The Everfree Chronicles

by gravehound

Rating: mature
Tags: Violence, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Princess Luna, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Bat Pony, Romance
Length: 9694

Sometimes shared traumatic experiences are the easiest bonding material, and living through a war certainly counts.

Equestria's first true war didn't come from any of the expected places. Violence and strife didn't arrive on the backs of griffons, changelings, evil kings, or any of the numerous monsters defeated by the Elements of Harmony over the years. Instead, it came from within the heart of Equestria itself -- the Everfree Forest.

As war rages in the middle of the country, spreading discontent and anger through every pony it touches, a batpony serving in Princess Luna's Royal Lunar Guard returns home after years on the front lines and begins attempting to recover from his experiences. Unfortunately, it can be hard to move on from trauma when it seems like reminders of it rear their heads at every turn.

Published 2018-07-24 04:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-07-25 19:24:36 UTC

Chapter 1

The air above Canterlot was colder than usual as the first dim hints of morning light peeked around the mountain walls to the East, a frigid breeze blowing in from the North and carrying with it the scent of a promised snowstorm later in the day. Gliding above the city at a gradual downward slope, a purple-coated batpony suppressed a shiver at the chilled air buffeting his back and speeding up his progress slightly, deep teal wings held carefully still to let the wind carry him.

As dawn broke on the second day of the new year, Comet Tail landed lightly on the pavement outside a small, inconspicuous house, surrounded by other equally small and unimpressive homes. Leaving the Canterlot castle at dawn to return to a home elsewhere in the city was still an unfamiliar routine; he had only been back in the city at all for three months, the last three years of his life spent in Everfree, and before that he had never lived anywhere in Canterlot except for the castle barracks.

Twisting around, Comet flipped open his saddlebags with his teeth, rummaging around until he pulled out the key he had been looking for and shaking strands of carefully messy teal mane out of his eyes. Turning back to the door, he leaned in to slide the key into the lock, missing once before accomplishing his goal. Returning the key to his bags and closing them once more, he lifted one hoof of a slightly deeper purple than his coat to shove the front door open and step inside.

“Scuttle?” he asked the dark, empty hallway, closing the door once more with a hind hoof as he moved into the entryway. Silence answered him, and he sighed softly before lifting his saddlebags from his back with his teeth, dropping them onto the rack set up to the door’s left for them. There had been more mornings recently where Scuttlebug would appear from somewhere in the house to greet him when he got home, and the stretch of quiet made him dread whatever brief interaction they might have while he fixed himself dinner.

Either that, or Scuttle had already fallen asleep somewhere.

Trotting further inside, Comet peeked into the living room on his way by but didn’t spot anything that looked like his housemate, so he continued on to the combined kitchen and dining area. Stepping through the doorway, his gaze drifted to the right where the kitchen itself was situated, faltering and feeling a sudden, strong sense of disorientation.

It certainly wasn’t every day he walked into his kitchen and saw himself standing on his back hooves at the counter, forehooves resting on it. A few seconds passed as Comet wondered if Everfree had done more of a number on him than he originally thought before he started spotting things that were wrong.

The wings folded against the other pony’s sides were far more insectoid than bat-like, his tail looked a little too rigid to be made of proper hair, and something seemed a little off about the coloring of both his coat and mane. What stood out the most, however, was the complete absence of the bright blue lightning bolt on his flank that marked both of Comet’s own.

“Scuttle,” he said again, tone verging more toward scolding now, and Scuttlebug jumped slightly as he glanced over his shoulder, ears flicking back. His eyes still held a more insectoid nature, too, the green coloring more or less correct but shiny in a way pony eyes shouldn’t be.

The changeling looked caught between getting mad or embarrassed that Comet had walked in on him, before he stepped back from the counter to drop to all four hooves, brow furrowing in concentration. A green flash of light filled the room, and when it faded Scuttle’s regular pony disguise stood where the knock-off of Comet had been, purple fur replaced by green and his mane now a longer, curlier dark to vibrant purple gradient that matched his fetlocks. Thick facial hair stretched down over his jaw, which Comet was fairly sure was there in imitation of himself. The wings had changed color to Scuttle’s more typical teal and a horn had appeared on his forehead, though it was longer and more curved than most unicorn horns tended to be.

Some things still weren’t quite right, his purple eyes maintaining their gleam and two small fangs sticking out from under his upper lip, his tail remaining rigid, and he still lacked a cutie mark on his flanks. The deep-looking crack curving around the base of Scuttle’s horn visibly accounted for the imperfect nature of his disguise magic.

Grimacing a little, he glanced away, shifting his weight a bit awkwardly. “I was practicing,” he grumbled finally, sounding a bit reluctant to admit it, and Comet felt himself relax slightly. There wasn’t exactly a whole lot of reason for Scuttle to lie to him, considering he was only able to be in Canterlot at all because of the batpony.

“Do you really have to practice on me?” Comet asked, sounding a little exasperated as he finally moved further into the room, ears swiveling a bit as he trotted into the kitchen. Scuttle looked increasingly nervous the closer he got, making him slow his pace a little, watching the changeling flick a quick glance behind him at the counter and following his gaze.

Two cutting boards that looked to be covered in juices and bits of some fruit or other, three knives, and a couple bottles of oil that Comet didn’t even entirely remember purchasing were set out on the counter, beside which was a large bowl that proved to be full of what looked like mostly tomatoes and avocado when Comet leaned to peek at the contents. A magazine that he definitely had no recollection of obtaining was propped up against the wall, folded open to a page with a recipe and large picture of the dish. “I… made you dinner,” Scuttle managed after a moment, voice coming out a bit strained.

It was… almost cute, honestly. Biting back a grin, Comet stepped over to tug open one of the drawers below the counter surface, leaning down to grab a fork in his teeth before closing it again. Sticking it into the bowl, he raised one foreleg from the floor to curl his fetlock around the bowl, giving Scuttle a slight smile as he turned to head over to the table. His housemate looked decidedly relieved, and Comet flicked one ear back as he heard hoofsteps trailing after him.

Setting the bowl down on the table, the batpony dropped into his seat, flicking a glance up at Scuttle as he slid into the one across from him and rested his hooves on the table, fidgeting slightly.

The room was illuminated only by faint light shining in from the street lamps outside, a single bright beam cutting across Scuttlebug’s face, and Comet found himself staring with one hoof lightly resting against his fork on the other on the table beside the bowl. It was only when Scuttle’s mouth dipped into a slight frown that Comet awkwardly cleared his throat and quickly dropped his gaze, lifting a forkful of fruit to shove into his mouth.

It was startlingly good, given that Comet hadn’t had any reason to think Scuttle could cook. Granted, it hadn’t exactly looked like a complicated recipe from his glance at the magazine, but still. “This’s good,” he mumbled around quickly forking more into his mouth, resisting the urge to shove his face into the bowl as he realized how hungry he was. His lunch break had been hours ago, plus he’d been on patrol that night. Evidently he’d worked up an appetite.

Scuttle’s expression smoothed out as he offered a slight, relieved smile, and Comet tried to ignore the tips of his ears warming slightly as he quickly dropped his gaze again to focus on eating.

It was shortly after five in the evening when Comet Tail stepped out the front door, saddlebags secured to his back as he stretched his wings out to either side. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, glancing over his shoulder to where Scuttlebug lingered just inside, eyes shining in the fading sunlight coming through the door. “What’m I supposed to get for you, again?” he asked, ears twitching a little. He hadn’t entirely forgotten, but he wanted to be sure.

Scuttle huffed quietly, shifting one forehoof to scrape the tip against the floor. “The newest copy of Pony’s Magazine,” he said after a pause, gaze shifting away. “And any old copies they might have.” Smiling faintly, Comet gave him a slight nod, turning to trot down the short path to the street. The door was shut when he glanced back again, and he swiveled one ear back as he heard it lock.

Canterlot was busy this time of day, despite the chill in the air and the light blanket of snow settled over everything. The streets were full of ponies, most of them getting off work and heading home, though Comet spotted a number of other tuft-eared batponies mingled into the crowd who were more likely to be heading out for the first time that day, as he was. For a moment, he considered joining them, before he flapped his wings a few times and shoved himself into the air instead. Canterlot had a rather varied population despite its slight lean toward unicorns, so there were a number of pegasi and batponies in the sky as well, but it wasn’t nearly as crowded. Definitely colder, though.

He didn’t go far, at least not yet. Two blocks down he carefully landed again just outside a small cafe, the sign over the door declaring it to be the “Thanks a Latte Bistro” in swooping script. Comet had come across the place mostly by accident not long after moving back to Canterlot, and had been stopping there nearly daily since. Nudging the door open, he smiled slightly as the small bell above it rang, taking a deep breath of the smell of coffee.

They didn’t serve just coffee, of course, but it was the kind of smell that tended to overpower everything else.

“Good evening again, Comet,” the unicorn stallion behind the counter greeted as Comet moved further into the little building, enjoying the warmth quickly chasing away the chill from outside. His coat was a deep brown, his eyes even darker so as to be nearly black, offset by a neatly styled mane that faded from moderate brown at the base to off-white at the tips. His fetlocks were the same near-black as his eyes when he lifted his forehooves onto the counter, offering a small smile that fit well onto his rather delicate features.

He was cute, if not especially Comet’s type.

“Evenin’, Latte,” he replied easily, stepping up to the counter and squinting a little at the rack of magazines next to him. He’d never really paid attention to them before. “Usual, please, plus uh…” He hesitated for a moment, lifting one hoof to page through them, before grabbing the top one plus a few with different covers from the back of the stack. He wasn’t sure how to check that at least one was the newest edition, and could only hope that they put the new ones at the front.

Chocolate Latte looked mildly surprised but gave him a brisk nod, horn lighting up pale brown as he keyed everything into the register. He turned to step away when the price came up on the display facing Comet, giving the batpony time to dig out the bits while he prepared his drink.

Rummaging in his saddlebags, he pulled out the little pouch full of bits that he carried, dropping it onto the counter and tugging it open to count the twelve bits necessary. It was usually only four, the magazines adding to the normal cost, and he would be annoyed if not for the large amount being a one-time cost. If he kept getting Scuttle the new ones, at least, it would only be an extra two bits at a time. Pulling the bag closed again, he dropped it back into his saddlebags, glancing around the cafe as he waited.

The building’s interior was fairly small, but they managed to decorate in a way that made it seem less cramped than it realistically was. The counter and drink-mixing area behind it took up the back wall opposite the door, roughly half of the remaining space occupied by numerous small, circular tables with varying numbers of chairs set at them. The rest of the space was taken up by a more comfortable seating area, a large brown couch set beneath a window with a short coffee table and two armchairs arranged near it.

The couch, however, was occupied — as it often was when Comet arrived in the evenings. A small, light blue pegasus was sprawled across the entirety of the couch, hind hooves with their powder blue socks up on one of the arms, one matching wing stretched out so the longest feathers brushed against the floor. His wildly curly mane, pale pink with hints of blue, was squished up against the couch’s back. He was sound asleep, which was a rather befitting way to typically see him, considering the cloud decorated by small z’s that adorned his flank.

“He’s been there for an hour already,” Latte remarked, quiet voice sounding faintly amused as he carefully set the paper cup containing Comet’s drink on the counter before scooping up the bits in his magic. “Maybe one of these days Daydream will actually be awake when you show up,” he added, attention turned to opening the cash register.

Snorting softly, Comet leaned to grab the magazines in his teeth again, twisting to tuck them into his bags. Stretching his wings out again, he lightly flapped them, hovering a few inches off the ground as he took his drink in one forehoof. As long as he was quick it would still be warm when he got to the castle. He kept intending to leave the house early enough to actually sit in the cafe and drink his coffee, but it never seemed to happen. “Just like one of these days I’ll find time to stay for more than ten minutes?” he asked, offering Latte a grin, and the unicorn laughed softly.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Comet told him, turning to head for the door again, and Latte called out a goodbye before the batpony shoved his way outside and back into the cold. He paused long enough to take a sip from his cup, sighing contentedly at the chocolate-y taste. He’d never really been much of a coffee drinker, despite needing the caffeine to wake up before work, so he defaulted to a chocolate mocha with extra chocolate. It did the trick and tasted slightly less repulsive than normal coffee at the same time.

Wings flapping harder, he rose up above the roofs of the buildings around him and made his way up toward the castle, rapidly gaining altitude. As he moved from Southern to Northern Canterlot, the buildings got larger and more nicely kept, some of the largest houses even having decent-sized yards in the backs. The government provided everypony with housing, but only ponies that made enough bits to pay their own way afforded housing that had more than the basic necessities. Comet’s own home, and most of the homes surrounding it, had a living space and a kitchen, two small bedrooms, a single bathroom, and not much else.

Not that he was complaining; he didn’t particularly want anything else, regardless. The excessively nice homes that he was flying over as he approached the castle struck him as entirely unnecessary. They didn’t really serve as anything but gloating material, for the most part.

Comet descended again quickly as he reached the castle, flying around to one of the side doors and reaching one hoof to nudge it open, drifting inside and letting it swing closed behind him. He had learned early on in his career that using that specific side door was significantly easier than the front doors for a number of reasons, the primary of which being that he only had to fly down one short hallway to reach the locker room instead of through half the castle.

“Look who finally decided to show up,” a voice remarked as soon as he pushed through the door, and Comet grimaced slightly, dropping to three hooves and folding his wings against his sides as he glanced toward where it had come from. Starry Wings was standing beside her locker, most of her armor already on and her terracotta-colored mane with its significantly lighter tips already pulled back into a ponytail, tail tightly bound. Her wings matched her mane, her coat nearly the same color as Comet’s and her eyes a deep blue.

“I had to get coffee,” he protested, lifting the cup still held tightly in one hoof to show her, and his sister rolled her eyes, head shaking slightly. Grinning faintly, Comet moved over toward his own locker, dropping down to sit on the bench in front of it and taking a long drink from his cup. A few other batponies were milling about nearby, some of them shooting furtive glances toward the two of them and quickly looking away again when Comet caught their gazes.

From his very first promotion to corporal, and especially after he had achieved sergeant, Comet had noticed a number of the other guards tended to be more withdrawn around him. Not that he could really blame them. Still, between him and his sister, who had been promoted to sergeant three months after he had and would never live it down, most of them were well aware he was far more likely to let them get away with shit they weren’t supposed to be doing.

Setting his cup down on the bench, Comet adjusted to tug his saddlebags off, dumping them on the floor and digging out his locker key before standing up to open it. Neither of his other siblings were nearby, he noticed as he cast another glance around, and could only figure they were already sitting primly in the debriefing room. Neither of them seemed to have grasped yet that kissing ass wasn’t going to earn them promotions.

As far as Comet was concerned, there wasn’t a damn miracle out there that could earn Glacial a promotion as long as Comet was still above him in rank.

Shaking his head a little, he shoved his key away again and reached up to drag his armor out of his locker, piling it all onto the floor for the moment. He heard a heavy sigh from where Starry was finishing up behind him and had to bite back another grin, fangs digging into his bottom lip. He dreaded the possibility of her making lieutenant eventually, mostly because he knew she wouldn’t let him get away with things like throwing around his armor anymore.

Lifting his coffee cup again, he drained the rest of the approaching-lukewarm liquid in one go, stepping over to the garbage at the end of the row of lockers to toss it in once he finished. Once that was taken care of, he made quick work of getting his armor settled on, most of the other guards on shift that night filtering out as he did so.

By the time Comet was fully armored, his earrings removed and tucked into his bags before shutting them in his locker, the locker room was nearly empty and he only had a few minutes before debriefing started. He walked as quickly as he could as he slipped out into the hallway, wings shifting slightly at his sides as he resisted the urge to take off to get there quicker. Technically, they weren’t supposed to fly inside the castle unless it was necessary.

Nudging the debriefing room door open, he edged into the room, closing it as quietly behind him as he could but drawing a number of looks regardless as he trotted to his seat near the front of the room. Starry rolled her eyes when he settled down beside her, Captain Cherry Blossom giving him a rather unamused look where she was shuffling papers at the front of the room.

“Well, now that all our commanders have finally joined us,” the older mare started, sounding distinctly unamused, “we can get on to debriefing for the night.” She had, Comet couldn’t help but notice, started showing her age while he was away in Everfree. The alternating deep and light pink stripes of her sleek mane were interrupted by stands of gray that seemed to be multiplying with every week he was back in Canterlot, and there were more creases around her dark pink eyes than there used to be.

There was something jarring about the reminder that everypony else’s lives had kept going while he was gone.

Resting both light brown hooves firmly on the table in front of her, Cherry dropped her gaze to her papers, tufted ears twitching slightly. “There shouldn’t be anything especially exciting happening tonight,” she said after a moment, squinting a little as she flipped through her papers. “It’ll be rounds as normal, assignments posted on the board on your way out.” There was a stirring from behind Comet as people clearly prepared to rise to their hooves, and Cherry’s gaze snapped up, staring them down until everypony settled again.

“However,” she continued, sounding faintly annoyed, “don’t forget we’re getting new recruits at the end of the month, and I’m going to fully expect all of you to step up and help train them in. We need the boost in numbers with so many people still in Everfree.” Or dead, Comet thought, and judging by the complete stillness through the room, so did most of the other guards. A number of them were freshly back from Everfree as he was, but even the ones who weren’t knew the gist of how many they were losing.

Clearing her throat, Cherry shifted her gaze to where Moonlight Hunter stood off to her side, the old lieutenant looking exhausted even at the start of the night. He would, Comet suspected, be retiring before the year was out. “That’s all, then,” Cherry said, skimming a glance over the room. “Dismissed.”

Part of Comet was a bit relieved that it had proven to be one of the more simple debrief nights. Some nights it went on for half an hour or more — ten minutes and done definitely wasn’t something he would complain about. Everypony in the room rose swiftly to their hooves, and the seconds dragged on as they filtered slowly out, pausing to check the corkboard hung next to the door on their way.

When he finally reached it, Comet’s wings fluttered a little against his sides as he found his name on the list for spending the night posted in the hall outside Princess Luna’s chambers. It was typically an extremely easy task, little to nothing happening throughout the night even if there was excitement elsewhere in the castle, but it was considered one of the more prestigious postings.

He deflated instantly when his gaze skimmed over Glacial Affection’s name just below his, and he clenched his jaw as he trotted out into the hallway, letting out an irritated snort. He and his three siblings were often posted together, but that didn’t make it any less aggravating to get stuck spending the night alongside Glacial of all ponies.

As he made his way through the hallways toward Princess Luna’s chambers, Comet spotted the pale icy blue stallion trotting just head of him, head held high. They were explicitly ordered to spend the night in silence unless they were spoken to, but even the smug aura of his brother-in-law grated on Comet’s nerves. Grimacing slightly, he trailed along behind Glacial, sighing quietly when he turned the corner into the hall where they would be posted for the duration of the night.

It was approaching midnight by the time there was any movement in the hallway again, aside from the occasional slight shifting of weight by the two batpony guards standing on either side of a set of large double doors.

One door creaked open with agonizing slowness, swinging only a few inches outward before halting, and Comet Tail cast a sideways glance over at it when a few seconds passed without anything further happening. Finally a small, deep blue muzzle, nearly black, peeked out from behind the door, far too close to the ground to be an adult pony. A moment later the rest of the foal followed, dark green to blue gradient mane sticking out wildly at all angles on top of his head, two small fin-like protrusions that served as ears and a unicorn horn poking out from the mess of hair.

Bright cyan eyes lifted to make eye contact with Comet, widening a little as the colt realized he was being watched, and he stood still for a moment before lifting his head high and beginning to trot down the hall with complete confidence despite his wobbly gait. Dark purple bat wings, the thin skin between fingers a green that matched his mane, twitched periodically at his sides, and in the place of a tail he had more of a stiff fin with the same color gradient as his hair. Pale purple fetlocks stood out starkly from the deep blue-black of the rest of his body.

Comet stared after him for a moment, flicking a glance over at Glacial, who sniffed indignantly and turned his teal gaze forward again. Snorting softly, Comet stepped out of position for the first time in hours to quickly trot after the colt, one wing stretching outward to scoop him up despite his squeak of protest. As Comet turned to head back toward the doors, the prince squirming unhappily in his wing’s grip, a rather frazzled-looking Princess Luna shoved the door the rest of the way open and darted out into the hallway, gaze sweeping across it.

Relief flooded her expression when she spotted Comet holding her son, and she let out a heavy, relieved sigh as she turned to trot toward him, tufted ears flicking. “Lose something, boss?” Comet couldn’t help but ask, offering her a slight, amused smile and tightening his wing a little when Prince Cycada wiggled more insistently.

Luna snorted softly, her horn lighting up its typical blue, wrapping a field of magic around her son, and Comet quickly pulled his wing back when she floated the colt toward her. “I’m realizing foals are far more troublesome than I had previously thought,” she replied, gaze softening as she lifted Cycada to her face to nuzzle against him, making him giggle softly. “I love him dearly, but he’s proving astoundingly good at finding trouble.”

Comet couldn’t help but laugh at that, trotting after her when she turned to head back toward her chambers, Cycada floating along beside her and flapping his wings excitedly, sticking all four legs straight out in front of and behind him. “That’s just how kids are, I think, yeah,” he remarked, smiling slightly as he watched the colt roll over in his mother’s magic field. He would be turning three in just over a month, and Cherry Blossom had already started making arrangements for the guard that would be attending the birthday party. Part of Comet hoped he would make the list.

Smiling and shaking her head a little, Luna paused just outside the open door of her chambers, and Comet caught a flicker of disdain in her expression when she glanced toward where Glacial was still standing stiffly at his post. “Well, thank you for catching him before he could run off and cause a ruckus,” the princess remarked, dropping her gaze back to him, and Comet ducked his head slightly, feeling a touch of smugness at her specific focus on him.

“Any time, boss,” he told her, stepping back into his spot beside the doors and getting comfortable for another six hours of standing. Luna trotted back into her chambers, Cycada in tow, and the door fleetingly glowed blue as she shut it behind her.

At just after six in the morning, Comet Tail dragged his hooves into the locker room, dropping down heavily to sit on the bench in front of his locker. He was more on time to get off shift than he had been to get on it, so dozens of other ponies were still bustling about around him, putting their armor away and getting ready to go home. A brief glance over at Starry Wings earned him a sympathetic look when Glacial Affection stalked past them, irritation clear in his every movement as it had been since their encounter with the princess hours ago.

Rolling his eyes, Comet shoved himself back to all four hooves and focused his attention on pulling his armor off, starting with his helmet and dropping it onto the bench where he had been sitting. Once he was stripped all the way down, he reached up to open his locker and pull his saddlebags out, draping them over the bench while he piled his armor inside in their place.

The locker room was loud enough with the hum of activity from the rest of the guard that Comet didn’t notice he was being approached until the other stallion sidled up right next to him, making him jump slightly as their sides brushed together. “Long time no see,” Sunrise Storm greeted, and Comet let out a slow breath. He’d been back in Canterlot for three months, but had only returned to work shortly before Hearth’s Warming two weeks ago, and avoiding interacting with most of the other members of the guard since then had been deliberate.

One of Sunrise’s bright orange-pink wings, the thin skin between the fingers pale yellow, stretched out to drape over Comet’s back. His wings matched the colors of his mane and tail, an abrupt gradient from the pink to the yellow, the colors bright enough to stand out starkly in the room full of otherwise dark-colored batponies. Only his deep blue-gray coat fit in with his peers.

At the touch of the other stallion’s wing, Comet closed his eyes, taking a few deliberate breaths before he opened them again and pointedly pulled away, reaching up to shut his locker and turning around to retrieve his key from his saddlebags. “You’re not gonna give me the silent treatment, are you?” Sunrise asked after a pause, sounding faintly annoyed now, turning to step as close to Comet as he could get again.

“Hello, Sunrise,” Comet replied finally, doing his best to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “It’s nothin’ personal, I’m just tired from tonight,” he added after a moment, a blatant lie to avoid making him any more irritated. Flipping his saddlebags open, Comet retrieved his earrings from the inside pocket where he had stashed them, taking a moment to reach up and put them back in place.

Unsurprisingly, Sunrise immediately made him regret bothering to try and appease him. “Well,” he started, dragging the word out in a way that made Comet consider just turning and leaving, “I sure hope you’re not too tired to invite me over to make your morning a little more exciting.” Catching Starry looking back toward them, Comet held her gaze for a brief moment and swiveled his ears outward slightly. Huffing softly, she turned away again and pretended to focus on fidgeting with her things, but her stance made it clear she was ready to step in.

It turned out, Comet mused as he occupied one hoof with rummaging in his bags for his key, that Cherry Blossom was completely right about not having relationships with other guards. Up to and including one night stands, evidently. “Gee,” he replied after a moment, gripping his key in one fetlock and turning back to his locker, “what a shame, it turns out I am actually.” A beat of silence passed between them as he locked up, and when he turned back to put his key away again, Sunrise was lifting one of the magazines Comet had bought earlier in the evening with one hoof, sneering slightly at it.

Without thinking it through in the slightest, Comet smacked his hoof away, startling the other stallion into dropping the magazine back into his bag and curling his hoof in toward his chest, looking offended. A few seconds seemed to drag on for minutes as they made eye contact. Finally, feeling increasingly uncomfortable, Comet quickly tucked his key away again and closed his saddlebags, leaning down to lift them in his teeth and twisting to drop them onto his back. “Keeping up with the tabloids?” Sunrise asked just a little too loudly, disdain obvious in his tone now, and a few other gazes turned on the two of them.

“It’s— It’s for my roommate,” Comet replied, ears tilting back slightly, and even Starry looked skeptical from where she was standing, one hoof resting on the open door of her locker.

Sunrise clearly didn’t believe him either, snorting loudly and dropping his hoof to the floor again. “Yeah, I’m sure your “roommate” will really enjoy it,” he remarked, the snide emphasis on the word making Comet deflate a little. It wasn’t like he really had a defense; Scuttle wasn’t supposed to be in Canterlot at all, so he couldn’t exactly go around telling people about the changeling he’d snuck into the city. “Dunno why I bother,” Sunrise grumbled, turning to trot away, but not without one more comment over his shoulder. “Have fun with whatever other sucker you’ve managed to coerce into bed.”

Comet left without speaking to anyone else, ignoring Starry calling his name on his way out, and he slipped out the same side door he had entered through that evening. Nopony else was in the area just outside, and the early morning chill quickly set in beneath his coat, but it was more refreshing than usual.

Sighing heavily, he stretched his wings outward, lightly flapping them a few times before he shoved himself into the air. The trip home passed fairly quickly, and the sun was just rising when he landed on the sidewalk outside the front door, fishing his key out of his bags to open it and head inside.

Scuttlebug appeared from the kitchen the moment the door closed behind Comet, posture decidedly excited, but he deflated a little when he got a closer look at the batpony’s expression. “Bad day?” he asked, ears flicking briefly backward, and Comet offered him a small smile. Sliding his saddlebags off onto the rack by the door, he flipped them open and leaned down to grip the stack of magazines in his teeth, trotting over to Scuttle.

Excitement returning full force, Scuttle was quick to take it, disappearing into the living room with it without another word.

Smiling and shaking his head a little, Comet’s hooves dragged slightly as he headed toward the kitchen, resigning himself to digging up something for dinner.

As he stepped through the kitchen doorway, he was pleasantly surprised to quickly realize something was off, most noticeably the pile of dishes next to the sink. A single plate was set on the counter, and when Comet trotted across the room to inspect it, a couple things were a little startling. The first being that the omelette sitting on it, covered in pieces of mushroom and tomato, was actually surprisingly neatly made. It hadn’t turned into scrambled eggs, at least, which was what usually happened when Comet attempted. The second was that it was still hot, meaning Scuttle had probably just finished making it when he got home.

Biting back a grin, Comet dug a fork out of the drawer and set it on the plate before gripping it in his teeth to bring to the table. At least his morning would end better than it had started.

Chapter 2

Three years earlier.

Comet Tail was jerked out of a sound sleep by a hoof on his shoulder, bolting into a sitting position, wings twitching away from his sides. It took a couple moments of silence for him to register that nothing was wrong and relax again, blinking up at Star Hooves in front of him and squinting a little as the off-white stallion gave him an amused smile.

“Scared the hell outta me,” Comet grumbled after a brief pause, slipping off the low cot he had been sleeping on to stand on all four hooves beside the other batpony, stretching his legs. The room they stood in was full of other, similar cots, packed tightly into nearly every inch of floor space possible in the small room. About half of them were full at any given time.

Snorting softly, Star Hooves jerked his head toward the doorway, and Comet obediently trotted after his commanding officer as they stepped out into the narrow hall before heading down a staircase to the lower floor.

The building was one of the older ones in Ponyville, backed right up against the edge of the Everfree, and had been some hapless resident’s house before they had run off to live somewhere else. Comet couldn’t really blame them, whoever they were.

The kitchen had been left largely as it was when they moved soldiers in, now used for storing food and medical supplies, while the larger living room had been converted into an armory of sorts.

The latter was where Star led Comet, a number of other batponies already there, suiting themselves up in armor. “What’re we doin’?” Comet asked as he stepped over to pull open one of the lockers set up against the wall, his name scribbled onto a piece of tape slapped to the front of it.

“Recon,” Star replied, orange gaze skimming across the room, and Comet was quick to start suiting up as he spoke. “Dash thinks there’s a harpy camp set up just out near the castle, so Rose Spice is having me pick a team to head out and get a look.”

That wasn’t promising. As much as recon sounded simple and easy, it rarely proved to actually be that way, especially if they were heading a good half mile into the forest itself. Harpies were notoriously observant and few scouting teams made it out without an unpleasant encounter.

Still, it was better than heading out with the intention of direct conflict, at least.

Within minutes, all six of the soldiers that Star had gathered were fully decked out in black leather accented by deep purple, steel plates adding extra protection to vulnerable spots like their chests and haunches. Only their heads remained exposed, and once their helmets were settled into place it was down to their eyes, ears, and chins.

They filed out of the rickety old house close behind their commanding officer, and Comet couldn’t help an anxious twitching of his ears as they stepped into the chilly late fall evening, fog swirling around their hooves. The armor didn’t help against the biting cold that came with the darkness.

Celestia had just lowered the sun beneath the horizon, only faint rays of light still cast over the silhouette of Ponyville behind them and the Everfree ahead, and the surroundings grew increasingly clear for the small group of batponies as it grew darker.

More than just the six of them were out that evening, however. Heavily armored figures could be seen patrolling the streets of Ponyville as Comet glanced over his shoulder, and even more kept up constant routes along the line that had been drawn between them and the forest, a shoddily-made wall serving as meager protection. It kept out more mundane creatures like timberwolves driven into frenzies by the conflict, but it had little purpose against the harpies. A wall didn’t do much when their enemy could fly.

If civilians were out, they were smart enough to keep well within the town, not daring to venture into the outskirts that had been turned into makeshift barracks and medical facilities.

The only part of the town itself that the military had taken over, at least for now, was Princess Twilight’s castle — Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor, the current generals of the air force and army respectively, had claimed it as the command post in lieu of the Princess’s presence. Comet supposed that made sense, since it was giant and hard to miss, and both of them were presumably already familiar with it.

It also made them a fantastic and obvious target, though, which struck him as a bit odd.

Darkness descended quickly as the small team of batponies hopped over the wall, wings near-silent in the still air, and crossed into the Everfree. If it was a normal night of average darkness outside the forest, it was pitch black within it, only the faintest hints of light making it through the tree cover above. Even as November crept toward December, many of the trees kept thick coverings of foliage, the Everfree’s bizarre nature pronounced. Normal ponies would be nearly incapable of navigating in such conditions.

The underbrush rustled softly to either side of them as they started the trek into the trees, following a faintly-visible path that might have once been a road hundreds of years ago, Comet tailing along as the second to last in the line.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the sisters had built their castle within the Everfree’s limits deliberately or if the forest had crept up around it over time. Surely it hadn’t always covered such a large swath of Equestria.

If it was slowly expanding over time, though, that probably meant it would one day encompass the whole country, since nothing anypony did seemed to hold back its slow approach. Comet was relatively certain that it had grown closer to Ponyville since the small town’s founding, even, and that hadn’t been very long ago. He was just glad he wouldn’t be alive to see it, because the Everfree terrified him.

A sharp crack from the darkness off to their left made everyone stop abruptly, and for a minute that seemed to stretch too long, the only sound was the faint rise and fall of breath from each of them. Finally Star gave a slight jerk of his head from the front of the group to keep moving, and they resumed their pace. “By Luna, I fuckin’ hate this place,” one of the ponies ahead of Comet grumbled, and he snorted softly as quiet murmurs of agreement followed from everypony else.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and the group’s even trot slowed to a walk and then a crawl as they approached a break in the trees. Beyond it, the forest opened up into a clearing, in the center of which rested the ruins of the castle of the sisters — and the faint glimmer of firelight that indicated the presence of harpies.

Star Hooves gave the group quick, silent signals, splitting them apart, and Comet slipped away from the others to creep around the edge of the tree line, peering through the underbrush.

The ravine that split the castle off from their side of the forest made getting close without being seen difficult, since they would be forced to either take to the air or endanger themselves by crossing the old wooden bridge, but a good look from a distance was better than nothing.

The harpies appeared to have set up a camp just outside the castle itself, a large fire clearly visible from Comet’s angle, and around it were a number of what looked like makeshift beds piled with grasses and leaves from the trees. A large figure moved between him and the fire, clearly silhouetted against the light, making his wings twitch with the urge to back away.

It was easily a head and a half taller than most ponies, standing on massive taloned feet like those of a griffon, and a pair of large feathered wings were folded against its sides, just visible as it adjusted them. Its head resembled that of a pony, and Comet vaguely knew that somewhere around the chest area fur transitioned to feathers.

Despite their pony-like heads and necks, however, harpies were exclusively carnivores to the best of anyone’s knowledge, feasting on the wild animals of the Everfree and the ponies they killed in equal measure.

After the first of their major conflicts with the creatures and Twilight Sparkle’s incident, soldiers had returned to the battlefield the next day to collect their dead and found many of them half-eaten, a couple of harpies still loitering about to fill their stomachs. Anypony that died in battle was taken away before the area was cleared of survivors since then, if they could be reached.

Suppressing a shudder, Comet shifted to turn back toward where Star Hooves was waiting, skin crawling beneath his fur, when he spotted movement on their side of the ravine. He froze, peering through the darkness illuminated only by the first hint of the moon creeping into the sky, and realized with a jolt that it was a pony crossing the open space.

Even though he couldn’t see the rest of his companions, Comet knew they must all be feeling the same dread he was as the armored batpony mare edged closer and closer to the edge of the ravine.

Her wings stretched out, flapping hard enough for Comet to just barely pick up the sound as she rose into the air over the opening in the earth. Between the noise and the way the flickering firelight glinted just slightly off her chest plate, Comet already knew what was about to happen.

A horrible, high-pitched screech came from the harpy camp, and he could only watch in dismay as one of the monsters rose into the air, curved talons clearly visible. The mare swiftly turned to dart back the way she had come, but there was little chance of her making it into the trees before the harpy got to her, and even if she did it wouldn’t deter the creature long.

Another figure leapt from the trees into the air, whipping past the mare and straight toward the harpy, and there was a loud rustling as she slipped into the forest and out of sight. The harpy’s attention was successfully caught, and firelight shone on an off-white coat as massive talons tore through the leather armor with discomforting ease, Star Hooves’ helmet knocked off and disappearing into the abyss of the ravine below the grappling couple.

Comet didn’t stay to watch as the sound of flesh shredding reached his ears, taking advantage instead of the creature’s distraction to return to the other scouts, his wings spreading to signal to them and leading them back the way the group had come at a dangerously fast pace. General Rose Spice wasn’t going to be pleased.

Two weeks later, morning dawned on a grisly scene.

Conflict had broken out overnight around a hundred feet beyond the edge of the Everfree when a group of harpies prowling near the outside of the forest ran into a batpony scout group.

Comet Tail had been on patrol when it happened, and he and most of the others guarding the edge of the town alongside him had been swift to react to the unmistakable sound of a harpy’s scream, delving into the trees to provide aid. Numbers had been firmly on their side, for once.

Yet they had still lost four batponies, the bodies hauled out and over the wall on the backs of ponies with stronger stomachs than Comet had. Six more of them were injured, and the final three had escaped with only minor scrapes and scratches that didn’t require medical attention.

Comet was not, by any stretch of the imagination, the worst off of the survivors with a massive gash down his side and a heavily-bleeding but largely painless scratch over the bridge of his muzzle. He was well-off enough to sit with a wing curled down over his side to press a towel tightly against his wound and wait patiently, at least, while most of the others were tended to.

The worst injury had been sustained by a pale grey mare named Moonstone, who Comet couldn’t think of having exchanged more than three or four words with since they arrived in Ponyville two months ago.

A harpy’s talons posed immense risk no matter how heavily armored they were, and the deep wounds arcing over her chest attested to that. The monster had ripped straight through both steel plating and thick leather beneath it, and Comet had to wonder how they expected to ever win this war if their only hope of getting out unscathed from battles was to not get touched at all.

Then again, he mused, rumors were swirling through the make-shift military camp of new weapons that would be arriving before spring which would allow them to keep a much greater distance from their enemies during combat. It was, as far as Comet was concerned, their best and maybe only hope. Spears and swords clearly weren’t doing much for them, after all.

Sighing quietly and twitching ears even more tufted than usual thanks to the cold weather, Comet lifted his gaze from where he had been staring blankly at his cot to glance over the room he sat in again. The six of them had been moved into a small one-story house being used as a medical building, sitting on cots scattered across what had probably been a living room before all the furniture was hauled out. It was the largest room in the house, connected by a short hallway to a kitchen full of supplies, a bathroom, and a single bedroom.

He and his companions in battle weren’t the only wounded ones there, either. Three others, two unicorns and an earth pony, rested on their own cots with varying levels of heavy bandaging. One of the unicorns looked to be missing part of one of his hind legs, a massive swath of bandages bulking up the stump remaining, and an IV sat beside his bed that Comet could only assume was full of painkillers.

The other two weren’t as bad off, sleeping peacefully on their own.

A batpony wearing light leather armor with a large red cross on each shoulder had been working at Moonstone for most of the hour and a half since the group of them had come in, and she was starting to look exhausted. Loose strands of pale green mane hung down into her face, heavy bags clear beneath darker green eyes, as she yanked bandages tight around Moonstone’s chest with her teeth.

Moonstone herself had been unconscious since they got there, sedated to make the work easier.

Faint sunlight was peeking through the windows now, making Comet squint and look away, and he saw most of the other bats in the room reacting similarly. While they served as fantastic soldiers at night, none of them had especially high visibility in sunlight. Plus it usually made their eyes hurt.

Heads turned as the front door of the house swung open, closing again with a firm click a moment later, and Comet couldn’t help but be a little surprised when the newcomer proved to be a griffon.

Off-white eyes set on vibrant red sclera swept their gaze over the room as the newcomer paused in the living room doorway, talons clicking quietly on the wooden floor. Their feathers were a slightly muted shade of red, which just-visible white bases in some spots hinted at being artificial, blending into light, earthy brown fur on their back half.

They wore armor much like the batpony medic’s whose name Comet couldn’t remember, much lighter leather than most of them typically had with visible red crosses on each shoulder.

The medic who had been working on Moonstone was quick to disappear as the griffon moved into the room, heading down the hallway presumably to get some sleep. Comet didn’t really blame her.

By the time the griffon made their way around to Comet, the sun was firmly above the horizon outside and his head had drooped down to rest on the bed, eyes squinted most of the way shut. He lifted it a little reluctantly when he spotted the griffon approaching, slightly unsettling gaze sweeping over him and lingering on first his face, then his side. As they stepped up next to the bed, they dropped the saddlebags they had been wearing when they first entered at their feet, having carried them over gripped in their beak.

“You’ll have to strip out of your armor, unless you want it cut away,” the griffon informed him, and Comet sighed heavily as he adjusted to sit up, finally uncurling his wing and letting the towel drop. His wing joints were uncomfortably cramped up and the towel was stained a deep red almost all of the way through, but at least he didn’t appear to be bleeding profusely anymore.

Until, of course, he twisted to start undoing his armor, and the wound immediately opened back up to drip blood down over the leather. Rolling his eyes, he pushed through and ignored the pain as much as possible to strip down, conscious of his apparent new doctor’s gaze on him as he shimmied out of the armor and kicked it onto the floor.

Finally free, Comet settled down onto his stomach again, grimacing a little as he realized the sheets under him were being spotted with red. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be the first or last time that set of sheets would be coated in blood, at least. Good thing for unicorns with cleaning spells.

The griffon was quick to get to work, brown taloned hands reaching to readjust Comet more onto his uninjured side, and he draped his wing back behind himself to keep it out of the way as they doused a washcloth pulled from their bags in alcohol. “Got a name, batpony?” they asked, a split second before the cloth touched Comet’s side, making him inhale sharply through his teeth.

“Comet Tail,” he ground out, ears flattening back against his head, and he huffed quietly at the faint hint of a smirk he spotted on the griffon’s hooked beak, almost hidden by the black tufted feathers curving from their eyes down their face. He wasn’t exactly well-versed in birds and didn’t have the faintest idea what species this griffon was, but there was something rather intimidating—and, if Comet was being honest with himself, hot—about them.

“You got a name, griffon?” he asked after a brief pause to collect himself, doing his best to steadfastly ignore the sharp sting of cool liquid touching his open wound. At this point, he wasn’t entirely sure whether or not acquiring the injury in the first place had been more painful than having it cleaned out was.

Snorting softly, the griffon leaned down to peer more closely at Comet’s side, giving one more quick swipe with the washcloth before pulling their hand away. “Kelly Silvertalon. Doctor, to you,” they replied, looking faintly amused when Comet flicked a glance down toward them. Rolling his eyes, he dropped his head onto the cot, wrinkling his nose slightly and staring across the room.

Despite Kelly’s initial abrasiveness, they were surprisingly quick at getting bandages wrapped firmly around Comet’s midsection without much further discomfort. Aside from the discomfort inherent to having a swath of bandages wrapped all the way around his chest and stomach, anyway.

Talons, he was quickly discovering, were immensely more efficient for careful tasks like that than hooves were. It had taken the batpony medic twice the time to do much the same task.

Once that was done, the griffon stepped around to peer at Comet’s muzzle, getting disconcertingly close to his face, and he had to resist the urge to lean away. Judging by Kelly’s quiet snort when they leaned back, that had probably been their intention.

Another quick, agonizing cleaning and a large bandage were all the treatment his face got, though he couldn’t say he was upset about not having his muzzle mummified.

“Stick around and get some sleep for today, you can go back to your barracks tonight if nothing goes wrong,” Kelly informed him as they stepped away, leaning down to pick up their saddlebags again and collect the bloody towels that had been tossed to the floor. That was perfectly fine with Comet; he couldn’t say he had any inclination to stumble his way back to his actual bed in the daylight.

As Kelly turned to leave and Comet settled down more comfortably, head dropping onto his pillow, he had an abrupt realization and pushed himself a little more upright. “Hey, can you like, pull some curtains over the windows or somethin’? Sunlight’s not good on bat eyes,” Comet asked, ears twitching slightly as Kelly paused to glance over their shoulder. They eyed him for only a moment before giving him a quick nod and continuing on their way.

Settling comfortably down again, Comet sighed heavily and stretched his legs out, gradually relaxing. A couple of minutes later, the room grew significantly darker, and he heard a couple quiet murmurs of relief from the cots near him. He was kind of surprised nopony else had asked, admittedly. Draping one foreleg across his face, he gradually drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Author's Note

i'm still not entirely sold on doing flashbacks like this and largely just playing around with devices, so no promises they'll continue in any great amount later on.

also, thank you to those of you who have read/commented/upvoted so far. i'm writing this more to have fun than to try to achieve best-selling novel status, but it's nice to see other people enjoying it anyway.