Shadows of the Night

You know, it’s a funny world we live in. Two years ago I knew that there was only one universe in existence. Eleven months ago I knew that Luna was singularly responsible for her nasty turn a millennia ago. Four months ago I knew that it was impossible for a stranger to initiate the beginnings of a friendship with me, and yesterday I began to realize that I really am no longer human.

Oh I can feel human emotions, act humanely and all that jazz, but as I make my way to the Police Headquarters in the dying light of the evening sun, I feel pain. The sun takes away my ability to constantly heal, and that means that the ordinary experience of existing in a frail state means that every compression and expansion of my muscular system and the constant pounding of my feet that send spikes of energy through them comes as a constant dull aching reminder of what I had once never had a concept of. It had never occurred to me just of much of the human experience revolves around pain. It has its uses. It keeps us out of danger, but things become dichotomous as the light shifts you into a slim mirror of what once was while the dark, instead, heals it all away. Makes you think.

Speaking of which I had no idea how I was going to meet up with Dyna Mite this evening, I’d been too preoccupied by being shocked and not thinking by my own impressive display of idiocy against a more trained opponent. I have a job, but I’m also a man of my word. I really had no idea what I was going to do. And as I rounded the last corner the great grey and blue building came into view. Like much of the city it had a more than a few bits of machinery seemingly welded into or built into it, but like many of the others it seemed to have done so with a purpose, though that may just be my own poetic musings. What does matter is the fact that as the last rays of the sun sunk of the city’s skyline, turning the metallic sidings, wheels, and gears into a silent light show of liquid bronze, and then promptly exploded.

The shock wave reverberated down the street as I and the surrounding ponies were flung to the ground as a few of the pegasi who were flying too close were thrust higher into the air as the shrapnel began to come up to them and rain down upon those on the ground.

I sat up, my head reeling. I felt something running down my neck. Instinctively I went to touch it. My hand came back with a thin trail of red around it, though as my vision swam it began to multiply. I began to panic as muffled screams waged battle against the ringing in my ears. I began to crawl my way to a covered archway, the darkness would clear my head and I could start to heal, and think again properly, but I’m stopped as I teeter to the beckoning of the darkness as my right leg is pulled, causing me to tip over.

As I look over I see a small emerald green mare. I can’t make out the color of her mane as it’s too thoroughly caked with dust, but her icy blue eyes gaze into my own pupil less yellow orbs, I can’t make her out but I can read the words “help me” across her lips. Too numb to think I slowly crawl around, and as I begin to tug on her front hooves I notice the large pile of stones that had covered her. She slowly begins to slide out and soon she’s free, but I notice a large gash is leaking blood across her back as she tries to get her own bearings and I continue my journey to the deepening gloom of the archway.

Once I’m curled up into the enclave the darkness washes over my wounds and the world becomes soft again in a matter of seconds. And as my hearing cleared the sounds of frantically working ponies working to clear the scene hit my ears. I walk out back to the street and see a handful of pegasi lifting unicorns up upon the nearest undamaged roofs, they light up their horns and begin to fill the street with a rainbow of lights just as the sun completely sets over the horizon. The ability to quickly help the situation blows me away, teams of ponies are swiftly looking through and moving rubble together, though a few of the unicorns are using magic to scan for any more danger and pegasi are working to move the smoke and dust away from everyone. There’s nothing I can do, not that I’d try as I’ve got zero experience with dealing with catastrophes, nor would I be able to administer first aid as medic ponies were swiftly arriving and giving their patients healing spells, band-aids, and a few potions, which were handed out by one of the zebras they had on staff.

My attention is then slowly drawn back to the police station, or at least it’s remains.

‘How interesting that the protectors of the weak are such in turn. What will you do?’

I pause, as Caligo’s words settle into my mind. Shouldn’t I do something? I climb up the chipped and blackened stairs. The orange lights of the fires that peppered the splintered wood works fighting away the lime glow from the unicorn upon the adjacent roof left the scene in a muddy appearance. But a team of pegasi finally gets over the roofless building and rain down upon the litter of fires, leaving only the harsh glow of a single light from behind. My shadow is cast over a large section of the rubble, and I can finally make out the twisted forms of what’s left of those who weren’t vaporized in the initial blast.

How many had just died I wondered as I stepped into the building, no one giving me much attention in the buzz of surrounding activity, then stopped as I heard a small clink below my foot. Looking down as I moved my foot I saw a small melted piece of metal, it took me awhile to figure out that it was a badge, but the deciding factor was the mangled letters that could legibly spell Of--cer Rag—me. It didn’t quite dawn on me what the small mound of hardened black ash by where I’d left the still steaming badge, but I did know that I was getting, quite decidedly, enraged. Innocents had been murdered, worse, ponies who tried to uphold the law so that others might live their lives so others could live in greater safety had been murdered.

‘You need not worry over much of your own abilities. You are still quite weak. What can you do?’

That was thought provoking question of the century right there. What would I do? Really, I wasn’t sure, but I did know that whoever was behind this had just proven that they wanted to find out what it would be like to live the rest of their life without skin.

The lights behind me began to dim as my anger began to swell. The downpour had ended, and I was just barely aware that I had been standing in it for the entire time. My palms began to hurt as my fingers tried to push through them, and I could begin to feel my chest begin to heat up, much like the rest of my body. I had to find out who had done this, and I needed to find out now. There had to be a spell or a clue that someone with more experience could find or know of. I had to keep it together just long enough to find out who had done it.

I slowly began to turn around, putting effort into the thoughts of moving one foot then followed by the other to help keep my focus rather than risk the chance that I might do something unspeakable to the wrong person when Caligo began to tug at my mind, ‘Look behind you, there’s something there’.

I followed the mental line of sight, though I could feel the darkness parting from the new light source that was burning across one of the still standing sections of wall behind me. It started off as a random bunch of sparks, but they continued to grow in number, burning, until it formed the words:

Tartarusfire Club, 616 Luminous Ln.

I stood there, mouth agape at the display, which quickly turned to smoke and was lost with the steam of the quickly cooling rubble, but it was soon replaced with anger, and a small laugh which quickly grew in volume. My eyesight began to blur as my arms wrapped around my sides and my back arched, turning the world upside down. The ponies not directly still helping the injured and making sure there was no more to be found gave me a queer look. It made me twinge until Caligo again spoke.

‘It does not matter what others think Rumor, you know where these braggarts are now. Why not show them your justice? Did they not end the lives of these things?’

They had.

‘Then why let evil live. Why let others be your contender?’

Indeed. Why let evil stand?

‘I remember the city map. The Tartarusfire Club is across town.’

‘Very well then,’ I silently replied back as I reverently walked out of the raised crater of death, and into the nearest shadows, only to reappear further into the deepening night as Caligo guided me across the blurred cityscape to a rather simple three story, red brick, building with an eye grabbing red sign which glowed red with the words ‘Tartarusfire Club’.

Leaving the carved doors be I continued along my path of darkness into the lightless confines of a poshly designed smoking lounge, with many round speaking booths for individual privacy. But this was a nightclub so why weren’t there any-

‘Those in power tend to the upper levels. Look, across the walkway are the stairs. They’ll be there.’

I nod, and climb the dark stairs step by ponderous step. Fully clocked in darkness, only I could see the dark claws the tried to wrench the air. I again bemoaned the fact I could no longer solidify darkness, but there are more than one way to skin a cat, and the best part is, the cat will not like any of them.

I let Calgio continue to guide me, my own boiling emotions unable to contend with little else save the phantasmal rending of the dark itself as my thoughts continued to twist inward. My hands had begun to tingle as the feeling of tearing the things that had caused those officers to die. They had just lost all claims to ponyhood.

Passing the void second floor at Caligo’s behest, I was drawn to the third floor, its finely crafted carpet seeming luminous even in the pitch of the lightless room, but what caught my attention were the whispers of noise that came directly to the right hallway. My heart began to race, and my head had begun to throb, as thoughts became harder to maintain, but if they were so intent on their conversation, then I could just as easily slaughter the lot of them.

The room itself was a great white void, a great tall ceiling and held nothing save a simple table which pulled up seamlessly from the floor, and around the table stood three ponies, unicorns, each one talking… in a dark room… sipping something from wine glasses.

I’d just made it, soundlessly to just about the halfway point to them when a soft green glow emanated from the table, turning the fur on the three unicorns into a murky black, as a section of the wall hissed down in front of the door as one of the unicorn’s gave off a blue light, which zapped into the floor.

The entirety of the room, walls, floor, ceiling, and table all then flashed into a pleasant white glow, obliterating all traces of darkness, even from under my own feet, as the purely blue unicorn stallion turned away from a purely red and yellow pair of mares, gave a warm smile, then softly said in a deep mellifluous voice, “Wonderful, I was beginning to think you hadn’t accepted my invitation.”

I brought my hands down from my eyes, the sudden influx of light, from everywhere, had been enough of a shock for my emotions to take pause as well as smother the cloud of darkness that had been trailing behind me. As thoughts began to trickle through my head but before I could form a single word the blue stallion turned back to his companions, but beckoned me to join with a hoof wave, saying, “Well come on now, we don’t have all night,” then lifted his wineglass with the other hoof and took a sip, “ah, we have much to discuss after all.”

My hands clenched at my sides, and despite my anger all my shadows could amount to were little more than what looked like distorted heat waves. Had I not been in such a state, completely thrown off from the blue one’s words, I would probably have been reduced to profanity, and was just planning how I could possibly get the drop on them once I was over there, like a knife to the jugular, my long arm sweeping across the table until Caligo interrupted me.

‘They have the upper hand Rumor. It behooves you to do as they say… for now.’

He’d always been right in the past, so I saw no point in questioning him now. They could always end up letting their pride blind them, so many ways to teach myself to bend…

“Ah ah ah, we’ll not have an armed guest at our table,” the blue stallion said in a disapproving tone, “you’ll drop all of your personal weapons. We didn’t destroy an entire building just so you could fail in an attempt to slit our throats,” he chuckled.

My jaw clenched, though I would have sworn they could hear the tendons vibrating, I emptied my pockets depositing a single six inch knife, my own, and a police baton that I’d been issued. The only technical weapons I had on me, considering the brace I had was for defensive purposes, as well as a couple of hoof-cuffs should anypony be a little too rowdy on the way to the sta… I stopped the thought before it could finish, though not before my vision blurred for a moment. I was just about to take another step to the table when the red mare piped in, “Oh, and let’s get rid of that nasty little brace you’ve got under there.”

“How do you know about that?” I said as I felt the blood drain away from my face.

“Well, firstly from personal experience.”

“And?” I asked, but she only gave a sickeningly sweet smile and remained silent. I removed the brace, and kicked it to the knife and baton, “I’ll be getting those back yes?”

“Most likely, yes” replied the Blue stallion, “now please sit,” he said gesturing to an open spot on the floor by the table. Now that I was closer I could just make out a raised platform, the lack of any shadow and uniform lighting had really done a number on my depth perception, and I took the seat.

“What. Do. You. Want?” I managed to say through clenched teeth, my arms crossed and gouging into the softer parts of the joints.

“Ah, right to the point, very well, oh, my name is Trance,” the blue stallion said with a warm smile as he extended his hoof. I kept my arms folded over my chest, frozen except for my left eye which had begun to twitch at the show of cordiality. He sighed, rolling his eyes, as he put it back, “you know courtesy’s a cheap commodity with rather large benefits, you should try investing in it sometime. But back to the matter at hand, you’ve recently caught our organization’s attention, and on top of that you’ve lasted two encounters with our little Cat twice over,” he said, making the red pony give a small growl. Turning to the red mare, a bored look in his eyes he said, “You know, I hadn’t said anything about you being in costume, you’re the one who growled.” The red mare, Cat apparently, remained silent, but she swiped her hoof across her wine glass in a flash of red, and two seconds later it slid down a diagonal slope into three pieces as the red liquid spilt across the table and the lip of the table to the floor. “Quite, now Rumor, and yes we know your name, as well as where you were just recently employed, you have been selected to be a new employee of the Tartarusfire Club.”

“And why would I do that,” I said, preventing myself from biting through my cheek as he took a small breath.

The blue stallion kept his grin, but his eyes had taken on a slight glow, “Well that’s a rather loaded question, but since I don’t have an entire day to spend giving the full version, and I’m sure you would prefer the concise version, much like myself, I tell you this. What if I told you that I told you that had I not personally facilitated the swift demise of dozens of innocent cops that they would have met a much more gruesome fate, and a prolonged one at that?”

“I’d call you a liar,” I quickly stated, my eyes twitching to full view and slits as my anger wared against my will to catch the slightest mistake to use.

“Very well, but it doesn’t change the fact that there are a great number of things that go bump in the night. It is the job of this organization to bump back, no matter the cost.”

“So what does this have to do with me?” I asked as I continued staring into his slightly luminescent blue eyes.

“As I said, no matter the cost. You will work for this organization, and you will help up keep Equestria and the rest of Equis from being obliterated.”

“What makes you think I’ll help you?”

At comment the blue stallion gave a truly impressive smile, his eyes growing noticeably brighter, “Well, one, you know the lengths we’ll go to getting what we want. Two, your psychological profile clearly states you hold more than just a little bit of a knight complex within the twisted confines of your mind, but most importantly is three, because once you finally snap and we have to put you down, your little friend Sprocket will find out how it feels to have her organs liquefy. Amazing the things you can do with a bit of magic and science, eh off worlder?”

My hands fell to my lap as the blue stallion numbered off his list. Where had they gotten all that-

“Ah, the little present should be arriving at her domicile in just thirty minutes,” the blue stallion said as he looked at a silver pocket watch he had just brought out from behind him.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment, as I looked up at the blue stallion. Everything about his posture bespoke absolute calm. I hated it.

Leaping up I threw my arms across the table and grabbed at the worthless blue scum, as I tried to crush his disgustingly malleable throat. His angry eyes flashed surprise as he started to choke. It didn’t last nearly as long as it should have, as the yellow mare lit up her horn and blasted me with a beam that sent waves of… fear through my entire being, and my hands slid from the blue stallion. The red one, Cat, then projected an enlarged hoof into my chest, the blow sent the air from my lungs as I flew backwards and threw my hood back, revealing the frightened tears that streamed down my cheeks.

Gasping for air the blue unicorn wheezed a few breathes out before he croaked out, “Your worth remains the same alive or dead, and your little temper needs to be punished. Cat… have a ball.”

The red unicorn mare needed no extra encouragement as she leapt over the table in a single fluid motion. Setting her horn ablaze the red energy again twined down her forehooves, but rather than stop there the energy began to flow over the rest of her body, and then slowly expand until she stood six feet in the air as the energy began to solidify. In its place stood what looked like a great ruby golem pony with Cat in the center. “You’ve been a thorn in my side for too long,” came the deep and distorted voice from the hard-light construct as it mimicked the facial motions of its controller, and was then silent.

Taking three great steps, the floor shaking all the while, she came for me. The effects of the yellow mares fright energy were still running through me, leaving me paralyzed, and in its wake was the single certainty that I was most surely about to die.

‘Let me save you master. Give yourself to me.’

Caligo’s words held a sweet caring in them, and I clung to them with what little of my thoughts remained, and a single word, ‘yes’. And that was when my world went white as the glowing red hoof came hurtling down to flatten me.