``` Report: Lance Corporal [NAME REDACTED] of 14th Solar Battalion Location: Canterlot Castle, Guard Barracks. Local time: 0230 hours Status report: Stressed and can’t sleep. Memories of home plague me. What am I doing here? The demons are coming…

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In my dark room, I sat on the windowsill, the loudest sounds in the room my own breathing and heartbeat, and my only companion my nearly-empty glass of whisky. My dorm was small; a combination bedroom and office, with an open kitchen layout, the change in room only marked by a shift from rough, worn-out carpet to smooth, stained tiles. A single bathroom accommodated the twin-bed dorm, which I shared with my best friend, Dayspear. My roommate was currently out of town, however – off on some deployment to the Crystal Empire. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t care. The last thing I wanted right now was company - the voices in my head were starting to stir.

Sighing heavily, I rubbed my tired eyes as I stared out of my window at the dark city skyline of Canterlot. The city had lights in the streets, most of them powered by magic (although a few older, gas-powered ones still remained in the outer city), however, as per Princess Luna’s orders, all street lamps were to be turned off at midnight, in order to preserve the beauty of the night sky she worked so hard on.

The stars shone brighter than I’d ever seen them on Earth, like a million candles in the sky, accented by spectacular galaxy dust that lit up the sky in a dazzling array of blues, purples, reds and silvers. Then, of course, there was the centrepiece; her beloved moon, shining brightly in its full form.

This world may have had literal magic, flying gryphons with razor-sharp talons, and god-damn fire-breathing dragons, but at least werewolves were one thing I didn’t have to worry about in this world... Right?

There was no question her work was breath-taking. Growing up in the heavily air-and-light-polluted city, I had never seen anything like it outside of pictures on the internet, and without question, the real thing left those images in the stardust. But despite its beauty, almost no one was around to see it. Most ponies were almost completely diurnal aside from the bare essentials like royal guards and hospital workers. It seemed ponies had no concept of a ‘city that never slept’.

So here I was; almost no one awake in the entire city aside from me and the Lunar Guard. I could see how it could be debilitating to work so hard, at your very purpose in life no less, and then get completely ignored for all your labours. I empathised with the crippling loneliness and desperation to be loved that led to Princess Luna’s downfall all those years ago.
A similar question of purpose and belonging plagued me now.

Sighing again I made my way to my desk. Pulling out a flip-lid lighter, (one of the few things in my possession when I came here that wasn’t now completely useless), I lit a candle and sat down, taking two pieces of parchment out of the drawer as I did so. The first was a filled-out application to the Lunar Guard. The Princess’s words flickered through my head.

“Since you seem to have no trouble staying awake at night, there is a place for you among my Lunar Guard, if you wanted it.”

The same questions flickered through my head like the candlelight on the aged parchment. What would this achieve? Did I want this? Would I be happier, or just be dealing with the same shit on a different day? Or ‘night’ I suppose. I did seem to fit in better with the ‘bats’ rather than the ’birds’, but I also had those I considered – dare I even say it – ‘friends’ in the Solar Guard. Or at least something close to it. These were questions I didn’t want to ponder now.

Setting the application aside, the real focus of my attention came into view; the last letter from the mysterious ‘genius researcher’ identified only as the initials ‘T.S’. Yet again I read through it as if I hadn’t already done so a million times before. In impeccable calligraphy, the letter read;

Dear ‘Human’,

When are you going to tell me your real name? For Celestia’s sake, you were willing to give me a blood sample but not your name? Even with my months of study, I struggle to understand you.

Firstly, I hope this letter finds you well.

I’m afraid I have bad news. Our latest experiment into trans-dimensional phase-shifting has failed. You recall, we made some progress into the Time Spell Adaption Project, but the time-travel effect remains unstable and thus, temporary. We have it up to around 24 hours now, but it still isn’t permanent.

In any case, this looks to be a dead end too, as the fundamentals of the spell itself break down when combined with altered matter, or matter transportation.

Did you read those books I sent you? If you did, you may recall a concept called the Hay-Zing Singularity Principle. The theory states that matter, living or inert, may be transported in space or time, but not both at once. I have tried to find a way around this but it seems Hay-Zing Burger was onto something when he coined his theory.

In short, we are running out of leads, and fast. I’m not defeated yet; I still have one or two (frankly, insane) theories to test, but it’s not looking good. Your chances of ever returning are growing increasingly thin.

If you want my advice, I would start to make yourself comfortable. I’m sure ponies will be very accommodating to your needs if you ask and if the species barrier gives you concern, I assure you it is unfounded. Most ponies in Equestria are quite used to dealing with all manner of creature. I believe this may be why Celestia insisted you be stationed in Canterlot, due to its diversity. You should settle in as best you can.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely

-T.S.

At once, images of home began to flash through my mind. The Earth. The people. All of our accomplishments. My old girlfriend. My dear mother. I would never see any of it, any of them, ever again! I felt a pulling in the back of my head.

This was how it started. When the demons came for me, came to feed on me, it would always start with an odd, unpleasant, almost itching in the back of my skull. In my mind‘s eye, I saw it. A cloaked figure. A moving embodiment of pure shadow and misery. It latched itself to me like a leach, burrowing its insect-like mouthparts deep into my brainstem. I felt the happiness drain from me. All semblance of hope and resilience faded from my soul, like I was being drained dry. Occasionally, I would give into the physical urge to turn around, but of course, there was never anyone there; just the emptiness of my dark room.

A growing, hot rage was burning in my stomach. Not pure anger. Not malice. Something hotter. Something more visceral. Feeling a lump in my throat, I slammed the letter down on the desk, before slumping down in defeat. My shaking hands covered my face as I choked. The lump in my throat grew painful as I tried to hold back my tears. A frustrated sob escaped me, muffled by my hands cradling my face like a newborn.

The only one of my kind on the planet, maybe in this universe. Aside from a curious museum piece, what exactly was I for? What. Was. The. Fucking. Point. Of. Me? It was pitiful, but these were the questions the voices in my head asked as they tortured me with images of home, and, even more painfully, how I got here…

Once again. Water. So much water. The force of it. Pulling me down.

I shivered as I mentally slapped myself back to reality. My eyes wandered over to the safe at the foot of my bed.

I wanted to fight it on my own. I wanted to tell myself to ‘man the fuck up’, but this was the third night in a row without sleep and the last thing I wanted was to fall asleep on shift. Aside from being a serious offence in itself, my current acting C.O, Obsidian Broadsword, was an unpleasant, racist old stallion, who would look for any excuse to single me out.

But inside that cabinet, lay the potential answer. My stubborn nature told me I didn’t need it; that I was weak and giving in to the pain if I took it, but still, it called to me. Should I do without it?

No. Better to show weakness now, then later in front of Broadsword and give him the ammunition he needed.
I got up and made my way swiftly to the safe. Top centre of the door, was the well-known logo for the security company, IronSentry; a pegasus guard with outstretched metallic wings and an upright spear in front. Embossed below, were the words, Secure Anti Fire Enchantment Vault HS2000. With a shaking hand, I pressed my palm against the cold metal and spoke the words.

“Caput Draconis.”

With a flourish of magic, the safe burst into life. The large wheel on the front spun rapidly several times, and the sound of many different locking mechanisms disengaging could be heard from inside. Finally, the door opened.

Inside were several items:

• My old mobile phone, as useless as it was, I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out.
• A pair of expensive in-ear earphones; equally useless.
• The small amount of money I’d been carrying upon my arrival here.
• A small, nondescript jewellery box.
• A loose, gold signet ring I’d been given by my father on my 16th birthday.
• Some cash in Equestrian Bits I’d been saving up.
• A list of meat-containing recipes I wanted to keep secret.
• And finally, what I was looking for; a glass jar containing a fluffy, purple, blueish substance with small silver sparkles across its cotton-like surface. When baked into food or smoked, it had an effect somewhat similar to cannabis.

Growing up, I’d never much cared for its earth-equivalent, in fact, I despised it when my mother smoked normal cigarettes around me, but when Dayspear had offered me a joint of his own after I confessed my trouble sleeping (although I hadn’t told him anything of the voices or dreams), my logic at the time had been;

“Well, if it’s legal here… Plus you are quite happy to take painkillers, caffeine, and booze when it suits you, so the whole ‘I don’t do drugs’ thing doesn’t hold much weight.”

Taking out a moderate amount of the flour, I quickly rolled myself a blunt. In one swift motion, I flipped open my lighter again and rolled the striker against my leg, lighting it before bringing it to the joint in my mouth. I inhaled deeply. At once, I felt a mild sensation of relief wash over me. My tired muscles finally began to relax and even the voices of the demons gnawing at the back of my skull didn’t seem quite so loud. I refilled my whisky and sat back down on the windowsill; tonight, I was determined to get some sleep.

Author's Note

Wow! I wasn't expecting the engagement the first chapter got; Thank You! :D
Here is the second chapter, and while the first was a look at his social life, this one takes a closer look at the man inside, and the pain he tries so hard not to show. This is all going to be expanded on so don’t worry if you thought it was a bit vague.
If you get the little science reference you win a cookie by the way, and bonus points for figuring out why I used the password I did on the SAFE, aside from it being a cute Harry Potter reference.
MASSIVE Thanks btw to Horse Girls Are Watching! After a lengthy discussion with him, this story has undergone large planning changes and many of the issues with it I really, really wasn’t happy with have since been resolved. Seriously, dude, you are a fuckin’ LEGEND! /)
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