Shining hadn't thought it was possible for anything to be worse than the boredom of Pan'tho Minx.

They had been loaded on a frigate and shipped north nearly a hundred miles before their cruise had been interrupted by startling news; Their intended port had been destroyed in some sort of explosion perpetrated by local rebels. At least, a significant portion of it.

The bit of unfortunate news, combined with their ship being required to join the escort of the TMS Warmistress, had meant they were disembarking at the closest available location; A panther fishing village a day north of the port with a population of a few dozen and a name too complicated to pronounce. It had been interesting for the first few minutes, examining the tall houses made on stilts. The locals had said something about 'monsoon' season but Shining had never heard the word before, and none of them spoke any decent Equestrian. After that brief bit of exploration, it had been more waiting as the Century hauled themselves and their supplies to the village on local fishing boats, as the frigate's keel didn't allow it to approach the narrow waters around the village's docks.

Funnily enough, renting a boat for a few hours had been a single bit.

Once they and their gear were ashore, the frigate had signalled news it received from the TMS Moonlit Heart - the battleship the cohort had crossed the Sunrise Sea in. According to their signal unicorns in their LRMEC Station - Long-Range Magical Encoding and Communication, or Lermec. It and its escorts, which contained the cohort they were to rendezvous with, had laid anchor two days north to support the 8th and 10th Legions with artillery. An exchange of communications from their own Signal Unicorn, Rapid Copy, and his SRMEC kit, Short-Range Magical Encoding and Communication, and sent up the chain by the frigate changed their immediate plans. They were to march north and secure the beach along with the pegasi available from the ships, where they would receive the cohort and proceed to 10th Legion's forward command on Hill 861 to join in their struggling attempts to drive the tigers out of defensible positions.

The march north had not been easy, and it had been a nerve-rattling experience for Shining for the first few hours. Then? It had become a new sort of hell. Their all-terrain wagons were proving not-so. The earth ponies took changing shifts to pull the wagons and their specially enchanted metal frames, rubber wheels, and incredible weight out of mud pits and up impossibly slick hills. Shining himself had participated in hauling the ration wagon up a particularly steep and muddy incline, and how the bottom half of him looked to be made of dirt - and you could hardly recognize his white coat anymore. The rain didn't make it any cleaner, either. It was constant, it was hot, it was almost sticky after falling through the jungle leaves above them, and worst of all it made the paths even harder to traverse. The rubber wheels of their 'all-terrain' wagons couldn't get any grip on the mud paths, their weight ensured they got stuck every hour or more, and their specially enchanted metal frames did nothing to keep the damp out of their supplies after only a few hours.

The adamantine battle-armour of the Royal Guards had proved its worth at the least, except in a few crucial respects. Even mud-covered every single one of their polished sets of armour would have shone if they didn't shift in colour to match their surroundings, making each Guard look like a walking pile of muck. Neither falling branches nor bad falls led to twisted legs or other injuries, and the heat was not so terrible - at first. The mud and rain that got within their armour was impossible to get out. The enchantments and carefully designed plates that would keep most debris out constantly allowed the sticking ooze on the path to seep in, but it could not escape, leaving their hooves and barrels soaked with mud and water. In addition, the attempts of the armour to compensate for the heat outside meant that while your face was cool under your helmet, your barrel and hooves were constantly submerged in fresh waves of sticky, freezing mud. This led to the enchantments of the armour beginning to heat up, leaving your chest and head hotter and hotter until each of them were forced to remove their helmets for long stretches of time - leaving their heads open to the unrelenting heat of the jungle, constantly rainfall, and whatever mud was kicked up in front of you.

Not even rest had brought any respite. They had found a likely place, slightly raised and near the path, and hauled the wagons up. The camp had been easy enough to set up, then the sun had begun to lower, and then the bugs came out. Shining had never seen mosquitoes before then, and if he never did again it would be a blessing from Celestia and Luna themselves.

The unicorns who were capable of casting solid enough shields for long periods had become very popular, and Shining most of all. He had set up a shield around the entire camp, much to the surprise of the others. Even now as he sat huddled under his tent, knowing that he would have to lower it and let the thousand-cursed bugs back inside when he went to sleep, he could see the looks the other guards were giving him. None were unfriendly or suspicious, but he knew rumours were circulating about him. He couldn't guess their exact contents, but he knew well enough that it was a one-in-a-million unicorn who could cast shields as good as his own, and even rarer to be able to maintain them for the times he could.

The Captain had been the only one he feared would disapprove, his superior had been clear that he was not to overburden himself with their use. It seemed, though, that the days travel combined with the bugs had led the pegasus to keep silent on the matter for now.

Shining shivered, huddling closer to himself - only the barest sound of metal scraping and squelching from the mud inside his armour escaping the sound dampening enchantments. He would do anything for the chance to take a few hours to clean it out, but the Captain's orders had been clear - they are only a few dozen miles from an active combat zone, and they could not afford to relax, even if this section was meant to be fully secure. That meant no stripping to clean, as much as every single one of them wanted to. At least the designers had been kind enough to ensure you could answer calls of nature with a few easily removed pieces, also a good way to try to drain out some of the mud, it turned out.

Shining never even heard Shroud as she slipped onto the ground next to him, his small tent only just capable of fitting both of them side-by-side - both sides were openable, but it did nothing to keep the bugs out. He eyed the exhausted thestral, he knew the trip had been rough on them most-of-all. The nature of their march and the local terrain meant they had to camp at night, when the thestrals were most active - filled with energy from the moon, and cursed with enough energy to power through the night without sleep. The ensuing march during daytime meant they had to operate on little or no sleep. The Captain had said they would acquire new wagons as soon as they were capable and use them for the thestrals to rest in the daytime, but who knew when that would be.

The silence stretched between them, filled with the sound of rain, wind, creaking trees, and the calls of odd animals in the jungle. At least it smelled nice when a breeze rolled through his carefully designed shield, because neither of them did. Shining could smell himself, sweat and dirt. Or was that Shroud?

She shivered next to him and inched closer, the plates of their armour touching. She had kept fairly close to him throughout the march north, although that was true of many of the mares in the First Century. He had noted it with some amusement, the way that the mares on the edges of the column always ended up in shielding positions around stallions. Although they were quick to let them him haul wagons out of the mud with the earth ponies...

Shroud spoke, voice still that low lisp-like hiss, her eyes flicking to the pack he had taken out of the supply wagon, "I don't think I've ever seen a unicorn pull off a shield like this for so long, Shining."

Shining shrugged an aching shoulder, knowing she could feel the shifting muscle against her wing. "It's not too complicated. Just a mark for it, I guess. If I didn't have to sleep I'd keep it up all night." Even as he said the words, he felt the weariness in every muscle. He was no earth pony, even if he tried to keep as fit as he could.

The thestral let out a low, quiet chuckle. "A mark, yes... I would have liked to have your talent in Zebrica." Her voice grew even quieter, "A shield like this would have saved us trouble."

Shining didn't know what to say to that, so he just let the silence stretch on - nudging her again with a shoulder to let her know he didn't mind her saying so. After awhile, she sighed, then perked up slightly, "I don't suppose any of your mother's cakes survived?"

"Three," he said quickly, "But they're a bit soggy. I'm trying to save them." In reality, Shining had six of the twelve left. He had no intention of letting her know that, though.

"And they're really from your mom?"

The tone of the question surprised Shining. The mare normally did nothing but flirt with him, and Shining had expected another bout of the same. He wished she had, with the sudden seriousness in the tone - almost like she was accusing him of lying.

He looked over to Shroud, finding her matching his gaze - staring deep into his eyes from inches away. "Yeah, of course. Why?"

"And she really is your mom? You're not adopted?" Her voice grew slightly more insistent but softened notably, that didn't stop the sudden sting of indignation from rising up in him.

When he replied, his voice was shorter than he intended, and he inched slightly away from her, "No, I'm not adopted - and she is my mom. Why?"

Shroud was silent for a small time before asking, not acknowledging his question, "And your sister? She isn't adopted?"

"No," he said, patience running thin. "Is this some kind of joke? It isn't funny."

The thestral seemed to grow annoyed for a brief moment, disbelief in her eyes. Then, she sagged and sighed, the annoyance leaving her in an instant, "I - no, I'm sorry. If you don't know then you don't know. It's not fair for me to speculate about it with you. I'm sorry."

"Know about what?" Shining inched back closer to her, curiosity overriding his previous annoyance.

Once more, Shroud hesitated. When she spoke again, it was not in response to his question, "The thestrals in the palace noticed how you and your sister stay up much of the night, and only sleep three or four hours. Is that real? Or is it some kind of trick. Does one of your parents do things like that?"

Shining stared at her, memories conjured of his father staying up countless hours - barely seeming to sleep. Memories of long nights spent before Night Light, the head of the Royal Astronomical Society, as he educated his two equally restless foals on the stars. Long hours playing Ogres and Oubliettes, barely following any of the rules at all, with his dad as the GM. He swallowed, sensing the seriousness of the question - despite the odd absurdity of it. He knew most ponies slept a full eight hours, but surely it wasn't that strange?

He answered after a moment, the discomfort in his armor forgotten, "I - Yes. My father, Night Light. He stays up most nights and sleeps through part of the afternoon."

Shroud stirred, wings shuffling, "Your father is Night Light? Head Astronomer?" There was a reverence in her voice, and shock. Her face inched closer to his, and he could see something he had never before witnessed directed at him; Worship. Shroud... Viewed him with some sort of reverence. Why? Shining wasn't aware of a reason his father had to be particularly liked by thestrals. The opposite, actually, as his position was typically held by a thestral. His rise in the Astronomical Society was considered something of an oddity, but not altogether unusual.

"Did... Did you not know?" Shining asked, watching the moonlight play across the thestral's features. One half of her face was completely hidden from him, but the other was more than expressive enough for him to see her unchanging expression of reverence, now fully directed at him. Her eyes scanned over his features, recognition and awe playing over her face - as if she were truly noticing something for the first time.

"A white coat?" She muttered, part-way through her observations, "It's never white. Maybe it's representative of moonlight? Mane and eyes are correct..."

Shining was beginning to grow uncomfortable by the look in her eyes, the intense scrutiny that was steadily giving way to... To something akin to the look ponies gave the Princess. What was going on? "What does my coat have to do with anything? I've answered your questions. Explain, Shroud."

Shroud suddenly rose to her hooves, "I'm sorry. I - I can't tell you. It is against tradition. The Dreamweaver will visit you in dreams, Shining Armor. That is all I can say. I -" She cut herself off, staring at him with renewed intensity. Desire returned to her eyes, burning and bright, the smouldering look she gave him was more than enough to instantly warm him up, the slightest hint of mischievousness there. "I bet you can't maintain this shield tomorrow, when we're on the march, for an hour. If you can't, you have to give me all of your cakes - the hidden ones, too."

Shining was caught off guard by the sudden change of subject, and this talk of the 'Dreamweaver'. He vaguely remembered Twilight going on about dreams and Princess Luna. Why would a dead Princess visit his dreams? Still, he managed to sputter out a reply - feeling insulted at the implication he couldn't hold the shield for an hour, "And if I win that bet?"

Shroud leaned in suddenly and kissed him on the lips. There was fire in the motions of her lips against him, energy and intensity in the darting of her tongue against his closed, shocked lips. He did not get the chance to reply or return the gesture, before she pulled back - her eyes practically glowing in the moonlight, "If you can maintain the shield, I'll show you a good time when we get to Hill 861. Deal?"

He struggled to formulate any sort of reply, the changing mood and her actions still leaving him off balance. The invitation excited him, though through all of her cryptic questions, worse answers, he felt himself stir against the sleeping roll beneath him. At least one of his heads is on straight, he supposed. "I, yeah - yeah. But what -"

Shroud turned and trotted away, hopping into the air and flapping her wings once. The air rippled around her wings as she bent her magic and propelled herself forward, vanishing from sight a moment later - although she was undoubtedly still perfectly capable of seeing him.

Shining stared after where she had vanished, the burning intensity of her lips still lingering on his own and in his mind. He swallowed, too many thoughts sitting across his mind to focus on anything but that kiss and what she had spoken of.

Around the camp, the purple barrier that guarded the Royal Guard against the bugs failed. Several curses filled the night as the swarms poured back into the camp.

Author's Note

Another short one. I feel bad for this one being delayed, but issues with computer parts put off my attempts to write throughout the day. Decided three days was long enough for a wait. I work tomorrow, so decided to release this one as its own chapter and write the other when I get back from work, should be out in like 24 hours if I experience no more delays.

The next one will finally release some of y'alls built-up tension, I promise. And it will be longer, a return to last weeks form.

Next Chapter will involve a small dose of:
R U M I N A T I N'

P.S. My one year anniversary for this story was a few days ago. Yay for that, I suppose - and another apology for the huge waits between some of the previous chapters.