unhappy. Aren’t you pleased with me? Have I been a bad pony?”

It didn’t do to question the mistress and she stopped suddenly, turning to me, her eyes flashing, “Captain! Don’t…don’t…” her voice fell to a murmur, “No…no you haven’t done anything wrong, Captain, nothing at all.”

She pulled my reins and clucked her tongue. Like a dutiful pony, I followed my mistress into the lift, along a corridor and into a well lit office.

Inside, three ponies stood watching me. One was a dumpy, ginger unicorn mare with a greying black mane and a thin pair of spectacles behind which a pair of slate grey eyes peered out. Beside her, a white earth pony, more cream coloured than my mistress, wearing a wide brimmed red hat and coat. His eyes were a maroon colour which stood out against his pale colour. His mane and tail, strawberry coloured, were quite long for a male and flowed from under his hat.

The third occupant of the office was a cloaked and veiled pony. A female judging by the body shape, her yellow legs peeked out from under the hem of her cloak, shod in what appeared to be green jade.

I took it all in, every last detail, eyes, hair, colouring…this was, unusual for me wasn’t it? Why was I so interested? I’d never met them and yet here I was examining every detail.

The mistress shook my reins and I stood still, standing tall and looking straight ahead. I’d show them what a real pony looked like, even if my colour was different. Actually, not having seen a mirror, I still didn’t have much of a clue as to what they’d done to me. My coat was a darker shade from before, that much I could see, but I was still a uniform grey. ‘Bland’ I thought, bitterly. My tail was now blue apparently, two shades too which I wasn’t overly keen on to say the least.

The dumpy female, spoke first, readjusting her spectacles and staring at me with her mean looking eyes, “Are you sure he’s safe Annabelle? He’s a killer this one, I can smell death on him from here.”

The male nodded, “I agree, he’s already taken out two of my best ponies. Bringing him here was lunacy, we should have just had him put to sleep when we had the chance. I warned you Annie, I don’t like this at all.”

My mistress stomped a hoof in irritation, “I understand your concerns, but if there’s one thing I know, its horseflesh.” The three of them quailed visibly at her words as she continued, “This pony is everything you wanted and more, look at him. He’s quiet, obedient and will do anything I ask him, won’t you Captain?”

“Yes mistress”

The cloaked mare took a step forward, the hoof shoes clinking slightly on the hard floor. Her voice sounded off, a strange inflection to her words, “He has caused us many problems…I don’t like it. I agree with my stallion friend, I think he should be…disposed of.”

The mistress stomped her hoof again before taking a step forward, baring her teeth, “And where did that get you? Your last effort nearly unravelled everything, thanks to your lack of planning and bungling! They’ve got magical detectors everywhere now, they’re popping up in every damned town and city in Equestria like a rash. They know something’s going on.” She flicked her golden mane with a forehoof, “You’ve got one chance at this, and the solution is standing here before you. Mess this up, and you could be on the scaffold before you know it.”

The three ponies looked to one another and spoke in low voices, I couldn’t make out the words but I could smell the fear in the air. The older mare stared at me before addressing the mistress, “Bending his will is one thing Annabelle, making him perform the task at hoof is quite another. How do we know he won;t panic and run, or worse still, break out of his training at the last moment?”

The white unicorn mare shook her mane, the light catching it and making my heart soar, “I’ve left enough of him in there to do what needs to be done, but as for loyalty…Let me give you a little demonstration.”

She levitated over to me a long knife which she held up to my muzzle.

“Take the knife, Captain”

I reached out and took the hilt in my mouth.

“Kill me”

What?! I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t disobey her and I couldn’t hurt her…not her!

I stood there motionless.

“What does this prove?” the male asked, “He won’t stab you, so what? Lots of ponies would refuse to do that”

“After what we’ve done to him? Are you so sure? If he had his own mind still, you’d be a puddle of blood and entrails on the floor already. You’ve seen what he’s capable of.”

The male snorted, “I have that! He’s cost me money! Damned near burned down my best establishment and frightened off most of my clientele. I say again Annie, get rid of him before this comes back to bite us.”

“You really think so?”

“I do”

“Captain?”

“Yes, mistress?”

“Kill him”

“Yes, mistress”

I advanced on the male, keeping low and ready to manoeuvre against any counterattack or defence. Mistress had ordered and I obeyed, he was a bad pony and I would remove him from her sight. The male shrieked and backed up against the wall, fumbling for something from under his coat.

“Captain! Stop! Come back here and give me the knife”

Obediently, I backed away from the male and gave the mistress the knife which she levitated from me, “Do you have any doubts still, Velvet?”

“Damn it Annie! I just fucking pissed myself!”

True enough, a wet patch was pooling around the males hooves, making the others step hurriedly away from him with looks of disgust. The mistress laughed out loud, turning to the sand coated mare in triumph, “Convinced Palm? Or do you have a better plan?”

The mare nodded and levitated over a file, “All you need is in here Annabelle, we leave the rest to you. Once the task is complete, our ‘friends’ will take care of the rest and the promise will finally be fulfilled.”

My mistress smiled, “Good. Palm, when all this is over, I’ll hold you to your word”

“Of course, you can trust me Annabelle, we are friends after all aren’t we?”

She smiled, but if anypony ever needed a visual definition of the word ‘insincere’, it was stood before me now. The mistress nodded and smiled back with a grin that held nothing of the warmth she’d shown me,

“Friends…”

Back in the mistress’ rooms, she took off my head collar and bit before letting me sit beside her. She seemed a little sad,

“Mistress?”

“Hmmm?”

“Are you sad? Can I do something to make you happy?”

“No…” she shook her head, “Actually…yes, yes you can. Bring the brush over here and brush my mane.”

“Yes mistress”, now here was a treat indeed! Happily I trotted over to the dresser and brought the brush back held in my teeth. She lay down on the rug before the heater and poured herself a drink whilst I went to work on her luxurious mane. The warming heady scent of lavender in her hair made me feel as light as a feather.

“Captain…” she began, “I have a job for you. It’s difficult, dangerous too, but I know you can do it. I believe in you.”

I couldn’t stop smiling, she believed in me!

“Thank you mistress”

“Yes…Captain, I know you can do this, but I need to know, will you do what I ask? Even if you don’t want to do it?”

“Of course mistress”

“’Of course’, she murmured looking away for a moment before looking back over her shoulder, “Captain, I want you to kill somepony, a bad pony…very bad. Will you do it? For me?”

“Yes, mistress”

“Good boy, Captain. You’re a very good boy.”

She took the brush from me and passed me some photographs, “This is who you are going to ‘put down’, Captain, and…” she tapped a hoof on another picture, “…this building is where she lives”.

I looked at the photograph of a mare who looked very much like winged version of the mistress, but with a rainbow coloured mane and tail. A cutie mark of a sunburst was prominent on her flank. She was beautiful, elegant and even in a photograph, exuded a noble bearing. But something inside me felt a cold anger towards her, something deeper and more bitter than I’d ever felt before and it surprised me. The mistress had ordered me to kill her, and kill her I would. My mistress was saddened of late; whatever this mare had done to her, she had to be removed.

“We’ll talk more in the morning, there’s maps to study, times and schedules. The carriage will be here to take you to your target when you’re ready and then you’re on your own.”

“My own, mistress?”

“Yes”, she looked away, wiping her face with a foreleg, “But, I want you to come home Captain…” the mistress turned to me, her lip quivering and her eyes shining, “Come home…please?”

“Of course, mistress”

She leaned over and put her forelegs around me and hugged me, shaking as tears leaked from her eyes and soaked into my coat. I didn’t know what to say, so instead sat there and stroked her mane as gently as I could. She was my mistress, and I her stallion, for her I would enter the jaws of death if she so ordered. This other mare was a bad pony, she was making my mistress cry and for that…she had to die.

I spent the next day studying maps, photographs of places, ponies and the targets schedules. Somepony had provided my mistress with a lot of information on the palace and my target…Celestia. I didn’t know who she was but I knew the anger inside me, it felt calming, almost like an old friend. It made me feel strong, powerful, to be able to bring down the entire world if I so desired, and all for my beloved mistress.

That evening, a strange pony appeared who was covered in a cloak and veil like the jade shoe wearing one, only this one was male. He spoke with a disturbing clicking and hissing sound and was a lot smaller than the other ponies I’d seen so far. The mistress looked at the visitor with distaste, clearly unhappy with his presence,

“He’s not ready yet, he needs at least another day or two.”

“There isss no time, pony”, he rattled, “the wedding isss sssooon”

“I don’t give a damn. If he’s not ready, he’s not ready! I am the mistress here and my decision is final”

“My missstresss will not wait any longerrr”, the stallion said, a slight buzzing noise coming from under its cloak.

The white unicorn looked back at me and gave me a strange look, one I hadn’t seen before. What did it mean?

“Fine!” she snapped back at the figure, “Give me two days”

“Onnnne dayyyy”

“Damn you…fine. One day. Tell your mistress, we’ll have him in place in one day.”

The male nodded and backed out of the room, a green glow from beneath its cloak enveloping the door and pulling it shut as it left.

The mistress turned to me and surprised me by giving me a tight hug, “Are you ready, Captain? You’ve got a big day ahead of you. Can you do it?”

“Yes, mistress”

“Good boy”, she was definitely off from her normal self. She was a self confident and supremely self assured mare who I’d rarely noticed have any doubts or uncertainties. It was…unsettling. The mistress trotted over to the book shelf and retrieved a bottle and a glass, pouring herself a large measure and downing it in one gulp. She spat,

“Fuck them! Those vile fucking damned…THINGS!” she stamped around the room, “I’d wipe them off the face of this cursed shit hole of a planet if I had my way. I don’t trust them, not at all! What the bloody hell was that dumb bitch playing at when she agreed to use them?! Christ all fucking mighty!”

“Mistress, is there something I can do?” I didn’t know who she was talking about, but she was angry and upset. That was the issue at hoof now, that was my focus.

The alabaster mare shook her flowing golden mane and threw herself onto the bed, “Yes, there is something you can do…get up here…now!”

I trotted up to the bed and she levitated over the riding crop, “Take it”, she said angrily.

Instinctively, I flinched away from the thing and she angrily thrust the handle into my mouth, “I said take it!”

I stood there waiting for her to instruct me, when she placed her front half across the bed and presented her rear to me. I wasn’t certain about what she wanted, but surely she didn’t…?

“Hit me…” she whispered.

“Mistress?”

“Don’t damned well question me, Captain! Hold it in your hooves and hit me as hard as you can. DO IT!”

I spat the crop into my forehooves and stood on my hind legs. I didn’t like this position, but I could certainly get a better swing at her. Still, I didn’t want to do this…to hurt my mistress? My mind reeled, my brain screaming at me to stop, but I had to follow orders. What should I do?!

“Captain…your mistress wants you to do this, you won’t hurt me, you’ll be making me happy, do you understand?”

“Yes, mistress”

“Now…please…”

I dutifully obeyed and brought the crop across her pristine white backside with a sharp ‘thwack’. She shrieked and shoved her head into the quilt, “Again”, she murmured “Don’t stop until I say”.

I brought the crop around, this time across the other buttock making her whimper and bite down on the bed covers, her eyes shut tight. Despite her quivering and moaning, she didn’t order me to stop what I was doing, so I continued. Swing after swing, the noise filling the room, red stripes appearing across the pure white of her coat. This was what she wanted, but it hurt me to do it even so…to mark that beautiful creatures coat…this was so wrong.

“Harder!” she commanded, staring straight ahead, drooling on the bed, “God damn it Captain, harder!”

I obeyed, putting my full strength into the swing and with a resounding ‘crack’, brought it across her behind. The mistress shrieked, spittle flying across the bed and her knees began to shake, “Yes! Again!”

Once more, the crop slashed down, creating a streak of red across her that made her cry out. Again and again, I swung, my muscles beginning to ache and my heart pound until finally, her knees gave way and she sank to the floor in a sweating, crying and drool covered heap. The white mare gave me a look which melted my heart, “You’re a good pony, Captain…so good”

I trotted over to the cupboard where she kept her first aid and began to moisten a flannel with warm water to apply to her injuries. Without instruction, I went to work, gently cleaning her up the best I could and applying a healing lotion to the angry red welts. I could feel my eyes sting as tears formed. How could I have hurt her like this? My heart felt like it was breaking.

The mistress looked back at me, taking a mouthful of wine straight from the bottle, “That’s enough, Captain. You’ve been a very good pony, now…now its time for your treat.”

A treat? After I’d done that to her?

I helped her to her hooves, the white unicorn’s knees still trembling slightly. She returned to the bed and lay across it as she had before, “Mount me”.

It took a moment for me to realise what she wanted, but I did as she asked and pulled myself onto her. She gasped as I pushed into her, my underside rubbing up against her wounds. I tried to be gentle, but I could sense the pain she felt as we made love. She didn’t tell me to stop, just lay there, whimpering and groaning, pushing herself back up onto me, until at last, I released inside her.

The mistress lay on the bed, panting and crying, drool and snot covering her muzzle, a damp patch visible on the covers where she’d been biting them. She was exhausted. I helped her up onto the bed properly and she lay there whilst I pulled the covers over her tired body and went to lie on the rug,

“No…” she whispered, “sleep with me tonight, Captain”

Obediently, I climbed up next to her and snuggled in. “Hold me…” she murmured, looking back at me with a large azure eye, “please”

I nodded and wrapped my legs around her protectively, “Yes, mistress”

She smiled, “Do you love your mistress, Captain?”

“Yes, mistress”, I whispered into her ear, “I love you”.

I awoke early, yawning and stretching my legs before trotting over to the table and arranging some breakfast for us both. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught my reflection in the mirror, the long white sheet covering it had fallen off allowing me a full view of the stranger looking back at me. I lifted a hoof to my face and stared at myself; a new me, a different me. Checking myself over, I couldn’t believe the change. My tail and mane were that two tone blue, as I knew, but my coat…a dark uniform grey, almost black. My scar too, had disappeared, cover in the artificial fur blending it in seamlessly.

Slightly alarmingly, my cutie mark was gone, replaced with a pair of cherries. Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean, I had no idea. But strangest of all were my eyes; the bronze colour was quite interesting, but I looked somehow…nondescript. I liked how I normally looked, the mistress did too, I didn’t like this new me. Hopefully, it was only temporary and I’d be able to return to the real me when my task was complete.

A voice murmured behind me, “Captain?”

I turned to the mistress whose golden mane had stuck to her face during the night. Walking over to her, I brushed away the stray strands of gold with a smile, “Your breakfast is ready when you are mistress.”

We washed, brushed up and ate breakfast in silence. The mistress was unusually quiet this morning. Her eyes looked dull, her mane limp. I didn’t like this; whatever was going on was weighing on her heavily and I wanted to do something to cheer her up. A knock on the door brought her round and she moved over to it, magicking open the heavy thing. Outside a cloaked and veiled figure waited,

“My mistresss hasss ordered me to collect the pony”, it hissed.

The white unicorn looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes suddenly wide. My heart leaped in my chest at her reaction before, with a shake of her mane, she walked over to me and whispered in my ear,

“Captain, are you ready?”

“Yes, mistress”

“I…I don’t want you to go…”

“Mistress?”

She hugged me suddenly, and then stepped back rubbing a tear away from her eye, “Just…just do what you have to do and come back” she tried a shaky smile, “Make sure you come back, yes?”

“Yes, mistress, I’ll be back”

The mistress addressed the cloaked pony, her voice lowering, “If anything happens to him…”

The pony said nothing, just stood there in silence with the occasional buzzing noise emanating from its back. The beautiful white unicorn spanked me on the flank making me jump, “Go on then, Captain. Be a good boy…get going!”

I trotted out after the pony who was already setting off down the corridor. Behind me, the sound of something soft hitting the floor and stifled sobbing followed me out.

I followed the mysterious pony down several darkened corridors lit only with the occasional strip light until we reached a set of steel doors opening to the outside and the blindingly bright sky. Having been locked up for as long as I could remember, surrounded by walls and artificial magical light, I stopped dead in shock.

Two large ponies, the ones I remembered that had helped the mistress, walked out from behind a large carriage and hauled me out. There was no ceiling! No walls, what was going on? I was…scared…terrified out of my wits. One of the big louts swiped me across the muzzle,

“Get a fucking grip will you? The mistress has given you a job, are you going to let her down now?”

Let her down? No! I had to pull myself together and be strong. I was strong, I would do my job and come back. She would be waiting for me as she’d promised.

I shook my mane and stepped forward, the big brown stallion nodding his begrudging approval and guided me up the ramp into the back of the large carriage. Inside, lights hi-lighted a set of gold burnished armour and spear which glinted along its razor sharp edge.

I knew what was expected of me. The stallion helped me into the armour while the other took station in the drivers’ compartment and we lumbered into the air. My companion was as quiet as ever, sitting down and glowering under his heavy brows. I didn’t bother speaking to him, I knew my mission and I would carry it out calmly and efficiently.

Time dragged by and I used that to run over the plan in my mind, again and again until I could recite it perfectly. There was always a chance it could go wrong of course, but if it did, I was to press the device in my pannier and help would come to get me out of there. I doubted I’d need it though. Motivated and driven, I knew I would succeed. Celestia was a bad pony, she had hurt the mistress and she would have to be removed so the mistress could be happy once more. I hated to see her cry and I would protect that smile as long as I drew breath.

I examined the long weapon beside the armour. The spears point was lethal and reflected the bronze of my eyes. I smiled to myself, it was a good weapon. I wasn’t used to spears though, preferring swords and something…something curved…what was it? Had I ever used swords before? I shook my mane as a headache threatened to overwhelm me again. Damn it all, why did it happen every time I tried to think about things too much?

I reached up and touched my horn, the ring on it was cold and hard against my hoof. I couldn’t use magic, didn’t know anything about it either. The mistress was all the magic I needed.

We descended. A cacophony of sounds penetrated the carriage; horns, metallic ringing and the background buzz of many ponies talking. Wherever we were was a veritable hive of activity. Slowly, we moved forward, almost inching along until we lurched to a halt. Voices, muffled yet still distinct penetrated the thin skin of our carriage,

“Papers…”

“State your destination and cargo, sir”

“Catering supplies for the wedding, officer.

“Scans complete sir, no anomalies detected”

“Very well, go on through.”

The carriage lurched forward and we clattered over the cobbled road into, judging by the echo of hooves and wheels, some sort of courtyard. My mind ran over my instructions and the layout of the palace, noting the locations of the kitchens, the service corridors, stairs and so on. Parked up with all the other carriages, nopony would give us a second glance. The staff were all in a busy world of their own preparing for the upcoming wedding without wasting time noticing one of the palace guards walking through the kitchen.

It was dark. The other princess would be in control of the night sky now, whilst Celestia rested in her chambers. The palace by contrast to the peaceful night outside, was still in full swing. The sound of crockery, pans and cutlery banging and rattling was deafening. Beyond that, pots bubbled and simmered adding their own chorus to the din, but to me though it was all just background noise. Unerringly, I headed for my target, heading down one corridor then the next, taking the back passageways and stairs used by staff. This way, there was less chance of being detected and, hopefully, a quick escape route for me to return to my mistress with the good news.

I kept my head up and ears alert, quickly noting the two guards walking towards me. I nodded to them solemnly and they returned the gesture, passing me by without batting an eyelid. The disguise was working perfectly.

The next corridor opened out into a grand hallway of richly coloured tapestries and luxurious carpets; only the best for the royalty of the palace. If nothing else, they helped muffle my hoofsteps as I approached the large door to Celestia’s bedchamber. The pony who had provided me with the map of the vast building had done their job well, but the rest was still up to me. In fact, my first major test was before me now; two guards stood outside the door, alert and well armed. I’d been prepared for this and slipped on the respirator before rolling the small canister along the carpet, ducking behind a pillar as the silver coloured object came to a rest before the guards’ hooves. One of them glanced down, just in time to catch a whiff of the gas and collapse to the ground in a heap. The second noticed me and took a step forward, opening his mouth to shout something, a moment before his eyes rolled up into his head and he too collapsed next to his comrade, motionless.

Quickly, I dragged the bodies into the nearby cleaners room and shut the door. They wouldn’t wake up for at least an hour and that was much more than I needed. The door itself was enormous, gold inlaid with gorgeous filigree work and even some gemstones tastefully depicting some scene form Equestria’s past. Despite its size however, the monstrous door was perfectly balanced and opened effortlessly to reveal the room beyond. Moonlight shone in through the arched stained glass windows adding a pale light to the dying glow of the fire in the hearth. The smell of books pervaded the room, tickling my nostrils, reminding me of…something, somepony…

My head suddenly throbbed, the agonising sensation of burning lancing through my brain. Damn it, I had to concentrate, I must be quick, decisive and do my job correctly. The mistress was depending on me this night.

I heard a soft sigh from the next room. The carpet was soft and gave beneath my hooves, allowing me to silently enter the bedroom itself like an avenging ghost. Before me on the bed, not even under the covers, was the princess of the sun…the ruler of Equestria, Celestia herself.

I readied my spear, one quick thrust would be all it required and the mistress would happy. I had to see her smile again, hear her say how pleased she was with me. But…why did I hesitate? Part of me held back, silently stopping my movements. Pain threatened to overwhelm me again and I took a deep breath, muscles tensing, aiming right at that pristine, elegant white throat. Celestia’s mane rippled in some unseen, unfelt breeze. Rainbow colours, muted in the moonlight through the window added to the serenity of this majestic creature. She really did look so much like the mistress, it would be like killing…

No! This wasn’t the mistress! This was Celestia, a bad pony, the one who had hurt my mistress, the bitch who had killed my family, who had…

The headache smashed through my skull, sending me to my knees and making my stomach retch. Sweat broke out on my face while I squirmed, trying to clear my mind of thought, of memory…I just needed to think of my mission, to do what had to be done. Slowly, shakily, I stood up and shook the tears from my eyes before lifting the spear to her throat.

“So, you’ve shown your true nature at last…wendigo”

The soft yet powerful voice rose from the figure on the bed.

“Well, what are you waiting for? You came to murder me didn’t you? Come to avenge yourself for a war over a thousand years ago?”

“I…” my mind exploded in pain and I dropped the spear, the thing clattering to the ground and rolling under the bed. My stomach emptied itself, pain roaring through me in a tidal wave of agony that made me cry out.

Celestia rose from the bed, her horn glowing with the light of the midday sun, “I should have had you executed when I had you before me last time, wendigo, your kind never change”.

Gasping for breath and clawing at my head to get the damned helmet off, I was utterly helpless. The alabaster alicorn stood over me, her magic lifting me up and pinning me against the wall allowing her to examine me closely.

“This…this is not your doing, you look different, but I can sense your kind…the smell of blood and frost, it…”

She sniffed me and peered into my eyes, then at my horn, “Something else is at play here. All is not as it would seem…interesting.”

Celestia stared into my eyes with those huge purple orbs that reminded me so much of, “Mistress”

“Mistress? No…not I.” She held me there above the ground and turned to the door, “GUARDS!”

There was no response. Celestia eyed me coldly, “What have you done with my ponies?”

I croaked out a reply, “Sleeping”

“Lucky for them, and for you”, she said coldly before lifting a large blue crystal sphere from her bedside table, “Luna…one of your ‘things’ is here.”

A voice emanated from the orb, “Tia? What ‘thing’, who or what are you talking about?”

Celestia glowered at me, “I think you know. I await you, sister…’Mistress’.”

Chapter Five - Private Investigations

CHAPTER FIVE

PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS

Manehattan, mid-afternoon, fed, watered and heading for a large set of chimneys near the waterfront. I hadn’t been to this area in a long time, in fact I hadn’t been to Manehattan in a long time, or so it felt. Nostalgia hit me along with the smells of smoke, oil, grime and cooking. The deafening noise of a city in full swing encompassed me like a cocoon. It was probably annoying to some, even disturbing, but to me it still felt like home. Nimble peered over the side of the carriage and gasped, “Never get used to this place, so many ponies, so much noise!”

“You get used to it”, I said looking over the drivers shoulder, “After a while it becomes just background and you don’t even notice it.”

The driver called back, “Heads up ponies, we’re nearing our destination. You want me to land nearby or in the carriage park?”

“The park will do, thanks.” We weren’t on any clandestine mission this time and would simply be walking in the front door for a chat with whoever was in charge.

Even before we landed though, the chemical smell hit me and made my nose itch horribly. I sneezed almost at the same time Nimble did and we shared a laugh, “I don’t envy ponies working in here. Goddesses, what a smell!”

Nimble nodded, “My sister used to work in one once. Great for getting your gear cleaned on the cheap.”

We trotted in through the doors to reception and addressed the scarlet coated mare behind the desk,

“Excuse me miss?”

“Can I help you?” The butterscotch coated mare was more interested in filing her hooves and carried on, barely looking up at us.

“Yes please, may we speak to the manager?”

“And who should I say is calling?”

“Agents Nox and Nimble, Celestian Bureau of Investigation”

The mare stopped in mid file, her eyes rolling up and finally taking in the badge I held out for her.

“Er…one moment please, gentlecolts.”

She clicked the intercom, “Mister Bone Meal sir, there’s two gentlecolts to see you”

The intercom buzzed back, the crackly voice sounding irritated, “I’m busy Rose, find out what they want and send them away, I don’t have time.”

Rose looked to me then back to the intercom, “Sir, they’re from the…”

“-I don’t care Rose! I said I’m busy, now get rid of them and stop bothering me!”

The intercom cut off, leaving Rose looking at us with a stricken expression, “I’m sorry gentlecolts, if you’d like to leave contact details…”

I motioned to the office door with the brass plaque stamped with the word ‘Private’ on it. Nimble nodded and turned, aiming his powerful hind legs at it. He looked to me for approval.

Rose stood up in alarm, “Hey! You can’t…!”

“You may fire when ready, mister Nimble”

The door flew open with such force it was ripped from its top hinge and crashed into the room with a deafening bang. I walked in, looking around the at the lavish book cases, clock, ornaments and large oak desk,

“Whoops! Sorry about that! Guess old agent Nimble here doesn’t know his own strength” I chuckled, taking in the scene.

Bone Meal, an older yellow stallion in a suit, was ensconced in a large red velvet chair with a look of horror on his face. The chair was tilted back at a strange angle and he had his hooves held down beneath the desk’s top,

“Wha!? Who the blistering buggering hell are you two?! Get the hell out of here, Rose…ROSE!”

The poor receptionist appeared in the doorway, poking her nose through gingerly, “Sorry mister Bone Meal, sir, I tried to stop them”

Nimble shooed her out of the room, “Thank you miss, it’s all under control. Now why don’t you go back and do some reception-isting things, okay?”

I looked back at him, “Reception-isting?”

Nimble shrugged, raising his eyebrows.

“Mister Bone Meal!”, I said chirpily, taking a seat, “Agent Nox, CBI. The pony putting your door back up is agent Nimble.”

“Th…This is intolerable! I don’t care who you are, you don’t just burst into my office. That door cost over a hundred and fifty bits !”

I leaned my hooves on the desk top, “I’ll make this simple, Mister Meal. There’s been a crime committed and your company can, how you say, ‘help us with our enquiries’. You play ball, help us, we go away happy. You refuse, and we come back here with a warrant and take this place apart brick by brick.”

He swallowed, “What do you want?”

“Just access to your records, and to be able to speak to your staff if need be.”

Bone Meal spluttered, “Can…can you give me a few minutes?”

“No.”

I knocked on the desk, “You can come out now, miss.”

A muffled squeak from under the desk was followed by a lilac Pegasus mare, peering up at me then her boss. Bone Meal moved out of the way, shooing her from the office,

“Thank you Crest, you can finish the…er…cleaning, later.”

“Yes, Mister Meal” Crest blurted out, her voice cracking as she hurried from the room.

I treated the suited stallion to my most endearing smile, “Now then, Mister Meal, shall we begin?”

*******************

Nimble and I worked our way through the records along with two employees and a flustered looking owner. The records were, it had to be said, immaculately well kept and made checking through them simplicity itself. The problem we had was that everything seemed to be accounted for; there had been no runs to the palace in weeks, not since some cock-up over a delivery had lost them the royal contract, a point which Bone Meal fully placed at the hooves of the palace staff.

“It was ridiculous. I mean, how can they accuse us of ruining uniform tabards when we’re a cleaning company? Of all the blasted nerve!”

“uh-huh”, Nimble muttered not really listening.

“For Celestia’s sake, all that time and effort improving our network and public relations and some bureaucrat pulls the contract because of a ‘funny smell’…A funny smell! I ask you…”

“yeah…”

I reached across the desk and took a quill to make notes. There was an extra column on this page, one that had times on it, several that certainly fell within the right time frame for the ‘incident’ at the palace. I kept having to remind myself that although it was actually ‘me’, at the same time it wasn’t. I’d have to have a drink later to get my head around it and then I’d have to find some way to contact my family in Smiling Borders. Fortunately, Mitre and princess Luna had that in hoof for later.

I nudged the filly standing next to me. She was peering over my shoulder through horn rimmed glasses,

“What’s this column for?”

“That’s the time the wagons are clocked in and out of the yard. Helps us keep track of delivery times.”

“I see, but this one here?” I tapped one of the entries that had a red ‘L’ next to it.

“Oh, that’s when they’re late back.”

“Bloody slackers these drivers”, Bone Meal chirped in, “Keep buggering off for tea breaks on company time. I’m not damned well paying them to piss about!”

I looked up from the book to both of them, “How do you know if they’re late or not?”

The mare trotted over to a drawer and pulled out another book, “This one shows our regular runs and journey times, we use it to estimate correct times for collections and deliveries”.

Looking through the entries, I noticed something odd. Many of the deliveries were late, but only by a few minutes. One however stood out in particular, “This one here, it’s nearly half a day over.”

“WHAT!?” Bone Meal nearly choked, “Half a blasted day!”

The other assistant cut in, “It’s been reported to the driver’s supervisor sir, only happened the other day so…”

“The other day?” I said checking the entry again, “Who was the driver?”

The mare checked a wall mounted roster, “Humble Dart, he’s the new fellow”.

“New fellow?” Nimble asked, “How new?”

Bone Meal spoke, “He only started a week ago, good driver though by all accounts. After this though, I’m wondering if we made a mistake hiring him on…half a blasted day late!”

Nimble turned to face me, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

I nodded, “Let me see the deliveries for that day”

The list was uninspiring. Collection’s of fresh laundry, uniforms and so forth, then a drop off at Manehattan General, following that it was several trips to various clinics and finally back to the laundry to drop off the sacks for cleaning.

“Manehattan General” I muttered quietly, “Bone Meal, you mentioned earlier something about a ‘funny smell’?”

“Why…yes, the hospital started using a new chemical that stank the back of the wagons out. We tried cleaning them, but just couldn’t shift it.”

Nimble looked at him carefully, “You use that wagon for dropping off items at the palace?”

“Not since we lost the contract, no”

“Do you use any other wagons for the hospital run?”

One of the assistants spoke up, “Some, yes. Certain wagons are set aside for them, especially since that business with the palace. After they started using the new chemical stuff though, we’ve been using sealed bags that keep any contamination away from clean or soiled medical garments.”

I pointed to the entry for the wagon Humble Dart was in charge of, “Where’s this wagon now?” I asked hopefully.

Bone Meal trotted to the door, “This way, it’ll be in the yard. We’re low on driver’s now with holidays and colds doing the rounds.”

Out in the wagon park, a number of wagons were parked up. Most of the bays however were empty, no doubt out on deliveries or collections. The wagon in question looked no different from the rest and sported the company logo on the side in large friendly yellow letters.

“It’s this one”, Bone Meal said, gesturing for one of the assistants to open the vehicles double doors.

With a loud metallic creak, the doors swung open to reveal the very empty cargo compartment; empty except for the still strong smell of antiseptic.

“Nimble?”

“Same smell Cap, no doubt about it”

I turned to Bone Meal, “I want the address of the driver, Humble Dart. As for the wagon, nopony is to touch this until the forensic ponies have examined it. Do you understand?”

The stallion’s mouth opened and shut several times like some landed carp, “Wha…why? I need my wagons for the business, all of them!”

Nimble clopped him on the shoulder, “It’ll only be for a day, Mister Meal, the princesses will be told about your co-operation.”

“The…they will?” he stammered. I could almost see bits glowing in his eyes and I shook my head in dismay. Bloody business ponies…

“The address details?” I prompted.

“Oh! Yes! Glory, help the agents with this will you?”

*******************

Leaving the laundry behind, we soared into the sky towards Fifty Fourth Street. I remembered the area well as it was the tramway terminus for the green line. I used to love using the rattly old things. It was amazing just how popular they were and had been kept in service a very long time. In Manehattan, ‘if it weren’t broke it didn’t get fixed’, as dad constantly reminded me.

I tapped my communicator, “Mitre, Nox here”

“Go ahead”

“We’ve got our wagon. We’re on our way to pick up the driver now, you got any units nearby to assist?”

“What’s the address?”

“One twenty two, Fifty Fourth Street. Guy by the name of Humble Dart.”

“Roger that. We’ve done some digging on the company. Your man runs a legit business apparently. Used to have the contract for the palace until there was some argument over chemicals on the staff’s uniforms.”

“That’s what we’re found too. I think this driver’s our pony”

“I’ve got units on route now.”

“Mitre, I think we need to check out the clinics, surgeries and hospital too. These were all on the run that day. I’ll pass you to Nimble, he’s got the list.”

“Received, and Nox? Don’t forget tonight, or you’ll get skinned alive.”

“Understood.”

I passed the communicator to Nimble who went through the list with Mitre. This way we could cover more ground and get a quicker result. I wanted to get this bottomed and fast, my family hadn’t seen me since I ‘went missing’ and would be frantic. Thank the goddess for Mitre, he’d come through once again.

This time of day, traffic was heavy and I was thankful for the sky carriage, rather than a land based one. Even so, up here traffic could get hairy and bumps were common. Thankfully, our pilot knew his stuff and got us down in on piece around the corner from the targets house.

“Nox? Brandy…We’re two minutes out, hang fire until we get in position.”

“Received”

Several minutes later, with units positioned on nearby roof tops and alleyways, Nimble and I trotted up the steps to the front door and knocked. There was no reply.

“Cap…”

I looked to where Nimble was looking and spotted a wet patch just in front of the door. Reaching down, I dabbed my hoof in it and tentatively tasted it, “Water”.

We nodded to each other and with a quick buck, Nimble took the front door off its hinges. “You’re getting good at this, I know who to call if I lose my front door keys” I quipped.

The unicorn grinned at me, “You haven’t seen my other half”. I dreaded to think!

Inside, the hallway was saturated. A small waterfall was running down the stairs and soaking through the carpets and out the front door. I drew my PDW and kept my magic to hoof, just in case. This smelled bad, and not just the stink from the sodden carpet. Nimble gestured to the downstairs rooms and I headed upstairs, the two us moving through the house noiselessly.

The upstairs was a wreck. Water had soaked the floor and was creeping up the wallpaper and under doors into other rooms. Following the flow of water wasn’t hard, the sound of the taps running helping to muffle my splashing hooves. The bathroom door was partly shut and I pushed it open the rest of the way carefully, my pistol readied.

Inside, the baths yellow coated occupant lay face down in the water. Turning the tap off, I looked at his cutie mark; a dart board and champagne glass. I recalled his details from the employee records, it was him alright…Humble Dart. Poor sod, he wouldn’t be making any more deliveries any time soon.

Nimble appeared behind me, “Nothing. That him?”

“Yeah”

“Fuck it, there goes our lead. Suicide?”

“No signs of injuries I can see, but I don’t want to disturb too much before forensics get here. So far as I can tell, someponies drowned the poor bugger. We won’t be getting anything out of him.”

Nimble leaned against the doorway and sighed, “So what now? Check all the places he dropped off at?”

“That about the size of it, I’ll check in with Brandy and Mitre first”

Within minutes, the place was crawling with agency ponies. Leaving Brandy and the forensic team to secure the crime scene, we prepared to set off for the one place Mitre hadn’t investigated yet; Manehattan General Hospital.

It was our best chance to get a leg up on the masterminds behind the assassination attempt. With the slaying of the driver, I hoped something would come from the forensics team. They were currently checking out the trailer and we’d left them with Brandy to do what they did best, with any luck they’d find something that would help shed some light on all of this.

The carriage waiting for us had changed. A flight suit wearing driver stood leaning casually against the door fiddling with a small box as we approached. I could detect the smell from here and trotted over for a closer look.

“From the Sugarcube Corner?” I asked.

“Yup, bugger to get into the boxes though…”

“Hang on, I know that voice!”

The pony laughed and raised his goggles to reveal the bright green eyes beneath, “Hi Cap’, long time no see.”

“Loofa!” We clopped hooves and a quick round of introductions later we were sat in the carriage preparing for take off.

Our chirpy pilot strapped himself in and called back over his shoulder, “Cap, there’s another box under the seat, help yourselves.”

“Thanks!”

“Um…Cap? Is your coat different? I’m sure you had a scar too…”

I face hoofed. Damn it! I’d forgotten how I looked now,

“It’s a long story, Loofa. When I get a chance I’ll tell you everything in graphic detail.”

He just laughed, and with a powerful beat of his wings we rocketed into the sky.

So anyway, once again we were heading out over the city, this time with a mouthful of the delicious chocolate. Watching the sun sinking over the horizon, the white clouds taking on a soft pinkish tinge, I wondered at how anypony could fail to marvel at how lucky we were to be alive to see such amazing sights. An image of Meadow popped into my mind and threatened to pull me off my chocolate high but I rammed it down. It wasn’t like I couldn’t see her, but the small doses were painful at times; I hated to see her go…

A tap on the shoulder from Nimble brought me round, “You okay?” he said worriedly.

I nodded, “Yeah, just a bit melancholy at times. You know how it is.”

“I guess so, never been through the things you’ve been through though Captain”

Scratching my ear, I looked down at the city below, “No. You don’t want to, Corporal. Trust me, you really don’t”

To avoid any distress to patients and staff, just Nimble and myself would be conducting the initial investigation. If we found anything, we’d call in backup and have the place swept. I was quite impressed with the agency’s attitude to crime scenes; unlike some of the earlier days in the watch, these ponies were careful not to trample through potential evidence. That said, latent magic detection was a hell of a lot more advanced than it had been. Still, an old hoof at this now like my dad before me, I followed my instincts and my nose first.

We landed on the roof of the hospital where I’d arrived upon hearing Tingles’ was in trouble with the pregnancy. Thank Luna that had all turned out alright. I would have to speak to her and Shadow later. I shuddered at the prospect; I was going to catch all sorts of hell this time.

We trotted down the stairs. No need for disguises now, but I still wore the sunglasses to avoid my eyes upsetting anypony. The eye colour changing lenses felt a bit weird, so I’d left them with our forensic ponies in case they could pick anything up from them. I doubted it though, and really, I just wanted rid of the damned things.

Inside, we headed downstairs rather than take the lift. I didn’t like feeling confined and besides, I didn’t exactly have a great knowledge of the layout of the hospital as it was. Thankfully, wall maps were liberally dotted around to help ponies navigate the maze.

“Excuse me, can I help you? This area is for staff only”

The rust coloured doctor appeared out of a side office and challenged us, poking his glasses back up his muzzle.

“Good afternoon doctor”, I replied to him politely, “Agents Nox and Nimble, CBI. We’re here on official business”

He didn’t seem impressed “And what ‘business’ would that be?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that doctor, however your co-operation would be appreciated”

He sniffed, “This is a busy hospital Agent Nox, I’m not sure we can spare anypony to help you and besides, we can’t have you wandering the corridors getting in the way like some lost soul.”

I rubbed my chin and glanced at Nimble who smirked at me slyly, “Not a problem doctor…” I looked at his name card with exaggerated scrutiny, “…Break Water”.

He took a step back and I advanced on him keeping my distance, “I’ll be sure to explain to princess Celestia that you were so busy, you didn’t want us to disturb your busy work schedule. I’m certain she’d be understanding and be able to find somepony else who did have the time to show us around.”

The doctor coughed, readjusting his glasses again, “Yes…the princess…um…” he looked around himself hurriedly, “You there! Make yourself useful and help these two…’agents’, will you? I have important matters to attend to…very important!”

Without further ado, he rushed off down the corridor and into the boys room.

“Hi! Whatcha doin’?”, the yellow mare chirped, her white poofy mane bouncing wildly beneath her nurses cap. The ponies wide pink eyes were as bright as ever,

“You look…familiar…” she said moving closer, too close!

“Please, miss!” I said pushing her back gently, “We’re here on official business.”

She didn’t look convinced, “Hmm…suspicious,” the yellow mare lowered her eyebrows along with her voice, “very suspicious.”

Nimble cleared his throat, “Miss? Could you please show us where your medical supplies are kept?”

“Okey Dokey!” Her suspicions instantly (I hoped) forgotten, Quill turned on the spot and bounced away down the corridor, “Come along slow pokes!”

I face hoofed. Was she the only mare they had on the team here? How come every time I came to this place I kept bumping into the same bloody nurse!? Nimble trotting alongside me grinned expansively,

“What?” I snapped at him.

“Oh, nothing” he chuckled. I shot him a glare but couldn’t help but raise a smile myself, Quill just had that effect.

We followed the enthusiastic nurse through the warren of corridors and stairwells before finally arriving in a brightly lit area which consisted of a vast array of shelving. All manner of medical items were stored here, from gowns to syringes and numerous other things that made my knees feel weak. I seriously didn’t like hospitals!

Looking around, we found the store for the antiseptic. It was kept secured in a room all of its own with a sealed door.

“Why’s it kept in here?” I asked, genuinely interested.

“It stinks!” Quill chirped, “Really makes your eyes water too. Best thing to keep those bad bugs at bay, maybe bed bugs too…bad bed bugs.”

She wandered off into a cheery song about bed bugs while Nimble trotted up, looking over his shoulder at the nurses antics,

“I can’t believe they let her treat ponies, you think she’s right in the noggin?”

“No, but she’s a damned good nurse.” I said peering back at Quill, “If I needed help, she’d be the one I went to alright.”

We opened the door and I took a quick whiff of the antiseptic. It was the same stuff alright, and bloody powerful too. I sneezed, making my glasses fly off my nose. Quill caught them in her hooves with a very accomplished cartwheel,

“Told you, agent sneezy!”

I took my glasses back and popped them onto my nose, “Thanks, Quill.”

This was drawing a blank. So we had the wagon, a dead driver and antiseptic, but what next? I had to think this through, something was niggling me and I couldn’t quite put my hoof on it. At the end of the room, through an open door, I saw an elderly stallion pushing a blue cart. The noisy blue plastic thing was rattly as its operator. I noticed the name of the hospital was emblazoned on the side in big white letters…

“Quill…”

“That’s me!”

“What do you use those wheeled blue box things for?”

“Oh, those! All sorts of things, moving mail bags, equipment, laundry, you name it”

“Laundry…”

I tapped my chin, “Where do you keep it before it’s collected?”

“A scarrrry place…” she whispered conspiratorially in my ear, “Deep down underground…ooooohhhh!”

“Quill! Please, this is important.”

“Well of course it is silly, just follow me and we’ll be there in a jiff.”

The madcap mare led us along the corridor to a wider section that held a number of the blue boxes, all of them empty. Leading the way, Quill finally opened a set of doors that led to a large lift which stank of musty laundry and warm muggy air.

“Going down!” she laughed as the large metal doors slid open.

Nimble's eyes went wide. Looking at the interior of the lift nervously, he began to edge back before I grabbed his coat, “If I’m going, you’re going too buddy.”

He sighed and squeezed in next to Quill and myself, the three of us stuffed in like sardines. I had the distinct impression this was only meant for goods and not ponies. With a horrible thud and shudder, the steel box descended into the bowels of the hospital.

In the darkness of the lift, the dim yellow light flickered, the shadows and closeness of it all making my heart rate accelerate. Images flashed through my minds eye like sparks, a brief burst of colour and then nothing, over and over again. I would have fallen over if I hadn’t been squashed next to Quill. As it was, she eyed me worriedly,

“You look peaky, I think you need to see a doctor mister Nox”

“No…no thanks, Quill,” I said not entirely convincingly, “I get a little claustrophobic in lifts.”

She nodded slowly, unsure, but didn’t push the issue. When the door opened, she exited first, watching me as I came out shaking myself. Nimble looked concerned too. I shot him a look,

“Look, I’m fine, for Luna’s sake leave me alone, I’m alright, okay?”

I took a breath of the warm air. It didn’t help, the images kept on coming and the corridor started to lurch around me. Quill grabbed me and shouted to Nimble to help her. Sitting on my haunches, she wiped me down with a damp cloth she’d quickly collected from a cleaner’s cupboard.

“Your heart rates abnormally high”, she said seriously before placing her forehead on mine, “Your temperatures up too, we need to get you back upstairs.”

“NO!” I shouted louder than I meant to, “Sorry Quill, look, we’ve come this far, I’ll be okay.”

Damn it, I didn’t have any of the life essence with me either. I’d completely forgotten to ask Luna about it too. Come to think of it, I hadn’t been using as much lately either for some reason. I reasoned that it was probably down to my self discipline in using my wendigo powers and filtering through only what I needed rather than ‘full on’ or ‘off’. Still, I had to take more care and be sensible about things. I should have made sure I had some with me.

Nimble helped me to my hooves and, at my insistence, we trotted off down the corridor. I didn’t like this place one bit, if somepony was down here…

“Quill, I want you to go back upstairs” I said firmly.

“No”

“Please?”

“You’re not well agent Nox, I’m staying right here!” she poked me in the chest and nodded, “So there!”

I hung my head, ears flopping in resignation, “Okay, okay, you win. Look, just stay between Nimble and myself, alright? If anything happens, we need you to get out of here and fetch help, call the agency and get ponies here.”

Quill looked at me oddly, “You…you sound like somepony I knew…”

I turned away, “I’m not, Quill, I’m sorry…”

The pipes banged above us and steam leaked from vents, giving an oppressive feel to the badly lit corridors. Here and there, odd rooms held equipment and machinery, the unseen guts of the immense hospital above us. I imagined it as some living, breathing thing, the banging its heartbeat, the steam its breath; here in the belly of the beast we roamed…

“Captain?”

I looked at Nimble, “What is it?”

“There’s something in there...”

I took out my PDW and pushed open the door, casting a torch beam around in my telekinesis. In the light I caught the faint movement of something hanging from the roof…chains. We kept to the wall until we found the switch for the overhead lighting. Thankfully it didn’t take long.

Magical lighting clinked and hummed into life, bathing the wide space in their unnatural illumination. I stared at the chains, coiled like metallic snakes, both in the floor and hanging down from the ceiling with pony size shackles. A drain sat beneath them, a hose lying discarded nearby for washing the poor creature these would have held. Propped against one corner, a long whip and reigns hung from a peg on the wall by a table and chair, a lone glass sitting there, empty. I’d been so thirsty, so terribly thirsty…mistress? Why...

“Captain!” Nimble shouted into my ear, jabbing me with his hoof, “For the goddess’s sake, snap out of it!”

I shook my head, but the images were flooding me, drowning me, “Captain…” that was my name wasn’t it? My name…

I looked at Nimble, grabbing him in my forehooves, “Who am I Nimble…WHO AM I?!”

“You’re…you’re Captain Fairlight,” he stammered, “the one who saved me in the tunnels. You’re my friend.”

Staring at him I barely picked up the movement beside me. Spinning to face it, Quill jumped back in fright before advancing on me, her eyes narrowing, “It…it is you…isn’t it? You were there in the ward that time too, with the Pegasus mare…you’re Meadows husband.”

I took off my sunglasses, “I’m sorry Quill, I didn’t want you to remember me.”

“Why not? Meadow was my best friend, I loved you both, you were…I…Fairlight, why didn’t you speak to me? I never had a chance to say goodbye to her…”

Tears began to form in her eyes. My own thoughts and fears were washed away with my concern for my wife’s friend, “Quill, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t want you getting hurt. There’s a lot of bad ponies out there who want to hurt me and anypony close to me.”

“But you could have spoken to me! I wanted to talk to you about her!”

Her mane seemed to lose it poofiness and her eyes brimmed as she began to shake with sobs. I took her in my forelegs and hugged her gently, “Oh Quill, I’m an idiot, I should have trusted you more. Look, when this is all over, when I can, I’ll send for you and you can come and visit us at our new home.”

She sniffed, wiping away the tears, “Us?”

“Meadow, Sparrow and everypony”

“Meadow? I don’t understand…”

“Quill, it’s hard to explain, but please, not right now okay?”

She nodded and I clopped Nimble on the shoulder, “Corporal, I’ve been here before, this is where she held me.”

He shook his head in disbelief, “My goddesses, Captain, they kept you in here?”

I tapped one of the chains making it swing quietly, watching it sway back and forth, where there grey hairs on that? “The gap in my memory, I’ve been getting flashbacks all the time we’ve been here, but…nothing substantial. It’s like trying to catch mist”

Nimble checked his PDW, “Maybe if we looked around more?”

We moved out of the room. Following the fragments of memory, bits and pieces began to reform; the blue laundry bins, the corridor, the steam, the corridor to the mistress’s room.

“My goddess, we’re here”, I muttered stopping by the junction in the corridor.

“Here, Cap?”

“Yeah, her room’s there, just ahead”

I spoke to Quill quietly, “Keep back, and keep out of sight. We don’t know who’s in there.”

She didn’t protest this time and moved into a niche behind some boxes while the corporal and I took station either side of the door. I knocked, there was no reply. Trying the handle, the door lock clicked and it slowly swung open. My heart beat like the pistons of the steam train I’d watched on the overhead railway, sweat beading my brow. If I didn’t face my demons now, I never would.

I charged in, PDW ready, with Nimble covering me. Inside, the room was devoid of life. There was the bed, the dresser, even the shelves complete with books. It was all so neat, so well laid out, but where was she? I poked around but found nothing. We’d have to get forensic down here, but we’d never get a signal and would have to move back to ground level first. Nimble picked up a small bottle of perfume,

“Lavender, I always loved the smell.”

I ran a hoof over the bed, “Yeah…”

“Quill?” I called, “You can come in, its safe”. There was no reply, “Quill?”

Nimble and I shared a look. As one we covered the door before I rolled out into the corridor, my PDW ready. In front of me a dark figure in a cloak, a green magical glow emanating around it, stood over the prostrate form of Quill. It hissed angrily at me and turned suddenly, running off down the corridor disappearing into the steam.

“Stay here! Help Quill!” I shouted taking off after the cloaked figure.

It ran with an unnatural speed. It was light too, as if its hooves barely touched the ground. I channelled some of my magic and felt my muscles burn and roar with strength, white hot anger and rage trickling through me. The figure bolted around a corner and into a room, and like a bloody rookie I charged right in. The door slammed shut behind me and I was plunged into complete darkness, dark other than for the green glow of magic surrounding the pony in the black cloak. The aura from the things horn illuminated the figure as it hissed and clicked, an amused sound emanating from it,

“Sssstupid ponyyy, you’ve fallen ssstraight into our hoovesss.”

As it spoke, other green glows began to appear around me like large fire flies, bathing me in their strange alien light. One of the creatures, the one that lead me in here, threw back its hood to reveal a nightmarish being, black as night with teeth like curved blades. Its eyes glinted in the light like a beetles; soulless, empty.

“What the fuck are you?” I snarled dropping into a fighting stance.

The things wings buzzed beneath its cloak, “We?” before my very eyes it transformed into a perfect copy of Quill, speaking confidently in her squeaky voice, “We are your friends.”

It changed again, this time into Nimble, “We are your allies”. Again, this time…”We are even…”

Meadow. I stared at the thing masquerading as my murdered wife, my beloved Meadow. Emotions ran through me, surging and roiling, the creatures laughed and buzzed around me.

“Yesss!” one of them cried, “Ffffeelll…hurrrttt…succhhh emotionsss!”

Changelings. I’d heard of the damned things, how they’d once been friends of ponykind and had been ‘altered’ somehow, become corrupted. Now they were nothing more than emotional vampires, but even so, they’d been confined to their own part of Equestria hadn’t they? The bloody things were barely more than a legend nowadays, yet here they were. And here I was.

I snarled at the thing, “How dare you…how dare you look into my mind and take that form, you fucking filth.”

It clicked and buzzed before speaking, “Annnd what cannn you do, ponyyy? You are trapped in here witttthhh usss.”

I laughed, allowing the magic to take me over, flowing, running, burning through me like an inferno of the bitterest ice. I dropped the PDW, the mist rolling out around my hooves, my eyes ablaze, teeth lengthening. The creature backed away, unsure, and it was right to do so. In the swirling fog, I coalesced a form; the haft, the blade, hard as the purest crystalline ice, sharp as the bite of the northern winter, merciless as the mountain snows.

“I think you misunderstand something…changeling”, I snarled, white fog dripping from between my teeth, “I’m not trapped in with you…you’ve trapped yourselves in here with me.”

The things horn began to glow brightly and I could hear the sound of blades being drawn,

“You wanted to feed up on me?” I laughed, “Then come, allow me to show you a real banquet…” the scythe swung, “…A feast of death.”

They tried to rush me at once, the second creature falling even as the first, its throat opened to the air, scrabbled on the floor in a spreading pool of its own ichor. The third and fourth flew at me as I swung low, taking away their forelegs, the thud of their bodies and severed limbs falling to the ground like heavy rain. Shrieks and cries rent the air and I breathed it all in, replenishing my strength, revelling in the death of these things…these vile filth that had dared to defile the memory of my Meadow…My Meadow! Kill them…there would be no mercy here.

The song flowed and I danced to its tune, slicing and parrying, blocking and rending. My teeth ripped through the throat of one, its bitter blood foul and loathsome. I spat it out as I kicked and smashed my diamond hooves into the face of another trying to impale me on a wickedly pointed dagger. Its face a ruined mess, I sent it to the afterlife with a smile on my mine.

Finally, oh, so finally, the song ended. Sadly, it was all too soon. I replaced my PDW and checked the bodies. One of them, with its legs still twitching nearby, looked up at me with its dead eyes,

“Where’s the mistress?” I hissed at it. The thing clicked and twitched horribly, “Where’s the mistress, changeling. Tell me and I will ease your passing, fail and I will keep you alive…every moment a treasure you will wish I had never bestowed upon you.”

The thing stared at me, “Ssshee hasss gone northhh” it hacked a dreadful cough and writhed, its back legs kicking helplessly, “our missstresss isss not pleasssed.”

“Where to the north?” I shook the thing, “Where to the north damn you!”

It hacked a cough, sputtering out a final dying breath, “To ssseak nourissshment from the ssssource.”

“What are you talking about?” But it was useless, the damned thing was dead and I had a terrible feeling of impending doom. I opened the doors and headed back to Nimble who was in the mistress’s old room, helping a very pale looking Quill.

He looked up at me, “Fuck me, Captain, you’re covered in…”

I cut in, “-I know! Come on, we’ve got to get out of here, there’s changelings in Equestria and I think I know what’s going on.”

I levitated Quill onto my back, “Come on, lets shift flank pony”

We left Quill with the doctors and were assured they knew how to treat her properly. I left her with a promise I’d send for her when I could and she’d nodded weakly, “Make sure you do, you big silly”, she’d said trying to smile. I’d given her a wink and headed back to Loofa and the waiting sky carriage.

Loofa was looking up at the sky intently as we approached, “Loofa, you okay?”

“Yeah, don’t see them very often.”

“What?”

“Griffin. He’s flying a bit erratically too…whoops! There he goes…”

The creature began to fall out of the sky but Loofa was there like a streak of black lightening, catching the griffin and bringing him down to us. He laid the stricken creature on the seat of the carriage, looking down at the mess of blood, fur and feathers. I could barely recognise him, but it was him alright.

“Grimble! Dear Luna, what’s happened to you?!”

One eye weakly opened, “Lord…lord Fairlight? I…I’m so sorry, I tried…I really did.”

“Tried what? What’s happened Grimble, what about my family?”

He coughed and winced in pain, “Smiling Borders. We’ve been attacked, so many dead…” he shook and closed his eyes tight.

I took my friend in my forelegs and channelled the power through me, “Grimble old friend, drink, here.”

A trickle of silver dripped from my maw as Nimble and Loofa stared with their mouths hanging open. I guess it did look a bit odd, even to me. However, If it could save my friend, then delicate sensibilities could go to the devil.

Grimble’s wounds began to smoke, flesh knitting back together, bone mending. He was still missing a few feathers, but they’d grow back. He was weak though, far too weak to fly. He reached up and grabbed me, “My lord! The village,” he coughed trying to catch his breath. Loofa passed him a flask of water from the carriage supply locker which he took gratefully,

“We’ve been attacked, we don’t know what they were, there was so many of them. Black things, like ponies but not ponies, a sort of unicorn that could fly, but not alicorns…more like…”

“They were changelings” I said quietly, “The bloody things have attacked my home…”

I put a hoof on Grimbles’ shoulder, “Old friend, tell me, what of my family, what of Heather?”

He shook his head sadly, “I don’t know my lord, the place was in such a mess; fire and smoke everywhere. We fought them but had no warning and were ill prepared I fear. Heather took your family into the tavern for safety where many of our warriors would protect them with their lives. I was sent for help, at my age I am ill suited to fighting. The things attacked me in mid flight, I killed two, maybe three before I got away in a cloud bank. I’m so sorry my lord, forgive me my weakness.”

I shook my head, “You’re not weak, Grimble. Far from it my brother.”

He smiled up at me and grasped my foreleg, “We need help my lord, we need you.”

I picked up Grimble and took him into the hospital as quickly as I could, finding yet another doctor and leaving my comrade in their care. The poor bugger ended up in the bed next to Quill, but thankfully she was asleep when I left him there. I didn’t envy his ears when she woke up.

“I’ll be back Grimble”, I’d said, “Take care of him doctor, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The look of utter devotion in the griffins face made my heart skip a beat. He believed in me so wholeheartedly, I could only hope his faith wasn’t misplaced. If an army of warriors couldn’t stop them, could I?

Standing by the carriage, I addressed my friends, “Nimble, Loofa, the shits hit the fan, or it’s about to. These bastards have attacked my home and goddesses know what’s happened to my family. I wont ask you to help, its not your fight, but I have to go.”

Nimble smiled, “Who’ll have your back If I don’t go, Cap?”

Loofa laughed, shaking his head, “Gonna fly all the way out north without a good pilot? Not with your stubby wings!”

It was definitely one of those moments I would treasure forever, but right then, all I cared about was getting home. I tried not to think what I would find what I got there though; fate could be a fickle bitch. Nimble picked up the communicator and handed it to me while Loofa rocketed us up into the air,

“Mitre, its Fairlight, you receiving?”

“Go ahead”

“Changelings, they attacked us in the hospital basement. Grimble’s here, they’ve hit the village too, I’m on my way there now.”

“Changelings? Celestia’s arse, how many are we talking about here?”

“More than for an assassination mission, the village sounds like it’s been overrun.”

“Fuck it, stand by one”

A few moments passed, each one a second nearer home, a second that felt like an hour. Mitres voice came back,

“Getting reports now, detectors are going off all over the place. Armours mobilising the army and shielding the whole of the palace. We’ll get agents over to Smiling Borders as soon as we can. I’ll get Brandy on the case, looks like you’re going to need some extra firepower.”

“Received. We should be there soon, Loofa’s driving”

“Bloody good job too. Look, Fairlight, take care out there boy, okay?”

I smiled despite myself, “Yeah, you too Chief.”

We hurtled through the air, poor Nimble hanging on for dear life but still with a look of grim determination on his face, “Wish we had the guard with us, or at least a few army lads.”

I checked the kit bag, taking out two of the pulse guns, “I know what you mean, but they’ve got to protect the princesses and the wedding party. Here…” I passed him one of the sleek weapons, “Know how to use one?”

He nodded, “Yeah, not many of us have though, more of an agency thing.”

I looked out the front window, “Spears aren’t much good when your enemies shooting at you, the army needs to move with the times. If these things are attacking us, we need to be able to respond accordingly.”

“Something tells me, you’ll be able to do just that”, he said wryly, checking the gun was loaded.

“What makes you say that?”

He pointed to my coat, “Let’s just say you’ll need a shower when you get a chance, there’s changeling all over you.”

Chapter Six - Black Blood

CHAPTER SIX

BLACK BLOOD

We flew high and fast, skimming over the clouds, the sun now very low in the sky. It would be night soon, not the sort of time I wanted to be heading home and potentially fighting for my life. Add to that the bloody things we were likely to face when we got there were black and nigh on invisible in the darkness. If we just went barrelling in, it probably wouldn’t end well for any of us.

Whilst we travelled, I checked my gear, Nimble doing the same. We’d potentially be going in hot so preparation was essential. We didn’t have any idea of enemy strength, location or disposition, only that they were in the village and there’d been casualties. Any thoughts of who may have been injured or killed were for later, for now I kept a grip on my power, restraining my emotions. I knew from hard experience how I had to control my anger and rage, channelling it into directed force when, and only when, I needed it.

Nimble peered out the window, “Hey Cap’, you’ve got family there right?”

“I have, yeah”

“Tell me about them, it’ll help pass the time.”

I checked my crystal supply as I spoke, “Well, there’s Meadow, my wife, she’s with the heard now. Then there’s little Sparrow Song, my daughter, she’s with her mum. There’s Tingles and Shadow, they’re living in the village with Lumin my son.”

His eyes were wide, “That’s some family you’ve got there!” He scrubbed his mane with a hoof, “Look, Cap’, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have brought it up. I remember what you told me about Meadow and Sparrow.”

“Don’t be,” I said tightening one of the equipment straps, “they’re with the herd as we all will be some day.”

“What about the others though? I don’t remember you mentioning them.”

“Didn’t I?” I checked the terrain below us, it was hard to get a fix because of the cloud, “Tingles is a Pegasus. She used to work with me in the agency, but now she’s a bit more…’freelance’ you could say. Lumin’s my son to her. He’s very young still and looks like his dad too.” I smiled, picturing the little fellow in my mind, “Shadow’s my other mare, she’s a thestral from the Wither world.”

He looked up, “’Other mare’? As in, more than one?”

I face hoofed, me and my big mouth! “Believe it or not, yes. I live with two mares and a foal, it’s not uncommon to herd corporal, you know what the female to male ratio is like.”

His eye twitched, “Yes, but…no! Maybe…that was a long time ago, stallions don’t…that is…”

I wanted to change the subject quickly, “What about your family corporal? You mentioned a young lady if I remember correctly? Whiffles was it?”

He stopped and re-engaged his train of thought, “Whiffles? No, her name’s Ruffles. Good grief captain, who ever heard of a mare called ‘Whiffles’!” He laughed and slapped his side, “I’ll have to tell her that one, maybe it could be a new nickname!”

That worked then. Thank the goddesses I’d distracted the inquisitive corporal from delving any deeper into my personal life. I’d already told him far more than I really wanted to in any case.

He patted the pockets of his agency barding, “Ah! Here…” He hoofed me his wallet which held a small photograph of a cream mare with a pink and blue curly mane and tail. She was looking round seductively, her tail barely covering…

“Bloody hell, Nimble!” I squeaked, passing back the wallet, “You don’t show that to other ponies do you?”

“Why not? She’s beautiful”

I rubbed my mane, “Yes…yes, she is. But, what she’s doing with her tail!”

He looked at the picture, “I don’t see what you mean” he seemed genuinely perplexed.

“Corporal?”

“Cap?”

“Do you have any foals?”

“Ha! Not yet, I mean, we haven’t settle down yet and I’d like a home of our own first so we can…you know…”

Smiling, I tapped him on the leg, “I get the idea, Nimble. Just, keep your head down today okay? I don’t want any casualties, especially if it means I have to explain what happened to you to a young mare. Do I make myself clear, corporal?”

He snapped off a smart salute, “Aye, Captain”. The effect was ruined by the cheeky grin that accompanied it.

Loofa suddenly shouted something to us and pointed towards the ground. Both Nimble and I looked to where he was indicating but it was now so dark it was hard to make anything out. My wendigo enhanced vision gave me some advantage, but it was no match for Loofa’s. I instinctively checked the safety on my pulse gun. I was all too aware of how difficult it was going to be to fight in the dark; I’d have to keep my two comrades close so we could cover each other.

As we descended I began to make out fires, small ones dotted about the perimeter of the village with dark figures moving around between them. There was no mistaking that shambling gait, they were minotaurs.

Loofa tapped his TED, “Captain, where’d you want us to touch down?”

“Behind the largest building,” I replied, “looks like we missed the party.”

We landed gently on the lush grass by the taverns vegetable garden. Grabbing our gear, we readied ourselves for what, if anything, we were going to face in the village. Although it seemed quiet, I didn’t want to take any chances. I took the lead, watching the angles, corners, using my wendigo enhanced sight to check darkened areas. Thankfully I had some advantage over an attacker here, and that was that I knew the village quite well, whether I’d need to use that knowledge remained to be seen.

Moving carefully around the corner of the Wyvern’s Tail, I froze. Two hulking shapes stood outside flanking the door, heavy axes gripped in their claws. In the darkness and flickering light from the various fires, it was hard to see clearly who they were. Hell, I didn’t know all the minotaurs in the village! I only really knew three of them and I mentally kicked myself for not taking more time to get to know everpony. I took a deep breath and stepped forward,

“Evening lads”

The minotaur closest to me turned his huge bull head to peer at me before nodding slowly, “Evening lord Fairlight”. Without another word, he went back to silently watching the ground before him. You had to love them, so full of personality…

Nimble nudged me, motioning towards the minotaur, “What is it?”

“One of our warriors”, I said with a shake of my mane. I’d never get used to these things. I couldn’t work out if they were the strong silent type or just short on grey matter. Either way, they knew how to use those axes. In the torchlight I could make out the shapes of bodies lying in the grass, lots of bodies, and not just ponies, minotaurs or griffins for that matter. The silent shapes reflected the moonlight, slick black carapaces like monstrous beetles. Goddesses knew how many of them had attacked the village but we were damned lucky it wasn’t a massacre.

“Come on”, I ordered, leading my troupe in through the taverns front door.

The light inside was blinding after the darkness outside and it took me a moment to re-adjust. Nimble and Loofa stood in shock at the scene. As my vision cleared, I looked about at a scene of absolute horror. Dead and dying lay all around me, minotaurs, griffins, even the odd pony, all lying quietly on makeshift pallets being tended to by a swiftly moving team of medics I didn’t even know we had.

I scanned the room but didn’t see any of my family; where the hell were they? My heart rate began to rise and I could feel my teeth beginning to itch while I headed for the stairs. A familiar face pushed through the throng and leaned down to address me,

“Lord Fairlight, you’re back.”

The rumbling monotone voice of the minotaur mountain known as Heavy Hoof, stared down at me, a massive battle axe strapped to his back.

“I am, Heavy Hoof, its good to see you. I’m sorry, will you excuse me, I need to check on my family.”

“Not here.”

“What?”

“Things took your foal, orange pony too. Shadow has taken warriors to hunt them.”

I leaned forward and grabbed him, my eyes blazing, “What the hell do you mean, things took my foal? Tingles too? Where did they go?”

My heart was hammering now, my breath pouring out in a stream of icy fog. Nimble stepped up and placed a hoof on my foreleg, “Cap’, steady, he’s on our side. We need to get more intel before we blunder off into the night. We’ll get them back.”

I released the minotaurs barding, “Heavy Hoof, what can you tell me? What happened here?”

Heavy Hoof was completely unfazed by my reaction and explained in his inimitable fashion,

“Black things, changelings, attacked village. We fight, many died, many changelings. Orange pony and foal were taken into forest. Shadow not here, but came here after. Took warriors into forest to find pony and foal, tell us to stay here and protect hurt warriors.

“Where’s Heather?” I asked. On queue, a white aproned minotaur appeared from the kitchen carrying bandages. She was covered in blood.

“Heather?” I asked quietly.

She looked up and, putting her bandages down, rushed over to take me up into her arms in a bone crushing hug. Peering down at me, tears welled in her eyes. I smiled at her,

“Thank the goddess you’re safe, you’re dad is too. Grimble’s at the hospital in Manehattan, he was injured but we got to him in time. He’s going to be okay.”

She nodded and smiled, wiping the tears away, “Thank you”, she muttered before lumbering off to continue tending to the wounded. I took a deep breath, calming my racing heart,

“Heavy Hoof, who are the worst wounded here?”

We walked slowly between the pallets, administering life essence to the weakest, the seriously wounded and in some cases, the dying. Watching the changes was heart lifting; the looks of amazement, the smiles and thanks from them was a balm for my soul. Heavy Hoof managed to catch me as I toppled over, carrying me upstairs so weak I could barely keep my eyes open. The room was a wreck, with bedding, furniture and splintered wood lying everywhere. I motioned over to a pile of my gear I’d left behind, where the huge minotaur lowered me surprisingly gently to the floor.

Thank the goddesses, the flasks were still there. A couple of them were empty, but there was still enough left to refill me. The silver fluid ran through my veins in a rush of ice cold power making me gasp and shudder under its onslaught. Nimble walked in moments later looking concerned,

“Cap’, you okay? You looked ready to pass out down there.”

Replacing the flask, I began swapping my barding, equipment and weapons, “I’m fine…at least, I am now. My people’s needs have to come before mine.”

I picked up my scythe and watched in satisfaction as the blade swung out. Heavy Hoof’s eyes reflected in the polished blade. Stowing the deadly thing in place, I looked at Nimble, “But my family…”

He didn’t answer but just nodded. Some things didn’t need to be spoken aloud.

I took up my weaponry. A pulse gun lay discarded nearby, empty and by the looks of the black blood across the floor and walls, used to good effect. I replaced the ammunition and loaded up as much as I could, there was more than enough to share with Nimble and Loofa.

Speaking of which, the inquisitive agency Pegasus pushed his nose into the room, “Great Celestia…” he breathed, his eyes taking in the scene of utter devastation, “…there’s been one hell of fight in here.”

Nimble was staring at something and I followed his gaze. He lowered his head, “Oh goddesses…Captain…”

I strapped on the last of my equipment and grit my teeth, turning from the bedroom, the place I had slept with my beloved family, “Come on…we’ve got work to do.”

Closing the door behind us, the image of a bloodstained orange feather screamed at me to rush off into the night, howling for vengeance and death. This time, I would keep a cool head. I knew what the forest was like and it would be worse in there at night, if that was even possible. Death would come in its own time. The feast had been prepared; all it needed now was for the guests to arrive. And I was on my way…

Outside a minotaur and a hippogriff stood quietly, both of them sporting various injuries and watching the tree line warily,

“Lord Fairlight”, the hippogriff bowed, “Thank the goddess you’ve returned. My uncle found you safely?”

Uncle? I peered at the creature. It was clearly a hippogriff, not a griffin, but…”You mean Grimble? He’s your uncle?”

“Aye. He wanted to stay and find your foal and the lady Tingles, but lady Shadow felt it best to send for you.”

I stomped a hoof in irritation, a thought flashing into my mind, “Why didn’t they use the communicator? Grimble nearly died trying to reach me!”

“I…I don’t know, my lord, I’m sorry.”

Shaking my head, I addressed the creature, “What’s your name warrior?”

He stood up straight and hefted his spear, “I am Zephyr my lord, I had the honour of fighting beside the lady Shadow.”

I felt like a bucket of water had been thrown over me, “What do you mean ‘had’, where is she now?”

“In the forest my lord, with a group of our best warriors hunting for the rest of your family. Dew Shard and I were sent back by lady Shadow to have our wounds tended. I’m sorry my lord, I would have stayed but she…”

I raised a hoof, “-No…its alright Zephyr, forgive me, I’m just…” I took a deep breath, “Where are they?”

He shook his feathered head, “The changelings headed north, but didn’t fly for some reason. Instead, they ran through the forest itself, maybe for cover, I don’t know. We followed, some of hoof, some by air, but the trees are so dense in there it’s almost impossible to see through the canopy.”

He scratched his head, looking to his friend Dew Shard, to help with the account. The minotaur leaned on his axe and spoke in that low rumbling voice of their kind, “We found the changelings, killed many. They have magic, but no match for our steel and muscle. Lady Shadow took more warriors to hunt the rest down and find pony and foal.”

Loofa tapped me on the shoulder, “How are we going to find them boss? Its pitch black and flying over the Everfree? I’m game, but it’s going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack out there.”

Nimble nodded, “He’s right Captain, the forest is vast. You got any ideas?”

I looked out over the forest and the moonlit mountains beyond. My family and I had a connection, but it was more on an emotional and instinctual level, not like the bond the tribe shared with me, but…did it work both ways? I closed my eyes and concentrated, channelling my magic and listening to the winds, but there was nothing.

I gritted my teeth and stared up at the moon, “Boys, I’ve said it before, you don’t have to come. I trust Shadow, but there’s no way I’m going to sit on my arse here and wait to hear back when I could do something, even if it seems futile.”

Loofa glanced at Nimble and grinned, “North you say? Come on, lets grab the carriage, some of us can’t fly you know.” Nimble rolled his eyes.

Before long we were soaring over the Everfree, keeping just high enough to allow us to scan the ground below. I flew next to the carriage, feeling the magic flowing through me, the cold night air against my hide; it felt right…like this was my time, my element. The moon above, that huge white orb in the sky, calmed my heart and resonated with my magic, making it feel more focussed somehow. I sent a silent prayer to Luna to help guide us. I prayed I wouldn’t be too late, goddess protect them all.

Loofa headed north, straight for the mountains, while I used my wendigo vision to help watch the forest below. It was as he’d predicted, the canopy was so dense I couldn’t make out any detail beneath. Even in daylight it was just a solid blanket of black and deep green. Nimble leaned out of the carriage with a set of low-light binoculars, but even he had to shake his head at the enormity and seeming fruitlessness of our task. The forest was just so big that all I could do was hope that…

“Cap!”

Loofa pointed to the northwest, “Thought I saw something, a flash, could be magical discharge.”

Nimble moved quickly to the front of the carriage, “What? What is it?”

“Flash to the north west. Use those binoculars of yours, corp’”.

He brought them up and scanned the darkness, “Damn it, its just black on black, can’t…hang on…something’s out there, yellow light. Could be lanterns moving around”

I strained my eyesight to see but couldn’t make anything out, “Loofa take us to where you saw them, Nimble guide us in. Weapons ready everypony, but watch your fire, there could be friendlies down there.”

A chorus of agreement rang out from the two and we increased speed, heading in the direction of the lights. As we drew closer I began to make out moving spots of yellow lamplight and then a bright green flash, followed by something altogether more familiar. A beam of crackling purple lightning lanced out into the night sky, followed by shouts, bellows and shrieks catching my hearing, carried on the faint breeze across the ancient forest.

My wings beat furiously and I released all controls on my magic. White mist billowed out from my haunches, my teeth itched, strength burning in my muscles, nothing would keep me from my family now…

The cacophony of battle rang out loud and clear from around a small clearing below us, just enough for Loofa to land, but barely.

“Follow me in”, I shouted to Loofa, “Let me clear the way first”

He nodded and I dived, a streak of white and blue shining like a night star in the black sky. Barely flaring my wings in time, my hooves slammed into the ground, my magic bringing my scythe up and around ready for battle. Around me, screams, neighs, bellow and snorts rippled through the undergrowth accompanied by blasts of multicoloured magic and the sharp ring of steel.

The clearing itself was empty except for numerous corpses, looking so much like stones in the darkness. Only the reflected moonlight gave them away; the slaughter here had been terrible, and it wasn’t over. Loofa brought in the carriage and unbuckled himself as the first of the changelings flew at us out of the darkness, its wickedly curved dagger catching the foliage as it came on clicking and hissing. Nimble’s pulse gun took the vile creature in the chest and it erupted in a shower of burning black gore and body parts even as more of the things came at us from all sides.

Loofa and Nimble used the carriage as cover, the two laying down a withering barrage of magical fire that played a symphony of destruction through the ranks of the changelings. The song was being played, its staccato notes bringing me to the edge of ecstasy and beyond. My battle scythe swung through the air, taking the first of my assailants in the chest, cutting through the chitinous body plating, its internal organs and out past its shoulders. It didn’t even scream.

Gore spraying my muzzle, I shouted a wordless war cry and sprayed liquefying icy death at the things, turning many solid instantly. But not all, that would be far too quick and ruin the song…there were so many more who would taste my wrath this night…so many more. And on they came.

One after another they charged, felled by either my scythe, magic or the blasts from my comrades in the carriage. A shout of alarm from Loofa carried me up into the air to bring down a storm of blue magical incineration onto a large changeling that had somehow shielded itself from their fire. The thing howled as my magical beam took one of its wings off and most of one leg, dropping it to the ground where Nimble put a shot into its head, silencing it forever.

The evening air filled with the cries of the changelings, from fury and anger, to fear and the cries of their dying. They attacked regardless, heedless of their casualties until, like entering the eye of a storm, the attack ceased. I stood, my chest heaving, dripping in black blood and entrails, my scythe matted with the evidence of the evenings work. Nimble and Loofa sat back in the carriage, exhausted but elated. I was pleased to see that they were quick to reload and kept a vigilant watch on the dark forests depths, even as the first of the minotaurs broached the clearings edge.

“Lord Fairlight, we sensed you were here.”

I lowered my scythe, “Where’s Shadow?”

A tall black shape emerged from the darkness behind the minotaur, red eyes burning in the night, pure white teeth sparkling in the starlight,

“Fairlight”

She advanced on me, armoured and soaked in blood, thankfully not her own by the looks of things. Shadow smiled, “You are late.”

I stepped forward and leaned my forehead on her shoulder, “I’m sorry love. Thank the goddess you’re safe.”

The thestral nuzzled me and pulled me into a brief hug, “Tingles, Lumin…”

“Have you found them?” I asked hurriedly.

She shook her head, “No. Changelings took them.”

Around us, more and more warriors emerged from the forest. Many of them were injured, all looked tired, yet every one of them had a look of absolute determination on their face. Shadow looked me square in the eyes, “We will find them, Fairlight. We will”.

“Any idea where they’re heading?” I asked. Shadow shook her head,

“Not my world. Not yet”

I understood. How could she know? She’d just arrived in Equestria, but Shadow had still been able to track them, yet where the hell were Tingles and Lumin? Anger and despair warred within me and I barely heard Loofa’s voice behind me,

“Er…Captain Fairlight?”

He sounded worried and I tore myself away from the barrage of questions I was preparing to throw at Shadow to see what the Pegasus was going on about, when I noticed the green orbs in the forests clearing. Loofa was staring intently at them,

“Boss, I think we’ve got company…”

I held out a hoof, “Hold your fire and lower your weapons.”

Reluctantly, the warriors around me complied, although kept them to hoof and claw, ready at a moments notice. Shadow walked up beside me,

“Fairlight?”

I smiled at her and walked toward the green orbs, stopping a respectful distance away.

Loofa and Nimble trotted up but kept slightly behind me, I could sense their unease and hoped it wouldn’t provoke an unnecessary confrontation. Before me, the orbs glowed brightly, accompanied by a background wooden clacking noise. Behind them, additional snapping and clacking sounds revealed yet more of the beings; many, many more. Nimble fidgeted with his pulse gun,

“Dear Celestia”, he muttered, “They must have been attracted by the smell of blood.”

“What are they?” Loofa whispered.

“Timber Wolves”, I said quietly, “Stay here and don’t move. I’m going to speak to them.”

“What?!” Nimble hissed, “They’ll tear you apart!”

I frowned at him, making him back off a step. I didn’t want anything spooking them. The lead wolf stepped forward into the clearing, its green eyes burning as brightly as Shadow’s did red. It regarded her then fixed its gaze on me, snuffing the air and bobbing its head in some animalistic attempt at communication. I hadn’t seen many of these things before, the last time hadn’t exactly been the best introduction to this magical race of living branch, twig, leaf and bark creatures. The one staring at me seemed to know me, and I recognised it as the one who had taken over from the monstrosity that had lead the attack on the village.

Bowing slightly, I waved my forelegs across the clearing, taking in the dead changelings “You can have the dead, my friend. We will leave you to your dinner.”

The wolf yipped and pranced forward, taking the haft of my scythe in its jaws and pulling it away,

“Hey! What are you doing?”

Shadow placed a hoof on my shoulder, shaking her head, “Follow”

“Follow? What, follow the wolf?” Oh great, straight into the pot too most likely. But then, sarcasm aside, there was something else at play here. I knelt down and brought myself muzzle to muzzle with the wolf,

“We’re looking for my mare and foal, an orange Pegasus and a little grey foal. Do you know where they are?” Goddesses, it was worth a shot.

The wolf bobbed and pranced, clacking and yipping before rushing off to the clearings edge and looking back at me expectantly. Shadow shook her mane and watched me, waiting. Memories of the first encounter I’d had of these creatures replayed through my mind; the darkness, that terrible nerve rattling clacking sound and, the screaming. Goddesses…what the hell was I doing?

“Loofa, leave the carriage and fly cover, your eyesight’s better than mine. Corporal, you’re with me, the rest of you keep close and alert.”

The warriors behind us, rumbled their agreement, a number of griffins taking to the air and keeping station with Loofa. Before I knew it, I had a small army with me, heavily armed and armoured, all of us following an unknown number of timber wolves through the dense forest of an unforgiving and merciless forest in the middle of nowhere. What was not to like?

We rushed through the thick undergrowth, brambles, branches and Luna knew what else, snatching and catching on our coats and equipment. I took point, hoping the other would follow my path, but I needn’t have been concerned, the minotaurs simple acted like muscular bulldozers, ploughing their way through the forest, an unstoppable tidal wave of brawn and spiked armour.

I don’t know how long we’d been running for but I started to notice something up ahead; an odd silver-white glow. At first I thought it could be the beginning of dawn, but quickly dismissed that thought; it felt different somehow and the colour was wrong. Oh hell, no…I knew what it was, but by Celestia’s sagging arse, I wished I was wrong.

Loofa shouted over to me, “You see that Cap’?”

I didn’t bother answering, I’d seen enough of the bloody things. Nothing good ever came of these and the goddess knew where this one lead. Everytime I saw one, it was a portent of something tragic…portals. This one was still active and I arrived in the clearing before it in time to see one of the black changeling creatures standing over the prone figures of two ponies, a green magic aura surrounding the thing. It saw us, turned and fled through the portal as one of the wolves dived after it. There was a deafening shriek and the wolf re-emerged, pulling the thing back in by one of its hind legs whilst it tried desperately to pull itself away.

One of the minotaurs grabbed the creature and pinned it down, drawing a sword,

“NO!” I shouted at the great beast. It turned and eyed me curiously, before lowering the blade but still kept the changeling secure. The vile thing could wait. My heart leaped as I recognised one of the shapes before the portal. Shadow reached them at the same time I did. They were still, grey, cold to the touch…a tangerine pegasus and a white mare with a golden mane and tail. My heart faltered, the magic within me answering with horror and anger, lending a strength I didn’t want right then…not now.

“Tingles?” I leaned down, nudging the prone form with my muzzle, “Love? Please…wake up love, I’m here” She was unmoving, her hide ice cold, all the colour looked like it had been drained from her. Her cutie mark was a strange reflection of her condition, colourless and devoid of any warmth…was she…?

Shadow nuzzled her as I collapsed to my knees and lay my head across her, feeling for a pulse, for any sign of life. The thestral warrior sniffed Tingles’ body, snuffing and nuzzling her…those deep green eyes, so full of life, closed tight. How had it come to this? It was all my fault too, I’d been so damned stupid, careless, sitting on the porch smoking that bloody pipe. If I’d kept my wits about me, if I’d listened, maybe I could have heard…

Thump…

Wait…was that…?

Thump…

I waved for silence to the increasingly agitated warriors, while Shadow leaned over Tingles, her eyes blazing, “Fairlight…is Tingles…?”

“No”, I said shaking my head, “No, she’s still alive…barely.”

Gently, I raised her head and dribbled some of my life essence into her, but all it did was drip back out of her mouth onto the muddied ground. I wanted so much just to wrap her up and take her home, but some of Meadows advice came back to me about not moving an injured pony. Was this the same sort of situation? Tingles just lay there, there were few injuries, certainly none life threatening that I could see, but I still couldn’t detect any sign of life from her except for that slow beat of her heart. What the hell was I supposed to do now?!

Panic, anger and rage cascaded through me as I looked up at the cause of her suffering… the changeling. I nodded to the warrior without taking my eyes from the thing. He watched me carefully, retaining his grip on the slick black creature. The warriors around me formed a circle, wolves howling and clacking occasionally.

Several warriors brought pole lanterns and set them up around us, lending at least a little light to the scene. I nuzzled Tingles, her body frigid and nearly devoid of life, not even my magic was helping here. A tear rolled down my cheek and I heard the creature buzz…of course…of course I knew what they’d done…

“Fix this”, I whispered, holding Tingles’ head in my forelegs, “Fix this now or I swear by the moon I will tear your still beating heart from your body.”

The thing chattered and hissed its defiance. I motioned to the creatures captor,

“Release it.”

“My Lord?”

“Do I have to repeat myself?” I growled deep in my throat, watching the creature. I rose to my hooves, letting the magic sing, howling through me in a torrent of rage and hate. White fog billowed around me in a tempest, faster and faster, silver motes mixing and swirling with myself, Tingles and the creature at its heart. My horn glowed and ice formed around the creatures legs, freezing it to the ground. Helplessly, it beat its wings and tried to fly, the additional weight keeping it bound to the earth.

“I gave you your chance…” I hissed, forming a short dagger of ice before me. The blade unnaturally sharp and thin, I held it up before the changelings face, “…maybe your screams will bring her back.”

Shadow trotted over shaking her head, “Fairlight…don’t…”

I stared up at her, my eyes brimming with anger and tears alike, “No, look away…please.” I turned to Nimble, “Corporal…”

Dutifully, the young stallion trotted up as I gazed at Shadow, “Take Shadow away, I don’t want her to see this”

He stared at the changeling and then me, “Cap’, this…this isn’t right…”

I looked him in the eyes, “And if that was Ruffles lying there, Nimble, dying before your very eyes…where would your morality be then? Tell me…explain to me, exactly how you would walk away and let this thing go as the mare you loved died before you…and you did nothing…NOTHING!”

He lowered his head silently and led Shadow gently away. The creature glared at me, its blue green eyes looking for all the world like some giant insects. I whispered into its ear, “I know you understand me, I’ve met your kind before. You’ve drained her of emotions, left her an empty husk of who she is…” I sighed, closing my eyes and tapped the knife on the changeling’s chest, “I’m going to leave you empty now…one piece at a time.”

The knife trailed down until I found a joint in its carapace below its belly, “Take a deep breath now…” I hissed, baring my teeth to the thing, “I want to hear your screams fill the void you’ve left in my soul.”

I pushed the knife firmly, but slowly. The creature suddenly shrieked and hissed, “Pleasssse…”

“It’s too late for begging”, I whispered to it, “Far, far too late…”

“No, I cannn helllpp” it stared up at me, struggling against the grip of the ice, “Pleasssse!”

Reluctantly, I stayed my hoof, taking the knife away but kept eye contact with the disgusting thing, “You have one chance, only one.”

“I mussst be nearrr”

I nodded to one of the minotaurs who lay the changeling between Tingles and the white mare. The white mare…she looked familiar somehow, no cutie mark either which…Oh goddesses…

I grabbed the creature, “Both. You help both, you understand?”

“Yesss, I underrrssstanddd”

A deep emerald glow emerged from the things horn, slowly becoming brighter and brighter, spreading out to cover both of the mares. In the flow of magic I saw patterns, swirling black and blue lines travelling from the tip of its horn and into the bodies of the mares. The strain was clearly telling on the changeling and, horribly, holes began to appear in its legs, wings and even its mane. The beast cried out and gasped as the magic flickered out,

“I…I’vvveee donnne all I cannn”, It hissed weakly, “I cannn givvve nooo more”

I pushed the thing away and lifted Tingles in my forelegs once more, watching her, praying for some sign of life from her. She was as cold as she had been before, but her coat…

Shadow rushed up, roughly shoving Nimble aside, “Tingles!” she cried out nuzzling her, “Alive!”

I looked up at her, “Shadow…she’s…”

“F...Fairlight?”

A voice, barely a whisper, a breath on the nights breeze, entered my ears and I looked down to see a pair of large green eyes staring back at me, “…Tingles?”

She smacked her lips dryly, “You took your time…”

Loofa hurried over and passed me a canteen of water, “We need to get her out of here Captain, I’ve contacted Brandy and Mitre, they’ve got whoever they can spare and medics on the way. They’ll rendezvous with us at the tavern.”

I nodded, “Get the carriage, Loofa. Take a couple of the griffins with you and fly like the wind.”

He said no more, but I felt the blast of air as he soared into the sky to collect the carriage. Tingles leaned into me, “I’m so cold…”

I snuggled into her, with Shadow on the other side and stroked her mane, “We’re here love, its okay now…we’re with you.”

I gave her a kiss, gentle and soft. She reached up and pulled me into it, her customary strength a fraction of what it had been, but even as she held me, barely noticeable in the poor light, I could see colour returning to her coat. Slowly at first, but it was definitely there, a gradual wave of tangerine vibrancy spreading out from her head to her tail. I let her take all she wanted.

“Fairlight”, she breathed, her eyes visibly brighter than they had been, “You’ve got Lumin? Please, tell me you have him?”

I laid my forehead upon hers, closing my eyes against the torrent of emotion, “We’re going after him now, love. Don’t worry, we’ll get him back.”

She nodded, tears welling in her eyes, she was so weak. I’d hear the expression ‘feeling a little off colour’, but this was quite literal, the vibrancy of her coat looked like it had simply faded away. I glared at the thing that had done this to her, to my family…stolen my son, killed my friends…

I felt my teeth tingle and a growl in my throat rose as my vision narrowed. Hatred, bitter and insatiable seized my soul, this thing had to die…they all had to die.

“Fairlight!”, I whirled round at the call. Nimble was kneeling beside the white mare, “She’s still alive, she’s coming to.”

Leaving Tingles with Shadow, I walked over to the mare, her golden mane and tail limp and lifeless, but there, just noticeable, her chest rose and fell. She was most certainly alive, whoever she was. I looked closer…she looked like that friend of Velvet Cream’s, the one who’d killed my friends in the warehouse that terrible evening. Looking down at her body, it was obvious, there was no cutie mark. It was her…the human.

A large purple eye opened and peered up at me, “Where…?”

I looked down at the despicable creature, fog swirling around me, echoing my mood, “Where? Maybe you’d like to tell me what you are doing here and where my son is?”

Tingles tried to push herself weakly to her hooves, the effort clearly straining her, “Fairlight, please…Annabelle tried to save us, she’s a friend.”

“Annabelle? She’s no friend, Tingles, no friend at all.”

The white mare whispered quietly as Nimble held her in his hooves, “Fairlight? C…Captain?”

Hearing that name, from her…

Memories slammed into me, a dark room, a saddle and bridle. The metal bit, the orders, the hose water on my body as I hung suspended from the ceiling. She was my mistress, I must…I had to…

A heavy thud behind us announced the arrival of Loofa and the carriage, together with the griffin escort. Whatever spell the damned mare had me under disappeared as quickly as a popped soap bubble on a summers day, “Loofa!”

“Yes Captain?”

“Get these mares back to the tavern and the medics, take the griffins with you.”

The alabaster coated unicorn lifted her head to stare at me, the dark shadows under her eyes betraying her weakened state, “Captain? Please…I have to…to tell you something.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“Please! It’s important, please…”

“Loofa…get her out of here, now”, I turned away, I couldn’t bare to see that bitches face for another second. I couldn’t recall it all, but enough. Pain, humiliation…it was all there.

I took him to one side, “Watch her, and keep her away from Tingles. Guards all around her at all times, you understand me? If you’ve got a hornlock, use it, otherwise multiple guards.”

He cocked his head to one side, “She’s very weak, Cap’, I don’t think she’ll be much of a problem”

“Don’t trust her Loofa, I’m serious” I tapped him on the shoulder, “You don’t want her in your head…or your heart.”

He looked unsure, but nodded and turned to help load her into the carriage as I snugged Tingles into the seat opposite her, “You’ll be alright love, Loofa will get you home. I’ll have little Lumin home with you soon, we’ll all be home soon.”

Nodding silently, Tingles struggled to keep her eyes open, “Soon…”

The carriage lifted off and swiftly disappeared into the sky and across the forest, back towards Smiling Borders. One of the minotaurs lumbered over, it was Heavy Hoof,

“Lord Fairlight, what are your orders?”

I hefted my war scythe and smiled, nodding to Shadow who had her axe ready on her back, her eyes burning like the sun,

“We go forward my friend, always forward. Fortune favours the bold.”

“How are we to find your son?”

“I have a little something to help us”, I lifted Starswirls beacon up before him. Tingles must have taken it with her hoping it would lead her to our son, instead it had nearly led her to her death. Now, it was my turn. Rotating on the end of its chain, the ethereal light shone brightly toward the portal, “It shows the path to what its wearer desires most," I said levelly, "and right now, I want my son back.”

Shadow prodded the prostrate changeling, “Him?”

I curled my lip, eyeing the thing, “I think we’ve got all we’re going to get from it.”

Heavy Hoof scratched his stubbly chin, “Want me to kill it?”

I shook my head, smiling, “No. Let him go.”

There was a chorus of shocked mutterings from behind us. I cast my blue eyed gaze on them, silencing the dissent in a heartbeat,

“You heard me Heavy Hoof, I said let him go”

Reluctantly, the bulky minotaur brought the stricken creature to its hooves and I removed the ice from its legs, leaning down to stare into its insectoid eyes. I grinned, white mist dripping from between my teeth, “Run…”

The thing looked at me and tried its useless wings before turning to look into the forest. I snarled at its hesitation, “I SAID RUN!”

It didn’t need telling twice. The changeling held its head down and charged off into the forest, quickly disappearing in a whirl of broken twigs and kicked up grass and ferns. A pair of glowing feral green eyes stared at me from the darkness, the hollow wooden click clacking, inquisitive and questioning. I smiled and nodded to my new ally; after all, sharing was what friends did.

We headed for the portal, filing through one after the other, Shadow and I sharing a kiss before going through. The last sound I heard from the forest was the lonely cry of a timber wolf in the distance. I looked back momentarily and smiled to myself, justice had been served…deliciously.

Chapter Seven - Under a Green Sky

CHAPTER SEVEN

UNDER A GREEN SKY

Travelling through these portals was very much a hit and miss affair with how it affected you on the other side. The trip to the human world had resulted in a rapid evacuation of my stomach contents, this time though, I hoped I’d be able to keep everything down. More worrying, was that I had no idea where it lead, only that Lumin was in danger and needed me. Thank Luna that Tingles would be getting help at the Tavern, and that white mare…damn it all, whenever I tried to think of her my mind reeled. Whatever she’d done to me, she’d really fucked me up but good. Right now though, I had to concentrate on the job at hoof.

Exiting the portal was all but instantaneous. In the blink of an eye, I emerged with Shadow by my side and the warriors already arrayed in ranks before us. The first thing that struck me was the light here; it had a peculiar green tinge to it that bathed the world with a sickly hue. The ground, the trees, everything looked…well, ‘ill’. There were no signs of the changelings, in fact the area around the portal was completely empty. Strange, why was there nopony here?

Shadow looked about her shaking her mane irritably, “I don’t like this place. It feels wrong.”

“I know,” I said scanning the area around us, “it’s like it’s shielded. In fact…” I stared up at the sky and a shimmer of magical energy flickered across is momentarily, “…it is”.

This would explain why we hadn’t seen changelings for such a long time. The damned things had been sealed away, yet here they were, able to enter Equestria through this portal. Come to think about it, what the hell was a portal doing in the middle of nowhere? The ones I’d seen had been deliberately placed, either a long time ago or recently, by the smugglers. This one was in the middle of a bloody forest, so…

An image of the white mare flashed through my mind again; the smugglers, Velvet Cream, the commissioner, the attack on Equestria...

“My goddesses…” I breathed, “Shadow, this whole thing…the portal, the attack on Celestia and the wedding. Somepony’s set this damned thing up to use the changelings as a game changer.”

The portal sat behind me, shimmering with that now familiar silvery light. The engravings, the construction…this was all new. It wasn’t some ancient portal somepony had stumbled upon, somepony had manufactured this and whoever it was, was damned skilled. I had a horrible feeling we were out of depth, and massively so.

One of the griffins walked up to us, bowing, “My lord, may I have your permission to scout ahead?”

I nodded, “Yes, but keep as low a profile as possible, I don’t know if they’re aware we’re here or not. If they’re in the dark, let’s try to keep it that way.”

The winged creature nodded and returned to her fellows, issuing orders. Shadow nuzzled me, “Lumin…”

“I know, love”, I smiled, “See? The beacon’s brighter than ever now.”

It was. Taking the lead, we fanned out in formation, the scouts watching our flanks and all of us on alert. We were in hostile territory now and there was no way I was going to be caught with my pants down out here. Not that I really wore pants all that often, but the analogy still works.

We trudged on. Some of the warriors looked tired from their exertions in the forest, others sported various injuries. If we were going to be successful, I wanted any operation here to be quick and decisive so we could get out fast. Once back in the Everfree, we’d still have to navigate the forest to reach home and if we were being pursued, we’d have a chance to evade them in there. What struck me about this place though was the bleakness of it all, the emptiness, like the land was on the verge of death but never quite tipping over into the abyss. The foliage, if you could call it that, was all dark and wilted like the tree’s, nearly dead, barely alive, an eternal half life.

I checked my supplies. Fortunately, I’d been able to bring plenty with me and I paused to retrieve a flask, suddenly realising I didn’t really need it. Curious. I scratched my chin and replaced the container. When was the last time I’d had any? Of course, I’d pushed myself to the brink healing our people in the tavern, but that was exceptional. For some reason, I didn’t have that hollow feeling that tended to follow any exertion and use of my magic, which was good. I’d have to think on this later. My pipe and a brandy would be a nice accompaniment to any thought processes, them and some chocolates. A nice mare or two would be good as well, afterwards…

Shadow nudged me, “Love?”

“Hmmm?”

She motioned to the green tinged sky. One of the scouts was returning, a hippogriff male by the looks of it. I nodded to him, “Report”.

“My lord, enemy forces are massed ahead. I kept low as you ordered. I don’t believe they saw me.”

“Good. Estimated numbers?”

“I couldn’t say for certain, they were massed tightly. I would certainly estimate several hundred including some larger ones I believe are leading them.”

Heavy Hoof strode over, “My lord?”

I looked at our warriors. Although quite capable of taking on a larger force, there were so many of the changelings we could be overwhelmed. Heavy Hoof rubbed at a bandage on his arm. Everypony had been hurt during the fighting, even with my wendigo powers…

“Scout!”

The hippogriff bowed, “My lord?”

“Show me where the enemy are, the rest of you wait here. Shadow, Heavy Hoof, keep a lookout but make sure these warriors get some rest.”

We took to the air; the half pony, half eagle creature a strange sight before me. Not that I had any room to talk really, he probably thought I was just as odd. His pony hind quarters bobbing along, blended seamlessly into the feathered forelegs and head. Like I’d seen with many of the griffins, he carried a quiver of short throwing spears and a curved sword. Add to that lethal looking hooked beak and claws, he was a force to be reckoned with. I would have to spend more time with the enigmatic denizens of Smiling Borders, it was my home after all.

Ahead of us, the land rose sharply and then dropped away into a deep valley. Both of us stopped and dropped quietly to the ground whereupon we shimmied forward to peer over the edge to the sights below.

I took a moment to take it all in. The hippogriff hadn’t exaggerated their numbers, if nothing else he’d underestimated. Arrayed in the valley was a force of changelings the likes of which I’d never seen. This was an army, not just a specialized attack force for an assault on the royal wedding, no, it was too big for that. The black sea of creatures buzzed and clicked, the sound of such a mass of the things creating a wall of noise which reminded me of waves on the shoreline, an inexorable force that would crash upon Equestria leaving nothing in its wake. Tingles and the white mare were an indication of what awaited everypony if this lot were unleashed. I watched them for a moment longer before creeping back from the edge and taking a deep breath. Maroc’s memories flared, images of the great battle, the final battle, the sheer numbers involved. This…this was an invasion force.

We flew as fast as we could back to our own force, its size pitiful in comparison to the changelings. As much as I respected their strength and fighting prowess, we didn’t stand a hope in hell against such numbers. Heavy Hoof watched me as I approached, the fellow was emanating anticipation like a furnace, “My lord, you have news?”

I nodded, taking the hulking minotaur, Nimble and Shadow to one side out of earshot of the warriors.

“Heavy Hoof, how many warriors do we have here?”

The great beast scratched his chin and held up his claws, muttering under his breath, “Uhhhh…”

Oh goddesses, what a question to ask him! Nimble placed a hoof on the minotaurs elbow, “Its okay big guy”, he turned to me, “One hundred and fifty, give or take a few.”

“Fit for battle?”

“Around a hundred, the other fifty are sporting some nasty injuries”

Heavy Hoof snorted, “They can fight!”

“I know”, I nodded to him, “But by my count we’re outnumbered around eight to one.”

Shadow whinnied, “Too many. We are too few”

“Even with my magic and yours, we’d be overwhelmed” I said looking at the warriors arrayed before us.

Heavy Hoof hefted his axe, “We are strong, they are weak, frail. We could attack, surprise them, we could win”

“Maybe…” I sat on my haunches and checked my saddle packs, “I am inclined to agree; speed, aggression and surprise would be of great advantage to us. However, what happens after the first few minutes, when the others have rallied? We would be swamped and many of our warriors are already hurt.”

I shook my head, “No, my friend. If we fail, Smiling Borders would be open to attack and my family, your family, would be drained of everything that makes them who they are and left to die. You saw what they did to Tingles, would you want that to happen again?”

The minotaur slumped forward, “No, my lord”

Nimble’s ears pricked up, “I say we lay charges on the portal, bail out and leave these fuckers to rot in their prison.”

“What if there’s more than one portal?” I replied, “How long before somepony returns to repair what we destroyed? You saw that portal, it’s new, some bastards are making them. No…no, we have to stop them. The question of course, is how.”

Shadow reached back into an equipment pannier strapped to her armour. Where had she got that from? I don’t remember her bringing it with her from the Withers. I’d have to spend more time with her when we got back…if we got back.

The midnight coated thestral pulled out a white leather pouch and tossed it to me, her eyes burning brightly, “Etrida”

Nimble looked at the bag like it contained a snake, “Etrida?”

“She’s a dragon, the elder dragon for that matter. She helped us get back here, but to ask her to come here and fight for us?” I smiled at Shadow, “That’s quite a different matter, love.”

Heavy Hoof sat down and retightened his bandages, “A dragon? My ancestors fought with dragons, they are strong.”

They were that, I’d fought them myself and nearly died in the process. If it hadn’t been for Shadow, I wouldn’t be here now. That wonderful thestral had rushed in to save my bacon and…

I picked up the bag and grinned to myself…it could work…

“We need to think tactically, everypony, but first things first. A tactical withdrawal is in order.”

Heavy Hoof looked like a vein was going to pop on his forehead, opening his mouth to protest, until he saw the look in my eyes. I hefted my scythe, “Don’t worry my friend, your time for glory is near.”

He smiled.

Leaving a small contingent of scouts on the changeling side of the portal, we took station back in the Everfree.

Back on the other side of the portal, I tapped my communications device, “Brandy? Fairlight, you receiving?”

A few moments later, a strained voice came back, “We’re here, just. The damned things are everywhere Fairlight, the army’s backing us up but there’s just no end to them.”

Damn it all, it looked like we’d missed the boat, “I’m sorry to say, that’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve found a portal into their homeland, there’s nearly a thousand of the things here and they look like they mean business.”

“How many troops do you have?” He shouted back over the sound of magical weapons fire.

“Not enough. The troops mitre’s sent will be at the village by now and I want to keep them there in case more of these damned things turn up. Brandy, how many MAD’s can you get to my position and how fast?”

“MAD’s? Fairlight, I…damn it, fine, I’ll get you what we’ve got. We can’t transport them by magic, the bloody things aren’t that stable, not to mention the distance. I’ll get my fastest fliers on the job, and if you can have one of your team meet us at the village to guide them in, that would speed things up.”

“I want a special order too…”

Brandy was livid by the end of the conversation but agreed to my requests. I could only hope they’d arrive in time. Those things would be on the move soon and the tension was almost palpable amongst our troops. I used the opportunity to administer to wounds and meet the warriors I would be fighting with. Griffins, hippogriffs and minotaurs, were the ones who made up the bulk of the forces. The ones I hadn’t conversed with, oddly enough, were the ones of my own species…ponies.

Several armoured stallions and mares were sat smoking and playing dice at the edge of the clearing by their stacked weapons. At my request, the troops had started clearing ground around the portal and were beginning to array sharpened stakes, spike pits and just as importantly, to take it in turns to have a break from all the work. These warriors, as strong as they were, needed a moment to relax and restore some of their energy. I was all too aware that they’d been fighting for hours and although they probably wouldn’t admit it, some were clearly at the point of exhaustion.

Around us, the clamour of chopping and digging continued.

“Evening ponies”, I said trotting up. One of them looked up at me and rose to his hooves, saluting smartly, “My lord”.

I shook my head, releasing the power and giving myself a chance to relieve a little tension, “Please, my name’s Fairlight. If you want to be formal, fine, but just not right now, okay?”

He looked a little unsure, “As you wish my…Fairlight.”

I motioned him to continue, “Oh…I’m Dusk Haze, this is Thistle, Blue Rummy and Jasper Star.”

I greeted them all, one by one, noting their names, faces, every detail that I could. These weren’t nameless, faceless fodder for the grinding wheels of war; they were ponies, creatures with thoughts, feelings and lives of their own. I couldnt, and wouldn’t forget that. Maroc’s memories tugged at me, he’d known his warriors, each and every one. He may not have recalled every name, but he knew them none the less.

“How are you keeping up?” I asked taking out my pipe.

Blue Rummy scrubbed her mane, “We’re all a little tired, but we’ll be alright.”

“Yeah!” Thistle added, “We’ll make our ancestors proud. Nopony fucks with the four winds tribe”.

Dusk Haze nodded, “We’ll be ready my lord, don’t worry”

Jasper Star, the chestnut coated mare sporting numerous dents and scrapes along her armour sat quietly, staring at the ground.

“Jasper?” I asked, “What about you?”

The quiet unicorn mare didn’t move her head but stared up at me with intense yellow eyes, “We won’t run if that’s what you want to know.”

Something in the way she looked at me, her eyes…“I didn’t expect you to, Jasper.”

She spat on the ground, “We’re not fucking cowards, we don’t fucking run from a fight. I won’t run”. Blue Rummy gave her a consoling look and placed a comforting foreleg on her, she whispered “We don’t run…”

I had a sudden image of a lone pony on a hilltop, standing strong and proud against the storm coming towards him, the banner of the moon held in his hooves. In Jaspers eyes I saw the same determination, the acceptance of fate, of death. This one, these ponies, we were all one…all of us.

Thistle stood, “Excuse me my lord Fairlight, it’s our turn at the defences.”

I nodded, watching them go. As Jasper stood to leave, I stopped her with an outstretched hoof. She turned to look at me, the baleful yellow eyes staring into me.

“He didn’t run”, I said quietly, “When others did…he stood as immovable as a mountain in the storm.”

She didn’t look at me, “Do you know his name?”

I shook my head sadly, “My memories aren’t complete from my ancestors. I mostly recall pieces, fragments. The final battle is one of the largest pieces.”

Jasper Star’s voice was distant, as if she were looking into the past,

“Moon Rise”

I looked up at the sky, Luna’s moon was disappearing now, the sun beginning its journey above the forest canopy, the light catching the edges of the mountain. It was quietly beautiful, sombre but with a melancholy feel that echoed my heart right then…

“Moon Rise”, I murmured.

Jasper bobbed her head and trotted after her friends. Moon Rise; I wouldn’t forget, the tribe would never forget.

Hours passed, the rows of lethally sharp stakes we’d set up presenting batteries of death and injury to the unwary. Pit traps and other ingeniously cruel creations were liberally sprinkled around the approach to the portal. It wouldn’t stop them all, not the numbers involved, but we had one advantage. As big as this portal was, it would act as a bottle neck for the changelings, like the restriction in an hour glass. Part of the problem however, was that they could fly and we had precious little air cover.

My musings were interrupted by two of our scouts flying in from the south. Everypony paused to watch before Heavy Hoof bellowed at them to get back to work. Nimble shouted over to me excitedly, “Captain, its Loofa!”

The Pegasus flew into the middle of the clearing, carefully landing his cargo and trying to catch his breath. I’d never seen him so winded, “Somepony…ask for…a special delivery?”

I clopped him on the shoulder and checked the cargo under the thick tarpaulins, “Heavy, get your boys over here and get these things into the entrenchments. Nimble, take charge of your team and get them ready.”

“Aye Captain”, he replied, saluting. I turned back to Loofa, clopping him on the shoulder

“Thanks my friend, any news?”

He nodded, “Tingles and Annabelle are doing okay, the doc’s wanted to move them to Manehattan but they’ve refused to go.”

That sounded like Tingles. As for ‘Annabelle’, I wasn’t so sure.

He continued, “The detectors have been going off all over Equestria, converging on the palace. Shining Armour believes an attack is imminent but he’s confident the shield will keep them out.”

I nodded to the portal, “Unless somepony leaves the door open”

Loofa nodded then hoofed me a heavy bag, “Careful with that”.

Opening it up, I peered inside. A box of innocent looking egg like devices sat nestled inside their packaging; eggs awaiting hatching. I shook my head, smiling to myself, “Loofa, you never fail to deliver”.

“Ha!” he chortled, “You can always rely on the Loofa”

Laughing, I helped him unload the last of the supplies and sent one of the hippogriffs through the portal with orders for the scouting party. It wouldn’t be long now.

“Any chance of reinforcements?” I asked Loofa, as I carried a box of gear over to a minotaur who was directing distribution. He shook his head,

“Everyponies out there trying to contain those damned bugs. The army’s being pulled back from outposts but the poor sods have been mostly ceremonial for years. Training, numbers, equipment, you’ve seen the state of them.”

He was right, the equipment they had was mostly archaic. Saying that, the majority of the warriors here were armed and armoured like something from the pages of ancient history. Dishing out PDW’s and pulse guns now with no training would probably lead to a massacre of our own troops. Thank the goddesses that Nimble and Loofa were here to help.

I tapped out my pipe on my hoof and stowed it back in my pack, I don’t think Tingles could complain about my habit right now. No, she’d probably let me have it later at full volume when all this insanity had come to an end. Smiling wryly to myself I looked up at the sky, it was dawn…

I’m not a particularly religious pony, it’s rather hard to be when your gods live in a palace up on a mountainside where you can call in and see them pretty much any time. It doesn’t help either when one of them turns out to be a complete bitch. Some of the warriors from the village still worshipped Nightmare Moon as the one true goddess and said prayers to her in their own way. Myself…well, Luna may have been that very same vanquished being from one thousand years ago, but now, I wasn’t so sure. Somewhere inside, I felt that the real Luna, her altered self like the wendigo inside me, was never that far away. In some ways, I wished I could have seen her before the battle, but why? Was I expecting to die? No…this was something different. On some level she was somepony special to me, one who had loved my ancestor, one for whom, should history have been kinder to them, could have taken a very different path in life.

I shook myself and took a deep breath. Most of the work was done now and melancholy thoughts wouldn’t serve me well in the coming battle. I pictured the princess in my mind and thanked her for her kindness and help. If she could hear my thoughts, she didn’t let on, but still…

The portal shimmered and one of the scouts flew in looking around urgently before spotting me and flying in for a quick landing, “Lord Fairlight”, she took a breath, “the enemy are approaching.”

“How many?”

“All of them”

I glanced around at our defences before turning back to her, “How long before they get here?”

Right on cue, the rest of the scouting party flew in and took positions. The scout ruffled her feathers, “Estimate around twenty minutes before their advance party arrive, my lord.”

I nodded my thanks to her and turned to face Heavy Hoof and Nimble. Loofa stood with his team watching close by,

“This is it everypony, get your warriors in position.”

I walked into the middle of the glade and watched the portal, the way the silvery liquid magic rippled and sparkled; it was bewitching. Sunlight was just starting to catch the edges of the structure and glinted off the armour and weapons of the warriors who watched me intently. Nimble waggled his eyebrows at me and I turned to see that I was suddenly, and rather unnervingly, the centre of attention. Oh Luna’s furry arse! I knew what they wanted, it was some bloody pep talk from ‘Lord Fairlight’, something to give them courage and drive in the coming battle. Damn it! What the bloody hell did I know of these things? Maroc’s memories gave me brief hints, suggestions, but each one of them had been tailored to the situation and all of them, every single one…came from the heart.

I breathed deeply, steadying my breath, sweeping my gaze around the clearing, taking them all in. I gave them my trademark Fairlight smile.

“Warriors of the Four Winds, you are here with me today not as my soldiers, but as my brothers and sisters. You accepted me, a stranger to your home, as the new lord of the fortress in the mountains, of your tribe. I knew little of our people and little of my past, but now…”

I raised a hoof and swept it around in an arc, “I can say truly that I feel as much a part of the tribe as I do of my own family. You are my family, each and every one of you. I may not know all your names, but I know your faces and I know your heart. I will gladly fight by your side and defend you all with my life.”

“This coming battle may decide the future of Equestria, of our very existence. Your loved ones and my own, are depending on us to stop these creatures, to throw them back into their own lands and make our home safe once more.”

I looked at Jasper Star, “Many of us share ties with our past, with a history we will never forget, but I say we must forge ahead, holding the past dear, but pushing boldly into a new future. We have a chance here, an opportunity to restore the honour, the glory of our people and home, to rebuild and be strong once more. I say we seize that chance by the balls and take what is ours.”

There was a loud murmuring from the warriors, a general nodding of heads and smiles on weary faces.

I unleashed the magic within me, feeling it surge through my body, wings bursting from my back, a shuddering force of anger and hatred flooding my heart and soul. My vision tinged blue and I reared on my hind legs holding my war scythe high above me, the winds of winter swirling around me,

“Brothers and Sisters!” I cried, my wendigo voice deep and frigid as the mountain air, “Bring down the wrath of the four winds upon our foe, join me in the song of war, sing the refrain of battle in your hearts.”

I snorted and shook my mane, grinning, “They have brought us woe, let us not be poor hosts…”

The first of the creatures emerged from the portal, its head dropping away from its shoulders, the spray coating my chest. I laughed, the sound rolling out across the clearing, “…LET US BRING THEM DEATH!”

A cheer rose from the warriors of the four winds, every weapon ready, every eye keen, hearts and minds focussed. War was upon us, and we revelled in it, our ancestors would be proud.

A tidal wave of black flooded through the portal, some flying, most running, straight into a storm of bolts, arrows and magical energy weapon fire. Although we had few PDW’s and pulse guns, at this range their fire was murderous. Those that made it through the hailstorm of fire tried to get through the ever increasing mass of bodies, through the stakes and pits, only to be cut down by the axes and swords of the waiting warriors.

The discipline of our tribe was impressive. Despite the excitement and adrenalin of battle, they kept their heads, making every shot, every thrust and cut count. Nimble and Loofa kept up a steady crossfire across the portal concentrating on the fliers; we couldn’t let any of them get past us, the next target on their way into Equestria would most likely be the village, our home.

Shrieks, cries and screams resounded across the forest, rending the morning air as the bodies of the changelings were rent before us. Blood, black as oil, fell like rain, making my heart soar to heights of ecstasy I’d never known. Life…Death…this was where a wendigo lived, this was the heart of the tribe. Celestia had been right, war was the natural element of our people, and looking at the eyes and expressions of my warriors, my brothers and sisters, they understood it too.

I laughed aloud, leaping the barricade and gutting the changelings that rushed me, struggling over the bodies of their comrades. One by one they fell, their charge endless, unceasing…

Faster and faster, more and more of the things came through, the clearing filling with dead and dying, but to these creatures there appeared to be a single minded drive, like some monstrous hive mind behind their willingness to die on our axes, swords and spears.

If death was what they so desired, they had come to the right place. We would give them their fill.

One of the griffins shouted down to me, “Lord Fairlight, the portal!”

The flow creatures slowed momentarily and we looked on, watching keenly as huge claws appeared around its edges with nails like scythe blades and skin as black as coal. Hauling itself through the opening was a creature the likes of which I’d never seen; a hideous, terrifying thing of spikes, teeth and hate. It shambled in on two tree trunk thick legs, roaring its defiance as the pulse gun fire danced across its hide.

I shouted my orders, “Loofa, Nimble, keep fire your fire on the changelings, ignore the big bastard…” I grinned, “…he’s mine”

I unleashed a blast of sparkling white mist into the clearing, waist high, freezing and laced with magic. The thing, dragging a massive iron club behind it, saw me and swung. For its size the beast was incredible strong, but it was slow, far too slow. The ice began to form on its body, cracking and snapping as the creature tried to get at me. My scythe bit into its skin, barely making much impression on its thick hide. I weighed up my options; this would require something a little more aggressive than blade work.

I took a deep breath and let the magic build as the creature trying to free itself from the icy prison. My magic peaked and with a scream of released power and rage, a beam of purest magic lanced from me and at my adversary. The battle raged on…

Flooding around the things legs, the changelings continued their attack, none of them seeming to notice their juggernaut had stopped its advance. The beast stared at me, then looked down. I grinned at the look on its face; the hole was so large I could have flown through it and finally, the things brain realised...it was already dead.

The ground shook when the enormous corpse fell, its size so grotesque that it managed to smash some of the barricades and with a hissing shriek and howl, the changelings began surging toward the gap.

“Now!” I shouted to Loofa and Nimble, “Now’s your time!”

The sacking and branches were pulled back and the multi barrelled machines swivelled to face the attacking horde. Nimble and Loofa, more experienced with such things, brought a new level of violence to the proceedings.

Some of ours warrior stood staring at the carnage before them, the metallic whine and roar of leaden death sweeping through the changelings, filling the air with body parts and guts. To see these things in action, to watch them killing…this wasn’t war, this was murder. Marocs calm voice echoed through my memories, ‘victory is victory, my descendant, however it is achieved’.

I stood there, still and quiet atop the pile of changeling dead. It was hard to find a spot that wasn’t approaching waist deep in them. The ground of the clearing was a virtual lake of black blood, many of the things twitching or crawling about only to be silenced with a sword, axe or spear. The multi-barrelled guns clanked in dawn air as they cooled, allowing the teams a chance to reload them. Loofa shook his head, “Not many rounds left, Captain, these things eat through them. Should be more on the way…hopefully”

Spreading my wings, I flew across the scene of carnage to the portal. Taking a deep breath, I plunged through it. Before me was a sea of black and green, interspersed with more of the giant club wielding creatures and larger pony type things. They would be on us in moments. Quickly, I ducked back through to the clearing, it was nearly time.

Screams and shouts reverberated around me as my scythe swung, my magic flaring. Frozen, burned and cut changelings piled up around me, more of the giant creatures clambering through, one after another. The tide was peaking. Soon…soon we would be swamped in the sea of chittering black horrors.

I shouted over to the hippogriff, “NOW! DO IT NOW!”

She nodded and flew to the top of the portal, landing on its apex and pulled out the detonator. Flicking the switch, the brave warrior ducked to throw it into the portal when a wild swing from one of the giants took her in the side and flung her broken body across the clearing and into the trees.

“Fuck!” I shouted trying to cut my way to the device, but no matter how hard I fought, it was hopeless. The ground and air were both thick with a solid mass of changelings. I was giving them everything I had but despite cutting them down in droves, they just kept coming, more and more. To my horror, I saw our lines begin to falter under the inexorable tide, our warrior’s struggling to keep the defensive line. Heavy Hoof bellowed as a wickedly curved sword pierced his shoulder, the mighty beast bringing his axe down to cleave the changeling adversary nearly in two.

Loofa and Nimble, their main weapons out of ammunition, had resorted to their pulse guns, the things all but glowing as they overheated with the excessive firing. Despite it all, regardless of the death dealt to them, the changelings surged forward, trampling their dead and wounded in their single minded determination to break through our lines. If this kept up…I looked at Nimble and he stared back, face ashen, eyes wide with the adrenalin coursing through his body…we were losing.

From the corner of my eye I saw a flash of silver and black armour, somepony running and leaping over the corpse of one of the giants. In the blink of an eye, they picked something up and with a toss of their head, sent the thing in through the portal. I watched them turn, try to run back, and fall, a spear lodged in their side. I cried out and flung my rage and hate at the things before me, even as the fire storm of magic blew through the portal with the strength a hurricane.

The world screamed around us in that inferno of green fire and death. Lives that ended in the initial flash were the fortunate ones, the others…My goddesses, what had we done…

Burning and shrieking changelings ran at us, flames pouring from their half melted bodies. Putting them down was a mercy. Many crawled, whimpered and were sent to the next world by our steel. The stink of burnt changeling was something I will never forget, not for as long as I live, it was terrible…simply terrible.

The warriors of the four winds tribe staggered amongst the wounded enemy, dispatching them at will. No prisoners were taken here, no mercy was even considered, it was simply a job that needed doing. Taking advantage of the lull, I passed the piles of dead and made my way to the edge of the portal. She had to be here, she had to be!

I pulled the dead creatures aside, kicking the remains of their burnt and mangled bodies away to reach my goal. A chestnut leg, still twitching, emerged from the charnel pit before me. I shouted for help and two of the minotaurs lumbered over to help move the badly burned body of one of the giants to reveal the mercifully still breathing form of the pony below. Heavy Hoof rushed over to help and between us we carried the wounded mare to the makeshift dressing station one of the griffins had set up. He cleared his table and we rested our wounded comrade of the pallet.

Jasper looked up at me, pain keen in her eyes, “I didn’t run, did I?” she coughed, “I didn’t…”

I smiled down at her, “You didn’t run Jasper, you saved us, all of us.”

The spear protruding through her had nearly run her through completely. Only her armour had protected her from being crushed and, perversely, the giant’s body had shielded her from being incinerated in the blast. I nodded to the griffin medic, indicating the spear.

“NO!” she cried out, grabbing my barding and pulling me down, “No…you do it…”

I gazed into her eyes, “I’m not a doctor, Jasper. I can use my magic to help you, but not when the weapon is inside you still.”

“I don’t…” she gasped a breath, “I don’t care…you’re my lord, please…if I’m going to die here, I want you to see me, watch me…I won’t run…”

Motioning to the warriors around us, I closed my eyes momentarily. Gritting my teeth, I spoke levelly, “Hold her down”.

Each of the warriors took a leg. She looked like a toy next to the huge minotaurs, but she was still one of them, one of us. I marvelled at her bravery, “Jasper, I wont lie to you, this is going to hurt.”

She gritted her teeth, nodding and gave me the oddest smile I’d seen in a long time, “Do it…”

I took the haft of the spear, twisting it, rotating the thing as I pulled. Marocs memories were guiding my hooves, advising me on how to remove the vile weapon. They didn’t prepare me for her cries of pain…

Jasper gasped and whimpered, desperately trying to keep quiet, not to lose face in front of her brothers and sisters. I leaned down and looked her straight in the eyes as I pulled, “Open your mouth”

In a haze of agony, Jasper did as I commanded and I clamped my mouth over hers, pouring my life essence into her as the spear came free. The mare thrashed and shook, her eyes never leaving mine but with a wild look of fear, anger and pain…feral. Smoke poured from the wound as the magic went to work and slowly, gradually, the flesh began to knit, the hide returning to its proper place. Jaspers tongue lapped at the fluid, taking it in, repairing and restoring her life.

Moving away from her, I staggered slightly, the loss of so much energy hit me hard. Loofa tapped me on the shoulder, a flask held in his outstretched hoof, “Thirsty?”

I could have kissed him but was taken with a loud bout of laughing, a deep echoing laugh of relief, joy and…

Damn it…I had to see for myself. Downing the flasks contents, I stowed my scythe and rushed to the portal, followed by worried shouts from the warriors. I didn’t care, I had to know, to see what had…oh dear sweet goddesses…

The world beyond was fire.

Nothing could have lived through this, and nothing had. A molten sea of black corpses, almost impossible to recognise, had melded together in the heat from the blast of the multiple MAD’s. Jasper had indeed saved us, the cost to the enemy of such bravery had been immeasurable. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but bodies, mostly massed by the portal, but many flung away by the blast, rendered into chunks of bone, limb and entrails. It was like hells gates had opened and I had wandered in to see its sights.

Hoofsteps behind me caught my attention, but I couldn’t look away from that dreadful vista.

“Oh Celestia…” Nimble breathed, “What have we done…”

The spell finally broken, I turned back to the portal giving him a hard look, “We’ve saved our home, Corporal, that’s what we’ve done.”

Chapter Eight - Heart of Ice

CHAPTER EIGHT

HEART OF ICE

Back in the clearing, the warriors had begun to repair the barricades, clearing the dead and readying weapons for an onslaught that wasn’t coming. Heavy Hoof looked up from bandaging a wounded stallion, “My lord?”

I stood in the centre of the clearing, spread my wings and took a deep breath. My scythe held high above, the blade swung out and I shouted my exhaustion, my relief, my jubilation to the morning sky,

“VICTORY!”

For a moment, for that briefest of seconds, there was silence. Then the bellows, shout and howls began, the cries of the victorious filling the forest air. Weapons covered in the evidence of their grisly work held above their heads, the warriors of the tribe of the four winds savoured their survival and the defeat of our enemy.

Loofa stumbled over to me, the blast had singed his fur and he winced slightly in pain, “Is that it? Are there more? Dear Celestia, Captain…I thought we’d had it for a minute there.”

I looked at Jasper who was busy being checked over by the medic despite her attempts at pushing him away.

Taking another deep breath, I let it out in a long slow exhale before answering the pegasus stallion, “Want to have a look for yourself my friend?”

He looked to Nimble who was staring at the ground, his eyes like saucers, “No”, he said quietly, “I don’t think that necessary, Captain”

One of the griffins landed beside me, “Doesn’t look like any got through my lord and…” she tilted her head smiling, “If you look to the east, you’ll see a wonderful sight indeed.”

Everypony followed her gaze and there, sure enough, was a large group of army sky carriages with a number of agency ponies amongst them. A familiar face appeared before me, stepping down and brushing the dust off his agency barding, “Agent Nox, or should I say, Lord Fairlight, now?”

“Hello Brandy”

He went to shake my hoof, but instead I grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, “Thank the goddess you’re safe and thank you for coming here. Is Smiling Borders safe? Tingles?”

Brandy took a step back, grinning, “She’s safe, the village is safe, and as for you…hell fire, Fairlight, you look like shit.”

I raised an eyebrow, smirking, “Missed my morning shower. Bloody agency inefficiency, that’s what it is”

The stallion clopped me on the shoulder, “No inefficiency from you though, and I thought we’d had it bad.”

“Had it bad?”

“There was another portal.”

“Dear Luna, I feared as much.”

“Hundreds of them.” He said scrubbing his mane, “They attacked Canterlot in droves, after one of them had impersonated the princess and attacked princess Celestia.”

Loofa and Nimble began shouting at once, which Brandy stopped by raising a hoof, “She’s alright, the elements of harmony saved the day. A young mare in particular, a miss Sparkle, Captain Armour’s sister would you believe.”

I nearly fell over, the little librarian mare? “Twilight Sparkle?” I asked.

“Yes, do you know her?”

I shook my head, I didn’t want anypony to find out that she’d gone behind Celestia’s back to help me, “Not really, Brandy. She lived in Ponyville when I was in the watch there.”

He scratched mane and looked about him, “There’s carriages here to take the wounded back to the village, we’ve proper medical teams and tents set up. Our ponies will secure this area now, so you can go and rest up a while.”

“No…I can’t Brandy, my son’s still out there somewhere”

Brandy looked at me in shock, “But Fairlight, you’re in no fit state, at least have a break!”

I wiped a piece of cloth over my scythe, “I’ll take a break when my son’s home with his mother and I. If it was your little Brandy, wouldn’t you do the same?”

He shook his head, “You amaze me, Fairlight, seriously you amaze me. In answer to your question though, yes…yes, I would do the same. Although our orders don’t include punitive raids into changeling territory, I suspect Celestia will be taking care of that once she’s fully recovered.”

“I’m not waiting for that” I said quietly, “Lumin won’t wait. Have you seen what these things do to ponies, Brandy?”

By the look in his eyes he knew all too well, “Yes, and far too much of it. Look, Fairlight, get something to eat and drink, your warriors need something too. Good goddesses pony, look at them, they look dead on their hooves!”

He smiled at me, “Look, get the wounded away and take this opportunity to resupply and fill your canteens and bellies. Remember, Piss Poor Planning…”

“…Promotes Piss Poor Performance”, I finished. He was right, charging in could get us killed and who would help Lumin then?

“I wouldn’t worry too much old friend,” I said wiping my face with my foreleg, “I won’t be going in blind, but I’ll take up your kind offer of supplies, food and a nice cup of something hot.”

Brandy passed me a cigarette which I took gratefully, “Any thoughts on what to do next?” he asked offering me a light.

I drew on the sweet tobacco and exhaled a small smoke ring, feeling my muscles relax slightly, “Oh, yes”.

Grinning up at the rising sun in the sky, I raised an eyebrow, fixing him with a blue eyed gaze, “There’s always a plan ‘B’”.

A steady stream of chariots, carriages and supplies began to arrive shortly after we’d finished evacuating the wounded. The army ponies set up a defensive perimeter around the portal, including a large number of magical energy weapons and even human made firearms. Regulars and Royal Guard alike mixed with the tribes’ warriors surprisingly well, although in fairness I think it was more down to Loofa and Nimble who acted as a go-between between the groups. Distrust and wariness were tempered in the melting pot of facing a common foe, and I was particularly impressed with the re-armament of the army troopers with pulse guns rather than cross bows. Many of the Royal Guard still carried melee weapons despite sporting a contrasting mix of newly manufactured beam guns. Old habits die hard I suppose.

On the subject of contrast, the tribe stood out like a sore hoof, and not just because of the armour. Many of them had a certain look about them, a hardness and distance that only comes from facing a foe on the field of battle. Our fight had been up close and very personal; ramming a bladed weapon into your enemy, one who is only literally inches away from you is something you never forget. The smell of them, the sound of steel against steel, the look in their eyes as their life leaves them. These were things that all us would have to live with now, a truly terrible burden for anypony.

Brandy re-appeared with an army officer in tow, “Lord Fairlight, this is Colonel Graceful Quartz.” He held out a hoof, “Colonel, Lord Fairlight of the tribe of the four winds.”

I reached out to shake her hoof and she stared down at as if it were a poisonous snake before warily accepting it, “Lord ‘Fairlight’…are you not the one we were ordered to hunt down not too long ago?”

“That’s right”, I said raising an eyebrow, “I can’t help being popular I’m afraid. I presume that the princesses have informed you of the current situation Colonel?”

Quartz looked like she’d eaten something sour. Something told me I wasn’t exactly on her favourite pony list, “Yes. Her majesty has appraised me of the situation. I can’t say I’m exactly enamoured with it, but whatever happens, and regardless of my personal thoughts on the subject, Equestria’s security is my first priority.”

“Well said Colonel!” I quipped, “But don’t worry, Equestria’s military won’t have a blemish on its name will it? That’s why we’re here, am I right?”

Brandy looked worriedly at the Colonel before swapping his attention to me, “Fairlight, you know why Equestrian forces can’t enter their domain. Regardless of the provocation, the princesses want peace with their leader and this would only escalate the situation, possibly beyond redemption.”

“Escalate it?” I laughed shaking my head, “It’s already beyond redemption Brandy, it has been from the moment they foalnapped my son.”

“I know Fairlight, and that’s why only your warriors can do this.”

“Plausible deniability, eh?”

He nodded, “You guessed it”

Turning to the Colonel, I motioned to the engineers behind her, “If you’re going to destroy the portal, I’d appreciate you doing it after I get back, Colonel Quartz.”

The officer narrowed her eyes, “If we see evidence of another major changeling incursion, then we’ll have no choice but to blow the gateway. Until that time, we’ll be waiting to hear from you. I suggest you complete your task as quickly as possible.”

I took Brandy to one side and spoke quietly so the Colonel couldn’t hear us, “Brandy, Celestia knows what we’re going to do doesn’t she?”

He nodded, “Princess Luna assured me that she does and that, even if she doesn’t necessarily give it her blessing, she understands the rescue of the child is paramount.”

“But if they’re going to ‘negotiate’ with the changelings anyway, why would she endorse this then? It seems out of character for her.”

The agency stallion peered back at the Colonel who was intently brushing dust off her uniform, “Her majesty obviously doesn’t trust them, nor do we have any guarantee that we’d get your foal back through diplomatic means. There’s some mention of Lumin being important to them for some reason and it has Celestia worried, Luna too.”

Brandy clopped me on the shoulder, “Get Lumin back safely Fairlight, Princess Luna has instructed us to wait here for you and I’ll make sure there aren’t any ‘accidents’ with the explosive charges. Unfortunately the communicators don’t work across the portal, so you’ll have to get your job done and your arse out of there as soon as you can.”

I let out a long breath and gave my legs a stretch, “Guess this is it then, time to kick some flank and save the day once again.”

“What can I say?” He laughed, “You’re good at what you do.”

Chuckling I nodded to Heavy Hoof and the others who hurried off to assemble the troops and gear, “Do me a favour, Brandy”.

“Of course, Fairlight”

“Make sure nothing happens to Tingles, okay?” I stared up at the sun wistfully, “If…you know, if I don’t come back…”

He pushed me hard with his hoof, “Don’t say it. Sometimes, thinking bad things makes them happen. If the shit hits the fan, bug out and get back here, you’re not the only one who has a ‘plan b’ my friend.”

I gave him a wink, “Give my regards to your family. We’ll be back in two shakes of a manticores tail.”

He leaned forward and embraced me briefly, making me jump in surprise, “Be safe my friend, you may be the lord of the tribe of the four winds, but you’re still a son of Equestria.”

I felt a warm feeling flush through me. I’d never seen Brandy like this. I nodded to both him and the Colonel who gave a brief nod in return,

“Warriors of the four winds”, I shouted, “Let’s move out.”

************************

We’d covered a lot of ground, the bleak and foreboding land around us more reminiscent of the Wither world than Equestria. It was hard to believe that this had once been a verdant paradise, home to the beautiful creatures that had somehow become warped into the vile things they were now.

The other portal, at least the one we knew of, had been located and locked down by the combined agency and army forces. Where it was located in this world though, was anyponies guess. Nimble, Heavy Hoof and Loofa marched alongside me, the troops in a column behind us with our scouting parties out to the flanks and front. So far, other than the blasted remains of the changeling invasion force, we’d not seen any sign of life since we’d entered this damned placed.

The green tinge of the magic shield never changed, the sky a constant palid green casting the land in a sickly haze that made me wonder how anypony could become accustomed to it. We marched in silence, occasionally checking our bearings from the glow of the beacon. How far we’d come, how far we had to go, was a complete unknown. This land just seemed to suck your vitality from you as surely as its denizens did. I hated this place, probably more than I had the Withers. Damn it all, by comparison that place was almost welcoming!

Up ahead, the land rose slightly, before dropping away into a long shallow valley. Tree’s, or at least what had probably once been regular Equestrian tree’s, lined the banks of a river and lake, along which I could make out structures of some kind.

“Captain?” Loofa held up a hoof to the sky, “Scouts coming in.”

A hippogriff landed several yards away and trotted up before bowing, “My lord, we’ve surveyed the land for several miles around and have found no sign of enemy forces.” He pointed off to the structures in the distance, “There appears to be a settlement of some kind on the edge of the lake. We’ve seen changelings there, but no military units so far.”

I nodded to the scout and held up the Beacon. The light shone brightest in the direction of the settlement and that, hopefully, would lead us straight to Lumin. Heavy Hoof strode over to me, “Lord Fairlight, your orders?”

“We will advance on the village, scouts and flanking parties to maintain lookout for enemy forces.”

I scrubbed my mane, “Remember this is a rescue mission, Heavy Hoof, getting Lumin back is why we’re here. Once we have him we’re pulling out, understood?”

“Yes, my lord”

Loofa scanned our objective with his binoculars, “Looks like a village alright. Some movement, but nothing that would suggest they’re expecting an attack.”

I took a swig from my canteen and felt a surge of anticipation, was Lumin in the village? “Keep alert everypony, I don’t want any surprises down there. We’ll use the trees to camouflage our approach. Keep alert.”

Filing through the trees in near silence, I couldn’t help but think back to the white crystal forest, the black river and the bridge; Thorn’s son…crucified on the other side awaiting his father. A wave of barely suppressed emotion rolled through me making my heart rate increase. If anything had happened to my foal, if they had touched him…

Shaking my mane, I gave a snort and focussed on the task at hoof. This was no time to speculate, this was a time for caution and readiness for action. We were in enemy lands and they had an advantage over us here, and in some strange twist of fate, we were doing what they had done to us. I wondered if they understood the concept of irony? I would bring them the concept of steel.

Through the trees, their blackened bark and dark green foliage dappling the light, we slipped as rain through a grate. The lake to our right sparkled and rippled quietly against the gravelly shore. Gradually we closed on the village until in a rush of feather and fur, one of the griffins came into view through the sparse undergrowth,

“My lord, we’d seen no enemy forces for several miles around. We estimate around eighty to one hundred changelings in the village. Several appear to be armed but there’s no sign of any alarm.”

Thank the goddess for that, it looked like we’d taken them by surprise, “Good, join the rest of the main force for now. When we’re in the village itself, keep a watch on the perimeter and keep us informed of any approaching forces.”

“Yes, my lord”.

The scout hurried to the back of the column. As he passed by, the warriors watched with a look of anticipation in their eyes. Muscles twitched as claws and hooves readied weapons for battle. Nimble, Loofa and myself trotted up to a thick group of bushes to observe the village. Sure enough, there were all the signs of what you would consider to be normal village activity; If you liked black as your predominant colour scheme.

The buildings were all slick, oily black affairs, looking as insectoid as their builders. Frightening in their alien appearance, they looked for all the world like monstrous wasps nests. The doorways of each were reminiscent of a cone, big enough for a pony to pass through but not much else, if anything they looked surprisingly fragile for dwellings. Loofa finished his observation and passed the binoculars to Nimble who grimaced,

“Is this our objective, Cap’? It doesn’t seem like the sort of place anypony would keep a hostage, it just looks like a village; a weird village of course, but still a village. Maybe we should go around it.”

“It’s a little late for that” I said quietly, “It would take hours to go around and besides…” I held up the beacon for him to see.

Nimble nodded, “Understood…”

Loofa tapped me on the shoulder hissing, “Sir! You see that?”

I grabbed the binoculars and swung them around to try and find where he was pointing,

“Where?”

Loofa’s exceptional eyesight guided me, “There, behind the first building on the right of the street”.

Panning the binoculars round, I found the building, the trees around it, a patch of thick dark bushes and…there! Movement, barely any, but the sure sign of somepony trying to sneak around in an attempt to remain undetected.

“Oh goddesses…” Loofa breathed.

“What?” Whispered Nimble, “I can’t make It out”.

I kept watching through the binoculars, “It’s a pony. These fuckers have captives…”

As I watched, I heard Heavy Hoof assembling the warriors quietly behind us. My heart hammered in my chest, adrenalin surging. I could feel my spirit begin to burn with anticipation as I watched. The pony was desperately trying to keep low and stay out of sight behind the bushes as she attempted to move away from the village.

A clicking cry and hiss from behind her caught my attention as well as the mares. Looking behind desperately, she spotted her pursuers who were already charging towards her, closing the distance with frightening speed. With a loud neigh, she bolted for the tree line, straight at us. Loofa shook his head, “She won’t make it, she looks weak and those bastards can fly”.

True enough, the changelings were on her in moments, pinning her down, their horns glowing, drawing her emotions from her tortured body. Gasping and thrashing, her movements gradually slowed until in an instant, the green glow of magic surrounding her disappeared as if turned off with a switch. Nimble lowered his pulse gun, watching for my response.

I smiled.

Raising my hoof, the magic surged through me, white fog rolling out from the trees into the space before the village. Like some mythical army of ghosts from the ancient past, the warriors of the tribe surged forward toward the village. Banners snapped in the wind and horns blew, Heavy Hoof bellowing a deafening war cry while he lead our warriors into the settlement. For myself, I made for the pony who was lying shaking on the ground, the tide of armed warriors passing around her like water around a rock.

I stepped over the remains of the changelings and passed her my canteen, “It’s alright, we’re Equestrian’s, you’re safe now.”

She looked up at me with deep bronze eyes, “Who…who are you?”

“Lord Fairlight, but that doesn’t matter now. What’s your name and why are you here?”

A medic rushed over, checking her for injuries as she spoke, “My…my names Olive Glass, I was on holiday with my family when these, these ‘things’ attacked our carriage and dragged us here. They’re still in there… some of us, the rest…the rest they…”

I lay a hoof on her shoulder, “I know ,Olive. Listen, are there any foals there? A grey unicorn with yellow eyes?”

“I…maybe…I don’t know, they split us up when we arrived. Those that were too weak, they drained and slaughtered like…like we were nothing to them.” She took a drink from my canteen, “Lord Fairlight, they’re monsters…all of them, please, help my family…I just want us to go home.”

I nodded to the medic, “Take care of her”

The village was a battleground. Screams and shrieks rose from the inhabitants as the warriors fought those foolish enough to resist. Some had fled but were swiftly brought back by the scouts and flanking parties. In short order the changelings were marched out into the clearing between the tree line and the village while our troops swept through the buildings for any who had tried to hide or any sign of prisoners.

Heavy Hoof trotted up, “Lord Fairlight, we’ve found something. You’d better come see.”

The huge minotaur had to duck through the doorway of the odd building, this one was a lot larger than the rest and it was as dark inside as the colouring of the changelings themselves. Two of our warriors were already inside with lanterns, lighting the scene of nightmares before us.

In the large room were tables, four in total, two with the motionless bodies of ponies still tied to them; one was only a young filly. They’d both been drained of their emotions to the point where their bodies had simply…stopped. The sadness and emptiness of their final moments was etched forever on their colourless faces. I swallowed. I couldn’t begin to imagine the horror they’d suffered at the hooves of these…evil…’things’. Grief tore at my heart, my soul screaming in horror and pain at the unimaginable cruelty before me.

Nimble walked up next to me, “Oh Celestia…dear sweet goddesses, what have these monsters done…”

I held up the lantern, taking a deep breath of the fetid air, illuminating the cocoons that ranged the walls, each holding a captive. Some where empty, but most held ponies, griffins, it didn’t seem to matter to these things…they were simply food.

“Captain…”

I pushed past Nimble and spoke to Heavy Hoof, “Get them out of there commander, even the dead…”

I headed for the door, fury surging through me, “Get them out!”

The changelings buzzed and hissed, huddled in a mass surrounded by warriors and sharpened steel. One of the creatures was bigger than the rest; black and green with the now noticeable holes in its slick carapace and wings.

“Who is in charge here?” I asked, fighting to keep control of my anger. The large creature looked up at me, its eyes full of contempt, “I am”, she said grinning, “…Pony”.

I walked up to the changeling, my anger flaring, vision turning blue and my teeth itching with hunger, “You have a name?”

“I am Sliver”

I glowered at the creature, my anger bubbling dangerously behind my conscious thoughts, “Sliver, I do not intend to harm your people. I only wish to recover those you have captured from our home.”

“Your home? That is our home!” she hissed at me. The rest muttered their agreement, “Equestria has shut us in here for years, for lifetimes, to starve and wither. Your princess has left us here to die.”

“Your people attacked ours, look at what they’ve done!” I waved a hoof at the pitiable creatures being lead or carried from their prison, “You view us as nothing more than food. Is that why you invaded Equestria? To feed upon our people, our friends, our families?”

“FOOL!”, she shrieked, “You ARE food! All of you are nothing compared to our people. Our queen will rule and dominate the whole of Equestria. All of you will be drained to serve her glorious majesty!”

I could almost feel the scythe on my back crying out to be freed, “Sliver”, I said in a low voice, “I will ask you once only. If you value your life and those of your people, answer truthfully.”

She sneered at me, “Your weakness shows, Equestrian. Your show of magic does not frighten me nor does is intimidate us. Ask your question then, ask and I shall answer”

I unbuckled my scythe, letting the haft slip past my hoof to rest on the gritty soil. The grain of the wood felt smooth, old, reliable. A press of the release sent the blade snaking out to lock into place, the green light glinting off its edge. Magic roiled through me, the warriors around the changelings watching me as much as their charges.

“Tell me then, changeling, where is the grey foal, the unicorn with the yellow eyes?”

Her eyes were locked on the blade, “The foal…Yes, the foal…He is the source, the one who shall give us power, the strength we need.”

“The source?”

“The foal has an inner power, an endless supply of emotion and strength to feed our queen and give her the strength to break this barrier.”

“Where is he now?”

She stared at the blade then did the worst thing she could have done…she laughed, “You think I’ll tell you? You are nothing, your people are nothing…simply cattle, cattle to be drained…”

I turned to see a foal fall in the dirt, his face covered in bruises and dried blood. He looked up at me as the hippogriff gently picked him up and placed him on his back. The small pony’s body was almost skeletal, his colour washed out and pale…he was so small…

“…you are pathetic! None of you will…”

Her mouth was still moving when her head hit the floor, my tears landing in the dirt around my hooves like crystals of frozen pain. I took a deep breath while snow began to fall around me,

“Kill them.”

“My lord?”

“Kill them all”

I stood, eyes closed, drinking in their energy until I was drowning in their released life energy. The shrieking, clicking and screams of the living mixing with those of the dying. The irony was delicious, if somewhat bitter. They had drained our energy and now I drank theirs. There could be no redemption for these evil things, they had to die, all of them…I would show them as much mercy as they had shown my people…none. Mercy was for the weak.

Nimble walked over, his grey coat spattered in gore, “Captain…”

“I know what you’re going to say Corporal and I’m only going to say this; if you want to leave, leave. I won’t stop you, but I will not allow these things to hurt another pony, not another living thing. I will find my son, I will bring him home, and anything, anypony who gets in my way will die.”

I looked at him square in the eyes, my cheeks still damp with tears. Loofa stood listening beside him, “Leave if you want to Corporal.”

The medics were tending to the freed prisoners and the doctor looked up at me shaking her head, “We have to get them out of here my lord, some of them wont last long otherwise.”

Heavy Hoof walked up beside her, “We can’t send warriors back, we must stay together”.

Loofa nodded, “Cap’, Heavy’s right, but if we keep them with us, some are going to die”

One of the freed captives was being hugged by Olive Glass who was whimpering and crying into their fur. I shook my head, “Heavy Hoof, organise a small detachment and two of our scouts. Find a sky carriage, there must be something around here we can use, and get them back to Equestria as fast as possible.

The large minotaur warrior slowly nodded his head, “Yes, my lord”

Damn these things, what the hell else was I to do? Sending them back would weaken my force but bringing them with us would be like having a millstone around our necks. We couldn’t communicate with the troops on the other side of the portal and anyway, they had been expressly forbidden from interfering. That bloody Colonel Quartz would see to that.

I held up the crystal beacon, it glowed as brightly as ever, “Get them on their way and let’s move out everypony.”

The evacuation team set off back to the portal as the rest of us moved onward, following the beacon. Nimble walked alongside me in silence for a while before speaking, “Cap’”.

“Nimble”

“What was that business about Lumin being the ‘source’?”

I pondered that for while, I’d heard the word before. Lumin was ‘the source’, the source of what? Power that the queen of the changelings was going to use to break through the barrier and attack Equestria?

I shook my mane, “He’s inherited my family’s magic, and that of Etrida as well. Luna said he would grow to be immensely strong in magic and it seems that our changeling friends want to tap into that to break free and attack our home.”

“But ‘tapping into that would mean’…”

“Draining him, yes. But from what that creature said, he was like some bottomless well for them to drain…again and again and again…”

Anger, tinged with a hint of fear for my son’s safety shivered through me and I gripped my scythe tightly in my magic. Stowing it away, I snorted, “This isn’t just about Lumin now, Corporal, I think you can see that for yourself now.”

“Yes, Sir”.

“Come on, hopefully we wont have far to travel.”

We trudged on, following the beacons light, troops in column and scouts out as our eyes and ears. Loofa flew a circuit around us, using his keen eyes to watch out for any threats. Tension was in the air but the troops were in good spirits, Heavy Hoof leading some song about females and…unicycles? I tried to make it all out but could only catch the chorus, “When she rides, she’s like the tide, she’s rolling in and she’s rolling out. Hey fi! Hey Fo! She likes a buck and a fol de do”

I couldn’t help but laugh to myself, Nimble chuckled and nudged me, “Never heard that one before, bloody hell! I’m going to see one of the lads later to get the lyrics”

“That’s all we need, the singing corporal!” I chuckled.

He smiled expansively, “I’ll keep it quiet around Ruffles though, don’t think she’d appreciate it.”

“I don’t know about that…”, I said glancing over my shoulder. Sure enough, the female warriors were joining in as much as the males, “Something tells me our feminine contingent will have songs just as bawdy”.

We didn’t have a chance to hear them though as Loofa shot forward like a comet to meet one of the scouts coming back the other way. Heavy Hoof noticed and waved to the column which immediately fell silent. Loofa landed beside us,

“Theres a castle over the next rise. By the looks of it, we’re expected.”

“Enemy numbers?”

“From what we can see,” he said settling his wings, “around twice our number, including several giants and those large changelings. They’re formed up for battle Cap’, we’re in for a scrap alright.”

Heavy Hoof snorted, “We’ll give them one”

I clopped him on the elbow, “Let me give them a little taster, eh?”

Magic surged through me, as Marocs memories filled my mind with images of battles, tactics and combat manoeuvres. I think Miss Sparkle would have liked being a wendigo; having a library in your head would probably appeal to her. At first it had been unsettling, seeing somepony else’s memories, hearing their voices, sometimes even having conversations with them. Thank the goddess they were at least interesting.

We reach the peak of the rise and looked down to the changeling army below. It was a fraction of the size of the invasion force but still substantial. Our warriors formed up, three ranks deep and ready to engage. I’d watched them in action and was always impressed by their discipline. The warriors would fight in the front ranks and then change with those behind so none were in battle for very long, giving each a chance to rest before returning to the fight. Of course, that was ideal for a set piece battle and utterly useless against magical energy weapons, but so far, we’d held our own. The changelings tactics so far had been mass wave attacks and close in melee. This lot however, looked somehow a damned sight more organised.

I took to the air with Loofa and our griffin commander, Halberd. The three of us landed around a hundred yards from the changeling force and waited for one of their number to approach. Loofa opened his mouth to speak just as a large changeling pushed her way through the throng and approached us, flanked by two of the giants. She had the same look of distaste and arrogance as the last one, the bloody thing even looked the same! Perhaps they could tell each other apart by the arrangement of holes in their bodies or something.

“Why are you in our territory, Equestrian?” she demanded.

I shook my mane, “Perhaps you haven’t been keeping up with recent events madam. It appears that some of your ‘friends’ have invaded Equestria, attacked the royal family and taken to kidnapping our people.”

I cocked my head on one side, eyeing her, “I doubt you’re surprised that there would be some level of…’retaliation’? Is that the word?”

“Who are you?” She asked irritably.

“Who am I? Halberd, do the honours would you please?”

The grizzled veteran stood straight and tall, calling out to those around us, her voice like the cry of the eagle in the mountain tops, “Before you is the Lord of the Fortress of the Four Winds, Lord of the tribe of the Four Winds, descendant of Maroc and Arathea, last of the wendigo and bringer of the northern winds.”

I looked at Loofa, “Oooh, she’s good! I like the ‘bringer of the northern winds’ bit, not sure what she means, but…y’know…”

The changeling glared at me, “What do you want Equestrian? Speak quickly!”

Magic flowed around me and I ruffled my wings, allowing the fog to spill around me and roll out around the hooves and feet of our adversaries. The changeling female looked down worriedly.

“Lets see now…Oh yes!” I stepped forward and bared my teeth, “Give me back the ‘source’ and any other Equestrians you may have or…” my voice lowered to a growl, “I’ll kill the fucking lot of you.”

She laughed, but even then I could hear a note of uncertainty, “Give you the source? Are you insane? He is our prize! He is the key to escaping this accursed land!”

My teeth itched as I glared at her, “I don’t give a fuck about that, you can argue all you like with Celestia, this is between you and my tribe. Give me back the foal you stole.”

“The queen will not…”

“Ah yes! The queen. Bring her out would you? I’d like to speak with her. Better the organ grinder than the monkey.”

She hissed at me, “You insolent dog! Her majesty is away on ‘business’, I am regent in her place, I speak for her in her absence and I say you will NOT have the source, he is too valuable.”

Loofa spoke, “Miss, please, you don’t want to go down this path. Your people will stand a better chance of negotiating a favourable deal with Celestia if you release the foal, surely you can see that.”

The creature’s wings buzzed, “What I see are Equestrians in our lands, threatening us unless we accede to their ridiculous demands. You will leave at once and not return, Equestrian, these negotiations are over.”

Loofa held up a hoof in protest but I stopped him with a loud snort and flap of my wings, “Remember Shard, changeling?”

She looked at me, “What do you mean…’remember’?”

Loofa muttered under his breath, “Oh goddesses, Fairlight, don’t!”

My blood was on fire, the blue blaze of my eyes burning with the storm of magic swirling around and through me. I bared my teeth, the whist mist dripping from my maw to the ground.

“You’ll be finding out if you don’t hoof over the foal you fucking piece of filth. GIVE ME BACK MY SON!”

The changeling took a step back, “I…”

An arrow suddenly thudded into Loofa’s shoulder and he fell back on his haunches with a cry. One of the giants suddenly took a step forward and swung his huge black club at me which I dodged nimbly, bringing my scythe around and raking across the things face blinding it. With a horrible scream, the giant flailed with its club, smashing the changeling leaders head into black and grey paste which flew in the air like hell’s fountain.

I fired a beam of concentrated magic from my horn, taking the giants head off at the neck as the other lunged at Loofa. He managed to fly up and away from the thing in time for me to breathe another blast of magic at the monster, turning its head into a frozen lump that shattered into pink lumps when it hit the ground.

I flew high into the air and screamed my war cry to the heavens, the horns and battle cries of our warriors echoing in response. The ground and even the air began to shake as they charged.

The changelings were unsure of what to do. With their leader gone, they appeared to have difficulty in deciding on a course of action and stood frozen in place. The warriors of the tribe ploughed through them like they were as substantial as a warm breath on a winter’s morning.

I flew above the mass of panicked creatures, my magic lashing through them, cutting them down in droves. I laughed, I sang, this was why I was alive, this was beyond life, love and joy, this was ecstasy. My wendigo spirit thrilled in the fight and I danced through the air, cutting down the flying black creatures, bringing a black rain to the parched land. The warriors below gritted their teeth, bellowed and shrieked as they swung, thrust and cut their way through the fleeing changelings.

Most the things died quickly, some trampled by their own as their attempted to escape, others simply stood there. Devoid of leadership, they were as lost as a soul in the underworld. The boats of Tartarus would be filled to bursting this day and I revelled in it.

Those that fled were hunted down quickly and killed until, there were simply no more changelings.

Heavy Hoof stood breathing heavily, his huge chest rising and falling, a grin on his big bullish face. Around me, the tired but smiling faces of my warriors was a sight that filled my heart. Dusk Haze walked over to us and grinned, “My lord, the gates are open”

I gathered my commanders, Loofa remaining behind to be tended to by the medics. It didn’t look as though the arrow had hit anything vital, but I’d rather he had professional help rather than just yank the damned thing out.

Heavy Hoof was ready to charge in, “Steady Commander”, I said holding out my foreleg, “A spider lets its prey enter her web before springing the trap.”

He snorted and lowered his axe, “What do we do?”

“We accept the invitation, naturally, just in our own way.”

With a strong beat of my wings, I flew up and landed on one of the turrets, the rest of the winged warriors circling and watching for movement. One of the scouts called down, “No sign of anything, my lord, there doesn’t seem to be anypony here”

I held up the beacon, its light strong and bright, leading straight to the largest building in the castle. I channelled my magic and sent my voice out, into, and around the castles interior, the temperature dropping as the magical winds whistled through the seemingly deserted castle,

“Your soldiers are slain, your castle is surrounded. I give you one chance, as I gave them. Surrender the source or we will put you all to the sword. I will spare none who harm my son.”

Silence.

“Heavy Hoof”, I called down to the minotaur. He stared at the open gate, waiting,

“Take this place apart. If they resist, kill them”

“Yes, my lord”

Like some well oiled machine the tribes’ warriors searched the castle. The place was, for the most part, completely deserted. Some captives, held in those sickening cocoons, were found and freed, while myself, Nimble and two of our warriors raced through the strange black walled castle following the beacons light. Corridor after corridor, doorways, rooms, all flashed by in a blur as I raced to find my son. I suppose I would have liked to have spent more time examining this strange alien place, but right then, right there, there was only one focus for me…Lumin.

Finally, the glowing crystal led me to a large set of heavy black doors. They were locked solid. Nimble moved up beside and cleared his throat meaningfully, “Cap’, let me, your magic’s a bit…you know…”

Snorting, I backed away as he set a small charge on the door. With a nod, he set the device off which blew the centre of the door out allowing him to buck them so hard they flew open with a crash almost as loud at the explosion.

“And you think I’m excessive?” I muttered before rushing into the room.

The interior held several cowering changelings, a few guards and a large cocoon that was surrounded by glowing green pillars. Before me, covered in debris from the door, a dark blue robed changeling with a long flowing white mane lay trying to pick himself up.

I strode over and grabbed the creature in my magic as the warriors backed the other changelings into the corner. The cocoon was a peculiar, slick construction with bubbles running through it, the translucent centre allowing a clear view of its tiny occupant, curled up in a ball with his eyes tight shut. He looked like he was asleep, or…

I tightened my grip on the changelings’ throat, “Release him”.

The creature choked, “He…he is the source…”

“He’s my son, changeling. I won’t repeat myself again.”

“I…I cannot”

“You drain the emotions of other don’t you, suck it out of them?” I motioned over to one of the cowering changelings, “Bring it over”.

The minotaur dragged one of the struggling creatures over to stand before me. I looked into its eyes, “Strange creature isn’t it” I said softly stroking its head, “Do you think it would hurt, having its life essence drained from its body? I imagine it would. Just a little nip and then I simply take it all away, and you know…right now,” I bared my teeth, “I’m very, very thirsty.”

The creature stared up at me clicking and buzzing nervously. The robed one gasped, “You…you won’t! You’re an Equestrian!”

“Wrong on both counts I’m afraid. Firstly, yes, I will do it and secondly, I’m a wendigo”, I stared into the large changelings eyes, “…and I’m your worst fucking nightmare. Release my son or I’ll kill every single changeling I find in your sick land until the whole of Equestria forgets your sick kind ever existed.” I smiled, “You won’t need to break free then, think of it as me doing you a favour”

He stared at me, “You’re insane! A demon!”

I laughed, “Haven’t heard that for a while! What nostalgia!”

I turned smiling to Nimble, “Forget it. Corporal, we’ll take the cocoon with us, kill the rest.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“NO!” the thing shrieked, “I’ll release him, don’t…don’t kill them”

I lowered the changeling to the floor and shouldered my war scythe, “In your own time, friend”.

The changeling’s horn glowed and began to pulse, the green light synchronising with the pillars around the cocoon. Heat began to pour off the thing and the fluid inside bubbled furiously and I felt myself begin to panic. Just when I was about to charge in, the cocoon broke open and the fluid poured out in a rush. The robed changeling reached in and brought out the soaking body of Lumin and hoofed him to me,

“He is unharmed, Equestrian”

I stared down at the tiny form of my son, stroked him gently and trying to hear any sign of a heartbeat or breath; there was none. Even in my state of elation, I felt a wave of bitter cold soak my heart; my son...my precious son!

“He isn’t breathing…” I said quietly.

“He will,” the changeling said urgently, “his body is readjusting…see! He lives.”

Lumin’s body shook and he coughed out a lungful of the fluid he’d been suspended in, his hooves twitching and eyes slowly opening. A pair of tiny yellow eyes looked up at me as he tried to speak. All that emerged was a gargled squeak, but it was enough.

I held him tenderly to my chest and tried to send my bodies warmth into his, he was freezing cold. The changeling watched me with its dark eyes, so pony like, yet so strangely alien to us,

“You have your foal, now leave us in peace”

I placed Lumin in my fleece lined pannier I’d prepared for bringing him home before addressing the changeling, “Who are you?”

“I am Tena, a simple member of the royal court.”

“A simple member, eh? So tell me, Tena, why?”

“Why?”

“Yes, why. Why invade Equestria, why kidnap our people and do this to them? Surely there must have been a better way than this?”

He shook his head, “We have lived like this, in the darkness, imprisoned, for generations. Prisoners of your beloved princess.”

I wasn’t so sure about that part. He continued after sitting on his haunches and rubbing his neck, “Do you know what that is like? Generation after generation of your children growing up in a prison, never seeing the sun or the moon? Why should they suffer for something that our ancestors did?”

“What did your ancestor’s do?” I asked genuinely intrigued.

“They made a pact with a monster, a vile creature that promised them eternal life, happiness…the usual lies to draw in the unwary, and by the gods we were.”

He shook his head, “The price was this…” Tena held up his legs which showed the holes his kind had in abundance, “We are like these; empty, hungry, always hungering.”

I knew what that was like. Tena hung his head, “Some time ago, another liar appeared and dripped honeyed words into the ear of our beloved queen. Poisoned words promising escape, and power, power to even change the fate of our people…”

“Who was this?” I asked quietly.

“She called herself the ‘Mistress’”, he gave an ironic laugh, “The same name many of our people use to describe our queen. I heard some of her colleagues call her by another name when they thought none of us was listening. They called her ‘Annabelle’”

My eyes went wide and he looked up at me from under his heavy brows, “You know her, wendigo, don’t you?”

I nodded, “Yes, Tena…yes, I do. You’re not the only one she’s played with.”

Turning, I motioned my warriors to follow me out, “Tena, you have shown me a side of your people I wish I had seen before this nightmare began. Celestia is willing to negotiate with you, to help you. Seize that opportunity and bring your people out of the darkness, you may find her more willing to help you than you expect.”

He gave a small smile, “I hope so.”

“Tell your people to let us go in peace and I will leave your lands as quickly as I can. Farewell, Tena.”

Outside, the tribe’s warriors had wasted no time gathering up prisoners and tending to the wounded, repairing weapons, and all the other things soldiers do when they have spare time on their hooves. Card games had sprung up spontaneously around the place together with shouts of laughter and dismay. Nimble tapped me on the elbow, “Cap’, what now?”

“We’re going home, my friend. We’re all going home.”

The changelings from the castle unmolested, we backtracked through the changeling’s lands, following the scouts who helped us to navigate this odd terrain. I don’t think I’d ever wanted to leave a place as much as I had this one, I didn’t even know its name, or if it had one. Not that it really mattered, it wasn’t exactly a holiday destination and I had no intention of coming back here any time soon, or ever.

I could see the warriors sporting odd trinkets, swords, helmets, banners. It was as if I’d gone to war with a bunch of magpies, they were laughing and joking, swapping the things they’d collected along the way. Maroc’s memories pulled at me and I plunged into them, leaving part of my consciousness plodding along in the waking world.

“Maroc”, I said respectfully.

“You’ve come a long way, Fairlight. The spirit burns brightly within you, as it does with your son.”

Arathea’s lilting voice warmed my heart, “He is strong with your magic, Fairlight, he has the strength of the elder dragon inside him as well.”

“Whilst he is young, he will be vulnerable and a target because of who and what he is” Vela said in his deep timbre, “Keep him safe, Fairlight, the future of the tribe is in his hooves, and yours”

Maroc stepped forward, “Beware on your way home, Fairlight. This is the time when an army is weak, when they have thrown away their caution in the afterglow of victory. Here they will be vulnerable and not expecting an attack. Keep alert my descendant, remember…keep alert”.

The green glow of the changeling realm oozed back into my conscious mind and I looked around me, there was nothing for what looked like miles. We’d slaughtered the changelings, their invasion force, the one at the castle, what the bloody hell could they have left? Maroc’s warnings were valid, sure, but we’d be home soon and then I’d be able to get this little one back to him mum. I cooed at him in his pannier. The thing was armoured too and sat on my back, if a little awkwardly, but it did the job. I didn’t think I’d need to worry too much about fighting now, thank Luna.

We kept following our tracks back the way we came, it wasn’t exactly hard, the army had…

What was that?

Ahead one of the scouts was circling like some vulture over a corpse, before rushing back to land before Heavy Hoof, the two conferring before hurrying over to me. The griffin saluted, “My lord, one of the scouts we sent back with the captives we rescued…he’s dead. Shot with arrows.”

I hung my head, “What about the rest of them?”

He shook his head, “I don’t know my lord, the tracks continue over the ones we made coming here, they don’t deviate from them.”

“Heavy Hoof, Nimble…” I said urgently, “Get your warriors shit together and get ready for engagement. Double time them, I’m going up for a look. Scouts and flankers out.”

A familiar face appeared beside me, “Need an extra pair of eyes?”

Loofa smiled at me, “That silver stuff of yours works a treat, takes a bit out of you though.”

I nodded, “Me too. You okay to be up here?”

“Sure. Doc says I’m in piece, just need to build my energy reserves back up apparently. I think you should work on the taste and smell of that stuff though, it’s like dog breath”.

“Oh thanks!”

“Ha! You’re welcome”

We soared above the empty land until we saw them. What I took to be heat haze initially proved to be a huge mass of changelings and more of the giants mixed in for good measure. They stood in a direct line to our destination; the portal home. Loofa smiled,

“There’s a lot of them…a hell of a lot, think they came through the portal?”

I shook my head, “No, not past the army and agency crew. These things have magic but they’re no match for the amount of firepower around that portal now. No, my guess is they either came through another one and were on their way back to the castle or it’s a relief force heading out that we missed somehow. Whatever it was, it looks like the fuckers ran into our people.”

It was difficult to say at this distance, but there was definitely the remains of a couple of carts at the rear of the mass of changelings, many of whom buzzed through the air like some massive swarm of bees. Their ground forces outnumbered us horribly as well, and right now, things didn’t look favourable at all. Damn it, Maroc had been right.

Heavy Hoof and the rest of the warriors thundered up, coming to a halt below us. Landing I addressed him, “We’re in for a fight my friend, we’re heavily outnumbered too.”

The minotaur grinned, showing me his huge white teeth, “Small chance of winning, big chance of dying”

Loofa chipped in, “What’s not to like?”

I shook my head, “Where do you pick these things up from? Gah!”

Nimble trotted up, “Captain? The troops are getting into position, we’re ready when you are.”

I nodded, taking to the air. Commander Halberd flew up alongside Loofa and myself, the veteran giving the pegasus a cheeky wink. Loofa grinned back at her before turning to me, “Getting déjà vu here Cap’”.

“Try not to get shot this time then will you?” I jibed, “Can’t have you wasting the medic’s time again”.

He chuckled and shook his head. Halberd looked around suddenly and called to us, “I don’t think they’re open to negotiations this time, they’re coming right at us!”

“Shit! Let’s haul flank!”

We dove, sweeping back to the rest of the assembled tribe and readied ourselves for the coming onslaught. Our scouts rushed up, “Field has been sown, lord Fairlight”. I nodded, “Good job, get back to your sections they’ll need you.”

Nimble shook his mane, “Fucking typical, just when you think a jobs nearly finished, some bastard comes and ruins it for you.”

“Oh, I would worry too much just yet”, I said readying my pulse gun and removing a case from my pannier, “My dad used to say, ‘It’s always nice to go out with a bang’”. I held up the MAD remote, “It may not be nightmare night, but I always enjoy a good firework display.”

The ground shook with the rumbling of the changelings, the fliers above them turning the sky near black with their sheer numbers. Among them, larger changelings and giants lumbered forward hissing, bellowing and clicking, the whole sending a chill up my spine. Thank the goddesses for Brandy Wine, he’d come through with the goods and now…let’s hope the bloody things worked.

“And…” I clicked the detonator, “Let the show begin!”

I was near blinded by the flash of light, the sound coming in moments later, “GET DOWN!” I screamed but the warriors didn’t need telling. The combined blast was a hell of a lot stronger than I remembered. What in Equestria had they put in those things? I didn’t recall them being this powerful!

Wind, grit, rock and body parts hammered down around us even as the shrieking and bellowing remainder of their force crashed into us. It was a fight for our lives.

The clash of steel and flash of magic rippled along the lines, warriors falling and being dragged back by their comrades, changelings dropping around us like flies in a tornado from the blaster fire. Despite the bravery and skill of our troops, regardless of the MAD blasts, the damned creatures were still huge in number and threatened to swamp us. I wasn’t exactly much help with Lumin on my back either; it was time to pull one last rabbit out of the hat.

I took out the crystal orb and kissed it gently, “Etrida…”

A low voice, feminine yet full of unfathomable power, rumbled back, “Ah, Lord Fairlight, want something do you?”

“My fats really in the fire now Etrida, some backup would be gratefully received.”

“Do you have my Lumin with you?”

“I do, but he’s getting jostled a bit”

“Now that I won’t stand for” she said in a low voice, “Not at all!”

Moments later, an ear splitting crack rent the battlefield, unnoticed by many in the heat of battle, but not by those carried away in its shock wave. Nimble looked up, his pulse gun near glowing and his coat slick with sweat, “Thank Luna…”

I smirked, “I think you’ll be able to do that in person too”

He gave me a grin in reply, “’Plan B’?”

“Plan B”, there should always be that extra rabbit.

The sky was suddenly filled with armed warriors, descending on the changelings in a screaming, howling mass of shining armour and lethally sharp blades. Amongst them flew the terrifying form of a war dragon like some huge juggernaut, unstoppable and totally untamed, roaring through the changelings, incinerating many with her white hot flame. I watched entranced as two figures I knew well detached from her back, one in armour as black as the midnight sky, eyes burning with white hot magical energy and already sending black lightning into the foul beings below her. The other flew down to meet me, her red eyes burning as brightly as mine were with their blue light,

“Hello love…” Shadow said nuzzling me, “I brought friends”

Returning the gesture, I gave her ear a quick nip, “And I have guests that need attending to my love, will you join me?”

Shadow laughed and helped me pass Lumin’s pannier to a group of thestral warriors who bowed to us both, “Take care of him”.

“Yes, lady Shadow”, the warriors said in unison. She certainly had them well trained!

The song of war singing through us, we crashed through the changelings, letting its refrain carry us through the dance of death.

Shadow and I cut through our foe, the thestrals and the warriors of the four winds tribe working as one, cutting down their enemy with a machine like efficiency that was as horrific to behold as it was exhilarating. Etrida roared through the green sky, strafing and blasting fire into the things. The intense heat of the dragon fire burning away wings and flesh alike. Around us, burning bodies fell like hail, those that still lived had their suffering quickly brought to an end by the warriors below. The most terrible on the field by far however, was the beautiful yet terrible alicorn who burned whole swathes through the changeling horde with long lances of energy that left an afterimage on my eyes. The mistress of the night, the goddess of the moon and scourge of the Celestian’s…Nightmare Moon.

Fires burned, but not with wood nor coal. The stink was terrible to my nostrils but it still a good smell, the smell of victory. Nightmare Moon swept down to us, effortlessly alighting upon the churned ground, her long tail and mane glittering and flowing in the ethereal winds of magic. She was a sight no mortal should behold, and yet here we were, all of us bowing before her terrible majesty.

“Stand my warriors of the moon, you bow before nopony…you have earned that right this day.”

Her voice rang out across the smoke filled field, even Etrida, landing with a gust of wind from her flared wings, bowed to our goddess. My heart sang with joy and pride, we had made her happy, we had redeemed ourselves as her trusted warriors. Nightmare Moon laughed, swinging her blue-black sword up and back into its scabbard before leaping over a giant’s corpse to address us. I bowed low, despite her command,

“Your majesty”

A silver shod hoof gently lifted my chin, “Lord Fairlight, descendant of Maroc. Do not bow before us, not this day. Today is a day for celebration is it not? Bring us the child so that we may see the future lord of the tribe”

Shadow collected Lumin from the warriors and together we presented my son to Nightmare Moon. She reached in a tentative hoof and, thinking better of it, magicked him out while she sat back on her haunches, cuddling him in her forelegs. We stood there, watching the goddess nuzzle and coo at the little fellow who was lapping up the attention and gurgling happily with the odd squeak emanating from him. I’d have to have words with Tingles about that, I’m sure there was some mouse in him from somewhere. I’d have to try him with some cheese to be sure…

“Lord Fairlight?”

“My lady”

“That’s better!”, the midnight coated mare removed her helmet and shook out her mane, “Fairlight, we…’I’ must go back to my sister now and give her the news that the invasion has been foiled and that young Lumin is safe. After that, we shall need to look at negotiations with the changeling queen.”

“Where is she?”

“Oh, she’ll be back here shortly. Tia has her ways.”

I smiled, “Thank you for helping us, my lady. If it hadn’t been for you…”

She held up a hoof, “If it hadn’t been for Shadow, you mean. This magnificent mare brought the tribes together, convinced even Etrida to help and as for us, well…sometimes it feels good to have a change, wouldn’t you agree…my lord?”

“Yes, my lady”

My vision was suddenly filled with black fur and burning red eyes. Shadow nodded to Luna, “Excuse me”. I heard a mock cry of outrage from the princess at the intrusion, as my thestral mate grabbed me roughly and brought her muzzle up to brush against mine, sniggering. Was she sniggering? She was!

“Love…” she whispered before pulling me into a kiss that melted my heart into a sea of bliss I could have drifted away on into eternity.

Chapter Nine - To the Victor the Spoils

CHAPTER NINE

TO THE VICTOR THE SPOILS

The warriors of the tribe filed back through the portal, tired yet relieved. Tonight would be an evening of joyful celebration at our victory, and rightly so. Each and every one of these brave souls fully deserved my admiration and respect. They had, after all, risked their lives to rescue my son.

The princess watched the last few of them passing through, “Time for us to leave, I fear. Tia only lowered the barrier temporarily, after all, she still has her inner demons to face.”

I looked up at the green sky, “As do we all, my lady”

Luna nudged me with her nose, “Some day, I’d like to bring the tribes home, but not yet. Equestria is not yet ready and in some ways, they are not ready for Equestria.” She held a hoof out to me to kiss, “You, lord Fairlight, are the start of a new page, a new story in the history of our land…perhaps one day, your foal, like his name, will bring light where once there was only darkness.” She looked up at the sky smiling softly, “Even if that darkness cannot be seen.”

Shadow hugged Luna farewell and we watched the princess return to the assembled thestral warriors to watch our friends take flight once more. Etrida called back over her shoulder as she lumbered into the air after them, “I shall be calling upon you soon, lord Fairlight, remember your promise.”

“I shall!” I called after the huge creature. With a flash of blue and green magic, they disappeared, back to their homelands. Now, it was time for us to return to ours.

Shadow and I didn’t wait to see the portal destroyed, instead we simply clambered into the army wagons and sat back, letting some other poor bugger do the work for once. Brandy had been overjoyed to see us, the Colonel on the other hoof somewhat begrudgingly muttered her ‘appreciation of our efforts’. How bloody magnanimous of her, it must be something that comes with rank. I sighed and sank back into the seat. As hard as the army issue thing was, to me right then it felt decadently luxurious. With a long sigh, Shadow leaned across me and snuggled her head onto my chest. I stroked her mane,

“Thanks love. I don’t know what else to say, words just can’t explain how my heart soared when I saw you appear like magic in the sky. I’m so sorry you went through so much, but I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t arrived when you did. Our whole tribe owes you a debt we could never repay.”

She looked up at me with one half open eye, “Mmhmm”.

And with that simple expression of her thoughts on the subject, she closed her eyes and fell asleep for the remainder of the journey back to Smiling Borders.

Evening was approaching quickly as we skimmed low over the forest, the lights of the village twinkling in the distance a truly welcome sight to my tired eyes. The sky carriage banked into a low sweeping arc, and we landed with barely a jolt just outside the Wyverns Tail. Shadow was exhausted yet visibly excited. Stumbling slightly in her attempt to rush out of the carriage, I managed to catch her and help her regain her hoofing. Before I could say anything, she reached back inside, scooped up Lumin in his pannier and charged through the front door of the inn.

I’d barely made the door when a familiar shout of joy and chorus of cheers rang out, making me shake my head with a smile. Sure enough, a tangerine Pegasus stood before us, alternately hugging Shadow and Lumin until her gaze fell on me. Tingles passed Lumin to Shadow and walked deliberately over to me, standing tall and fixing me with a large green eye,

“You’re late…”

What was it with ponies saying that to me lately?

“I…” I never got a chance to finish as the mare grabbed my barding and pulled me into a kiss. The common room erupted in cheers and shout from the warriors and villagers who filled the place with life and an energy I didn’t think possible. Tingles broke the kiss and leaned her forehead on mine,

“I thought we’d lost you…when you disappeared, the changelings, and then I had this dream…you came to me…in the forest…”

“You don’t remember?”

“Not really, everythings fuzzy…” she grinned, “Like your ears”

She lunged up and nipped one of my long suffering ears right on the tip…hard.

I yelped in pain, “Ow! Bloody hell fire Tingles!”

Laughing, she pranced away swishing her tail provocatively, “What are you going to do about it then, mister Salt?”

“Ooh, you!”

Howls of laughter and encouragement from the tribe followed me up the stairs as I raced after the fleeing mare.

Tingles slammed the door shut behind me as I charged in, locking it behind her. Those green eyes blazed with a passion I’d seen last in the shower cubicle at the agency. The tangerine mare was panting heavily and advancing on me like some starving predator; why did I have a sudden image of a manticore?

A hoof on the end of a long slender leg slammed into the wall beside me, her eyes locked on mine, her pupils wide.

“Tingles…” I gasped, “I’ve just got back, I haven’t washed or…”

“You stink.” She growled, “You reek, you’re dirty and you’re covered in the blood of those you’ve slain.” She pushed me up onto my hind legs and ran her chest up against mine,

“What are you, Fairlight…who and what are you?”

“Me? I…” I licked my lips nervously, “I’m a wendigo, the lord of the tribe of the four winds”.

“A warrior”, she rumbled.

“Yes…a warrior.”

She bit my shoulder, hooking a foreleg around my neck, her tail swishing around and tickling my flank,

“You have your victory, my lord. Time to take your spoils…”

Tingles kicked my hind legs out from under me and somehow twisted, flinging me onto the bed and simultaneously landing atop me with a flurry of wings. I gasped as she licked my muzzle and took my head in her hooves, “What do you want, lord Fairlight?”

“I want…”

“I mean, right now…here, now, what do you want?”

“I want you”

“Say it again…”

“I want you, Tingles”

She sighed, then smiled down at me, lowering herself with a gasp, “Oh, Celestia!”

The Pegasus mare shoved herself onto me as hard and as far as she could, taking all of me within her and squeezed her eyes tight shut before collapsing on my chest, smiling. Brushing her sticky mane from her eyes, Tingles raised an eyebrow, “You’re going to get it now, this is for sneaking out for a smoke!”

She raised herself up and then rammed herself down, making me gasp at the rush of heat,

“This…this is for getting kidnapped!”

Again, the Pegasus pulled herself up and slammed down, whimpering slightly, “And this…this is for making me love you so much!”

She ground herself into me viciously, biting me neck, my ears and scrabbling at me with her hooves while she bucked down onto me as hard and as fast as she could. Tingles cried out and screamed her passion into the room with complete abandon, her wings flaring out, stiff as boards, quivering with her mounting excitement.

“Oh goddesses!” she shrieked, leaning over and steadying herself on one of the beds supports as she climaxed. Tingles shook and gasped for breath, collapsing on my chest before rolling off onto the bed. I wasn’t finished and leaned over to catch her, but she stopped me with a hoof,

“No…tonight, you have other duties, my lord.”

My libido temporarily derailed, I looked at her quizzically, I didn’t understand. Tingles chuckled and walked, if a little wobbly, to the bedroom door clicking it open, “Meet me in the bath when you’re finished, and leave Lumin with Heather would you?”

“ Tingles…?”

She trotted out, clopping hooves with a heavily armoured mare who entered the room, deftly kicking the door shut behind her. It really did look like I was in for it tonight!

Shadow began unbuckling her armour in silence as if I wasn’t even there. She worked with a swiftness born of experience, each heavy piece falling noisily to the floor, her sword and axe propped in the corner. She walked up to the window and slid it open, sitting back on her haunches and closing her eyes, breathing in the evening air,

“Fairlight?”

“Yes, love?”

She stared out the window, “I want a foal”

I knew she did, that was why she wanted to go to the chamber in the fortress wasn’t it?

“I know”, I said quietly, “We’ll go to the fortress as soon as we’ve rested up a little, if that’s what you want to do.”

“It is”, she whispered turning to me, “But tonight…I want you…”

Did she sound more, I don’t know, eloquent? Normally she clipped her sentences, I don’t know why, the enigmatic creature had always been a mystery to me. She was like the Wither world, like the Everfree…wild, untamed and deliciously exotic. I rolled off the bed and sat beside her,

“We’ll have a foal, my love”, I murmured looking deep into her glowing red eyes, “But tonight, tonight is for you”. I allowed the magic to thrum through my body and re-energise me. White fog began to swirl around my haunches and drip from between my teeth. Shadow gasped as I nibbled her horn like ears, a shiver running down her spine, that gorgeous tail of purest black, flicking up to tease my spine with its electric touch. I returned the favour, making her whinny slightly, as she turned to face me and looked me in the eyes,

“Fairlight, don’t I frighten you?”

“You terrify me.”

She cocked her head on one side, “I do?”

I nodded, running my diamond like hoof down her chest, “Yes…It terrifies me just how much I love you, my Shadow”.

She sniffed, a tiny red tinged burning tear rolling down her cheek, “Oh, Fairlight…you frighten me too” Shadow kissed me gently on the nose, “For the same reason”. We kissed.

Shadow and I rolled on the floor, bathing in the sparkling fog, the white clouds making the room look like some otherworldly place where time and the outside world meant nothing. Here, the light from our eyes reflected back at us blue and red in the whiteness. She growled, biting my neck, almost, but not quite piercing the skin and making me gasp in pleasure. I ran my tongue up her neck, tasting her ear, taking it in my mouth and running my teeth along it to the tip. Shadow bit deeper, pulling me to her, the fires in her eyes at an intensity that was both frightening and insanely desirable at the same time.

She stood, turning away and rested her fore hooves on the window sill, her gaze inviting, her tail gliding slowly up her marehood, waiting for me to take her as she wanted. I knelt down, reaching up with my muzzle and tasted her. Shadow gasped and pushed back at me, giving a wordless moan of pleasure, urging me to carry on. I did so willingly. Gently, yet firmly, I tasted and caressed my mate, taking note of what she enjoyed most and letting her guide me as much I took her there. Never letting up my delicious work, Shadow surged up to the peak in short pants and gasps before she finally cried out, her legs shaking and collapsed to the floor. I caught her in my fore legs and held her close.

Shadows breathing began to return to normal and she stood up, guiding me to the bed where she lay on her back, legs outstretched, pulling me onto her with a sigh of contentment. I mounted the midnight coated thestral, her smell filling me with its hot and spicy fragrance. I loved her, as much then as I ever had, she had saved my life and my foal...this mysterious mare, this warrior, I would protect, care and serve her as long as I drew breath. I murmured into her ear, as we made love,

“Shadow…”

********************

Cleaning off alongside the bathing area was both relaxing and re-energising. I had no idea just how dirty I was until I watched the water sluice away after a good soaping down. When I had been thoroughly cleaned off by my enthusiastic mares, Tingles and I started on Shadow. Her coat, for all its leathery appearance was the same as a regular pony’s, soft and shiny, even if it did accentuate her rather ‘bony’ appearance which characterised the thestral race. Tingles and I were so used to this enigmatic race now that it was hard to imagine anypony being alarmed by them. The reaction of the soldiers by the portal when we’d emerged, had unfortunately been all the reminder I’d needed of the way Equestrian’s were likely to treat her.

There had been a story around Ponyville some time ago, of a zebra mare who’d arrived one morning at market after moving into a hut in the Everfree. She’d been met with outright terror and with locked doors, stalls and hearts. The story goes that the elements of harmony worked their magic and brought the citizens of the town around to seeing her as just another living creature like themselves.

I ran the long toothed brush through Tingles’ tail and worked out the knots; would anypony accept a thestral? To me she was beautiful, but I wasn’t so stupid as to believe others would see her the same way. After all, Equestrian’s were generally a flighty bunch and more prone to flight than fight in a confrontation. It was sadly that very nature that allowed scum like Velvet Cream to prosper.

Tingles swapped with Shadow and we began to work on her coat and mane. Tingles’ pegasus wings stood out from Shadows’, or was that the other way around? They were feathered rather than the skin like membrane which all thestrals had. My own were more like a thestrals, powerful certainly, but nowhere near as agile or manoeuvrable as a pegasi’s. Tingles washed her own wings, careful to adjust each feather and apply the right conditioner. They virtually shone when she was finished, and she was careful to keep them out of the hot water when she slid, hind legs first, into the hot spring.

Shadow dived in muzzle first, rearing up and splashing us both before falling back and creating a wave that had Tingles sputtering in outrage. Shadow just laughed at Tingles’ protests and swam off into the steamy waters, emerging behind me like a water serpent to envelop me in her forelegs. Tingles shook her head at the sight and waved us over to sit by her after Shadow had expended all her energy splashing me. The orange pegasus kissed me on the cheek,

“You haven’t seen Meadow for a while, love. We’ll have to pop over and see her later.”

I leaned back, stretching my forelegs, “How’s she been?”

“Scared for you. I couldn’t keep your disappearance from her, and I wouldn’t anyway. It’s not good to hide things, you only store up trouble for later.” She sighed, “I know all about that.”

Tingles yawned, “What happened anyway? I never found out properly.”

“What do you know?”

“Only what Brandy and Mitre told me; that you’d been kidnapped and had your memories altered and couldn’t account for the period between sitting on the porch and appearing somewhere in, where was it…Canterlot?”

“Ah…”

She raised an eyebrow, “What’s ‘Ah’?”

I explained the whole story, or at least what I could recall which wasn’t much. Tingles’ eyes went wide, “You mean Annabelle was somehow involved in your abduction, your ‘reprogramming’?”

“I don’t know, maybe. She’s definitely the human who’s been working with the commissioner and Velvet Cream. She was even involved with the changelings; I’d go so far as to say she could be one of the most dangerous ponies I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t believe it! Annabelle…a human? She can’t be! She’s…well, she’s…”

“She’s what? A blank flank?”

Shadow tapped me on the nose, “That’s rude!”

“Sorry, but she doesn’t have a cutie mark, surely you noticed?”

Tingles shook her head, “I just thought it was some sort of birth defect, like being albino or something, I didn’t want to offend her by enquiring about it.”

“So what’s the big issue then? She was wanting to tell me something before we went to face down the changelings.”

“You didn’t let her tell you?” Tingles said incredulously.

“No!” everytime I look at her, or even just think about her, my mind does bloody somersaults for some reason. She’s got something to do with what happened to me and I don’t want anything to do with her. Let the bloody agency deal with her, I’ve done my bit.”

“Well you can ask her when we get back.”

My eyes went wide, “She’s still there?!”

“Why not?”

“Haven’t you been listening? She’s a criminal! That mare’s not only non-equestrian, she’s been involved in guns, drugs and slavery that’s ruined the lives of who knows how many ponies! Good goddesses Tingles, has she been messing with your head too?”

The tangerine Pegasus fixed me with ‘that’ look, “I speak as I find and that mare tried to save Lumin from them when she found out what they were going to do to him. They turned on her and…well, you know don’t you, you found us.”

My jaw hung open, “I don’t believe this! I…Ah! Sod it…”

Tingles reached across me to Shadow, “Shadow, are you alright?”

The thestral mare had her head down, her eyes duller than usual. She murmured something under her breath, it sounded like…”Non-equestrian”. Oh goddesses.

“Shadow, I didn’t mean you, love,” I said gently, “I meant that mare’s a human”.

She looked up at me, sadness and confusion in her face, “I’m a non-equestrian!”

Tingles pushed past me and held her hoof, “You’re right, you’re not an equestrian, but what does that mean? Your life has as much value as anypony. We’re all different in this tribe Shadow…look at us” she stepped back and spread her wings, “I’m a pegasus, and this…”, she tapped me on the forehead, “is a wendigo. Don’t you think ponies would be more frightened of him? He’s scared Meadow and I shitless!”

“Tingles!” I shouted, “You tell me off for swearing!”

“Oh belt up, you’re the worst offender here!”

Shadow wiped her eyes and smiled, “I’m sorry, its all…so new for me”

I’d worried about this, about her decision to leave her home and family behind for a world she knew nothing about except from dreams. She’d given up everything she knew to be with a pony she barely knew, a foolish and impetuous stallion who didn’t know how lucky he was to have met such a magnificent creature.

“Shadow…”

She climbed out of the bath and began to towel off, Tingles and I following. Shadow had a far away look on her face, one that left me lost for words. Slowly, she turned and walked towards me, her hooves clopping quietly on the hard ground. Her eyes looked deep into mine and I could feel myself falling into them, my heart calling out to her,

“When I first met you,” I said softly, “I was unsure of who and what you were. I was frightened of you in a way, yet you showed me to look beyond my pony instincts and to see the world around me for what it really is. You helped me to open my eyes to the wonders of life, friendship and love, to see you for who you really are.”

I lifted her hoof in mine, holding it against my cheek, “You accepted me for who I am without question, without fear. You gave me your love and showed me the way when I was lost and afraid. Shadow, I love you more than I could ever express in words. You, Meadow, Tingles, Lumin and Sparrow are the anchors for me in this turbulent world and together, all of us, we will show this world the tribe of the four winds is one of strength, not only of the body, but of the heart.”

Shadow kissed me on the lips, gently, then walked over to Tingles for a hug. The tangerine mare smiled at her, “He’s not usually that eloquent you know, better in the muscle department than grey matter.”

“Hey!”

The mares giggled together, watching me gather my old coat and hat I’d brought with me.

“Going somewhere?” Tingles said looking up at me.

“There’s somepony I haven’t seen for a while. You have to share me sometimes you know.”

Shadow stuck her tongue out at me playfully then started to tickle Tingles, the two quickly ended up rolling on the ground, laughing. So much for having a bath! Tingles, finally broke free and wiped the tears of laughter from her face, “You go, love, Shadow and I will be okay.” My thestral mate nodded then resumed her tickling assault on the ribs of the tangerine mare. Shaking my head, I disappeared into the night, my pony hooves clopping along in the quiet landscape of Smiling Borders.

The breeze tonight was cool, tugging playfully at my mane and tail, my coat flapping against my sides. Closing my eyes for a time as I walked, I could imagine myself back on duty in the watch. It felt like a lifetime ago now. Had that really been me? The young grey stallion with the magnifying glass cutie mark and brown eyes; I never quite cut a fine figure in society. My black and white mane and tail certainly made me look, as foals liked to joke at school, like a ‘cart horse’. Meadow had seen beyond that, to the ‘me’ that lay beneath. Ha! But what she found when she looked certainly escaped me!

I chuckled to myself. She was an amazing mare and I missed her guidance, her touch, the look in those big lantern yellow eyes which melted my heart. Even with the love of Tingles and Shadow, I still loved my Meadow, the first mare who had captured my heart. She had borne my daughter, Sparrow Song, that tiny life taken away from the world of the living before she’d even entered it. She was such a delicate and beautiful little thing, I…

I stopped, brushing the tears from my eyes. Goddesses, I was always going to be a fucked up mess wasn’t I? The great Fairlight, Lord of the Four Winds, former Captain of the Equestrian Watch…a messed up emotional wreck of a pony. I shook my mane and tried to think of other things. I had to remember to avoid being on my own like this in future; my bloody brain hated me.

The feel of branches and leaves catching on my coat made me snap my eyes open to the bright silvery light of the glade, the berry bushes around me heavy with their lush, red fruits. I leant down and sampled a couple of the sharply sweet treats. The taste of Grimble’s brandy was a fond memory in my mind, quickly reinvigorated by the flavour of the berries. I wished I’d brought a bottle of it with me, and my pipe too. Sighing I sat just inside the edge of the clearing and felt the magic around me, the way it tingled my horn and sent a gentle feeling of warmth along my spine. That was new…it felt wonderful…

“Meadow!” I squeaked, looking round at a big pair of yellow eyes, “I wish you wouldn’t keep sneaking up on me like that, you could give me a heart attack!”

“Well now”, she said in a sultry voice, “That means I’d have you all to myself at last. Poor Tingles and Shadow would just have to wait, the way I have to.” She tutted and shook her mane.

I heard some humour in her words, but also a note of sorrow, a longing and emptiness that made my heart cry out to her.

“Oh Meadow”, I whispered, “I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry.”

Moving into me, the green mare held me, “It’s alright my fine stallion, I shouldn’t have said anything. It was wrong of me to say that, it’s just, sometimes…”

She trailed off and I nuzzled her neck, taking in her scent; floral, wonderfully feminine.

“I miss you, love.” I murmured into her fur, “You must be sick of me saying it by now, but my heart yearns to be with you so much, I just want to be with you, for all of us to be together.”

Meadow sighed, rubbing her head along my neck, “I know. Life stinks, death too sometimes, all that sunshine and blue sky…simply terrible.”

She sniggered and lifted my chin with her hoof so we were face to face, “Oh, Fairlight, come on now…no tears, you big filly.” Meadow wiped the tears from my eyes, her own voice quavering, “I don’t want to see…to see Sparrow’s dad…her dad…oh!”

Tears flowed down her face and she collapsed into me, shaking as the sobbing wracked her body, “It’s not fair! Damn it, why did it have to be like this! I want to be with you, you’re my bloody husband and I want to be with you!”

I held her tightly, shaking with the emotion raging through my heart and soul. I never wanted to let her go but I knew that all too soon, with the dawn, she would have to go…back to the herd once more.

She moved away from me, her eyes wet with tears, “I share you with two mares, Fairlight, because you need looking after when I’m not there, but damn it all, you’re still mine!” she beat on my chest with her hooves, “You’re still mine!”

I kissed her on her soft nose, taking her forehoof in mine and planting a kiss on it too, “I always shall be yours, my love, forever in my heart for as long as I breathe and stars burn in the heavens, I shall be your stallion.”

Meadow shoved me and I lost balance, toppling over onto the grass with the beautiful green mare standing over me, her cheeks wet from crying, “Damn you Fairlight! Damn you!” she collapsed on top of me hugging me tightly, “Damn you…why do I love you so much…why do you love me…I want to go home with you, be a family, the way we were meant to be.”

Why was she torturing herself like this? Meadow was usually so calm, so level headed and sensible, this emotional outflowing wasn’t like her at all and my heart was in torment with my inability to ease her pain. Damn this world, I wanted to be with her too, but what could I do? Not all the magic in the world could bring back the dead.

I kissed her cheek, tasting the saltiness of her tears on my lips, “Is something wrong love, is there anything I can do…something…anything at all? I haven’t seen you like this before.”

Meadow shook her head, “Is something wrong? Of course something’s wrong! You disappear, nopony knows where you are, Lumin and Tingles get kidnapped and you nearly die in a fight. Goddess almighty, how the hell would you feel if that was me?!”

I sighed, “I didn’t want all that to happen, love, it just did. I just wanted to be left alone, to live my life with you and Sparrow. Fate has been a bitch to me ever since.”

She bopped me on the nose, “Fate....that has a lot to answer for.”

Raising an eyebrow I opened my mouth to speak but she stopped me with a hoof, “Starbeard told me some time ago. He said you’re a, I don’t know, a ‘lightening rod’ for destiny or something. It curves around you, sometimes being drawn to you, changing what was meant to be and what is. It all sounds odd and a bit frightening to me.”

“It does to me too! I didn’t know about all this, what does it mean?”

“It means events like the things that have happened to you so far, will keep occurring.” She motioned with her hooves, “Destiny, Fate, call it what you will, will seek you out. I’m sorry love, I’m not the best at explaining these things, and I actually bothered to listen in school too.”

I couldn’t understand this. What…I was some sort of natural attraction for crappy events? What sort of a bloody life was that?! Despair threatened to engulf me.

“I don’t want this!” I exclaimed, “He can’t be right, that uptight old goats got to be wrong about this ! For Luna’s sake, Meadow, what you’re saying is that I’m going to keep on attracting all the crap that’s out there for the rest of my life? That means it’ll risk harm to anypony around me and all of my family too.”

I sank to my haunches, “I…I’ll have to disappear, to go away…I can’t risk any more lives…not again…”

“Twilight Sparkle”

My head shot up, “Wha…Twilight Sparkle? What about her?”

“She’s one too”

“She’s one of the ‘elements of harmony’, I’m not”

“No, love, you’re not, but she attracts destiny the same way you do. All of the element holders do.”

“So why does destiny want to bother me? What the bloody hell has it got to do with me?”

She held my head in her hooves, “I don’t know, but you’re a special stallion and one that’s loved by so many it makes me a little…jealous.” Meadow kissed me, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, I’ve upset you.”

“No”, I said quietly, “You were right to tell me. I guess deep down I knew, or at least suspected, that something like this was going on. All the horrible things, even the good things, everything seemed so…’big’, somehow. You know, ‘larger than life’.”

She smiled, “Starbeard said that you have the power inside you to bend destiny. You can be the master of your own fate, Fairlight. I know you have it within you to do that, and you’ve not done too badly so far.”

I scrubbed my mane, “With the help of my friends, maybe I have.”

“And there you go. How many friends did you have when I first met you?”

“Not many, virtually none really”

“See?”

“Not really, no”

Meadow sighed, face hoofing, “And this is another reason why I want to be with you, you’re bloody hopeless!”

Shrugging, my breath was suddenly squeezed out of me by a strong hug from the green mare, “Now shush this worrying and hold me. My minds in a state and my emotions are running wild right now, I need to feel my husband beside me; I want to feel safe…with the stallion I love.”

Together we lay there on the grass, wrapped in each other embrace, Meadows head laid across my neck. We stayed like that, warm and happy until the suns early rays began to leak into the dawn sky. Meadow stirred, rose and leaned down to kiss me on the lips,

“I love you, my brave stallion. I’ll be here for you…always”

I returned the kiss, knowing that any moment she would have to return to the herd, “I love you too, my beautiful mare. Don’t worry, we’ll be together before you know it, wendigo’s aren’t immortal.”

A sudden thought hit me, “Are they?!”

She laughed, “No, silly! And you know how I know that?”

“No?”

“You’ll find out one day, love. Good grief, you really are hopeless!” she grabbed me and gave me a deep kiss before backing away into the bright magical light that began to encompass her, “Take care, and try to stop getting captured by strange ponies?”

In the blink of an eye she’d gone, as if she’d never existed. I looked at the ground and there, sure enough, were her hoofprints, the imprint of where her body had lain next to mine. I bent down and sniffed at where she’d been, if I concentrated, I could still detect her scent. Despite everything, I felt suddenly alive and energised, my worries, sadness and dismay popping like a bubble in the bath. Ah, to hell with it! We’d be together again, all of us one day, but right now I had some living to do and as for fate…bollocks to that too!

Trotting back to the village, the sun was peaking over the forest and the village was still very much in shadow. Birds, strange long tailed black things rose from the tree tops squawking, whilst around me, songbirds sang a merry refrain of the new dawn. I felt exceptionally alive today, happy and positive. I’d grab breakfast and go and have a chat with our visitor before she was whisked away by the agency mob. Maybe they’d send her back to the human realm? Personally, I wanted answers to what she’d done to my head, there was a big gap there and I wanted to know what was missing.

What the hell was that? Something kept niggling on the edge of my hearing, it was coming from my pocket…

Fishing about inside, I took out my old watch communications device. Heavier and more bulky than the agency ones, I hadn’t used it since that business in the alleyway with those young thugs and Bingo. It was so long ago now that…bloody hell, it was buzzing, it wasn’t my imagination after all!

I tapped the receive gem on the side, “Hello?”

The signal was terrible, “….F…F…light…ou….eive…”

Turning on the spot, I tried to get a better signal, “Your signal’s breaking up, say again”

“Fairli…et….ly…out…ow!”

Damn it! What the hell, it sounded like Mitre, “Chief, is that you? I can’t hear you!”

“Fairlight! Get…amily…out…om…repea…bomb…”

Shoving the commicator in my pocket I ran as hard as I could. The wind whipped past me, magic flowing through my veins, every fibre, every ounce of strength I could muster, I couldn’t think now. I had to…

The ground shook. A flash like a second sun blinded me moments before the shockwave hit and threw me violently to the ground. A deafening roar and a boom of thunder in the green magical after glare accompanied the shower of wood and tile fragments that rained down around me. I stood in shock, ignoring the debris clipping my coat as they fell; it wasn’t really happening of course, all of this was in my imagination, of course it was. I’d run too fast; if I were to back up a little, I’d be back on the worn road surface happily looking forward to a nice breakfast, not staring at the ruins of…of…

Villagers and warriors started to pour out of their cottages, standing and staring in horror at what I still couldn’t fathom. Blood from multiple cuts and splintered wood covered my face, chest and neck, but right then I felt nothing…I was numb, how could I be anything else? Feeling and emotion would mean I had to accept what I was looking at…the tavern…the Wyverns Tail…it was gone, simply…gone.

Burning pieces here and there evidenced that a building had been there, but where was it? I’d taken a wrong turning on the way back from the glade! What a fucking idiot I am! I started laughing, what a stupid, stupid idiot!

“My lord! Dear goddess, you’re alive! You’re…oh no…”

I half turned to the large minotaur, his face blackened with burns and superficial cuts, probably arsing about with his bloody forge again,

“Hello Vent! I seem to have taken a wrong turning here…I…”

“MEDIC! Get a medic here!”

The world began to spin and I fell, collapsing on the ground in a pile of legs. Some of me felt a bit odd, definitely something wrong here and there…I wonder what it was? I smiled, I’d be home soon and be able to see Lumin. I hadn’t played with him since I got back, but he’d been too sleepy, just like his old dad…I was so, so tired…

Chapter Ten - A Cottage for Three

CHAPTER TEN

A COTTAGE FOR THREE

Somepony was rubbing my face with a damp cloth and there were voices surrounding me. It was very reminiscent of the time I woke in the agency. No trip to the Wither world for me this time though, just black nothingness and a muggy feeling like I’d been hitting Grimble’s brandy too hard. Somepony was shouting at me, or rather, some griffin. I couldn’t hear much, there was some horrible high pitched whine in my ears. I looked up at the feathered face, the beak, those avian eyes looking worriedly into mine. I wish people wouldn’t keep doing that, I was fine wasn’t I? I’d just stand up and…

Panting, I fell back into the arms of Vent. My screaming had been loud enough to wake the dead, the pain on a level I hadn’t felt since…since when? My head was such a mess, oh! Hello…who’s that?

“Oh Celestia, no! no, no, NO!”

Meadow? No…Tingles…and Shadow, who was that with them though? Some big white mare…ah! Of course, the mistress…I wonder if she were angry with me, I hadn’t been a good pony, I hadn’t done as she’d commanded. Celestia still lived, the bomb hadn’t gone off, had it? Maybe it had! That’s what the bang was, but where was I? Was I still in Canterlot? What were my family doing here?”

Tingles leaned forward, tears pouring down her face as she shouted something at the medic. Shadow’s eyes, normally so vibrant, dripped liquid fire onto the ground. I tried to reach out and touch her, but nothing worked, my body just seemed to be wrong somehow…mind you, I didn’t half feel light, really light! The pain simply drained away from me, it was cold too for some reason, but as a wendigo I didn’t mind that. The sun was rising in the sky but I couldn’t feel its rays; was winter coming already? Probably…Lumin and the girls would love to play in the snow, to...

I yawned, I was so tired. The griffin’s voice was so far away now, in a different place, a different land, who cared? I didn’t! This was like that warm feeling of being tired, full of Grimbles brandy, a nice pipe of Starbeard’s finest tobacco and a beautiful mare snuggled up beside you…it was heaven.

It was bright though, blindingly bright and really, really white. Why was everything so bloody white? I checked around myself and saw nothing but whiteness, like I was enveloped in cloud. It was all a bit weird but I certainly didn’t feel afraid, more…curious.

There was a loud ‘pop’ and huge wooden desk appeared out of thin air, behind it a heavy chair on castors, a standard lamp and a hat stand for some reason. A moment later, on the desk appeared a large ledger, quill and inkwell. I stared at the displaced office furniture, it all looked familiar too, very familiar. I face hoofed as its golden coated owner popped into existence a second later, his half moon glasses perched on his nose. The alicorn walked over to the chair re-arranging his wings and pulled himself up behind the desk. The quill floated up in a golden aura of magic and, after lifting the dainty silver lid on the ink well, dipped it in ready to begin writing.

“Name”, he asked without looking up.

“Hello, Aethel”

He began writing, “Hmm, nice to see one of the old classics…’Hello Aethel’” the quill scratched across the page, “Sorry, is Aethel your first or last name?”

“Neither”

“What? I thought you said your name was Aethel?”

I banged my hoof of the desk, snatching the quill from his magic’s grip and throwing it away. His golden eyes went wide in indignation as he looked up into my blue eyed gaze,

“YOU!”

“Like I said, Hello Aethel, its good to see you again”

He sputtered and stood up suddenly, his wings flaring, sending the stricken chair shooting out from behind him, “You’re that insolent wendigo! What was your name again…”

“Fairlight. Eff Ay Eye Are…”

“I know how to spell it!”

I picked up his quill and placed it neatly back on his desk, “Look here, Aethel, I’m not sure what’s happening right now, so either this is some bloody flashback sequence or I’m badly injured and probably going to end up stuck in that frigging black sandy place again while I heal up. So…”, I tapped his book, “…lets just get me sent back now and we’ll forget this ever happened, okay? I have to get back to my family”

Aethel stood there staring at me, his pure white mane flowing in an invisible wind against his golden coat. He looked like some pop singer, the type fillies go nuts over, I’d been so jealous of his type when I was younger too. I didn’t find out until later in life that the ‘pop idols’ weren’t really alicorns after all, they had stick on horns or wings to make them more ‘attractive’ visually. Bloody ponces…

“Are you suffering from some sort of delusionary state?” He asked, his eyes narrowing.

“I’m sorry?”

“Fairlight, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, look here, I…”

He held up a hoof, “Look about you, Fairlight. Tell me, what do you see?”

“Lots of white nothingness, why?”

“The last time I saw you, was in the Withers was it not?”

“Hard to forget really,” I said shrugging, “the black sand, the black sky. The simple answer though, is ‘yes’. Why, what are you getting at?”

He sighed, “Do I have to explain it all again?! For the goddess’ sake, Fairlight...” Aethel rummaged in the desk drawer, “I’m not going through this again, right…”

The large alicorn produced a rather highly polished brass bell which was attached to a wooden gem studded device, placed it on the desk and tapped it with a hoof, “Miss Bunny, would you please contact the relatives of, lets see now…ah, yes, applicant four six two five.”

A voice emanated from the device, “Yes, mister Aethel. Any in particular?”

“Any of them! Just do it quickly Miss Bunny, Its nearly time for me to knock off.”

I sat on my haunches and looked about me, “Hey, Aethel, how long’s this going to take? I’ve melded with the spirit now, so you’ve no reason to keep me here right? You can send me back any time you like. Like now, would be good.”

He snorted, “Don’t get snippy with me again young pony! I was in quite the state after dealing with you last time, there’s no need for rudeness you know.”

Never mind last time, what the hell was going on this time?! I fidgeted with my wings in irritation and watched him as he paced back and forth, clearly waiting for…

The device on the desk began making a ringing noise.

Quickly, Aethel tapped the large gem on the top listening carefully, “Yes? Good! Send her in please miss Bunny”

I sniggered, ‘Miss Bunny’!

There was a click and the sound of a door opening. To my left a doorway into a more everyday sort of office interior appeared out of nowhere, quite literally. Through the doorway, a coal coloured mare could be seen ushering somepony through,

“Right this way please miss….yes…he’s through there. Don’t forget to sign out when you leave.”

Looking around the door tentatively was a grass green face with a pair of large yellow eyes looking around, spotting Aethel, the desk…and then finally me. The rest of Meadow followed. In a blur of green, she rushed past Aethel and threw herself at me, near crushing me in her grip. I could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her breath against my neck as she shook with emotion. I didn’t know what to say.

“Daddy?”

A young voice drifted out from the open doorway, the small grey foal peeking round the frame at me. Her large yellow eyes looked up in wonderment, “Daddy, is that you?”

“It’s me, love”, I said laughing, tears starting to pour down my face, “It’s me…”

Sparrow half ran, half flew up to me and I caught her in a foreleg, holding the two girls in my embrace. Goddesses above, was this it? I was here wasn’t I…

Aethel pushed the book over to me, “Sign here please, mister Fairlight.”

I took the quill and signed quickly where he indicated and he shut the ledger with a thump, “You get the idea now?”

“I…I don’t understand…I was running for the tavern and then, then there was this loud bang and a flash…”

“And then you’re here. Explosions tend to do that to you, mister Fairlight. I don’t think I need to go into any further details do I? Especially with a foal here listening, it’s not the sort of subject for young ears.”

Meadow reached up and bit my ear,

“OW! Bloody hell! Will you mares leave my ears alone!”

“It’s not a dream is it? You’re really here…with me…”

I shook my mane and rubbed my sore ear, “I’m here love, sore ear and all…I just can’t believe it. I was only talking to you a few minutes ago and then…”

Aethel ushered us into the office beyond the white void, “This way, this way…come along now, there’s a lot of paperwork still to do you know and I knock off at five.”

“Hey! Just a minute!”

Miss Bunny passed me a large mug of cocoa, one to Meadow and a carton of apple juice to Sparrow. Aethel kicked the door shut behind us with a bang, earning an admonishing look from his secretary. He raised his eyebrows in apology and went over to a filing cabinet,

“Right then…you’ll be needing this, this…oh, and this…there you go!”

A pink folder floated onto the desk in front of me with large gold lettering on the front and several brochures and booklets neatly placed inside. The letters glowed faintly, which I read aloud, “Eternal Herd Orientation Guide”

Aethel pulled out a sheaf of paperwork and a fresh quill, pointing to the areas he wanted me to sign and muttering under his breath. I was in so much shock, I had no idea what was going on, only that Meadow was here and my lovely daughter who was munching on a lolly while she tried to feed another to a small toy alicorn.

I flicked open the front page of the guide and read, “Some disorientation and discomfort may be experienced within the first few hours due to the realignment of the soul with the conscious mind. This is perfectly normal and there is no need for concern. You should begin to feel a sense of connection with your new home shortly after arriving, and your friendly staff at the welcome centre are on hoof to answer all your questions…”

The golden alicorn closed the guidebook with a ‘snap’, “There’s time aplenty for you to read that in the comfort of your own home, mister Fairlight. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to get off home. The wife will kill me if I’m late.”

“Just a minute!” I shouted at his retreating form, “What the hell’s going on here? Aethel!”

He turned to look at me as if I was stupid and clucked his tongue, “You haven’t worked it out yet? Honestly Meadow, I don’t know what you see in him.”

Aethel picked up his saddle packs and hat, opening the outer door. Calling back over his shoulder he let out a bark of laughter, “Welcome, mister Fairlight…to the afterlife!”

The door shut behind him with a click that seemed abnormally loud, echoing the feeling in my heart,

“I…I’m…Dead?”

Meadow nuzzled me, “Come on love…it’s time to go home.”

We walked quietly along the country lane, the sun warm in the pure blue sky. A gentle breeze blew, keeping the whole a perfectly comfortable temperature, rustling the leaves in the lush trees and the verdant grass. Here and there, cherry trees grew, their branches heavy with fruit. Occasionally a pony would be visible collecting the cherries in wicker baskets and trotting off with them to who knows where. Nothing was rushed, there was no sense or urgency, only peace, absolute calm. If there was one word I could use to describe this place, it was ‘idyllic’.

A carriage waited at the side of the land, its dark wood showed age but it was strong and sturdy. The driver sat next to the conveyance on a long green bench reading a paper. Meadow called over to him and he looked up, smiling,

“Hello Miss Meadow, ready for off?”

“We are, Grain,” she nudged me happily, “all of us.”

The tan coloured stallion with the brown mane rolled up his paper and stuffed it back in his pannier before pausing, only to take it out again and hoof it to me, “Here, if you’re new you may find this interesting. Look at page four.”

After we’d settled on the well sprung seats, the carriage lurched into motion, Meadow quietly watching me. Sparrow seemed more interested in her plushie than anything else and kept up a steady stream of chatter to the little figure. I couldn’t help but smile. Meadow raised her eyebrows and motioned to the paper, which I dutifully opened out…’The Inquirer’, very original…

Let see, page four…page…four…here we go! Right then…I looked down and there at the bottom was a heading, ‘Our Newest Friends’. Meadow smiled, “Come on then, read it out”.

I raised an eyebrow then read aloud, “We welcome a pony who many readers will already know of from his exciting exploits in the news over the last few years, Mister Fairlight Loam of Smiling Borders, Equestria (43).”

“Wha…! Bloody hell! Why’d they put my age?”

“It’s a press standard, love. Go on…”

I cleared my throat, “Fairlight, as he prefers to be known, was tragically killed in an explosion of unknown origin this morning and, after extensive deliberation by the Herd Ethics Committee (HEC), the controversial decision was made to allow him entry into the Eternal Herd. Opponents of his acceptance into the herd list concerns regarding his ‘violent and unpredictable nature’ with ‘a predilection towards cruel and unnatural acts’. Principal Starbeard explained the HEC decision:

‘Fairlight Loam is a rare and special individual who has proven himself to be of good heart and, if not the most intellectually stimulating of Equestrians, has a talent for quick thinking and decisive action. Who can forget the tragic events of the Summer of Tears? The brutal murder of a young mare and her unborn foal by two evil ponies, would have adversely affected the mental state of any mortal. Mister Loam rose above that and as many of you know, was instrumental is saving Equestrian’s from slavery and death in the human world, not to mention his heroic defence of two our princesses.”

I shook my head, “It goes on…I don’t want to read any more.”

Meadow put her hoof on the paper, “I still can’t believe you’re here…with me, with us. Sparrow talks about you all the time and we’ve all missed you too, me, your parents, even Glimmer. I can’t wait to show you off to them all!”

I sat back, staring up at the sky, “I’m frightened to blink.”

“Why?”

“Because if I do, all this, you, Sparrow…it’ll all disappear and I’ll wake up somewhere…alone.”

A green face suddenly loomed over me, the sunlight glinting like tiny sparks through her flowing mane, “But you’re not alone, love. We’re here…we always have been.”

She leaned forward and kissed me, gliding her forelegs around my neck, taking my heart to a height of happiness I couldn’t believe was possible. I was finally home.

Sparrow Song giggled, “You’re kissing!” she laughed, “Oooh! I’m going to tell nanna on you!”

The cheeky little beggar! Meadow turned round and held a hoof up to her mouth, “Shhh! Don’t tell nanna, or…”

“Or?”

“Well, it depends who wants butterscotch ice-cream tonight, doesn’t it?”

Sparrow took a huge intake of breath , “I WANT BUTTERSCOTCH ICE-CREAM!”

The deafening noise, with its youthful squeakiness made my ears flatten in surprise, “Nothing wrong with your lungs, young filly!”

“I’m still a foal, daddy. You’re silly!”

I laughed and caught Meadow as she leaned back into me sighing, “You know, I found something interesting out today…”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Mister ‘Loam’”

“Ah, yes…”

“Come on then, what’s the story?”

“What’s to tell? It’s my family name, I didn’t like it and so I don’t use it. It was bad enough being grey with brown eyes, add to that the black and white tail and what do you have? The foals called me ‘cart horse’. When they found out my family name was ‘loam’, it made things even worse. I’ve never used it since.”

“But you never told me either!”

I gave her a light nuzzle, “I’m sorry love, it never entered my head and to be honest, it’s never really come up since. Even after I joined the watch, I’ve simply been ‘Fairlight’”.

The carriage rumbled on until Sparrow shouted excitedly, “That’s our house! Look, daddy, daddy, daddy”

“Oh, good grief!” I leaned forward and tickled her until she started squeaking in laughter, “And you, you little pest! Come on, let’s have a look at your house.”

It was beautiful, the culmination of all the wishes and dreams I could ever have shared with my wonderful wife. The cottage was freshly whitewashed with an almost golden thatched roof, very neatly done too. The trim hedge and picket fence around the outside, showed splashes of colour from the many varieties of flowers that bloomed here. Meadow pushed open the gate and let me enter first. I was nearly overwhelmed with the sheer beauty and vibrancy of it all, the wonderfully heady scent of the garden caressing my nose; it was sensory and emotional overload. I could feel tears welling in my eyes and found my knees were trembling as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing.

The green painted wooden door had a brass bell next to it for visitors to ring and a letter box from which peeked out the corner of a piece of post somepony hadn’t pushed all the way through. Meadow came up beside me, chuckling, and deftly opened the door which creaked slightly on its hinges. I’d have to oil that later.

I collected the letter and followed her inside. The atmosphere was surprisingly light and airy, the smallish windows restricting light to a degree but still giving enough to keep the place bright enough to be comfortable. Bookshelves lined the walls with collections of decorative plates, paintings of landscapes, and ponies. It was all very…Meadow.

I looked at the pictures in the quiet of the living room, a portrait of a familiar face catching my attention; Apple Pop, Meadows father, stood there in his uniform looking proud and professional. He’d been an inspiration in the watch and was virtually a legend there. I wonder what he’d think now…

Sparrow’s laughter rang through the cottage from another room and I caught a glimpse of her with another colourful plush, ‘flying’ it through the air while she galloped and leapt about the room. Her tiny wings were developing so fast! One day soon I’d see her fly and I’d be able to fly with her. What a day that would be!

The next picture was of…me? It was! There I stood, in my dress watch uniform at the formal passing out ceremony holding my badge. Where had she got this from? And there…more pictures of me, Meadow and then…landscapes…beautiful landscapes of Equestria. They were all unsigned and looked so familiar, why?

A clink from behind me drew my attention away from the paintings to see Meadow placing a cake stand down on the dark oak table. A pot of tea under a cosy and two china cups next to it, sat ready for pouring. The grass green mare sat back in the large wicker chair and leaned back with a sigh, “Well, what do you think?”

My face must have been a picture, “It’s…it’s all so…beautiful.”

“It is isn’t it. Everything you and I dreamed of.”

“That’s right! All of it is. I don’t understand Meadow, what’s going on? I’m so confused and I can’t think straight. I feel I’m forgetting something important and I just can’t put my hoof on it.”

Meadow ran a hoof through her mane and I poured the tea, my magic enveloping the tea pot with practised ease. She smiled, with a far away look which I couldn’t quite make out, “It’s the adjustment process. It’ll take a little while for you to get used to things here and then this,” she waved a hoof indicating the interior of the cottage, “…will all become an everyday part of your life.”

I reached out a hoof and gently touch her foreleg, “Is something wrong love?”

“Wrong? No, not really, I still can’t believe you’re here. I was only speaking to you this morning and then all of a sudden I have Aethel’s secretary calling me and there you are, stood there like…”

She sniffed.

I took a sip of my tea, “Like what?”

“Like you’d never been away! Haven’t you noticed anything about yourself, about me? Anything?”

Although it was always considered rude to stare, I did so at Meadow who had an intent look of expectation on her face. Scratching my head, I gave here a cheeky grin, “You look as beautiful as you did that first day I met you, but then, you always did. Always have.”

She nodded, “And?”

“What?”

Meadow rolled her eyes, “What about yourself?”

Shrugging, I looked at my foreleg, “Me? I look the same as always, grey.” A shame really, I’d always thought when I died I’d end up white or gold, maybe silver! Shining and glowing like the sun or starlight, that would have been so cool!

Meadow clicked her tongue, “You can’t tell by looking at your leg, you daft bugger, here…” She picked up a mirror and passed it to me in her magic. Good grief, she could have done that in the first place! I gave her a long suffering look and gazed at my reflection in the mirror, “I…”

The image reflected back at me was…me…but not me. The scar had gone, vanished! The fur on my face was lustrous and smooth, my horn neat and there was a distinct absence of all the smaller scars I’d accrued over the years. My eyes were the most shocking thing though…they were brown, just as they had been before my misadventure in…in where?

Placing the mirror down, I looked up at the gorgeous mare, “Meadow, I look”, I took a deep breath, “I look like I did when I was in my early twenties! Why are my eyes brown again and why can’t I remember why they were blue?”

She clicked her tongue, “I’ve already told you why! Honestly Fairlight, do you ever listen?”

My ears drooped and I held the hot cup of tea in my hooves, “Of course I listen, it’s just this is all so confusing, it’s like I’m trapped in some dream world and I’m going to wake up and all this will disappear. I’ve already had somepony mucking with my head and here we go again! My memories feel like somepony smashed them to pieces and they’re all jumbled up in there.”

“So”, I said looking at her over a fairy cake, “How come I remember you and Sparrow?”

“Page sixteen”

“What about page sixteen?”

Meadow magicked over my guide book, flipping to the correct page and pushed it under my muzzle, “Here”.

I read the title next to the friendly picture of a pony with a big question mark over its head, ‘CONFUSED?’ It read…bloody right! I read on…

‘Right now, you may be experiencing anxiety and some confusion due to your recent soul-realignment. This is perfectly natural and should be expected.’ A ponies smiling face was drawn in the margin.

‘Memory dislocation often occurs during relocation. In the case of trauma prior to arrival, symptoms may often be exacerbated. Fortunately, in the majority of cases, these are temporary and the individual’s pre-mort recollections and memories should return in their entirety.’ Well, that was encouraging!

‘You will also find your appearance has altered during your transition. This is your mind and body’s optimal state based upon…’

I took a bite of my cake, skipping over the techno-babble, ‘You will be assigned a case worker to help you adjust. However in most cases, a member of your family is usually assigned to help you upon your arrival.’

I looked up at Meadow who smiled knowingly, “A member of my family”, I said raising an eyebrow, “…family”.

“Don’t worry about it too much,” She said sipping her tea, “your memories will come back soon, love. I could tell you about them, but it’s not recommended as it can cause more confusion. Just try to keep calm, relax and they’ll come back naturally. When that’s done, we’ll go and meet your old friends.”

“My old friends?”

“Oh yes! They’re driving me nuts going on about you all the time.”

Sighing I stared out of the window at the azure blue sky, “I’m sorry, Meadow…I’m not myself right now”, I held up my foreleg, “Not myself at all it seems”.

Meadow shrugged, “How do you think I felt when I came here? I was pregnant, terrified and alone. Dad was away with work and I had to be assigned a case worker straight away until they could get Mum here. You’re lucky I don’t live that far from Aethel’s office.”

I shook my head, “I didn’t realise, I’m sorry. I’m being selfish…”

“No”, she said, laying a hoof on mine, “I am, I shouldn’t be throwing all this at you. Come on, lets just enjoy the tea and cakes, then we can sit in the garden and enjoy the sunset.”

“What about Sparrow?”

“She’s playing, she’s not helpless you know. Now then, try these blue frosted ones, I think you’ll really enjoy the minty taste…”

Warm sunlight filtered into the bedroom through the narrow gap in the curtains, it was bright and wonderfully inviting. Everyday was like this…perfect. It rarely rained and when It did it was usually at night, providing just enough water for the plants to be healthy. Carefully, I slipped out of the bed. Meadow was still dozing beside me and snuggled into the pillow murmuring softly in her sleep.

Resisting the urge to give her a nuzzle, I quietly left the room and sneaked past Sparrows bedroom into the kitchen and finally the garden. The sun was brilliant in the morning and the birds sang a happy refrain as it rose into the sky. I don’t suppose I’d been here that long, but it was hard to say to be sure. Meadow had told me the eternal herd’s realm had a different time line to that of the mortal one and it wasn’t ‘straight’ either, meaning that it was virtually impossible to predict.

Gradually over the days, my memories had started to come back piece by tiny piece. First were my memories of family, then friends and loved one, eventually places, events until like a well bubbling up with water from its depths, I was finally ‘me’ again. In some ways, I wished I wasn’t. This place, this world, it didn’t feel ‘right’ for me. Now I don’t mean that I wasn’t happy here, it was without doubt the most wonderful place I had ever been, not to mention I was finally with my wife and foal who filled my life here with joy. No, there was something…’off’ about my being here, like I hadn’t accepted it or conversely, been accepted by it. Whatever it was, it was driving me crazy and I’d been irritable the last couple of days until my ‘case worker’, Verity Sparks, had written to us to say she was going to be arriving for an ‘Introductory Visit’. Bloody marvellous. I really wished I had my pipe and a brandy right now, but there was little in the house except tea, coffee, juice and water.

I shook my mane and a shudder ran down my spine, “What the hell’s wrong with me?”

“Daddy?”

Sparrow stood behind me, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with a foreleg. She yawned expansively before I scooped her up in my hooves and gave her a kiss on her forehead, “Good morning my sleepy girl, how are you this morning?”

“Mmmm-okay”, Sparrow smiled up at me. She was bigger now, her yellow eyes keen and bright, those wings looking stronger and more flight worthy every day.

“Have you been practising your flying when I was away? You need to get them nice and strong so you can soar…” I whisked her up into the air, “…like a bird!”

She squeaked and shrieked with laughter, her sleepiness gone in an instant. Sparrow flapped her wings and I could feel the power in them, the way they pushed at the air and I knew then that it wouldn’t be long before we had a very mobile daughter. Goodness knows how Meadow would catch her then! Ah, probably my job, but…come to think of it, I hadn’t used my spirit’s power since coming here. I hadn’t seen the need, nor did I really feel like I wanted to. The anger, rage and hatred that tended to accompany it just wasn’t there. Furthermore, my eyes no longer had that magical blue glow to them; I was just a pony…at least, in appearance.

“Daddy?”

Sparrow tapped my leg and I looked down, “Yes, love?”

“Are you going away again soon?”

My eyebrows shot up and my mouth hung open, “I…No…no love, I don’t think so. Why are you asking, is everything okay?”

“You don’t look happy, daddy. Every day you look across the fields and your eyes are sad.”

My heart skipped a beat and I looked up to gaze out at the beautiful scenery. The grass, the trees, the woodland and the lane which disappeared into the distance. I mussed her mane, “I’m not going anywhere love, don’t you worry.”

“Do you miss the scary pony?”

“Scary…? Oh! You mean Shadow?” I sighed, “I do love, yes. And Tingles and Lumin too.”

“I like Tingles, she’s got wings like me! I’m going to fly like her and zooooom!” She rushed off, flapping her wings and jumping, the wild flapping propelling her further and higher than a normal jump. She was growing so fast. Like Lumin…without his dad, without me…

Sparrow’s laughter abruptly stopped and she stood on her hind legs leaning up to me, “Daddy you’re crying, are you sad?”

“I…Am I?” I reached up and sure enough, tears ran down my cheeks, “Oh! Sorry love, daddies just being silly, we’ll all be together one day. You waited a long time for me to come home, didn’t you?”

“Yeah!” Sparrow hugged me, her tiny forelegs barely covering my chest. It was agonisingly adorable, “I love you daddy”

A heartfelt surge of emotion pounded through me and I held the little foal close, kissing her on the forehead again, “And I love you too, my beautiful daughter. Never forget that okay?”

“Okay!”

“Now, come on, let’s get your…”

“-Breakfast?” Meadow stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame smiling at us. Her mane and tail were a mess and she had that early morning sleepy look which I found oddly attractive. Goddesses I loved her so much.

“Mmmmm”, I reached a foreleg around her neck and kissed her on the lips, “I know what I’d like for breakfast…”

“Fairlight!” she laughed pushing me away, “Not in front of Sparrow!”

The small grey Pegasus jumped about around our hooves, “I want sugar sparkles! Sugar sparkles, sugar sparkles!”

“Good grief! All right then you little pest,” I laughed scooping her up, “come on, lets get you hyped up on sugar. Bloody hell, I hope they have good dentistry round here.”

Meadow tapped me on the nose, “Language, mister”

I rolled my eyes and trotted into the kitchen to feed the lovable pestering child.

********************

We finished our breakfast and Sparrow ran off to play, suitably filled with a sugary mix of milk and whatever mysterious concoction was in that colourful cereal packet. Meadow passed me the crockery and I began washing up the dishes; it was our morning routine now and it worked pretty well. I’d always been a big believer in fairness and sharing, in my mind it was a way of keeping harmony and balance I suppose. Well, it was more an ideal than anything else, I can but dream.

Meadow dried one of the breakfast bowls, “She adores you, you know.”

“I know,” I replied wiping one of the bowls, “she’s the best daughter we could have ever wished for, that anypony could wish for. She’s growing so fast too, you’ll need a net to catch the little pest when she starts taking wing.”

Meadow chuckled, “I know, her wings are so strong now. I picked her up the other day and one of her wings caught me a right clip around the ear. She didn’t mean to and was really upset afterwards, but I just couldn’t believe the strength in them, they look so fragile.”

I nodded, “Probably gets that from your side love, there weren’t many pegasi on mine. The tribe had a thing for unicorns.”

“You still do, don’t you?”

“Oh yes!”

I eyed that gorgeous green flank while she placed the crockery in the cupboard and turned to face me taking her pinny off, “Fairlight…”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course love, what’s up?”

“Its…look, I don’t want to…”

I smiled at her, “Meadow, come on now. No secrets between us, okay?”

She sniffed, “Other than the ‘Loam’ thing?”

Nodding I sniffed, “Except the ‘Loam’ thing!”

Meadow shook her mane, her face suddenly serious, “Fairlight, are you happy here, with me, with Sparrow?”

My heart lurched in my chest, “Of course I am! Good goddesses, Meadow, why would you think I wasn’t?”

She lowered her head, her ears drooping a little, “Because…because you keep staring out up the lane back towards Aethel’s office. I’ve seen you, its everyday Fairlight and its frightening me. I spent so long here without you, missing you, and then all of a sudden, here you are! And yet…you’re not ‘quite here’ somehow.”

I sat on my haunches and fetched the teapot. I didn’t know what to say. I certainly did feel detached from this place, but not from Meadow and Sparrow, not from them.

“It’s Shadow, Tingles and Lumin isn’t it?” She said quietly.

Pouring the tea out, I closed me eyes for a moment, “I don’t know love. I suppose so, I do miss them. They’re our family after all, and it was all so sudden. I never got to see Lumin’s first birthday you know? I never got to say goodbye, and I can’t get the feeling I left something behind out of my head…I don’t feel this place is…”

I shook myself and took a gulp of the tea, “Oh I don’t know! It’s probably this ‘adjustment process’ or whatever it says in that stupid guide book.”

Meadow stood where she was and I caught the glint of something fall, “Oh goddesses, no…” I rushed to her, “Meadow, don’t love, please. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry, oh no…”

She sniffed and looked up while I brushed her tears away. Looking into my eyes, Meadow grabbed me and kissed me, “I love you, you stupid stallion. I want us to be with everypony, but I want to be with you and Sparrow too. I guess…I just don’t want to be alone again, Fairlight.”

Meadow hugged me tight, “I don’t want to be without you ever again.”

I nuzzled her and playfully kissed her nose, “You taste salty, miss Tingles. I like salt.”

She reached up and nibbled my ear, “I know you do…my bad stallion, maybe we should…you know?”

Sparrow rushed in, “Mummy, Daddy, there’s a funny looking pony at the gate. She’s all stripy!”

A high pitched grating voice called into the house, “Hello? Heeelllooooo?”

I rolled my eyes, releasing Meadow. Any thoughts of a morning fooling about with her disappeared with the arrival of, I guessed, the bloody ‘case worker’.

“Shit”, I muttered to myself, “The old bags bloody well early too!”

Meadow chuckled, “Sorry love, maybe later, eh? And will you watch that swearing!” She gave me a whack on the behind.

I shrugged, giving her a cheeky smirk before trotting to the gate to meet our ‘stripy’ visitor.

The bizarrely coated mare stood on the other side of our white gate, peering over from under her huge yellow sun hat and half moon spectacles. Sparrow hadn’t been exaggerating either, our visitors coat was a tiger striped affair of red and yellow, with a pair of vivid purple eyes in a slightly pudgy face. She was a middle aged mare and had an air of authority around her that suggested to me she expected to do the talking. As for me…well, I don’t think I needed to finish that line of thought.

“Hello, miss…?”

“Its ‘Ms’ actually, Ms Sparks, Verity Sparks.” The school mistress type didn’t really appeal to me, but I didn’t mind playing the naughty school boy in the right place and time, “Am I addressing Mister Fairlight Loam, formerly of Equestria?”

I cleared my throat, “It’s Lord actually” I peered at her clipboard pretending to be looking for my name on the list, “Lord Fairlight, of the tribe of the four winds.”

She glowered at me over her glasses and tossed her bangs out of her eyes, “Really? It doesn’t say anything about ‘titles’ in your dossier.”

I chuckled, “Just call me Fairlight, Ms Sparks, or may I call you Verity?”

The case worker looked unfazed, “Ms Sparks, please…’Lord’ Fairlight”

I rolled my eyes, turning to let her follow me into the house. Meadow was waiting with a freshly made pot of tea and some scones. Our enigmatic visitors’ eyes lit up when she saw her, “Meadow! Good gracious, what are you doing here?!”

“I don’t believe it! Sparky!”

I sat on my haunches and chuckled to myself, “Sparky!” I think she heard me, as Ms Sparks shot me a look that could have frozen my blood solid.

“Meadow”, she sniffed, turning back to the green mare, “I didn’t realise you’d moved on, the last time I saw you was…well, you know.”

“I know”, Meadow smiled sadly, “Things didn’t quite work out as I’d planned. But I got married, ended up here, and had Sparrow Song who you’ve already met.”

“That cute little foal’s yours? She’s gorgeous! Oooh! I’m SO jealous!”

Meadow stuck out a hind leg, nearly tripping me up, “And where are you going mister?”

Damn it! “Um, well, you ladies are clearly old friends and I’d hate to interrupt your re-union, so I’ll pop out for a while and let you catch up.”

“You will do no such thing!” Meadow stomped her hoof, Ms Sparks’ eyes boring into me while she pushed her glasses back up her muzzle.

The stripy mare huffed, “I am here to speak to you, ‘Lord’ Fairlight, on the subject to your recent acceptance into the eternal herd.”

Oh bollocks, this looked like it was going to take a while…”Tea?”

Thank the goddess for Meadow. Ms Sparks appeared to be an old acquaintance of hers although I knew next to nothing about her other than she worked for what passed as the ‘authorities’ here. Even being dead didn’t get you away from bloody bureaucracy!

Ms Sparks began by explained, in general terms, about the layout of the realm, but a lot of it went over my head. Regardless of the feeling of being calm and relaxed which seemed to leach into your very bones here, I still had that disjointed feeling that the ministry mare was not exactly doing much to relieve.

“So, Fairlight, how are you finding your new home?” She asked tapping her folder with her quill, “You must be happy to be in such a beautiful place with your family, right?”

I nodded, “Of course, how could I not be? I get blown up and all of sudden I’m in a fairytale land in a fairytale cottage with my beautiful wife and daughter. Add to that picture, the fact that I now look half my age for some reason, my memories go through a blender and everyday looks like summer.”

I looked out of the window, “I’ll be honest with you Ms. Sparks, it’s all so good, so wonderful, that it doesn’t seem right…like I’m not meant to be here. A dream I’m going to wake up from.”

Meadow shook her head and looked concernedly at her friend. Ms Sparks smiled at me like I was some frightened foal, “I understand, I really do. It’s a frightening experience sometimes for ponies entering the herd. This realm was created by the god and goddess for us for when we ‘pass over’. Your home, this wonderful cottage, was what Meadow had in her heart and soul when she died and the realm ‘recognises’ that and brings it into being ready for the new arrival.”

“All very convenient,” I said trying my best not to sound sarcastic, “but how come we never see anypony? Why’s it just us? You’re the only other pony we’ve seen in ages!”

She lifted the quill and made some notes, “Because, Fairlight, you are currently in a state of quarantine.”

“WHAT?! QUARANTINE!” I banged the table making the mares jump in fright, “Do you think I’ve got fucking rabies of something? Am I a prisoner? Is this why I can’t see my parents or friends?”

“Mister Fairlight, Please!” Ms Sparks said in alarm, “You are a special case you know, wendigo’s are…very rare in the herd.”

My heart was thundering in my chest, “I don’t understand this, if I’m dead what does being a wendigo matter anyway? I was a pony before the blasted spirit inhabited me, what, do you think I’m going to go on some psychotic rampage or something?”

Ms Sparks looked at Meadow and she nodded, “Very well. Fairlight, you probably didn’t know this, but the herd has not had a new wendigo in a long time, a very, very long time.”

“They are here though, aren’t they?”

“Yes, of course, unless they opt for reincarnation of course”

“Reincarnation?”

“Haven’t you read the guide book?”

I hadnt.

She shook her head, “Page one hundred.” Miss Sparks took a sip of her tea, “Wendigo’s, like you, have their powers ‘sealed’ when they arrive. You may have experienced a ‘tingling’ feeling when you passed through the doorway?”

I nodded, I didn’t like the way this was going.

“I’m afraid that the unpredictable and dangerous nature of wendigo’s would upset the balance here in the herd and, after all like you said yourself, they were ponies to begin with were they not?”

I shook my head, looking to Meadow for support, “I’m ‘dangerous and unpredictable’? Dear goddess, you make me sound like I’m not safe to be around. I’d never hurt my family or anypony, Ms Sparks.”

She raised an eyebrow and took out a list which she passed to me, “Do you recognise any of these names?”

I looked down the list. Most I didn’t know, but there…’Melon Patch’, ‘Gates’ and some other names I recognised too…”These are all ponies I…”

She took back the list from me, “That’s right Fairlight, I think you can see now why some here were, shall we say, ‘reluctant’ to allow you entry at all. Don’t worry though, your quarantine will be over soon, once the ethics committee have considered you case.”

“Considered? What if they don’t think I should be released from quarantine?”

She stared at me, her face blank, before that half smile I’d begun to associate with her re-appeared, “Lets not think about that right now, eh? Happy smiles is what the herd is all about!” It wasn’t reassuring.

“Now, I’ll take my leave and leave you two lovebirds in peace…”

Meadow reached out and caught Ms Sparks’ hoof, a look of worry on her face, “Verity, please…I’m worried about him” she looked me in the face while addressing her friend, “He’s not ‘settling’ the way I was told he should, is this really just the adjustment period? Maybe you can get him some help?”

The committee mare held her hoof and smiled warmly, “Meadow darling, of course you’re worried, it’s only natural. Everypony adjusts at their own speed and Fairlight is just a little ‘slower’ than normal that’s all.” She laughed, “Must be a stallion thing!”

I laughed sarcastically, “Ha, ha, very funny…” I climbed out of the chair and walked to the door, “Don’t you think a few visitors to my idyllic prison cell would help me ‘adjust’, Ms Sparks? Or are you worried I’ll infect them with my sickness?”

Her half smile quavered for a moment, “There’s no need for that attitude Fairlight, I’m not your enemy you know.”

Meadow gave me a look which suggested I’d be getting a lecture later on.

“Look”, Ms Sparks sighed, “I’ll see what I can do. Meadow’s already suggested somepony, so all I can say is to leave it with me. Principal Starswirl has a particular interest in your case, so I will be speaking to him this afternoon.”

“Starswirl the bearded?”

“Are there any others by that name?”

“Well, now that you come to mention it…”

She tutted and walked to the door, giving Meadow a hug before we walked her to the gate, “I’ll do what I can for you Fairlight, just…be on your best behaviour, alright?”

“Yes, Ms Sparky” I replied sarcastically.

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head, “Good luck, Meadow.” And in a quiet voice added, “You’re going to need it.”

I opened my mouth to reply but a hoof from my wife stopped me and I bit my tongue. That bloody stripy mare! Still, if she could get me out of this quarantine…but what then? Where could I go? What about Shadow, Tingles and Lumin?

The mare disappeared up the lane and then simply vanished.

Meadow looked at me sadly, “I’m sorry love, I had a feeling they’d do something like this but you arrived so suddenly, nopony told me about it until just now.”

I sat down on the garden bench, “Its alright, I’m not surprised. What does surprise me is that they allowed me in at all. Good goddesses, that list…all those lives…”

“But you’re here now, aren’t you, that’s what’s important, love. Please, I just want us to be happy. It’s not much to ask is it?”

She nuzzled me and snuggled in on the bench next to me, “You know,” I said quietly, “When we met in the glade, I was so happy to see you and yet, terribly sad too. I wanted you to stay, or to leave with you. Now I’m here, it’s hard to get my head around it.”

I kissed her, “But I will, don’t you worry! With my wonderful and beautiful mare by my side, how could I not?”

Meadow giggled, “I missed you terribly you know Fairlight. You were always rushing about doing dangerous things. Mind you, there was something about that.”

“What?”

She snuggled into me, ”Mmmm, dangerous…unpredictable…” Meadow reached down and grabbed something that made me gasp, “you are a bad boy. And I haven’t forgotten your swearing or being rude to my friend.”

“So what are you going to do about it, Miss Meadow?”

“I’m going to have to be strict I’m afraid, and take you firmly in hoof.”

With that, she took my hoof and pulled it down to her haunches, “Sparrow’s dozing in the playroom, so we’ll have to be quiet. Can you be quiet?”

“Oh, yes. Let’s see if you can be too…”

Meadow’s coat was as silky soft and smooth as the day I’d met her, her feminine fragrance tantalising my nose. She was my first love and filled my heart with joy and warmth. So many things had changed in our lives and yet here we were, kissing and loving one another in the warm sun of a perfect day in the realm of the eternal herd. I had known sadness, loss, pain and torment, all the negative emotions no pony should ever have to face and now, at long last, it was gone. I was adrift in a sea of calm and happiness I’d never known since my beloved Meadow had been so cruelly taken from me. But now, she was here and in my embrace.

She giggled and looked up into my eyes, “What are you thinking, my ‘lord’ Fairlight?”

Smiling, I kissed her nose, “About how much I love you…”

Meadow’s eyes glistened and she threw her forelegs around me tightly, “Oh goddesses Fairlight, I’ve never felt happier than I do now.”

In a flourish, she jumped from the bench and gave her mane a shake, “Come on, we’d better get the dinner on and then we can go for a walk if you fancy.”

And so we did, the excellent meal of heritage vegetables and mushroom soup as warming and satisfying as our stroll through the lush fields around the cottage.

Days passed, each as blissful as the last. Watching my daughter growing and developing, helping Meadow with little tasks around the house, it was like being in some dream which I never wanted to wake from. I still thought about Tingles, Shadow, Lumin and even little Tarragon, but I knew in my heart they were unharmed and safe with our friends in the village. I was still anxious to see them, but surely there would be some way to visit the mortal realm them as Meadow had with me.

Apparently though, the ‘quarantine’ had put paid to any excursions beyond the brow of the hill and that included communications from the mortal realm which weren’t really supposed to be allowed anyway. Starswirl’s position in the herd obviously had its advantages.

The fields, the cottage, it truly was a wonderful fairytale home, even if it was a prison of sorts; they could throw away the key for all I cared. I’d watch Meadow trot off to the market in the nearby town to go shopping and return some time later with wonderful things for the table. I’d tried to go there myself a few times only to find I’d somehow returned back to the lane outside the cottage, not that I was really bothered by it to be honest, who would be?

My only concern real was I’d become bored. Eternity was a long time…

Chapter Eleven - The Vistor

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE VISITOR

Sat on the garden bench one afternoon, I had been wiling the time away dozing and reading the paper which Meadow would bring me from the market. It was always the same one, ‘The Inquirer’, your ‘top source for what’s happening in the eternal herd’, and your only one apparently. Not much in the way of independent news reporting here it seemed.

The ice cracked in the glass of fresh orange that sat on the table beside me, it was delicious. Meadow had collected the oranges from the farmers market and picked up a copy of ‘Mares Own’ too, which had a selection of recipes from ‘around the world’ for her to try out on me. She was an accomplished cook but some of the things we tried…I shuddered, there are some things you shouldn’t do with mayonnaise, and cakes was one of them. I’d read the recipe afterwards, ‘submitted by Mrs Finn of Higher Dene’. I don’t know about ‘submitted’, but Mrs Finn should have been ‘committed’ for subjecting that terror on the populace.

Clinking and the sound of bowls being moved about emanated from the kitchen and I made a point of keeping out of the way. The kitchen was Meadows domain and she protected it fiercely. Although a modern mare in many respects, she was still traditional at heart and had a fierce passion for cooking and baking. Today she was trying out a recipe for a sweet treat called ‘baklava’. I’d never eaten griffin cuisine before, due to them being carnivores, but she assured me this was suitable for ponies. I hoped so, I’d nearly eaten something called ‘bacon’ once. Good goddesses, I’d even had it in my mouth and could still remember the saltiness on my tongue which is what had attracted me to it in the first place. At least until Meadow had told me what it was and stopped me from potentially making myself ill; bloody street vendors. Why did it have to smell so good?

Meadow was chatting with Sparrow in the kitchen, the only other living thing allowed in there apparently. I’d had flour thrown at me last time and a whack from a large spoon when I’d attempted to sample the intriguing mixture in the massive mixing bowl. Damn it, I wanted to try some and I’d put money on our angelic little blackmailer getting her hooves on some too. Peering up at the window, I saw Sparrow…licking the bloody bowl! Hey! I had my hooves up at the glass and stared longingly down at the bowl currently being scraped clean and disappearing into the grinning maw of the very sticky looking foal.

Sparrow laughed at me, until her mum started wiping her mouth with a damp tea towel. Her exaggerated look of distress made me laugh and I put down the paper and indulged in one of the best things a pony can do, a damned good roll in the grass. Oh boy, did that feel good! It was so cool and soothing I went at like a pony possessed, waving my hooves in the air until I was thoroughly worn out…wonderful.

“I’m not interrupting anything important am I?” Starswirl smirked from over the hedge.

“Gah! Bloody hell!” I sputtered, spitting grass clipping from my mouth while frantically trying to get back on my hooves, “Couldn’t you have warned us you were coming?”

The old unicorn watched me with a half smile until I’d composed myself with a good shake to get rid of the grass stuck to my hide.

“Would you like me to come back at a later date my boy?”

“No!” I squeaked, coughing out a stuck blade of grass, “Its fine, come in, you just caught me off guard that’s all.”

Starswirl pushed the gate open, “Hmmm, apparently so.”

“Can I offer you some orange?” I asked motioning to the bench and the jug of juice. He shook his head and unhooked his saddle bags,

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for asking. I believe Miss Sparks spoke to you about the quarantine?”

“Its ‘Ms’”

“Sorry?”

“She likes to be called ‘Ms’ Sparks, not ‘Miss’.”

He lowered his eyebrows, “Quite”

With a flourish of his black and gold embroidered cloak, the bearded unicorn swept into the cottage to be met with a floury hug from Meadow and bouncing Sparrow. Like some long lost uncle or grandfather, Starswirl looked like he belonged here with them. My daughter jumped about between his legs nearly causing him to trip while Meadow guided him to a chair and the freshly made sweets. A pot of tea was duly brought over and I helped to pour him a cup.

I noticed something about the old unicorn then…he wasn’t, he actually looked more around my age. The beard did throw you, it was as white as it appeared in all the depictions of him and when I’d seen him in the glade, but here in the flesh he was a young stallion, bright and alert. I noticed he still had the staff strapped to his saddle bags, but he didn’t lean on it nor seem to have it for any particular purpose. Maybe he just liked the thing?

“So”, he began, “How have you been adjusting? I believe from ‘Ms’ Sparks that you have been having some difficulties since you arrived.”

I nodded, “I suspect she explained her findings to you and I’m sure you don’t want me to go through it all again, Starswirl.”

He smiled wryly, “Ms Sparks did explain to me about your discomfort, Fairlight, and I sympathise. Your death was something none of us predicted; there were no prophesies of this happening nor warnings of any kind.”

“So that’s it then is it?” I said slapping my hind leg, “That whole ‘destiny’ thing was a touch off the mark in the end, what with me being dead and all.”

Meadow rolled her eyes, passing a slice of the baklava to Starswirl, “He’s right though, Starswirl, I mean, if he’s dead, how can he affect destiny?”

“Or be affected by it”, I added sipping my tea.

Starswirl twirled his head with a hoof idly, “I’m not certain…yet. From what I can determine, you shouldn’t be here. Not for a while at any rate.”

I nearly dropped the tea cup, “What?”

Meadow grabbed Starswirls foreleg, “No, no Starswirl, that’s wrong…it’s wrong!” Panic began to enter her voice, “I don’t like where you’re going with this! My husband is here, he’s passed over and that’s that.”

He patted her hoof, “Meadow, please.”

Removing her hooves from the bearded unicorn with a reluctant glance, Starswirl continued, “Destiny and prophecy were not a field of magic study I had much interest in, in my lifetime I’m afraid, far too…’abstract’. They’re much better left to those ponies who understand that sort of subject matter better than I. All I can tell you is that our friend Fairlight here, shouldn’t be ‘here’, right now. The fact that he is though, may just be destiny changing its path.” He adjusted his hat, “It happens from time to time.”

Swallowing my tea, I fixed him with a look, “So what? I’m done rushing off to fight ‘goddess knows what’ all the time, Starswirl. All I want to know ‘right now’ is what’s happening with this quarantine business. As wonderful as it is here, I’d like to walk a bit further than a hundred yards like some bloody hamster in a wheel.”

Rummaging in his saddle bags, Starswirl pulled out a scroll and floated it over to me, “You don’t need to read it, I can tell you. Your quarantine’s been lifted my boy. I’m sure you’ll both be relieved to hear that.”

Meadow let out a breath, “Thank the goddesses.”

Polishing off his pastry, the grey unicorn stood and pulled out his pocket watch, “Well, I’d love to stop and chat but there’s no rest for the wicked. In any case, you’ll be wanting to get out and about I’d imagine.”

I nodded, by the goddess I did! As lovely as this prison was, it was still just that. Meadow still looked worried but managed a smile, “Starswirl, can we still visit the mortal realm?”

He nodded sagely, “The barrier has been lifted, my dear, so yes, you can.”

I shook my mane, “I guess I should be thanking you, Starswirl. You spoke up for me didn’t you?”

He shook his head, holding up a hoof, “Don’t mention it, besides, you have some very influential friends here in the herd. One day I’ll introduce you to them, for now just get out there and see what the herd has to offer.”

Meadow passed him a small box with some of the sweet treats for later. “Thank you Meadow, you’re a good pony”, he said accepting the gift.

There was a crash from the kitchen and Meadow rushed off to investigate, “Oh no! Sparrow!”

Our lovely daughter had somehow managed to cover herself in flour and was now a lovely shade of white, sneezing great clouds of the stuff across the floor. “I’ll see our guest out love, I’ll give you a hoof in a minute” I called in through the door, making a hasty escape.

She didn’t hear me, far too busy trying to dust off our floury foal. Starswirl laughed and clopped me on the shoulder, “Quite the family you have my boy, never had any time for one myself. Never short of mares though!” He chuckled quietly to himself, “Now, I’ve all the time in the world.”

Walking to the gate he pulled me to one side, “Fairlight, there’s somepony I want you to meet, but…I don’t want Meadow to know. She may not…understand.”

I looked the old stallion in the eye, “I don’t keep secrets from my wife, Starswirl. I’m grateful for what you’ve done for me, and for Meadow, but I’m done breaking my neck for anypony who clops a hoof. So, whatever ‘scheme’ you have planned for me, I’m sorry, I’m not interested.”

He shook his head, “I understand, I just thought you’d like to meet somepony who you know very well already…you could almost say, he’s a part of who you are.“

“What? Who?”

“Meet me by the cherry orchard tomorrow, around two in the morning.”

I sighed, scrubbing my mane, “Okay, but if Meadow asks me, I’ll have to tell her.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Very well, until tomorrow then.”

The old bugger had peaked my interest and he knew it. I hated the feeling I was keeping things from Meadow, but there was no harm in finding out who this pony was and what they wanted, was there? I’d go along, chat to them and then that was that. What was more interesting to me though, was finally being able to get out of here and see the world, so to speak.

In the kitchen, Meadow was struggling with a wriggly Pegasus foal who was completely covered in flour and…

“Oh no! Sparrow!”

“What is it?”

“She got covered in honey!”

I face hoofed. It looked like it was going to be a long day.

************

That evening I was dozing by the log fire, the latest newspaper on my lap; more mundane reports about ‘new arrivals’, recipes and celebrity carryings on. If nothing else, it was good at sending me into the land of nod. Sparrow was in bed and my wonderful wife was crocheting something in her craft room, the ‘inner sanctum’ as she called it.

A loud clanging from the doorbell made me jump,

“I’ll get it!” Meadow called from the hallway trotting to open the door.

I could hear the latch lifting and my ears twitched, trying to hear what was being said. It couldn’t be ‘Ms Sparks’ at this hour, could it? Opening one eye, I looked across at the old grandfather clock in the corner just as it began to chime eight o’clock. There was a squee of excitement and a rush of hooves before a loud clattering of plates and cups in the kitchen was followed by loud voices, female voices, drifting through to me. ‘One of Meadow’s friends probably’, I thought to myself, yawning. I snuggled into the chair and reached for my glass of juice. I wished I had a brandy, it was one of the things I really missed about home. Home…Smiling Borders? I sighed, this was going to take quite a bit of getting used to.

The racket from the kitchen continued. I could imagine Meadow putting on the kettle, arranging cakes, maybe even sandwiches despite the lateness of the hour. I had always been warned about eating late at night, but if it was my mare’s treats, I’d indulge…a little. I could smell them now, warm and spicy. A hint of lemon caught my nose making it twitch, “Mmmm”, I sighed, “Delicious…”

“I’m glad you think so, Captain”, A dark coated muzzle full of short sharp teeth was inches from my face.

I shot out of the chair like a cork from a bottle, sending the paper flying and barely catching my juice, “Wha! Good goddess!”

“Miss me, cute flanks?”

A muscular thestral mare stood in front of me grinning, her eyes burning as bright as the coals in the fireplace. I hadn’t seen her since…

“Glimmer?”

“The one and only, ‘ghost pony’. Pfff!” She sniggered and shook her long shining black mane, “You like the perfume? Meadow helped me pick it out, it’s called ‘Lemon Surprise’. Sure gave you one!”

Any sense of decorum lost, I reached out and touched her face, “It is you…My goddesses, Glimmer. The last time I saw you, you were…”

“Yeah, I kinda got over that”, she leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “I’ll let you into a secret…I’m a ‘real’ ghost pony…WHOOOO!”

I laughed and pushed her away, “Stop it! I don’t believe it, you’re here!”

“Where else? I’ve been trying to get to see you for ages, would you believe I needed a bloody permit to come here too. You know what the herd are like.”

“Permit?”

Meadow trotted in with the cakes and tea, “He didn’t read the manual”

“I did!” I protested, “And I listened to Sparky too, kind of. I know thestrals mostly live in their own realm, but I didn’t know you needed a permit of all things.”

Glimmer nodded to Meadow, accepting a chair and a cake, “To most Equestrian’s, we do a look a bit, y’know, scary.”

“What do we look like to you, then?”

She smirked, running a long red tongue over her teeth, “Delicious”.

My heart jumped at her gesture and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Meadow who tapped her friend on the flank, “Behave you, you’ll give him nightmares”.

Glimmers eyes flared as she laughed, “Bah! If he hadn’t already been taken, he’d have made a fine mate. Lady Shadow has a good eye, even if he is a little soft.”

“SOFT!?” I squeaked, “I am bloody well not soft!”

“You are too! You were in tears when I’d been shot, virtually blubbering like a little filly too.”

Meadow shook her head, “You can be a bit, um, ‘emotional’ at times, love.”

“And don’t you go agreeing with her, now! Good goddesses, give me a break!”

The two chuckled and began whispering to each other, Meadow blushing and giving me a look from under her long eye lashes. I was glad I was sitting down as it had a strange effect on me that evoked a stirring I really shouldn’t be having in company. The thestral warrior murmured something to Meadow and began roaring in laughter.

“Mummy?”

Sparrow wandered in, wearing a cute set of pink pyjamas and carrying her Celestia plushie on her back. Glimmer reached down and picked her up, “And how’s my favourite little girl?”

Hoisted into the air in front of the bony creature, I was waiting for a shriek of fright from my daughter. What I got was, “Auntie Glimmer!”

It all came back to me now. Meadow had said that Glimmer had missed me when I first arrived and it had gone completely over my head. Apparently, these two had become firm friends, their link to me helping create a common bond that had helped Meadow cope with my ‘absence’. Mind you, there were no doubt a hoard of relatives somewhere just waiting to pounce; Mum, Dad, Grandparents…I had the impression I was going to be busy doing the rounds.

Glimmer, Meadow and I talked for hours, Sparrow fast asleep and curled up with the ‘not so scary’ thestral. For all her references to Shadow being the ‘scary pony’, Glimmer didn’t seem to fall into the same category. She was simply, ‘Auntie Glimmer’. For somepony who’d been riddled with bolts, she looked amazing, especially without all that spiked armour on. She smiled at me and waved a hoof,

“You’ll need a bigger house when the others get here, cute flanks.”

“Who?”

“The rest of your herd of course, Shadow and that other one…’whats her name’.”

“Tingles?”

“Something like that, yeah”

Meadow clopped her on the shoulder, “Glimmer!”

The thestral chuckled, “Well, if you’re accepting new applicants, I wouldn’t mind signing up…”

I nearly choked, “Gah! Glimmer, what? I…”

She sniggered, “Just kidding, cute flanks. I’ve got a couple of stallions waiting for me at home, still,” she winked at me, “…you can’t beat a bit of that soft pony flank, ooooh yeah!”

I rolled my eyes, “You mares…”

The evening soon drew to a close and Glimmer carried Sparrow to her bed, carefully tucking the sleeping foal into her quilt,

“She’s so cute, you can really tell she’s your daughter. She has your colouring, Meadows eyes too.”

Meadow gazed lovingly at sleeping foal, “She’s an angel, bright as a button but a bit of hoofful at times. Get’s that from her dad, I reckon.”

Yeah probably, I always have been up to things. Mum used to say that of me all the time. Dad felt the discipline of the watch would make me a better pony and I suppose he was right.

“Time for me to be off then,” Glimmer announced “you guys going to festival next month?”

Meadow nodded, “Of course, we’ll be able to meet everypony and see the royal family too. I can’t wait to see the latest fashion lines, the music, the craft fayre too!”

“I’ll bring Shale along with me, he’ll be able to keep our ghost pony company while we go off and do mare things.”

Oh goddesses, what a bloody nightmare…

A ring at the door turned out to be Glimmer’s taxi, “Well, time for me to head off, you two.” She whispered into Meadows ear who blushed beet red again and held her hoof to her mouth.

Glimmer passed me on the way to the gate, turning suddenly and giving me a hard nip on the backside,

“Ow!”

“Ho Ho!” she nickered, leaping the gate in a single bound, “What do you know, you really are delicious!”

I stood there in shock, that bloody mare! Waving a hoof, our old friend, the mare who’d save my life in that deserted city, disappeared up into the night sky in the back of her taxi. Shaking my head, I wondered at the absurdity of life…and death, I guess. It was enough to make anypony’s mind reel.

“Oooh, she didn’t have nip my arse, the bugger. Those teeth are damned sharp.” I rubbed my bottom, I was glad that was all she’d nipped, thestral’s could do some damage with those choppers.

Meadow raised an eyebrow, “She likes you, you know…you’re special to her”.

“Jealous?” I asked cocking my head to one side, “Not like you love”

“Oh, you don’t know me as well as you think, ‘cute flanks’. I do get jealous, I was with Shadow and Tingles at first, but now…well, they’re family. Doesn’t mean I don’t want you all to myself though.”

I hung my head but she grabbed me quickly and looked into my eyes, “Don’t start that, now, you!” she kissed me gently, “I don’t mind sharing with the girls, but no more, okay?”

I nodded, “Okay love.”

“She’s right about one thing though,” Meadow said in a sultry voice, “You do have a cute arse and I’d better take care of that nip she gave your too, it looks sore.”

“It bloody well is! Dammit.” I complained rubbing where she’d got me, thestrals must have hide like armour plate if they carried on like this all the time. Come to think of it…Shadow used to…I shook myself, I couldn’t keep wallowing in self pity. Drowning in memories was something I did all too often and their odd pull would drag me down into the dark depths of emptiness that were never very far away. Meadow knew me all too well,

“Lie down there, Fairlight and lets have a look.” She took out some ointment and began dabbing it on my rump, “You’ll live. I’ll have a word with that thestral next time I see her, nipping you is one thing, but she’s got some cheek biting my husband bum.”

A soft whisper by my ear, “That’s my job”

I looked back and she licked my muzzle, “You worry me sometimes you know”.

“I’m sorry”, I sighed, staring into the fire while she rubbed, “You know me too well, love. I wish there was something I could do, but I can’t just switch off my feelings, or my heart.”

“There’s a darkness in all of us,” She said philosophically, “I don’t think many ponies like to admit it, but it’s there. In you, well, I know you dwell on things you can’t change. It frustrates me that I can’t make it better for you.”

I harrumphed, “Damaged goods, eh? That’s me; broken and unwanted, cast aside by society.”

“Now there you go again, that’s what I’m talking about.” Meadow put down the ointment and passed me a juice, “You know and I know that that’s not true. You’ve been through a lot, Fairlight, me too don’t forget. But we’re here now, you and I, and we’ve got a lovely home, a beautiful daughter, and friends. Don’t forget that.”

“I know love, I know”, I nuzzled her, “Sometimes I just fall into that dark place and feel like I want to hide away and lock the door. I know I’m being stupid, but I can’t seem to help it. No matter what I do, somepony gets hurt, or rather got hurt. Now I’m with the herd, that’s not an issue any more.”

Meadow nuzzled me, “There’s a pony here who could help you, she’s worked with pony stress disorders before.”

“You think that’s what’s up with me? PSD?”

“I don’t know, love, maybe. You’ve been through things nopony would normally have to, seen things I can’t begin to imagine. She helped me when I got here.”

“I…I didn’t know. Meadow, I’m so selfish, I shouldn’t be moping like this. You’ve been through so much more than me and I just kind of assumed that you were…”

She was what? Alright? Happy? Goddesses she’d been murdered and had a foal here, alone and frightened. Hadn’t the horror of that dawned on me? Fuck, I was such an arsehole. The black pit of despair loomed ahead of me and could feel its pull on my heart.

“Stop it.” She bopped me on the nose, “I know that look, mister. Here…” Meadow lifted my head despite my resistance and looked into my eyes. I could feel them welling up, she was so beautiful and I knew I didn’t deserve her.

Meadow kissed me gently on the lips, “I love you no matter what, do you understand? No matter what Fairlight. You are still the wonderful stallion I married and had a foal with. If I didn’t love you I wouldn’t be here now, okay?”

Closing my eyes I nodded, “Meadow…What happened when you came here?”

She sat on the floor next to my chair and leaned back into me, “I thought I told you”.

“Some of it, but I get the feeling you skimmed over it. You always know what’s in my heart, love. I want to know yours.”

She sighed, “Its not that important, but…” Meadow sniffed, “When I…died, I found myself in front of your friend Aethel.”

Some friend!

Meadow continued, “He passed me over to a case worked straight away and within days of arriving I went into labour. The doctor was fantastic, he came along with the midwife and helped deliver Sparrow. I was a special case as babies are fairly rare here in the herd, they’re more of a ‘mortal’ thing apparently. It was big news, what had happened to me, to us, it was dubbed the ‘Summer of Tears’”

“I saw it mentioned in the paper”

She nodded, “Starswirl came to see me soon after and I suppose you know the rest. Mum and dad have been fantastic, your folks have been great too, but Fairlight…I needed you. It was all I could think of, and when Starswirl showed me the way to reach you through the veil, I was so happy, I didn’t know what to do with myself.”

Meadows eyes looked damp, “It wasn’t enough though, I wanted more, I wanted you, here with me.”

Leaning down, I kissed her on the top of her head, “I’m here now love, knackered mind and all.”

“I think we’re both a bit messed up, especially after what’s happened.” She stood back up and walked over to the table collecting the medical kit. Meadow checked my poor posterior once more, “How is it?”

I winced, “Still tender, but a lot better thanks, nurse Meadow”

She giggled, “I know my trade, Captain Fairlight. I’ve had to patch you up before, remember?”

“You patch my heart up too, love.” I said happily, “When I’m adrift, you’re the rock I can cling to for support. I want to be that for you, too.”

Meadow smiled and licked my cutie mark, “You always have been, ‘cute flanks’.”

A shock of warmth rocketed through me and my heart began to race, “Meadow?”

“Shush, you…I want to try something Glimmer told me.”

“What?”

She put a hoof to my mouth, stopping my question and simply gave me a knowing smile as she glided alongside me. A soft pair of lips barely brushed up the edge of my ear and I could feel her warm breath around them. An involuntary shudder took me and I moaned under my breath.

“You like that, don’t you?”

I nodded. Her breath was like a warm breeze on a cold day, tantalising and delightfully wicked. She blew softly into my ear, the sensation odd but exciting at the same time. I wanted to kiss her, but I knew Meadow better than that, she had her own plan and would take her time experimenting with me, and goddess damn it, I loved it.

Meadow’s hoof lifted my chin and she licked from the bottom of my neck right up my throat to my muzzle, pulling away before I could react. Always on the edge of control, she kept me balanced there like some sort of talented acrobat; Meadow always seemed to know just how far to go.

Her horn glowed and I could feel its magic enveloping me, starting at the tip of my horn and working its way down. Meadows magic had a particular feel which gave me a shiver of sensation, running down into my body and sending little sparks of electricity through me. I kept my eyes shut tight against the tide of emotion and testosterone that was surging in my body right then. She chuckled and I felt from the tightness beneath me that I’d have to readjust myself before I ended up painfully uncomfortable.

Meadow reached down and, with both hooves, lifted my hind leg, exposing me for her inspection. She made a purring noise and blew…softly. I nearly cried out, the feeling was like gossamer and fire, a bizarre feeling that wracked my loins and mind. I wouldn’t be able to hang on at this rate…

Suddenly, she ran a hoof up the inside of my hind leg, up my hock, and hung on when I twitched instinctively. I hated anypony, or anything, touching my hind legs and like most ponies, would buck if I felt anything on there. I was frightened I’d kick her, but she knew just what to do and kept tight hold, putting me at ease with the strange feelings raging inside me and kept up her assault of licks and nibbles.

In a surprise move, Meadow ran a firm hoof along my spine, over my croup to my tail and lifted it. There was that horrible moment when I hoped I was clean down there, especially with what she did next. I nearly shot out of the seat when her teeth gripped my dock and scraped along it. I think the squeak I let out was the signal she needed, to know that I was about ready to either leap on her or black out; I hadn’t felt this excited in ages! She ran her hoof over my flank and pulled over a chair, leaning over it and presented herself to me, “Hungry?”

“Oh, Meadow…” I rumbled, reaching out and inspecting the offered banquet. She was soaking and smelled amazing, like the heather honey she’d been using in the kitchen. I took a taste.

“Celestia!” she gasped and reached out to bite the arm of the chair while I took another full length lick. My tongue was quite long, most ponies are I suppose, and I was able to fully indulge myself in the delicious mare. I moved gently but firmly, increasing in speed slightly in response to her moans. Meadow pushed herself into me, and I could see her own dampness seeping down the inside of her legs. I decided to repeat what she’d done to me. Squeaking in surprise, Meadow shook when I gripped her hind leg and began nibbling then licking up the inside, rising inexorably to her marehood. Finally, as she had done with me, I ran my teeth along her dock. She near screamed, her cries stifled in the fabric of the chair leg. I knew she was peaking and an expectant yellow eye looked back at me, as I pulled myself onto her now soaking hind quarters.

The beautiful green mare was as warm, soft and wonderful as she always had been. Her scent, the warmth and the knowledge that such a magnificent creature was in love with me was beyond anything any stallion could ever ask for, in any world. To enter her, to be one with her, was a gift that surpassed anything I could imagine. Her cries and gasps were a symphony of delight to my ears as I found my rhythm and moved with her.

In our passionate throws, Meadows drool dribbled onto the floor, her huffing increasing in speed until with a loud moan and shudder, her hind legs gave way. The green mare collapsed on the floor, her chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath. I lay down next to her, taking in the bedraggled mess of green pony that was helplessly trying to compose herself.

“F…Fairlight…” she gasped, “…great Celestia…” She laughed and tried to stand, falling into me, “What have you done to me? You…you…my bloody legs have gone!”

I smiled as I held her, brushing some of her light green mane from her muzzle, “Did I make you happy, love?”

She reached up and kissed me, the heat from her was overwhelming, “What do you think? Good grief…I never…not like that…”

I felt a rush of warmth flood me from the tip of my horn to my tail; I’d made my mare happy and that alone made my heart soar. “I love you, my beautiful mare,” I whispered into her ear, “I really do.”

Meadow rubbed her face with a foreleg, “I love you too.” She laughed, “I’m going to need to wash my hair again now, look at the state of my mane, and my tail too!”

“Sticky Chic” I grinned.

Meadow clopped me on the chest playfully and looked down, “You didn’t?”

“Nah, I’m good. Seeing you like that is all I need, besides, I don’t want to wear you out too much!”

She shook her mane, “That’s not fair, Lord Fairlight. Come here…”

Meadow pushed me on my back and began to lick me, her tongue soft yet rough, it was wonderful. She looked up at me, “We can…you know, if you like?”

“Are you up to it? You look worn out.”

“Mares have more strength than you think, mister Loam”

“Hey!”

She pushed me onto the floor and then pulled over the rug and a couple of cushions, lying on her back before the fire. Her eyes glinted in the firelight, sparkling and alive. Holding out her fore hooves, I lowered myself onto her and kissed her softly. In a rushed she grabbed me and pulled me down onto her, moaning into my mouth,

“Goddesses, Fairlight…I love you so much.”

Kissing her I gazed into my beloved’s eyes, “You ready?”

She closed her eyes, nodding her ascent and I slid effortlessly into her. Meadow moaned and I bucked her with long slow strokes mindful of her fatigue, but soon she opened her eyes and murmured, “More…please, love…more.”

I increased my speed and she began to buck up into me, a little at first and then faster, harder, until her gasping and whimpers increased to fill my heart and soul with fire. I huffed out a breath and she reached down my flank, pulling me into her with a loud cry she couldn’t stifle any longer. In flood of heat, I released my pent up passion into her and collapsed by her side, my heart thundering.

Time seemed to stop. The fire’s dying embers were warm on my face, lulling me into a cosy sleep, my mare by my side. We could have gone to bed, but neither of us really cared to, nor had the energy anyway. Reaching over her tired body, I pulled the throw off the settee and covered us both, snuggling into Meadow. I kissed her on the muzzle and she returned it weakly, “You know, we’re going to have to see the girls soon, don’t you?”

I smiled gently, “But not tonight, eh? Bloody hell, I’m ready for the knackers yard.”

Meadow grinned, “They’ll be missing you, love. I did.”

“There’s a selfish part of me, that…” she stopped me with a hoof. “I know what you’re going to say, but don’t. I feel the same way, but we both know they need you as much as I do. They love you too, and little Lumin.”

I didn’t want to think about that now, and she tapped me on the nose, “One day love, we’ll be one big family, together. I don’t need to remind you do I?”

“No, but…can we not talk about that now love? I just want to feel you next to me, listen to your heart beating beside mine. You smell so wonderful.”

I saw a tear roll down her cheek, “You know just how to get me just there, you bugger.”

She snuggled into me, rubbing her head up against my neck, “You’re still mine”, she sighed “You always will be”.

Chapter Twelve - A New Celebrity in Town

CHAPTER TWELVE

A NEW CELEBRITY IN TOWN

The following morning and a good shower later, Meadow and I got young Sparrow out of the nest she’d made in her quilt and got ready for my first trip into the local town. I was strangely excited despite still feeling a bit worn from the night before. Meadow on the other hoof looked disgustingly bright and alert,

“I don’t know how you do it”, I groaned, stretching my legs.

She laughed, “You want to try delivering a foal darling, it takes it more than a good bucking to stop this mare.”

“I bet!”

Meadow had a large sun hat, the same style as the one I remembered from when I first met her. There was a change in her today though, one that made me feel lighter than air, she was positively glowing with energy and vibrancy.

“You look full of beans love, excited to go out together?” I asked happily.

“Of course!” she replied fixing her hat, “I always love shopping, and today I’ve got my very own helper too. You can look after Sparrow while I have my hair done.”

“Oh no!”

We walked in the sunshine along the lane and over the hill, Sparrow running around us like an excitable grey comet. I half expected to find myself back at the cottage but sure enough, below us lay a fair sized town that was more akin to Ponyville than anywhere I’d ever been before in my life. Colourful buildings, tree houses and brightly painted carts lay haphazardly around a central fountain that depicted two outrageously large prancing alicorns. Thank the goddess they weren’t ‘anatomically correct’ or there’d have been a riot here. Prim and proper equestrians trotted about in colours that should never have been put together, throw in an abundance of big hats, big feathers and furry saddles and you get the general impression.

Meadow saw me staring and nudged me, “Its all the rage this year, the celebrities are all wearing it.”

“Well I hope you don’t wear it! You’ll end up in a nut house, they look like they’ve got bloody rabies or something.”

“Fairlight! For Celestia’s sake, stop it! You’re already drawing enough attention as it is.”

“I am?”

I looked around and saw I had developed an impressively large exclusion zone around myself, with ponies avoiding coming any closer than a few yards. Ah, sod them, they probably thought I was going to eat them or something. Had Equestrian’s always been so highly strung? Yeah, probably.

Meadow disappeared into the chemical smelling boutique and I was left outside with a hyperactive foal whose wings were starting to work far too well. Sparrow leapt in the air and flapped her wings to try and stay aloft, actually managing to almost do it too before I caught her,

“Careful! You nearly crashed, you silly billy.” She just laughed.

Hmm, if you have a hyper foal who’s full of energy, what the best way to keep her quiet? Ice Cream!

The ice cream parlour was nearby and we indulged ourselves far too much. For some reason, everything here was free. In the herd, ponies worked for ‘the common good’ as Meadow had explained it. I guess there wasn’t much point in striving if you can just sort ‘imagine up’ your own house and ‘poof!’, there it is! All citizens were still expected to do their bit though and at some point, I’d be found something to keep me ‘occupied’. Bloody Sparky was going to see to that, so much for peace in the afterlife!

Food was certainly plentiful and I was impressed to discover nopony took more than their share, it was one of the most bizarre things I had ever come across in my life. There was no pushing, no arguing, no bartering even, in fact none of the things that I was used to from Manehattan society. I was still marvelling at it when I discovered that my inquisitive daughter had led me straight to ‘Raspberry Ripples’, the place of choice for the those wanting to fur up their arteries with deliciousness.

The door bell tinkled as we entered, Sparrow making a bee-line for a brightly coloured waitress with a chocolate mane, “Sparrow darling!” she laughed, picking up the squealing little pest, “You want your favourite table?”

“Yes please!”

I chuckled, “Make that two please, miss”

“Certainly s…agh!”

The tray crashed to the floor and the waitress backed into the wall, her eyes wide with fright. She lifted a hoof, pointing it straight out at me and began to stammer, “It…its you! You’re him! The d…d…”

Oh goddess no, not this again. I hung my head and waited for it.

“DEMON!”

And there we go. There was a moment of silence while everypony in the place stared at me and then absolute pandemonium broke out. Screams and shouting echoed throughout the room while ponies rushed to try and jam themselves through the door all at once. Successfully managing to get themselves stuck, a number of others outside were peering in to see what all the commotion was about, I gave them a wave. The waitress was still cowering under a table shaking when Sparrow, amused at the proceedings trotted up to her and tapped her leg,

“This is my daddy! Come and say hello”

The terrified waitress just shook and stared ahead in terror, but me being me, I couldn’t resist. I leaned over and gave her my biggest grin, “Table for two please miss.”

Honestly, I thought she was going to wet herself and I stifled a laugh. Sparrow just looked confused, sitting next to the waitress and deciding what she wanted from the menu.

“What in the name of all that’s holy is going on out here? Mabel! MABEL!”

A pale cream mare with green eyes and a two toned red mane and tail, walked out from the back of the shop wearing a striped apron, “Mabel? Great goddess girl, what ya’ll doin’ down there?”

Completely ignoring me, the enigmatic mare hauled ‘Mabel’ out like she was a sack of grain, “Ah kin hear the commotion from way back in the office Mabel, what’s goin’ on here and why are ma customers stuck in the doorway?”

Sparrow pulled on her apron, “Miss Jubilee? Can I have the butterscotch sundae please? Daddy wants one too, don’t you daddy?”

“I guess so”, I raised my eyebrows, I hadn’t even seen the blasted menu! “Oh, and a coffee please, milk with one.”

The mare Sparrow called ‘Miss Jubilee’, turned and fixed me with a meltingly warm smile, “Why, yes sir, it would be ma pleasure to serve y’all”. Jubilee started pushing the almost catatonic Mabel toward the kitchen before stopping in mid stride and turning back to me, her eyes going wide, “YOU!”

Rolling my eyes, I plopped Sparrow on the seat opposite me, “Yeah, look, before you start screaming ‘DEMON!’ like these others idiots, I’d like two butterscotch sundae’s and a coffee, white with one sugar…please.”

Julilee’s mouth flapped open and shut several times before she gave herself a shake and backed up towards a cowering Mabel, “Why…of course sir, comin’ right up.”

Sliding into a less uncomfortable position in the hard plastic chair, I sighed. This was going to keep happening wasn’t it? I was some sort of bloody celebrity here, and one nopony wanted to mix with either. Some bloody land of sunshine and smiles this shit hole turned out to be. Sparrow didn’t seem to notice anything of the commotion in the shop and amused herself by drawing pictures on the napkins with some crayons that were probably meant for the waitresses to write with. Our waitress wasn’t likely to complain, she was near fit to faint.

Several minutes passed and the rush of panicked ponies had subsided into a now all but empty shop, with just a frightened waitress, a beleaguered and flustered owner, plus two grey patrons gracing the establishment.

The cream mare reappeared from the rear of the parlour, carrying a tray on her back and shot a look at her waitress who scampered away, “Ah’m sorry darlin’ y’all will have to forgive mah gal there. Y’all are some sorta big news ‘round here.”

She took the tray off her back and deftly delivered our sundaes and a hot cup of coffee without spilling a drop. I envied earth ponies their dexterity.

“Thank you miss…?”

“Oh! Where are ma manners? Ahm Apple, Apple Jubilee, and this here’s mah fine establishment. Apologies for the behaviour of mah young gal, Mabel. She’s a fickle young thing, ah don’t believe a thing those nasty reporters say about y’all.”

She batted her eyelids at me, displaying the pink eye shadow above a pair of deep green eyes. I had a thing for country girls and she had a sort of mature attractiveness that appealed to the stallion in me. Actually, come to think of it, it was funny to think of her as ‘mature’, as just about everypony around here looked between twenty and thirty.

Jubilee stroked Sparrows mane, “That alright for y’all honey?”

Sparrow looked up from her sundae, wearing half of it around her mouth, “Uh-huh!” Ah, the good old Fairlight family manners kicking in there. I’d have to say something though,

“Um, Miss Jubilee?”

“Yes darlin’?”

“I’m sorry for frightening off your customers, I had no idea ponies around here would behave like this. I haven’t done anything wrong, have I?” I gave her the old Fairlight ‘foal eyes’ routine. Jubilee smiled gently and shook her head,

“No, darlin’, ahm sorry. The papers have been fulla stories about ya exploitations. Seems y’all have been doin’ stuff that many ponies here find a little, frightenin’.”

“You…you don’t think I’m…I’m a ‘demon’, do you?” I hung my head low and flopped my ears. It worked like a charm.

Jubilee hurried to my side and stroked my mane, “No! Of course not darlin’! Ahd never say that!” She shot a glare at Mabel who was peeking around the corner, “Mabel! Don’t stand around girl, tidy up the danged restaurant before more customers come in!”

Gingerly, Mabel re-entered the restaurant and began clearing the tables, keeping one wary eye on me.

“You must be that ‘Fairlight’ fella, right?”

The way she said my name was like melting butter, ‘Fair-laht’. I chuckled to myself, I wondered if I could ask Meadow to role play one day? I could imagine what she’d say too…

“I thought I’d find you two hogging away in here.”

“Meadow!”

Thank Luna she was here, I was starting to feel like a prize fish in an aquarium. Ponies of all shapes and sizes were pressed up against the glass staring in at me, some of them even clambering on the backs of others to try to get a better view.

“Morning Kitty, you looking after my two miscreants?”

“Hi there Meadow darlin’, how y’all doin’ this mornin’?”

“Oh, not bad, bit of a queue outside though. Looks like our celebrity drew quite the crowd.” She raised an eyebrow at me meaningfully.

I smiled at her as I took a mouthful of my sundae; it was delicious. Miss Jubilee tapped her forehoof against her chin a moment and drew a pad and pen from her apron, whispering to me, “Play along now Fairlight, darlin’, okay?”

Not knowing what she was after I simply nodded, Meadow taking the opportunity to pinch some of my sundae. In a rush, Miss Jubilee ran to the door, flinging it open. The ponies outside surged back suddenly reminding me of a school of fish approached by a predator, “Ah don’t believe it!” she shouted, “He’s here, in mah shop! And ah’ve got his autograph too! WHOO HOO!”

She waved her notepad in the air and jumped about. One of the ponies outside shouted through the throng, “But that’s that pony that killed…”

“POPPYCOCK!” Jubilee shouted, “Ah don’t know who y’all are talkin’ about but this here’s Fairlight, the pony who travelled to another world ahn’d saved a buncha little un’s. He’s the Fairlight who rescued the princess! He’s the Fairlight who’s the friend of our very own Premier Starswirl the Bearded!”

She bucked in the air and squee’d, “A real life hero! And he’s here in mah shop!”

I turned and gave them all a big smile and a wave. It was all it took. One of the ponies at the back shouted, “A hero?! I want his autograph!”

“Me too!”

“Get out of the way, there!”

“Let me in!”

The same surge of ponies who had rushed out earlier were now trying to get back in, and by the looks of it bringing half the townsfolk with them. Miss Jubilee jumped in waving her notepad, “Alraht every pony, getcha selves seats and we’ll get to y’all soon as we can. One autograph per customer, that’s free with every order!”

I looked at Meadow for salvation but all she did was shrug, giving me a beaming grin, “Don’t worry love, I’m sure your fans won’t bite”

Sparrow, oblivious to the proceedings, held up her now nearly finished sundae and licked her lips before tapping her mother, “Can I have another mummy?”

“You haven’t finished that one lovey, remember what happened when you ate one too fast last time?”

Miss Jubilee called over, “Don’t y’all worry none, miss Meadow, ah’ll get the little one what she likes, and you too”.

The equine tidal wave engulfed our table and I found myself signing everything in sight, napkins, newpapers, goddess knows what else. Thankfully, the crowd gradually ebbed and died away until I was leaning back in my chair nursing my poor overused horn. Meadow sniggered and rubbed Sparrow on the head, “Come on you, time to go. We have to get daddy some new clothes and get something for tea tonight.”

Sparrow was virtually bulging when we pulled her from behind the table and she had a distinctly green tinge about her, “I think she’s overdone it a bit, love.”

“Sparrow? Are you feeling alright?”

Our daughter just groaned and I lifted her up and onto my back shaking my head, “Too much ice cream, she’s going to get fat.” I scrubbed my mane, “Come on love, let’s get the flock out of here”.

Jubilee shouted goodbye and even the nervous waitress, now running around full tilt, gave an embarrassed wave of her hoof. Good grief! Outside, there were still the odd smiles, waves and hoof shakes to contend with, but soon we just blended into the background noise and were barely noticed. I wasn’t sure what to make of it all really, what a bloody fickly bunch they were here. Meadow nudged me,

“How’s it feel to be the centre of attention?”

“I don’t like it!” I said, flicking my mane, “I used to wonder what it was like to be in the spotlight and you can bloody well keep it, its not for this pony.”

Meadow nodded, “I know, but at least it’s out of their system now. I had a feeling something like this would happen after all those radio and news articles.”

I shrugged, “Never mind, it’s over now anyway. By the way, can we go this way?”

She raised an eyebrow in surprise but followed me into the shadows between two buildings, “What’s up?”

I moved closer, smelling her mane and nudging it with my muzzle. She’d had it plaited on either side and hi-lited in two shades of green, “You look amazing”, I rumbled, “Meadow…I…”

She pulled herself into me, whispering in my ear, “You like it?”

“Oh goddesses, yes…”

Giggling she kissed me on the nose, “Not with Sparrow here, Fairlight. Maybe later, okay?”

I felt a shiver run through me, “I don’t know how you do it to me, love.”

She grinned, “Magic”

We trotted back into the street and up to the stallion’s clothes shop. Something was bugging me though, “Meadow?”

“Hmm?”

“Why’d you call miss Jubilee ‘Kitty’?”

“Oh! It’s a nickname. She models herself on some western that was serialised on the radio some years ago, plays the ‘southern belle’ part to get the stallions in.”

I clicked my tongue, “Aww…you mean the accent’s not real?”

She laughed, “Oh its real, just a little ‘exaggerated’. All that ‘y’all’ stuff’s a bit overdone if you ask me. Hey! Don’t tell me you fell for that routine, did you?”

“Well, not exactly…”

“You did! Fairlight! I can’t take you anywhere”

Desperately, I tried to change the subject, “Anyway, I thought you said everything was free here? There’s prices on everything”

“Well, not everything.” She said adjusting her hat, “You can still work, get a job and get paid. The realm has its own economy, its just not ‘dependant’ on money.”

“So, what it’s just for luxuries?”

“Uh-huh…this is nice, it should fit you. Here try it on.”

The rest of the afternoon passed in much the same way; shopping, shopping, more shopping. Celestia’s hairy arse I was absolutely sick to the back teeth by the time Meadow finally loaded us all into a taxi. It wasn’t far to home, but I’d have needed a cart to pull this lot back. It was much better to let some other poor sod do it.

Interestingly, now that the subject of occupations had come up, it transpired that Meadow had been earmarked to work at the local clinic in town. At least, that had been the plan before she had Sparrow. With help from Starswirl, my folks and hers, she’d been able to raise our little daughter and go off to help at the clinic on a part time basis, occasionally nipping off to the glade to see me from time to time as well. Now that I was back, I could see a discussion about future work looming, but that had to wait until Sparky deigned to grace us with her presence for yet another laborious visit.

That evening, after I’d been pushed, pulled and generally yanked in every direction by the tailors in town, my own wife got in on the act. I was thoroughly worn out and sick of the sight of clothes by the time she’d finished. I’ll admit, they were smart, and stylish, regardless of the attempts by the shops staff to fit me out in the ‘latest fashions’. Damn it, I wished I had my old coat and hat, I missed them. Probably burnt to a frazzle in that blast…come to think of it…

“Meadow?”

She looked up from her latest magazine, “Hmm?”

“How did you know when I was in the glade? You just appeared like magic and I never asked how, really.”

Meadow appeared lost in thought for a moment before answering, “I never told you?”

“No, honestly I would have remembered if you had.”

She nodded to the crystal globe on the fireplace, “It’s that thing, trans-something-or-other. Starswirl will tell you its name, but it’s something you won’t see very often. It’s been on ‘loan’ to me ever since I arrived, he felt keeping in touch with you would help me settle in better.”

Good old Starswirl. As much I felt he was a bit of an interfering busy body, he had been extremely helpful and kind to my family. I just had the nagging feeling that there was some hidden catch, some sort of price to this that I couldn’t see. Maybe it was just my watch trained mind kicking into gear again, but still, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat suspicious of his motives.

“So what’s it do?” I asked inquisitively.

Meadow tutted in frustration at my interruption to her work, “It glows on and off to let you know somepony’s there.

“Wouldn’t happen to be blue would it? Make a tinkling noise too?”

“That’s right, it…Fairlight!” She shot out of the chair, her magazine discarded.

My heart was suddenly racing, “Damn it all, what do we do? Sparrows in bed, we can’t just leave her.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Meadow replied, “leave it to me.”

Meadow hurried to Sparrow’s bedroom and turned the large hourglass on the wall. A low hum of magical build up quickly began to flow around us and enveloped the door and walls of the bedroom. That was new!

“Come on, we’ll teleport there!” She said suddenly.

“What?!” I squeaked in surprise, “I don’t know how!”

“Oh, for goodness sake. Right, hold my hoof.”

There was a loud ‘pop’ and in a flash of blue magic we appeared outside in the darkness near the edge of the woodland. Down the slope I could just make out our house, the lights still on and smoke curling from the chimney. I turned back to Meadow and the world lurched around me, “Oh…oh goddesses, I…”

I grabbed a tree for support and emptied my stomachs contents into the bushes. My head span and my skull felt like my brain was trying to batter its way to freedom. Meadow put a foreleg around me, “Fairlight! I’m so sorry! You’ve never teleported before?”

I couldn’t answer, my stomach just kept going and going. Sweat poured off me and my guts were on fire with the incessant retching. My damned knees went next and I ended up on the ground gasping for breath. Meadow rubbed my back, “Do you want to wait here? I’ll go and see the girls and…”

“NO!” I barked, the bitter taste of bile acrid in my throat and mouth, “Not after all this time, no love…I’ll be okay”.

Meadow didn’t seem convinced, but helped me up and together we walked and stumbled into the silvery light of the clearing.

My heart was racing and not just from the sickness. When my eyes finally readjusted to the bright ethereal light, there, there in the middle of the glade…

“Tingles…” I said weakly, nearly stumbling as I tried to reach her.

The tangerine pegasus rushed up and grabbed me, crying and sobbing into my mane, nigh on crushing my neck in her outflowing of emotion. I held her in my forelegs and closed my eyes against the tears. Goddess above, I must have looked a fright.

“Fairlight! Oh, Celestia!” she sniffed, wiping away the tears, “I thought I’d never see you again! All those nights I came here, night after night, and nothing, nothing at all! Shadow’s beside herself and locked herself away in that awful fortress and…and the whole village is in mourning, I don’t know what to do! Oh Celestia…I don’t know…”

Meadow put her forelegs around her and the three of us hugged, tears flowing from more than just one of us. Tingles looked up at me through eyes red and puffy from crying and sniffed, “You…you look ill! Are you alright? Meadow…”

“He’s alright”, Meadow smiled placing a hoof on Tingles’ trembling shoulder, “We teleported to the glade and I didn’t stop to think that he hadn’t done it before. Nausea is common the first time you do it.”

I shook my head and instantly regretted it, “I didn’t even know you could do that! Bloody hell, I feel like crap.”

Meadow nudged the worried Tingles, “Never mind the big foal’s blouse, what’s been going on?”

“Oh, Meadow, it’s such a mess, I don’t know where to begin.”

I nodded and smiled, “It’s alright love, take your time.” Goddess knows I tried to be positive and smile, but my stomach was still rumbling menacingly and my head was pounding. At least it distracted me from the emotional roller coaster that I was on right then.

“After the explosion, there was absolute chaos. Thank Celestia not many of the villagers had been in the Wyverns Tail. With everything that had been happening, none of us could sleep so we’d all gone off to have an early bath at the hot spring. We heard the blast and poor Lumin wouldn’t stop screaming for ages.”

“Is he okay? Are you and Shadow alright?” I looked her over, checking she was in one piece.

Tingles pushed me away, “Of course! We’re all fine, more than can be said for some of the villagers, three of them had been sleeping off the night before when the bomb exploded. But…when we got back, we saw you…stood there, I don’t know how you were still standing…I…” She started to well up again until Meadow kissed her on the cheek.

“It’s alright now Tingles, we’re here with you. Take a deep breath and calm your heart before you tell us the rest. In through the mouth, out through the nose, that’s it…good.”

Tingles’ breathing slowed and she visibly began to relax. The three of us lay down in a circle and continued to chat. In some surreal way, it was like we’d never been apart.

“We tried everything to save you, but you were so badly hurt, the medics said there was nothing they could do and that only…”, she took a breath, “only the goddess could save you.” Tingles choked back a sob, “I was livid, I didn’t know what to do! And then…and then Shadow went berserk and had to be held down by some of the warriors. I’ve never seen her like that, I was so frightened!” She took a breath, “We left Lumin with Heather, we didn’t want him to see his dad…”

I kissed her on the nose, “I know love, I’m glad Heathers okay too”

She nodded, “Only by the grace of Celestia. She was bringing us towels when that terrible explosion went off. She was thrown across the ground and had her hair singed too.”

Perish the thought her hair got singed! I shook my mane, smirking to myself. Thank the goddess they were okay. I didn’t know who the three were in the tavern, but for blowing up my home, my people, some day…

A thought suddenly popped into my head, “Shit! What about Tarragon? Is she okay? I haven’t seen her since that whole changeling business.”

Tingles tutted at my swearing but explained, “Yes, she’s fine, she was with us at the spring. She follows us everywhere, it’s like she’s attached to Lumin for some reason. I know I had reservations about her at first, but she’s a little love really and so protective. The only reason she didn’t come with us when we went into the forest was because she’d managed to get herself locked in the cupboard looking for treats.”

I’d better not mention what happened to those dog creatures that time. The ‘little love’ could tear a pony apart in seconds if she had the mind to, that said though, I was damned glad she was safe and sound. I sighed, so…they were all safe. The only casualty from our family was the usual poor sod, me.

“Where’s Shadow?” I asked.

Tingles shook her head, “After you…” she closed her eyes and took a breath, “she couldn’t handle it, none of us could, but Shadow…she lost her mind completely. She unleashed some sort of lightning magic and destroyed two of the villager’s homes before we could stop her. Shadow was kept in the village doctor’s home, heavily sedated until we could decide what to do with your body.”

Meadow watched Tingles intently, “So what happened next?”

“After the explosion, your body became surrounded in what looked like some strange sort of ice. It was hard, like diamond, and didn’t melt even in the sunlight. Shadow wouldn’t let anypony near you and then a few weeks ago…she simply disappeared, and you along with her. We found out from our griffin scouts that they thought she was heading for the ruined fortress, but nopony can get near it. They’re all terrified of the place and I can’t blame them.”

Oh goddesses…’a few weeks’? “Tingles, I’m so sorry love, I wish there’d been some way I could have come to see you sooner, but I wasn’t allowed.”

Tingles smiled, “It’s okay now though, thank goodness. We can see each other again” She looked up at the stars above us, “…even if it is only for a night.” A hint of sadness tinged the orange pegasi’s voice and I reached over a hoof to comfort her. Meadow gave me a pained smile,

“Tingles, do you know who planted the bomb?”

She shook her head, “No, we’ve no idea and if we did, the villagers would have torn them apart. They’re all so tense to think there’s a murderer amongst us and they tried to kill you and maybe even…”

She didn’t need to say it. With me gone, Lumin was the next lord of the four winds and potentially a target. In the absence of any intel or motive, we were completely in the dark.

Meadow furrowed her brow in thought, “What happened to that white mare you mentioned, what was her name again? The human?”

“Annabelle” Tingles murmured, “She disappeared after the explosion, we never found her.”

“She didn’t go to the spring with you?”

“No, she was feeling poorly and stayed in the tavern. If she was in there when it exploded…” Tingles shook her head, sniffing back a tear, “Great merciful Celestia, there was next to nothing left of the place. Our home, our memories…Fairlight, they’re all gone.”

I kissed Tingles on the muzzle, “They’re not gone love, they’re here in your head and your heart.” I smiled, “And mine and Meadows too, you know.”

Meadow gave a little whinny, “What are we going to do about Shadow? After all the effort to bring her here, this happens, and now she’s alone in that castle with a frozen corpse.”

“What can I do, Meadow?” I asked in exasperation, “I can’t do anything! Some bastard killed me, nearly killed my family and now I’m about as much use as what I am here, a bloody ghost.”

She gave me a shocked look and I mentally kicked myself, “Oh hell, look love, I’m sorry, I’m just so…” I shook my head, “I want to do something and I can’t! They’re in danger and I can’t help them.”

Meadows ears flopped and she looked away, “It hurts doesn’t it, when you can’t help the ones you love…”

I wanted to bury my head in the earth and scream at the heavens all at once, to curse the gods and goddesses for doing this to me. Fuck fate, fuck destiny and fuck me for not being able to do anything to help them.

I stood up and walked to the edge of the clearing and held out a hoof, it was like hitting an invisible solid wall. This place was a glass bubble of shattered dreams and hopes, of memories that still walked, talked and could touch. My heart was burning with pain and emptiness, death and life denied me in equal measure. Somepony must have cursed me. But for whatever reason it was, by the goddesses, I must have done something terrible to deserve this.

“Where’s Mitre and Brandy?” I asked sullenly, “Aren’t the agency doing anything or have they abandoned you all too?”

Tingles looked from me to Meadow and back again, “Mitre’s arranged for detectors to be installed around the village and supplies to help us repair and rebuild the place. Princess Luna, came to pay her respects and told us that…that Celestia has agreed to return the lands to the tribe. She was going to come here herself, but there’s a lot of commotion in Canterlot over the business with the changelings still.”

There was a moment of absolute silence while my mind, still in a mess from the teleportation spell, tried to digest what she saying, “Wait…what? Celestia actually came through? I don’t believe it!”

Tingles nodded, “She’s not a liar Fairlight, regardless of what may have happened in the past.”

I had to admit, she had a point. Still, honouring an agreement was one thing…but, ah! What the hay! We had our lands back, or I should say, ‘they’ had their lands back. Not much use to a dead pony. Damn it to hell, I’d been blown up at the worst possible time, now…

Meadows hoof gently stroked my shoulder and I looked up into those big yellow eyes, my chaotic and troubled thoughts melting away; my rock in the storm.

Tingles nuzzled me, “I missed you, both of you, Lumin and Tarragon too.”

I gave her a kiss, “I missed you too, all of you.”

Meadow gave her a nuzzle, “We’re a family, Tingles, all of us, whether in this world or the eternal herd, we’re all one.”

We talked, cried, laughed and wiled away the hours together until at last, the time came to bid farewell. I promised to try and think of something that would help us with Shadow, and Tingles assured me she would keep trying to find another route to the fortress that was less dangerous. She was certainly resistant to my assertion that she shouldn’t attempt the journey herself until I pointed out that should anything go wrong, Lumin could end up with no parents in this world at all. That worked.

Before I knew it, we were back in the blindingly brilliant sunshine and blue sky of the eternal herd. Meadow looked at me, raising her eyebrows but before she could say it,

“NO!” I stomped a hoof, “No more teleporting! If you want to, go ahead, I want my body and brain in one piece thank you very much.”

She sniggered and hid her smile behind her hoof, “Are you sure now? It only takes…”

“NO! Goddesses, Meadow, I mean it. How in Equestria did you learn that anyway? I thought that was some alicorn trick.”

We walked back across the fields to home, “Not really, there’s a few unicorns who can do it. It is tricky, but like riding a bike you get the feel for it, the balance. Starswirl showed me how, studying magic has kept me occupied when I wasn’t nursing Sparrow or at the clinic.”

“Didn’t you end up barfing everywhere?”

“Er…”

“I bloody knew it! You didn’t did you? It’s another ‘Fairlight thing’. Bloody hell fire, I’m cursed! I must be!”

Meadow burst out laughing and trotted off across the field, making me break into a canter just to try and catch up with her. Fortunately the house wasn’t far and we arrived barely out of breath. Horribly though, a thought hit me, “Oh damn, Sparrow!”

I burst through the door, rushing to her room to find the hourglass on the wall still trickling sand. It had barely moved since we left. Meadow trotted up and rotated it with a tap of her hoof and the barest whisper of magic from her horn. The room and door suddenly began to shimmer and glow as it had when we’d first left and then, with a faint ‘pop’, the door opened and revealed the still sleeping form of Sparrow in her bed.

“How did you?”

“Maternity spell” Meadow said quietly, “I found it in one of those books, a very old one too.” She waved her hooves in an attempt to visualise her words, “It sort of ‘freezes’ time at a specific location; well, it more ‘slows it down’ really. It used to be used a lot once by mothers who were single.”

Ah ‘the good old days’, when loved ones went off to war and never came back.

I collapsed into the chair by the fire and looked at the clock. Wasn’t I supposed to be doing something? Oh shit! I’d missed the appointment with Starswirl! I grabbed my new coat and hat, “Meadow, I’ve got to go out, are you going to be okay for a bit?”

“What do you mean? Where are you going all of a sudden?”

“I’ll explain when I get back, I promise!”

Hurrying out the door, I felt a pang of guilt but quickly rammed that feeling away, I’d make it up to her later. Mentally I kicked myself for the second time today, why didn’t I think ahead? I used to be the commensurate planner, always checking times and schedules, it had been an integral part of my watch training. Now I’d become lazy and slack, the good life of the eternal herd was dulling my edge.

Thankfully, the cherry orchard was nearby, down the lane that lead back towards Aethel’s office. It was times like these I wished I had access to my wendigo powers and could actually do something other than my usual object manipulation and hovering flame trick. Like this I was more like a foal’s birthday party magician than a unicorn. Bollocks to it, I’d have to study those books of Meadows and then I could learn how to pop up around the place like a bloody jack in the box. I may even avoid puking my guts up too; my stomach was still sore even now. Galloping to the orchard was definitely ‘not’ helping.

Cresting the rise, the cherry trees were laid out below me on both sides of the lane. It was early morning and nopony in their right mind should have been up at this hour, but there was one, lying under one of the trees, his staff and pack lying beside him. As I approached I noticed the large brimmed wizard’s hat, adorned with small brass bells around its brim, was pulled down shading his eyes.

Other than the coat colour, at a distance I could almost believe it was the thestral mage Starbeard. The cheeky bugger had pinched the name, or, as he saw it, used it to honour his tutor. Maybe I was getting cynical in my old age; at fourty three going on twenty, I was going to be a grumpy old stallion before I knew it and still look like I was barely old enough to shave!

The brim of the hat twitched as Starswirl let out a groan, “Do you know what time it is, boy?”

I put on my most serious voice, “My apologies Premier Starswirl, my wife and I were answering a summons from the ‘other side’. I fear the dead have no power to resist such powerful magics”

A hoof pushed up the brim of the outrageous looking headgear revealing a big yellow eye which stared up at me. A moment later, Starswirl burst out laughing, “You haven’t lost your sense of humour then!” I reached down to help him up, not that he really needed it, he was as fit as I was.

Starswirl brushed a few errant twigs from his coat, “Your family are safe then, I take it?”

“I think so,” I replied, “I just wish I knew who the rat was who planted that bomb. It could have been anypony.” I huffed out a breath, “So much for friendship and trust.”

Starswirl gave himself a shake, “Friendship is one thing, trust is quite another, Fairlight.” He tapped me on the chest, “Trust is earned, not given or bartered away. You will find, as I did, that it is something that those who have a lot to lose cannot afford to give out easily.”

“I think I already know that lesson,” I said snorting loudly, “I’ve found few who I could and even then there’s that niggling little seed of doubt at the back of your mind, can you really trust them? Will they betray you? Honestly, Starswirl, I think trust is a weakness.”

He smiled sadly and re-adjusted his hat, “Come on, we’ve delayed long enough”. We walked along in the morning sunshine, listening to the dawn chorus. Even here it filled me with hope for a new day and its promise of better times ahead.

We talked of my visit with Meadow to Smiling Borders, the old stallion nodding and occasionally asking questions. It was rather like a friendly interrogation, just without the shouting and shining a lamp in your eyes; not that many of us did that in the watch any more of course. I was still at a loss as to where we were going though, and despite his age and apparent ‘wisdom’, Starswirl still had quite the talent for drama. He seemed to enjoy the suspense and, I suspected, did it all very deliberately. I’d met another pony like that once, what was her name again?

“We’re here, follow me.”

We had arrived at a rather nondescript building which looked like some sort of hotel. I’d seen it once before on my way from Aethels office and, true enough, further along the lane was that bloody alicorn’s office. Nopony was around yet and despite the mown grass and neat flower beds, there was still a strange ‘abandoned’ feel to the place.

There was no name, no sign, in fact nothing above the door to suggest where we were at all, it was simply a functional building that served a purpose. Whatever that was.

Inside was a large atrium with a number of chairs and loungers, pot plants and a long desk with a board behind it covered in keys. There was nopony here either, no customers, no staff…if I wasn’t dead I’d probably be fearing for my life right about now! Starswirl lead the way up a flight of stairs and along a red carpeted hallway lined with numbered doors, “Fairlight”, he whispered, “I know you want to tell Meadow about this, but nopony else, do you understand?”

“Of course, what’s going on here Starswirl, my hackles are going up like noponies business.”

He gave me a hard stare, “And so they should.” He placed his hoof on the handle and pushed down sharply, “Behold!”

The door swung open, dramatically revealing…an empty bedroom.

I looked back over my shoulder, “Er, Starswirl, there’s nopony here?”

“What?!” The bearded unicorn pushed past me into the room and drew his staff, magic flowing around it, and lighting the room in a brilliant golden glow. I trotted over and opened the curtains to let in some natural light, taking the opportunity to look around the room. The bedcovers were untidy and a quick check revealed the mattress was still warm, so whoever had been in here hadn’t been gone long.

The creak of a floorboard behind us made us turn quickly to see a side door from an adjoining room slowly beginning to open, a faint trickle of steam curling out from the gap. My heart was hammering in my chest and I could see from Starswirl’s reaction that he too was preparing to face whatever came through that ever increasing mass of steam. Hell fire, I had no effective magic, no weapons, nothing! My muscles tensed and I instinctively reached for my wendigo power that just wasn’t there any more.

Warm, floral scented air tickled my nose as the door was eventually pushed wide open and a damp looking unicorn walked in,

“Good morning”

The grey unicorn stallion standing before us sporting a rather bored expression on his face, was busy scrubbing himself with a large blue towel. I let out the breath I’d been holding, Starswirl visibly relaxing as well,

“Ah, there you are.” he said, leaning his staff against the wall, “I’ve brought our guest.”

I’m sure the old bugger was just as tense as I was, but if so, he hid it well. This mysterious new unicorn looked, well, to honest he looked a lot like Nimble, if a little bigger. Quite nondescript really; grey coat, horn, yellow eyes and a white snowflake cutie mark. If I had to guess, he looked like a pony who could have well been one of the four winds tribe. It had only been a matter of time before one of them appeared.

I nodded politely and greeted him, “Good morning, my name’s Fairlight. Pleased to meet you, mister…?”

“Maroc, former lord of the four winds. You may have heard of me I believe?”

Just as well I wasn’t carrying anything. My jaw dropped open and my eyes went wide as I sat back on my haunches, “Maroc? You mean…”

“Yes?” he cocked an eyebrow at me.

Starswirl shut the bedroom door, “Don’t tease him, Maroc, please. He’s had a rough time of things as you know all too well.”

Maroc sighed, “You’re right, I’m sorry Fairlight, forgive me. It’s a habit Arathea keeps telling me off about, but you know, old habits die hard and all that.”

I just stood there like a statue. What the hell could I say? I had no idea what was going on here, but whatever it was, I had a bad feeling about it. Maroc walked up to me, examining me like some sort of prize bull, shaking his head. His big yellow eyes fixed me with a critical stare,

“Hmm, well you certainly look like one of the tribe, other than the eye colour. Brown, not yellow…not a pure bred pony then.”

That got my back up and I took a step away from him, “Do you mind? I’m sorry I don’t come up to your exacting standards, but I think I’ve done alright all things considered. Anyway, you should know all this anyway, we’ve spoken enough times.”

He cocked his head to one side, “Spoken? No, I don’t…Oh! You have the memories, do you? I see.”

“No, I don’t see, what are you talking about?”

He glanced at Starswirl, “He doesn’t know?” he clicked his tongue, “What you have are memories, Fairlight, nothing more. All of our bloodline have them, it’s an old magic from way back to help us cope with the changes we have when we meld with the wendigo spirit. They’re more of a” he waved a hoof in explanation, “‘simulacrum’ of your ancestors, not the real thing.”

I scratched me head, “But you…the other you, saved my life. It took me over and used the wendigo’s power.”

He shrugged, “Like I said, they are like us, but not us. What saved you is more likely to be yourself, your subconscious tapping into the memories and the spirits magic. I don’t have all the answers Fairlight, for that you want to ask Starswirl here.”

The old unicorn wizard rolled his eyes, “Thank you for your confidence in my knowledge Maroc” he said sarcastically, “but you know I’m no expert on your people. Perhaps you can explain to young Farlight here why we dragged him away from his pretty young wife and foal?”

Maroc smirked, “Pretty? A chip off the old block eh?” Laughing he waved to one of the chairs which I climbed into before her continued,

“I’d offer you a drink but there’s no room service here unfortunately.”

Starswirl took out a selection of items from his saddle pack, “Fortunately, some of us think ahead old friend.”

In the glow from his magic, a series of bottles, cups and a wrapped box of pastries settled onto the table between us. Unscrewing the lid I noted the distinct smell of elder flower, one of my favourites. Without standing on ceremony, we all tucked in, Maroc talking around a mouthful of cake,

“Delicious!” He wiped the crumbs away and waved a hoof, “The reason I wanted to see you, or really, both of us did” he raised an eyebrow in Starswirl’s direction, “Is because we have a problem which we believe you may be able to help us with.”

Damn it, here we go! I was ready to get up and leave, but my bloody curiosity got the better of me as usual and I’m sure that blasted old unicorn knew it too. If I didn’t know better I’d swear he was grinning knowingly behind that ridiculous beard.

Maroc continued, “It’s my son, Vela.” He took a deep breath and turned to look out of the window, “Starswirl…could you…?

The old wizard reached over and laid a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, “Of course, my friend.” He turned to face me, “Fairlight, many of the ponies in the eternal herd are aware of the attacks on Equestria by the changelings and the other troubles which have been plaguing the mortal realm for some time now. I am also well aware of your involvement in those events and how you fought to save our old home; this has not gone unnoticed.”

Well, that was positive, I think. Somehow though, I had the feeling this was leading up to something and it was probably going to be a ‘something’ that I didn’t like.

“You are already aware that Wendigo’s have their powers sealed when they enter the herd, yes?”

I nodded.

“Some of the wendigo’s don’t take well to that, and refuse to integrate with the rest of pony society.”

Maroc turned back to me with a far away look, “It’s hard for us, very hard. Unlike you, many of us were born knowing what we would become and would join with the spirit as soon as we were old enough. When you live your life as a wendigo, to have its power denied you…its like losing a part of yourself, a cruelty many of us couldn’t accept, and don’t accept.”

“I take it this is where Vela comes in?” I asked, “But he didn’t become a wendigo in his mortal life did he?”

Maroc shook his head sadly, “No. He died being unable to achieve the joining, but in death, he has become bitter and resentful of both the living and the ‘authorities’ here in the herd.”

Starswirl spoke next, “He has left the land of the herd and entered the realm of the thestrals. We hoped that he would find happiness there as many from the wendigo tribe have, but his anger has lead him down a path which now threatens both realms.”

“How so?” I asked, “If he has no power, what threat can he pose?”

Maroc’s voice lowered, “We believe, we know, he has been working with somepony in the mortal world, passing them knowledge that has lead to the suffering of innocents. My tribe never did this, we never allowed this sort of…sickness…whatever possessed him to do what he did…”

His eyes narrowed and his voice cracked, “Starswirl, you tell him…”

Before he could reply I filled in for him, “It’s the portals isn’t it? Vela gave them the knowledge of how to build them.”

Starswirl nodded sagely, “Well deduced, my boy. That knowledge was locked away and none save the royal family knew about it. From the most ancient times, some portals still remained but none should have had the knowledge of how to align them, let alone build one and certainly not to the human realm.”

“But it’s not impossible, is it? Somepony must have found out about it originally and even if the knowledge was lost, it could be rediscovered.”

Starswirl began to fidget with his beard; I had the distinct impression he wasn’t telling me everything. He cleared his throat, “True, true, but we know that Vela did pass that information across. Like your ‘Equestrian watch’, we have our own sources of intelligence here in the herd.”

I took a drink of my flavoured water, “There’s more to it than that though, isn’t there?”

Maroc curled his lip, “Oh there’s much more than that, my dear Fairlight.” He growled, “That damnable fool of a pony conspired with those disgusting ‘things’ to attack Equestria in some totally insane attempt to return the power of the tribe.”

“Good goddesses, why the hell would he think such a thing would work?” I shook my mane in amazement, “Even if the changelings did take over Equestria, they would suck it dry. There’s no wendigo’s left in the mortal realm in any case.”

He stared into my eyes. His own had a timeless look to them, one which spoke of sights that I couldn’t even begin to imagine, making me feel very uncomfortable,

“You’re wrong, there are.” Maroc said levelly, “Some fled to the far north and they remain there to this day, ponies, like the rest of the equestrians, but still descendants of the tribe.”

“But they’re just ponies!” I exclaimed, “Without the spirit, without the joining, they are no more nor less than any unicorn.”

Maroc slammed his hoof of the arm of the chair, “You sound like one of those damned Celestians! What are you? A coward?”

Anger, real anger, flooded through me, the first time I’d felt such a thing since I’d arrived in the herd. It was…invigorating. Jumping from the chair, I bucked it away from me across room, sending the thing smashing into the wall. Taking a low fighting stance I growled up at him, “How dare you, how fucking dare you! I have fought dragons, I have fought armies side by side with my brothers and sisters, and you have the damned affront to stand there and accuse me of being a COWARD?!”

Letting out a neigh, Maroc spat on the floor, “And what have you done to find your lost brothers and sisters of the tribe, wendigo? Have you searched the north, the empty wastes, to bring them home? NO! You’ve been running about fucking mares and playing with baby dragons!”

My blood was boiling with rage, “What about you? What have you done? Been swanning about here in the world of sunshine and smiles sitting on your arse waiting for what? For some frigging miracle? I’ve done what I can, I’ve got the lands back from Celestia and that’s more than you damned well managed isn’t it? At least I didn’t get turned into fucking bones on a goddess forsaken mountainside!”

A solid wall of magic hit me and I was flung bodily across the room, crashing heavily into the bedside unit.

“ENOUGH!” Starswirl stood on his hind legs, his staff held out, glowing with a bright golden magical aura, “Will you two stop this infernal nonsense? I thought I was dealing with stallions, not testosterone fuelled colts!”

Maroc picked himself up and gave his coat a shake. Dust and broken bottle fragments falling from him, he laughed out loud, “Damn that felt good…really good!”

I stared at him incredulously. Maroc noticed my expression and raised an eyebrow, smiling, “Don’t tell me you didn’t feel it too, Fairlight? I know who you are, and what you are,” He walked up to me, his yellow eyes shining in the sunlight from the window, “You’re the lord of the four winds…I know you are.”

He was right, it did feel good. The emotional suppression of this realm, the utopian happiness which I felt all the time was strangely wearing. Was this why I hadn’t felt completely settled? The wendigo part of me, its magic at any rate, was suppressed, true. But the awareness, the mind, I was still me and it was part of me now. I’d forgotten the exhilaration of battle, the song of war…

“Yes…YES!” he laughed, “I can see it in your eyes! You do remember don’t you!” He reared up and grabbed my shoulders in his hooves, “You are the one, Fairlight, you have the power to change the world.”

I grimaced, “Maroc, look, I think you have the wrong pony here.” He looked taken aback momentarily, but I continued, “I’m dead, remember? Besides, I have a foal and wife here.”

“Pah!” he snorted, “Details”

“DETAILS?” I shouted in surprise, “Being dead is a bit more than a frigging detail!”

“Talk some sense into him would you, Starswirl?”

Looking more than a bit flustered himself, Starswirl scratched his beard, “You’re both right.”

Maroc raised his forelegs into the air in exasperation and walked over to lean against the windowsill. Starswirl shrugged at his friends’ reaction, clicking his tongue before continuing, “Whether you like it or not Fairlight, Destiny is not finished with you it seems, not at all. In some way, I cannot say how, you are still tied to the mortal world even now.”

I took a step back, “No…no way, Starswirl, I’m dead…DEAD! For the goddess’s sake, I’ve been through enough, I don’t want any bloody ties to the mortal world. You have magic, do something about it; cut it, block it, something! I don’t want to leave Meadow and Sparrow again, and I’m not, you hear me? So you shove any fucking stupid plans you have for me up your arse, I’m done with this and I’m done with being every ponies bitch. Goodbye.”

I stood and headed for the door.

“Tingles will die, Fairlight, but what they will do to Lumin will be far, far worse.”

I stopped in mid stride, hanging my head, my determination to leave suddenly doused in cold water, “What do you mean.”

Starswirl spoke sadly, “If Vela succeeds in his plans, hell will be unleashed upon Equestria. Lumin has within him a magic that would be sucked dry again and again, not by changelings, but by the things he is trying to release, things much worse than what you’ve faced so far. Vela thinks that he will be restoring the glory of the wendigo’s, what he will be doing is destroying their last hope.

Chapter One - Enemies Amongst Us

BLOOD OF THE FOAL

CHAPTER ONE

ENEMIES AMONGST US

It was a beautiful morning, the sun peeking over the tops of the distant mountains and lending a mysterious haze to the forest before me. The Everfree was an enchanting if deadly place for the unwary and being this close to it was both a blessing and a curse. Ponies would seldom travel out this way and more often than not, gave the forest a wide berth. This helped us to remain undisturbed and the ramshackle appearance of Smiling Borders was probably the reason the army hadn’t been here. Either that or they’d simply given up on finding me, thinking I’d been become yet another casualty in the caves. The flip side of living so close to the forest of course, was that the creatures who inhabited it could wander out and cause problems in the village. That said, I had to admit we hadn’t had any real trouble here since my encounter with the timber wolves.

Our friendly local woodworker, Bright Tail, another of Grimble’s griffin contingent, had been working to help restore the tavern to its former glory. Or stop it from falling in on our heads, which would be just as welcome. The old place didn’t leak any more either and with the forest acting as a wind break, we seldom got hit with the dreadful storms which were noted for suddenly springing up over the Everfree.

Tingles and I shared a room with Shadow. The three of us had knocked through two of them to make one large one and the extra space had proved to be essential. Living with two mares was a struggle at times, but Shadow was so understanding and quiet, she acted as a remarkably calming influence on the rest of us if things ever got heated. And, of course, they did from time to time. Tingles and I would argue, shout, and storm about slamming doors, but it was all part of life’s rich pageant I suppose. I loved the girls and they loved me, of that I had no doubt, and Meadow…well, she was still my wife even if she was with the herd now. My little Sparrow Song had grown so much, she could speak now…a little. She knew I was her dad and had played with Tarragon and Lumin while the three mares and I shared stories and ate together.

Most surprising for me was when Luna had appeared one evening with Mitre and, I was happy to see, Brandy Wine from the agency. They’d brought some more of my belongings they’d recovered including Tingles’. One of the items, rather touchingly, was the photograph of me which had gone missing from my room. It had been stored with her things when she’d left to be with me. Brandy and Luna had apparently told Warlock she’d been ‘reassigned’, but whether he believed them or not remained to be seen. In any case, other than the good people of the village, I’d not seen mane nor tail of anypony other than these three.

Luna was as cautious as always, keeping her cloak on until she was inside the tavern and assured that nopony would disturb us. Grimble had posted two minotaur warriors outside, just in case. But what struck me as a little strange, was why she didn’t use her own guards to bring her. Surely she had somepony she could trust?

The princess warmed herself by the fire and gratefully accepted a brandy and a selection of snacks from the newly equipped kitchen. Our head waitress lumbered in a few moments later, wearing a dark blue pinny with silver trim she’d quickly donned when Luna had arrived. ‘Very thoughtful of her’, I thought to myself with a wry grin.

Heather was incredibly efficient at her job and, I suspected, quite deadly if riled. Tingles was very protective of her too and would spend many an hour in the kitchen helping the minotaur learn new recipes and was quite happy to teach them to anypony else who was interested. Shadow sometimes got involved, but most often spent time playing with Lumin or Tarragon, giving me ‘that’ look. She was desperate to go to the fortress, but…I wasn’t so sure, couldn’t we just…you know, here? I was very wary of that place; it had bad memories, very bad memories, on several levels.

Mitre watched me quietly with an inscrutable look; that scarred blue coat of his showing me the old fellow’s battle wounds, wounds received in service to the ponies of Manehattan. My dad’s coat had look like that too later in life. It was only really the wendigo inside me that prevented my hide from looking like a patchwork quilt too, although oddly enough, the scar I had across my face had never disappeared. But nopony even bothered mentioning it now. Not that I really went anywhere other than Smiling Borders these days.

Luna stared into the flames while speaking, “Lord Fairlight…do you mind if we call you that now?”

“No, my lady”, I answered honestly. Luna chuckled, but Mitre gave me a disapproving look at my lack of official etiquette. The princess still held a candle for Maroc I suspected.

“We…that is, ‘I’ understand that your mission was successful?” she looked about the room, “Where is the lady Shadow?”

“Forgive me my lady, Shadow is at the glade with Tingles and Meadow, the children too.”

“Children…you have two foals now, do you not?”

“I do, one with the herd and one here, Sparrow Song and Lumin”

She hung her head slightly, “Foals…Yes, I’d like to see them before I leave, lord Fairlight, if that would be agreeable?”

“Of course!” I motioned to Grimble who nodded.

“I’ll send a runner now, my lord”, he bowed before walking to the door and conversing with one of the guards.

Tarragon appeared suddenly from under the table, and snuggled in next to Luna, who squee’d in delight, “Fairlight I didn’t know you had a dragonling! She’s gorgeous!”

“She’s Etrida’s daughter, saved my hide more than once in those caverns. She’s like one of the family now and is getting bigger all the time.”

Luna nodded, “She has her mothers look about her; a truly exquisite dragon. Look at her scaling…”

I peered at her scales, but to me Tarragon looked, well, like a little dragon I suppose. She didn’t look ‘that’ much like her mother, but maybe in a thousand years or so she would. I scratched my chin thoughtfully,

“You know Etrida?”

The princess laughed, “Of course I do! I have been in Equestria before, lord Fairlight” Luna moved a stray hair from her face, “There were many more dragons back then. Etrida wasn’t the eldest but was in line to be. The war…the war took many lives, far too many.”

Luna took a mouthful of the brandy which Grimble trotted over to refill for her, “I don’t want to talk about the war, Fairlight. I’m here on other business.”

I sat up straight, my ears pricked as the princess continued, “The royal wedding is to be held at Canterlot soon, despite all the delays. Most of the royal guard have been place in and around the capital for protection of the happy couple. You may have noticed a distinct lack of soldiers looking for you?”

I nodded, “I thought they’d just given up, and we are quite sheltered here.”

She shrugged, “That is true. However my sister would not just give up on something once her mind is set. We have argued about you several times, but she remains unwavering in her resolve.”

Damn it all, I’d hoped the old bag would have let it go. I mean for fucks sake, what the hell was her problem?

“Lord Fairlight?”

Luna looked at me with a concerned expression. I released my grip on the magic and shook my mane, “Forgive me my lady. I had hoped Princess Celestia would have left me to live here with my family in peace.”

She shook her head sorrowfully, “Tia has a difficult manner about her at times and, I fear, the memory of the war still haunts her to this day.”

I had little sympathy, not after what I’d seen, or rather what Maroc had. Genocide playing on the royal conscience was it? Damned shame…

Luna glanced at Mitre, who leaned a foreleg on the arm of the chair, “Look lad, I know you’ve had a rough time and you’ve got a young family too, but we need you.”

“You need the wendigo ‘me’ you mean”

“Fairlight…look…” Mitre began but Luna chipped in, “He’s right Mitre, we’re asking a lot of him, he has foals to care for now. I told you I was not happy about this plan of yours.”

“Your majesty, we need him!”

Luna fixed him with a look, “We said we were concerned about this, Mitre. Lord Fairlight has done more than his fair share for Equestria and we will not push him into something that could endanger his life or his family!”

Mitre looked like he was going to explode, but instead looked at me with a pleading expression on his face.

I held up a hoof to try and diffuse the mounting tension, “My lady, Mitre, please. I don’t even know what’s going on here, so before we all jump to conclusions, can somepony please explain what is going on?”

Luna nodded to Mitre for him to continue. He cleared his throat, “We’ve picked up intel to suggest a plot to assassinate the princesses. I think I mentioned this to you some time ago?”

I nodded.

“There’s always some crazy out there, but this time we have something solid.” Mitre took out a file from his saddle bag and placed some photographs on the table before us.

“Recognise anypony?”

I did, “The commissioner, Velvet Cream, the ‘human’ and another one I don’t know”.

The photograph was grainy, but showed enough detail to identify the first three. The smirking, oily Velvet Cream and his stunning ‘Celestia-esque’ friend stood like old pals next to the watch commissioner. The fourth one looked like a very everyday sort of pony, one that wouldn’t stand out in a crowd that was for certain. His screwdriver cutie mark was one I’d seen on many a pony, usually in the repair or construction business.

Luna tapped the photo of the white unicorn, “Human? Are you sure?”

“I am.” I replied, “She came through the portal and along with her pals, turned half the watch into mincemeat. I’ve seen her since too, at the Strawberry Cream nightclub.”

Mitre’s chair creaked as he moved, “Guess where the photo was taken”

It wasn’t that much of a surprise. We knew Velvet was up to his fetlocks in it, his goons Gates and Melon Patch had been the ones who’d help turn me into…into ‘this’. What they did to Meadow and Sparrow…well, I hoped they were enjoying hell right now. I examined the photograph again. It was clearly taken without the knowledge of the four ponies in it. Mitre and the agency no doubt would have had the place well staked out.

“We had a pony on the inside who got these pictures to us”, he leafed through a few more similar ones.

“Had?” I asked.

“We found her head floating in the river two days ago”

I shook my head. Those bastards had some payback coming for what they’d done.

“Who’s the fourth one, any leads?”

“We have more than leads”, Mitres wry smile belied the seriousness of what he said next, “Know what one of these things are?”

I magicked up the photo from the table and examined it closely. At first I thought it to be some sort of pony, a bat pony? No…it was more ‘insectoid’. A bright shiny carapace, beetle like wings and a horn like a unicorn, but those teeth and eyes…I’d heard of them, but never actually seen one in person.

“Changeling?” I asked uncertainly.

Mitre nodded, “Got it in one boy. Nasty little fuckers”, he quickly bowed to Luna, “Sorry your majesty”. She smiled and waved for him to continue,

“Caught it going through one of the detectors that we’ve set up around the country looking for any rogue humans. Didn’t expect this though. When this one was approached, it blasted it way through the crowd until we took it down.”

“Alive?”

“Not for long. Little bastard killed two and maimed another. Turns out they’re not that resistant to blaster fire.”

“So what’s that got to do with the wedding though?” I asked, “How do we know this thing didn’t just wander into town looking for some tasty emotions to snack on. Its not that unknown.”

Mitre pulled out another file, “This one was taken by a pony moments before the damned thing killed him. Thank the goddesses the medics had the wherewithal to give us the camera.”

There were a number of snaps of the local town, statues, gardens, and finally, the one Mitre was drawing my attention to. In front of a large neon prancing pony sign, a very everyday looking pony with a screwdriver cutie mark.

“Think that’s the same guy? So what’s the angle here, Mitre, think the commissioners planning on infiltrating the wedding with a changeling and taking them out?”

“To a point, yes. The commissioner hangs around with some anti government higher ups, the ones who would like nothing more than to see the princesses made into a more…’ceremonial’ role. Should that happen, then there would be a need for somepony to take the reigns of government, and guess who they had in mind?”

“The commissioner?”

“She’d be a puppet of the elite of course, but a very well paid puppet nonetheless.”

Luna spoke up, “These ponies know we would never move against them openly and my sister would never relinquish her rule of Equestria, nor I for that matter. Not unless the people wished it of course…”

I smiled at her, “My lady, the ponies of Equestria love you, and Celestia”, I nearly choked on the last bit, “I’ve never heard anything said against you.”

She reached over and placed a hoof on my knee, “Thank you lord Fairlight, you’re very kind.”

I could feel my cheeks burning as Mitre cleared his throat loudly making me jump, “This creature, this changeling, has been traced back to the capital. We’ve checked hours of surveillance information from the detectors and it appears on one more right outside the palace.”

Hell fire, this wasn’t good. The damned things mimicked ponies perfectly. Well…almost. They could be picked up by magical detectors, but sooner or later, one of the damned things could get through.

“You think this thing was an assassin?”

Mitre shook his head, “No…we think it was there for observation, probing for weakness in the defences. The royal guard are already on alert because of the threat from the humans, and the CBI are also aware of the changeling situation. Captain Shining Armour has put up a shield around the whole city to protect against these things getting in, and we’ve been busy installing automated detectors around the country as fast as we can manufacture them.”

“Captain Shining Armour?”, I asked.

Luna spoke up, “The princess’ fiancé and captain of the royal guard. Twilight Sparkle’s brother”

My eyebrows shot up. Miss Sparkle’s brother? He was captain of the very guard who were trying to hunt me down? Oh what delicious irony.

“Where do I come into this?” I sighed inwardly. Here it comes…

Mitre smiled, taking a mouthful of his brandy, “We want you to investigate Velvet Cream, the Commissioner and our human friend. Simple.”

“Simple? I guess the watch are out of the picture with the commissioner’s influence, but why can’t the agency do it?”

“They are, but their hooves are tied by Celestia’s regulations”, Luna said, “But thankfully, and not in small part to your help, she has allowed Equus to remain under my control and in this we have carte blanche to take care of the situation. The safety of the newlyweds has taken care of my sisters ‘concerns’, shall we say.”

“Yeah”, I added, “I get it. She wants Equus to get their hooves dirty, so the royal wedding doesn’t get gate crashed by our bug friends”

Mitre grinned, “That’s about the size of it. Celestia doesn’t know about you though. You’re our…well, we want you to be, out trump card.”

“And do what?” I didn’t like the sound of this, “Take out the whole gang?”

Mitre said nothing and Luna returned to stare into the fire, “That’s it isn’t it? You want me to ‘investigate’ them, by killing the whole bloody lot. Nice and quiet, keep the guards noses clean, the agency; just poor old Fairlight, the evil wendigo doing what he does best. How long before one of Celestia’s goons comes after me then, track me down and kill me? Maybe my whole family too!”

The big blue stallion shook his head, “We’re not asking you to kill them Fairlight, just…neutralise the threat. If you can bring them in, do it, you’re still on the books with Equus.”

“’Neutralise’…Yeah, and if I bring them in what then? With the commissioners connections, Velvet and the human will be straight back out and probably go even further underground.”

The door crashed open, it was Brandy Wine, “There’s something coming up the road! Mitre, get the princess upstairs, Fairlight…” he threw me a PDW. The two of us rushed to the door as a protesting Luna was pushed up the stairs.

“What is it?” I said, checking the weapon, “We’ve got more armed warriors in this village than you can shake a stick at.”

“You haven’t seen it!” he said, his eyes wide, “It’s…it’s like something from a bloody nightmare, black and shining with dragon wings and…”

“And eyes like red fires, right?”

“…and…yes! You’ve seen it before?”

“I would say so, yes. Come in and put that blasted gun away will you.” I handed him the PDW and opened the doors, as Shadow and Tingles trotted in.

“Agh!” Brandy gasped, backing away into a corner upsetting a table on his way, “What is that!?”

“My mate, the lady Shadow. Shadow, may I present to you Brandy Wine of the Celestian Bureau of Investigation.”

Shadow bobbed her head and grinned, treating Brandy to her glinting battery of lethally sharp teeth. Smoke curled up from her nostrils and her eyes burned deep red in the darkened light of the taverns interior. The stallion squeaked in fright.

“Oh stop it, Shadow, you’ll give him a bloody heart attack.”

Tingles gave Mitre a hug, “It’s so good to see you! But who’s this you’ve brought wi…” she gasped, “Your majesty!”

Luna waved her off and trotted back into the room to pick Tingles up who was bowing so low she was virtually lying down, “Tingles’ please, we’re friends are we not?”

“Of course your…” Luna raised an eyebrow as Tingles caught herself, “...Of course Luna, I’m so happy to see you again!”

“And I you. So, this must be the lady Shadow who we spent so long trying to find, and her mate finds her in his own inimitable fashion.”

Shadow blushed and bobbed a curtsy to the princess, “Princess Luna?”

Luna shook her head, “No, just Luna. Friends don’t use titles, except Fairlight…”

Tingles gave me a look from under her brows, I was going to get interrogated later, I just knew it. Fortunately, our ‘fling’ had been before I’d become serious with Tingles, so at least I didn’t have that to worry about. I hoped.

There was that horrible moment when I realised we’d have to relay our stories again and sure enough…

We finally got to the part where Luna, Mitre and Brandy explained why they were there. Luna was more interested in Lumin however, but I could tell by the way her ears swivelled, that she was still taking in every detail.

Tingles didn’t explode as I thought she would. Placing a hoof on her leg, I looked into her thoughtful eyes, “Love?”

She looked at Shadow who nodded as if the two had some sort of psychic connection. The tangerine Pegasus bowed to Luna but addressed me, “Celestia would have to acknowledge Fairlight if he managed to ‘assist’ in protecting the wedding, wouldn’t she?”

Luna looked up from Lumin to reply, “I believe she would, I also have one more trump card to play should that be the case. Even Tia wouldn’t be able to ignore lord Fairlight’s contribution in those circumstances. Nor, I would add, could Shining Armour and his fiancé.”

Shadow murmured something to Tingles and the two looked to me expectantly. I shrugged, “Fine…I’ll do what I can, but when this is over, I want something out of this. Not for me, but for my family and the people of this village.”

Luna straightened up, “Very well, what do you desire?”

I stood up from my chair and spoke rather more formally than I intended, “The lands of the tribe of the four winds are to be reinstated. Shining Borders and the fortress are to be considered our land and home. None of my people, my family, nor myself are to be molested nor harmed in any way and recognised for who they are. We, for our part, will pledge to protect Equestria from harm and serve the princesses.”

Grimble dropped the tray behind me, “The princesses!?” he shrieked, “After what Celestia did?”

“Yes” I turned to him and fixed him with my blue eyed stare, “Times have changed my friend. Luna and Celestia rule this land and we have a chance to recover our lost heritage. To move forward, we must let go of the baggage of the past.”

I turned back to Luna, “But that doesn’t mean I will forget nor fail to learn from what has been. You are still the one I serve my lady. Celestia will have to come as part of the deal” I was going to add ‘unfortunately’, but thought better of it.

Luna’s mouth hung open, “You…you want a part of Equestria? She would never agree to that!”

“The land was stolen from us in the first place, and it is ours by right and by inheritance. If you want my help, my tribe’s help, this is the price I ask.”

Every pair of eyes in the room was on me. Luna stood up, her long flowing mane and tail flowing out behind her caught in the astral wind, “Very well. You must understand though, my lord Fairlight, that I can only agree for my part. Celestia may not be so…agreeable.”

“I’ll take that chance”

Mitre watched me quietly while the princess got up to pass Lumin back to his mother,

“Captain…” he asked quietly, “what will you do if the princess refuses?”

I looked at my old friend, at his tired face and scarred body. We’d both been through so much together, but now…now I had so much more to fight for.

“How’s Shelly Chief?” I asked him suddenly.

He stared at me, those old dark eyes trying to read the inside of my head, “She’s doing fine…why?”

“You love her don’t you?”

“Of course I do. What’s this got to do with…”

“What would you do to protect her, Chief? To make sure she was safe?” I interrupted.

“I…”

“That’s what I’d do.”

My old watch chief sat with his mouth open, before nodding to himself, “I understand Captain, but…”, he leaned forward and jabbed a hoof at me, “don’t forget who your friends are.”

I clopped him on the shoulder, “I never have my friend”. I turned to face princess Luna and bowed before her, “You have my loyalty and my word of honour I will do all I can to protect Equestria my lady.”

Luna smiled shyly and gave Lumin a kiss before holding her hoof out for me to kiss respectfully,

“You’re an interesting one, lord Fairlight, and so is your family. There is a magic here, not only in you, but in all of you; Tingles, Shadow and even little Lumin”

She gazed down at the sleeping unicorn foal and murmured just on the edge of my hearing, “He has the greatest magic of all”.

Our guests prepared to leave, Luna being helped into the carriage by Mitre while Brandy stopped me by the door,

“We’ll be in touch soon, Fairlight. Also, I have a bit of a confession to make.”

“Oh?”

“When I was checking your old room and Tingles’, I found a stash of boxes.”

“My chocolates!”

“I…I couldn’t help myself, I tried one. I didn’t think you’d mind, but…”

“But?”

“Great Celestia, Fairlight, they were amazing! I had another, and before I knew it…”

I facehoofed, “Don’t tell me you ate the lot?!”

“Well, actually…I did. But don’t worry, I replaced them. They’re in with all Tingles’ things. We put them in your room earlier”.

Laughing, I clopped him on the shoulder, “You didn’t need to confess that! I wasn’t that obsessed with them!”

Brandy shrugged and handed me a crumpled yellow envelope, “It’s from the Cake’s. The guys at the agency have a regular shipment now and…well, it’s a money off voucher as a thank you.”

I pocketed the letter, shaking my head, “Thanks Brandy, you were always there when I needed you.”

“I still am Fairlight. We’ll be working together on protecting our home from the rats trying to infest it. I know you’ve done more than your fair share for our country, but still, I’ve always liked a pony who gets results.”

He fished in his pocket for something, “Oh…nearly forgot. Here’s yours and Tingles pay.”

“Mitre’s already given us money, Brandy. We’re not on the payroll anymore.”

“Actually, that’s not entirely true. I always hoped you’d come back and so…” he handed over a wad of notes and coins, “That’s both of you up to date. It’ll keep you in chocolates if nothing else!”

We shook hooves and after a round of hugs and hoof waving, the carriage took off into the azure sky, banking back towards Manehattan. Grimble and I sat back by the fire a while longer and chatted about the visit. He was a traditionalist at heart but open enough to understood that if we were to restore the tribe, we would have to adapt to this world, to survive in Celestia’s Equestria. I sat gazing into the flames and tapped my forehooves together. Had I pushed things too far? Despite my words to Mitre, what would I do if Celestia refused my request? Damn it, there were too many unknowns here, and now I was second guessing my decisions.

I shook my mane. It was too bloody late now anyway, the die was cast. I would play my part and the lord of the four winds together with his tribe would return to their rightful place in Equestria.

Grimble echoed my thoughts, “I never thought it would happen in my lifetime, my lord. I hope you’ll forgive my outburst earlier?”

“About Celestia? Of course my friend, trust me, I’m no fan of the princess of the sun. However, if we have to make a deal with the devil to achieve our goal, then so be it.”

“Fortune favours the bold, my lord”

I clinked my brandy mug against Grimbles’ “Hah! It does that, my friend, it does that.”

There was a shriek from upstairs and the clatter of hooves, a flustered Tingles bursting into the room, “HEATHER!” she screamed.

The minotaur charged in, carrying a meat cleaver of all things, her eyes scanning the room for trouble.

“Get some water, quick!”

“What’s going on?” I called to her, jumping to my hooves, “It’s not Tarragon again is it?”

“No! It’s Shadow! I think she’s been poisoned!”

“Oh goddesses” my heart thundering I raced for the stairs, Grimble rushing into the kitchen to help Heather.

Tingles turned to me in a panic, “She…she ate something. I found her next to a box of something in the bedroom, next to our things and…”

“Oh hell! MY BLOODY CHOCOLATES!”

Chapter Four - A Change of Heart

CHAPTER FOUR

A CHANGE OF HEART

The cell was dark, not surprisingly, and I’d not been treated as harshly as I thought I would have. My biggest concern though was the Mistress. I’d failed her…I was a bad pony. Perhaps there was some way I could redeem myself? Try again? But how? Sighing, I lay back on the straw mattress and waited. Something or somepony would decide my fate sooner or later and that would be that. A tear rolled down my cheek. I missed my mistress terribly, the breakfast we shared, the smile she gave me. I wanted to be with her forever.

It was cold in here, I could see my breath above me, but strangely didn’t feel it at all. I wonder why? Hoofsteps approached the door, making me jump to my hooves. If I could surprise them, I’d have a chance…

“Fairlight?”

Who? The guard in the doorway stared at me. He looked like most of the palace guards, this one a white male with blue eyes. I glared at him, weighing up my chances at getting past him, overpowering him,

“Lord Fairlight, it’s me, Nimble, Corporal Nimble.”

I stared at the stallion. He thought he knew me did he? Now was my chance…

Before I could move, he took off his helmet and before my very eyes, his coat changed from white to grey, his yellow eyes strangely familiar,

“Lord Fairlight, don’t you recognise me? What are you doing in here?”

“I…Nimble?” Pain lanced through my skull so fiercely it took me to the ground. By all that was holy in the world, why wouldn’t this stop? I screamed, the corporal replacing his helmet and pulling me to my hooves,

“Get me some help here!” He shouted up the corridor, “For the princesses sake get a medic!”

The world swirled and drifted away from me, darkness pushing in on my consciousness. The last thing I saw was a beautiful green mare, looking down at me in concern, her yellow eyes and pale green mane…she was so….beautiful.

****************************

A white light shone in my eyes, blinding me. I was strapped down on a table, not uncomfortably so, but still secure. The light moved away, beneath which a large pair of brown eyes stared at me,

“Can you hear me? Nod if you can.”

I nodded.

“Good. Your majesty…” the mare began, “This pony has had his memories overwritten with a memory spell, a very powerful one at that. The coat as you can see, has been dyed, the cutie mark shaved off and artificial fur and marking applied. Same with the mane and tail. I noticed something about his eyes too, here…”

He held up a glass dish like thing, the eye covers I’d been wearing earlier.

“His eyes are an unnatural blue. See how they shine with that background light? It’s magic of a type I’ve never seen before. He’s still hornlocked though, it’d been disguised with the helmet but I’ve left it on him as you ordered.”

“Thank you doctor” the serene voice was all too familiar…Celestia

A midnight coated mare walked up, her aquamarine eyes looking down into mine sadly, “Oh, Fairlight, what have they done to you?”

“What I want to know, Luna, is who this ‘Mistress’ is.”

“At least you don’t believe it is I, sister.”

“I’m not sure what to believe any more, Luna. It would appear your warnings were not without merit after all”

Luna harrumphed, “Perhaps you should listen to me a little more often, Tia?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, “I always listen to you, little sister. Sometimes…I…” She shook her head, “It matters not, what does is what are we going to do with this…wendigo.”

“Would you please stop referring to him as a thing, Tia. He’s a pony who’s pledged himself to serve you, rescued many from the human realm and…”

“-Yes, yes, I know all that, Luna, you’ve been quite…convincing. What you don’t seem to realise is that this…’pony’, tried to murder me in my sleep.”

“He’s been drugged, hornlocked and bewitched, Tia, the pony beneath all that would never harm you, and you know that”

“The fact remains that her defied me and returned after I had banished him. Ponies died, Luna.”

“And once again, I explained what happened. You’re looking in the wrong direction, sister. The one you should be aiding is the one you are accusing. Can’t you let go of your hate from a millennia ago?”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“Isn’t it? Do you still hate me?”

“Of course not!”

“How do I know that? How can I be sure that, like this pony before you, who pledged his life to serve you, that somewhere deep down inside you still harbour distrust and hate in your heart?”

“Luna! I won’t hear any more of this nonsense from you!”

“Then help him Tia, please…if not for him, then for me. Won’t you take a chance and give him one as you did me?”

Celestia sighed, “I can’t do this without taking that hornlock off him and with his powers he could…”

Luna placed a hoof on her sisters shoulder, “I’m here too, Sis, don’t forget that. I can and will protect you. I’m not as helpless as you seem to think”

Celestia gently touched her sisters’ hoof, “I never thought you were Luna.”

A bright golden glow flared from Celestia’s horn and enveloped my head, giving me a strange warming sensation. I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but at least the pain had gone. Now…if I could only get a chance to get out of here and…

“Now!”

Luna’s horn glowed and the small device that had been stuck on my horn clicked and fell from me onto the floor. Celestia’s magic quickly grew in intensity and I could feel its presence filtering through my mind like hot tendrils.

Anger and bitterness surged through me, cold hatred and pent up frustration. So many emotions running through my veins and brain all at once, it was overwhelming. The bitch was before me! If there was one pony, one alicorn I needed to eliminate it was this one. The mistress would be happy with me, my ancestors would sing of my deeds, she had to die…now!

I could feel my teeth lengthening, my vision changing, a deep rumbling emanated from my throat.

“Luna…”

“I’m on it, Sis. Fairlight, my lord, please…its me, Luna, your mistress”

“Mistress?” She was my mistress? She didn’t look anything like her! She looked like…like the princess of the night, the goddess of the moon.

“Lord Fairlight, look at me, only at me. Remember, please try to remember…”

“Luna…”

The glow intensified, rampaging images running through my mind in a torrent of colour. I felt like something were trickling out of me yet filling me at the same time. A frozen lake of emotions and thought, the ice below preventing me from reaching them, but they were there, just below the surface.

“Yes! Lord Fairlight, you must remember. Meadow, Sparrow Song, Tingles, Lumin, Shadow. They’re all waiting for you…they need you. Please Fairlight, come home to us.”

“Home?” Home was with the mistress, the other mistress, the white mare…In my tortured mind, my anger and confusion began to be replaced with images of a sunny day beneath a large tree, a green mare in a large floppy sun hat…her yellow eyes like the warm light from lanterns. I…I loved her…

I murmured a name, one I remembered and yet had lost, “Meadow…”

The strain was telling in Celestia’s voice, “Not much longer, Luna, keep him under control a little longer.”

“That’s right Fairlight! Little Sparrow can fly now, I’ve seen her, those little wings are so strong!”

“Sparrow…” a burning sensation began in my eyes and I could feel tears begin to drip down my cheeks.

The small grey Pegasus, so tiny and frail, I missed her so much. Suddenly a bolt of pain hammered through me making me cry out. I had to escape! To kill Celestia, kill the bitch who had…

“I’m losing it! For goodness sake Luna, keep him focussed!”

“FAIRLIGHT!” Luna shouted at me, distracting me, “Remember…” She grabbed my head suddenly and placed her lips on mine, her beautiful feminine eyes filling my vision, “Remember”.

She kissed me, the scent of lavender hitting me with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. This was the smell of my mistress, my true mistress, I was her stallion and I would obey her, love her. I moved into the kiss, ignoring the burning magic running through my mind. Images of mares, foals, places, worlds, all ran through me until with a final crack, the ice broke and everything flooded back in a sudden rush. I fell, deep into the lake of memory and self, remembering who I was, who I am. It was terrifying and exhilarating. I was…me…me once again…

Panting, the effort having visibly tired her, princess Celestia looked down into my eyes, “Who are you?” she asked me levelly.

“I…I’m Fairlight, your majesty.”

Luna hugged me and whispered into my ear, “Thank the gods, Fairlight. I thought we’d lost you”

Celestia turned away, “Perhaps you should believe in me too, little sister”.

She left the room, with Luna and I holding onto each other as she magicked the straps away from my body. The warm smell of the mare made my heart ache. I wanted my family…where were my family?

I sat up shakily, then rolled off the bed onto my hooves, “Luna…my lady, what’s going on? I don’t understand…where am I? What the hell am I doing here?”

Luna handed me a glass of sparkling silver liquid, “Here, drink this and we’ll talk”

Cold, strong and pure raced through my entire being, refreshing and re-energising me. I looked down at my legs. I didn’t know whether it was the light in the room or not, but they seemed darker than usual for some reason. What had happened to me? I still felt like me, just a little ‘off’ somehow, and by the goddess my head hurt like hell!

Luna magicked the glass away to sit on the table before thanking the doctor and beckoning me to follow her.

“You’ve been missing for weeks.” She began, “Mitre received a message from Tingles to say they believed you’d been kidnapped from the village and then you simply disappeared. Only to re-appear here…like this.”

“Where am I?”

“The palace. What do you remember?”

“Sitting on the porch, watching the sunrise and then…looking into your eyes”

Luna blushed slightly, “Lord Fairlight, somepony used a very strong and unusual memory spell on you. Not only that, but they drugged you with something that broke down your own magic and hornlocked you.”

“But…”

“You were found dressed in a soldiers’ uniform…in my sisters’ bedroom. Fairlight… you were going to assassinate Celestia, you had an MAD with you.”

I stopped in my tracks. I was going to do what?! My goddesses, sure I hated her for what she’d done to my tribe, for what she’d done to me, but…to assassinate her? No. A memory of a conversation with a pony a long time ago popped back into my mind, “I’m not an assassin”. That sentiment was just as valid now as it was then, and yet Luna was here with me, saying I’d done this? The worst part was, I couldn’t deny it either. Here I was, in the royal palace and somepony had clearly messed around with not only my head, but my appearance.

I turned to Luna in silence, not knowing what to say.

“My lord, come…my sister will be waiting for us.”

“Guess this is it then” I muttered, half to myself.

“What do you mean?”

“Assassination…Treason. Don’t forget that I was warned ‘not to return upon pain of death’. I’m sorry Luna, I don’t think this is one fix I’m going to get out of unless I make a break for it now.”

Luna put a hoof on my shoulder, “Don’t you think Tia would have thought about that? Why do you think she took the hornlock off you? Think, lord Fairlight, if she wanted you dead, you would never have left her bedchamber”

I shook my mane, “Forgive me if I don’t share your confidence in your sister.”

She sighed and face hoofed, “Fairlight!” sighing, she nudged me with her muzzle, “Come along now, lets not be tardy”

I almost laughed. The whole situation was beyond strange. Weeks of nothing, a hole in my memory, only a lingering sense of…’missing’ something, and here I was being lead through the palace by one of the royal sisters. Whatever had been done to me had interfered with my magic and I doubted I had much left in me to attempt an escape in any case, let alone defend myself should Celestia decide to eliminate me there and then. What awaited me beyond the doors ahead of us remained to be seen.

I took a deep breath as the doors swung open.

The princess of the sun sat on a chair before a roaring fire. By the looks of the sky outside, it was early dawn. The princess sipped a cup of tea thoughtfully, looking into the fire with a far away gaze. She looked tired.

“Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me, wendigo?”

I kept quiet.

“Do you know how many of my guards perished trying to find you?”

She looked up at me her eyes flashing with anger and also…sadness?

“Well?”

I cleared my throat, “Your majesty, if you’re going to execute me could you please get on with it? I’d like to be re-united with my murdered wife and foal as soon as possible, if it’s all the same to you.”

Celestia shook her head, “Flippant remarks like that avail you nought, wendigo”

“Fairlight”

“Pardon?”

“I have a name, your majesty. Most call me Fairlight, but I answer to ‘my lord’ or ‘lord Fairlight’. I may be a wendigo, but I didn’t have any choice in the matter and if you have some way to turn back time and undo what happened to me and to my family, then I’d welcome that chance.”

“Would you?” she asked, “and lose every friendship, every relationship you’ve made since then?” Celestia curled her lip, “I think not.”

I hung my head, “It’s true I’ve made many friends since then, more than I ever had before in my life, but I still miss my wife and daughter, princess. I still want to hold them, to be with them.”

“I’ll tell you bluntly…Fairlight, Luna has spoken strongly for you. Ever since I made the ruling to banish you, she has beleaguered me with evidence of your deeds, accounts of what you have done for Equestria.”

She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes, “I wasn’t convinced…but…”

“But?”

The princess opened one eye and stared at me, “I have a special place in my affections for the little creatures you know as ‘Breezies’. So frail, so gentle, and now nearly extinct thanks to the actions of a few evil creatures.”

She shook her mane and magicked her cup back onto the saucer with a ‘clink’, “You accomplished something that day, something many would have quailed at. You not only saved ponies, you saved an entire species. Their reclusiveness coupled with my distraction because of certain ‘events’ in the land, let my dear breezies nearly die out under my very nose.”

There was a commotion outside the door which suddenly burst open, three identical looking guards falling into the room as they grappled one another. Celestia rose quickly to her hooves, “What is going on here, another assassin? Explain yourselves!”

Two of the guards grabbed the third who they took to the ground. He opened his mouth to speak as one of the burly males snarled at him, “Keep quiet you! Your majesty…”

“Let him speak”, she ordered waving off the guards.

They backed away a pace keeping their weapons trained on the prostrated stallion, “Your majesties, please. I am Corporal Nimble, First unicorn battalion, fourth company. This pony…he saved my life in the caverns, after I’d been sent there to apprehend him. He faced down a dragon to save me, to save one of my colleagues who then tried to murder him in cold blood. He’s not our enemy princess!”

Celestia walked up to the soldier and picked him up off his knees, “You know, Corporal Nimble, what this creature is?”

He nodded, removing his helmet. His coat changed from white to grey, his eyes turning from the blue of the royal guard to the yellow so typical of the tribe.

“Yes, your majesty” he smiled at me, “I know what he is, and who he is”. I sensed his presence as soon as he entered the palace. It was weak, but I knew it was him.”

Celestia rose to her full height, ruffling her wings, “You understand what you are saying here soldier? You were sent on a mission to apprehend him, were you not?”

“Yes, your majesty”

“And you let him go?”

“I did”

“You disobeyed an order…”

“For a friend, yes, I did. If that condemns me, then so be it. Nopony who would face death to defend another should receive betrayal as a reward”.

Celestia shot him a look before turning to me, “Your ‘influence’ appears to be spreading, ‘lord’ Fairlight. I am still not convinced I was wrong about you or your kind, however…”

“They were different times Celestia”, I said rather more informally than I meant to, “You did what you believed you had to, to protect the ponies of Equestria. I won’t deny that my ancestors relished war, but for myself, all I wish for is to protect my family and to be left in peace.”

She smiled sadly, “Peace…murder, drugs, rape…such terrible, unimaginable things are happening in my home. Equestria is sickening from it, I feel it in my heart, even at a time when my niece and the brother of my most loyal student are to married.” She snorted, “A joyous occasion amidst the horror.”

I stood up to my full height, letting the magic course through me, my eyes and teeth changing, the mist curling around my hooves. The princesses gasped at the transformation, the guards behind me readying their spears,

“Then let me help Equestria, my princess. Allow me to fulfil my promise and protect both you and your sister, the ponies of Equestria, our home.”

I bowed before her, “I renew my pledge to serve you, your majesty, both you and princess Luna.”

The princess of the sun watched me warily but smiled slightly, waving off the guards and turned to Luna, “Contact his family, Luna, they will be missing him, and Corporal Nimble?”

“Yes, your majesty?”

“I’m reassigning you. Go with lord Fairlight and help him in whatever way he sees fit. I will speak to Captain Armour about your transfer shortly.”

“Thank you, your majesty”

“Oh, and lord Fairlight?”

“Yes, your majesty?”

“I will consider your request to have the lands returned to you and your ‘tribe’. In the meantime, you are to work with the agency on my behalf to restore Equestria. Root out the evil, Fairlight, restore the beauty of our land to what it once was.”

She nodded to Luna, “Nopony should fear the night.”

I thought of the weeks of missing memory, how I’d been played like a marionette and nearly murdered the ruler of our land.

“Some should”, I whispered under my breath.

****************************

Luna walked Nimble and I to the rear door by the carriage park. Outside, several wagons and other transport vehicles sat waiting to be unloaded by the myriad of busy ponies. The princess handed me a saddle bag, “We’ve run a residual magic scan on it and its come up with nothing” In answer to my questioning look she added, “You brought it in with you.”

I shook my head in despair, I couldn’t remember anything at all, only…

Taking the bag I sniffed it, my keen sense of smell detecting a familiar scent, “Here, what does that smell like to you?”

Luna and Nimble both took turns sniffing the bag. Luna shook her head, “A faint smell of something bitter, I don’t know what that could mean.”

Nimble took in a deep huff of the bag, “Lord Fairlight?”

I nodded at him to continue.

“There’s something there, it…yes…it reminds of the barracks medical wing when I got back. They put some solution on my injuries to clean them.”

Scratching my head I turned to face towards Manehattan, “The smell of chemicals, antiseptic.”

Nimble looked at me suddenly, “How did you get here, can you remember?”

“I don’t recall, but I doubt I just waltzed in. Do we have any records of visitors or deliveries to the palace?”

“We can check in with the guards on the gate. Everypony arriving has to sign in and out”, Nimble exclaimed. He paused, tapping his chin and looked up at me with those big yellow eyes, “Smell” he muttered, “Smell! The dogs!”

In a rush Nimble beckoned me to follow him and we left a surprised Luna after bidding her a hasty thanks and farewell. The princess of the night had a bemused look on her face as she watched us go before heading back into the palace flicking her mane back with a chuckle.

Nimble and I reached the gate guards, one of whom was chatting with one of the palace guard in the gate house who was enjoying a cup of tea. At our entrance, the two looked to me then Nimble,

“Corporal Nimble? Why are you out of uniform and who’s that pony with you?”

“Re-assignment, by personal order of princess Celestia. Jet Stream, can we borrow your dog?”

The Pegasus stood there for a moment, placing his cup back on the table, “My dog? What do you want Horst for?”

I stepped in, “Soldier, can your dog pick up scents?”

He grinned, “’course he can, best nose in the guard, has Horst.”

A sleek, well fed hound appeared from under the table, licking crumbs from his muzzle. He wandered up to me for a quick sniff and a fuss. Nimble passed the saddle bag to Jet Stream,

“Here. There’s a faint smell of antiseptic on here, we want to see if there’s any trace here in the palace”

Jet Stream snorted, “Probably in the infirmary, but what’ll that prove?”

Stroking Horst I glanced up at the guard, “Let’s just see eh?”

****************************

Horst rushed from the guard room and wandered around the entrance road, following what looked like a completely random path, if any at all. Was my hunch wrong? I shared a worried look with Nimble, this could be a red herring for sure, but there were other avenues to explore. ‘Keep an open mind’, dad had always told me, ‘Sometimes your first reaction, your first opinion, is the correct one. Don’t over think things and always be ready to accept you can be wrong’. There had been a boat load of ‘dad-isms’, some useful, some…well, just dad being dad.

A bark made us jump and Horst pulled hard on the lead, heading toward a gap in the carriage loading bay where he began to circle and whine.

“He’s indicating”, Jet Stream said, “Something’s been here with that scent”

“A carriage” Nimble said.

“Or something larger”, I stated, noting the larger delivery wagons, “Who’d notice one more delivery?”

We checked with the gate guards and there was no delivery of medical goods for that day, or even the last week. At least thirty deliveries had been made that day alone but it was something.

Both of us asked around the kitchen staff and porters but all leads drew a blank. I was starting to think I’d have to re-evaluate my hunch, after all, it could have simply been a spill from a medical cabinet or maybe the bags had been used to transport medical items at some point and the smell had lingered. There were so many possibilities, but right now, I had to try and find who was behind this somehow. We already had some possibilities; the commissioner, Velvet Cream, may even that human pony he hung around with. They’d all been involved in the drug, weapon and sex trade, but assassination? No, the one most likely was the commissioner. It was her who’d think big like this, the others were just your run of the mill crime syndicate scum. This was in a different league all together.

Nimble shouted over to me, “Captain!”

I trotted over. A flour coated kitchen worker in an apron looked from Nimble to me nervously. The corporal nudged him, “Go on, tell him what you told me”

The burgundy earth pony scratched his mane, “Well, it’s probably nothing really, but there was a laundry wagon here this morning from ‘Bright Morning Laundry’. I thought it was a bit funny as the boss fell out with them a week ago and told them we’d be changing the supplier.”

“Do you remember anypony with the wagon?” I asked.

“No, it just sat there for a few hours and then it was gone”

I clopped him on the shoulder, “Thanks friend. Nimble, lets have a chat with those gate guard chaps again, shall we?”

The guards checked their books and sure enough, the wagon from ‘Bright Morning Laundry’ had arrived in the morning and then left early that afternoon. The times coincided perfectly with when, according to Luna, I had been apprehended and then had the spell removed. Thank the goddesses that the MAD I’d had in my bag hadn’t been activated or I’d have been nothing but dust motes right now. What the hell had I been planning on using that for anyway? Damn it all, my memory was completely screwed up.

We sat down in the guard room. Nimble stretched his forelegs out and stared at the ceiling, “What do we do now Captain? You’re the ex-watch guy, I’m more used to breaking heads than using mine.”

“We check in with the laundry people and go from there.” I replied, “Seems a legit company, but there could be an insider with them or it could have been a stolen wagon they used. We need to speak to the agency and see if they can get some agents to do some digging on the Bright Morning Laundry.”

“What about the watch? They’d know if any vehicles had been stolen.”

I shook my head, “No. As far as we’re concerned, the watch is compromised, Nimble. I’ll explain later, just trust me on this.”

“You’re the boss. Hey, can you hear that buzzing noise?”

My communicator, freshly provided by the princess was making my pocket vibrate,

“Agent Nox”

Nimble’s eyebrows shot up.

“Fairlight?” the voice crackled over the comm, “Her majesty has just sent word, what’s the situation?”

I explained things briefly to my old mentor, receiving a simple ‘I see’ in response. Silence followed.

“Chief, how’s my family doing?”

“Last I saw of them, they were frantic. Your ‘tribal friends’ have been out searching high and low for you, which has caused no end of worries for the towns where armed minotaurs suddenly wandered in. So much for bloody subtlety, you’ll need to have a word with those things.”

“Will do, Chief. Right now, if you can crack on with looking into the laundry peoples company, I think we’ll get ourselves over to the Canterlot agency hub and pick up some gear. Is my credit good?”

“It has Celestia’s name to it, boy. Look, keep safe out there, I’ll be in touch as soon as I have anything to go on.”

“Thanks Chief, owe you one”

The Canterlot agency hub was a fraction of the size of the Manehattan one, but held all the usual items including a set of agency clothing, shades and a PDW each. Good old ‘sun butt’ had come through, her signature the veritable golden ticket for whatever we wanted. Sadly, the cafeteria food was just as bland and flavour free as I remembered and the two of us settled down to a bowl of ‘something’ that looked like it would be best employed fixing bathroom tiles.

“Luna’s arse, Captain, what the hell is this crap ?” Nimble’s nose wrinkled in disgust, “Its bloody well inedible”

I sniffed, “Yeah, but it’s full of your ‘five a day’ and all that. Flavour wasn’t factored in.”

“Five a day? It’ll keep you regular if nothing else”

I raised my eyebrows and grinned at him. I liked Nimble, he was a good pony.

“Any thoughts on the job at hoof?” I took a mouthful of the agency gloop.

“Yeah. The chemical smell, the antiseptic.” He made a circling motion with his hoof, “The laundry wagon, if it was the one that brought you here, it may make other collections from somewhere where they use that antiseptic. The clothes and equipment come in, get cleaned, then go back to the customer.”

“So?” I asked twirling my spoon encouragingly.

“So, we’re looking for whoever has contracts with the cleaning company and may use antiseptic; clinics, doctors surgeries, hospitals, dentists, that sort of thing.”

“We need to visit the laundry and do some digging. You up for a trip?”

“Sure!”

“Lets see if we can get a pilot and a carriage”

“Yeah, just one thing though, Cap’”

“Huh?”

“Let’s stop off and get something to eat, eh?”