Mental State

Chapters

Enter: Divine Intervention
Status: Could be doing better
Status: I need a break
Enter: The Dragon
Enter: Dark Dreams (Warning: Dark, Light Gore)
Status: Sleepy
Status: What even is my life?

Enter: Divine Intervention

“-ey Guardian. Today’s our last day, get up already!”

A cheerful male voice woke me from my rest, and as I opened my eyes, a red unicorn stallion beamed down at me with his almost contagious smile. Glaring back at his bright blue eyes, I rolled off the bed, groaning and shielding my eyes with a wing as the lights were turned on by my male companion. With my head aching from the bright lights, I only wished I could sleep in longer. Walking across the room, forgoing my armor for the moment, I pulled back the curtains to reveal that it was still dark out, Celestia’s sun not even peeking over the horizon. I groaned at the sight.

“You’re telling me that noble is already up? It’s soooo early…” I said to my red companion, who was already putting his gear together. His armor floated to his body, the gold pieces linking together like puzzle pieces.

Fire Starter, codenamed ‘Dynamite’ just smirked at me as I too, started to adorn my golden armor, trying to shake the weariness out of my eyes.

“Of course not, I’m sure Mr. Thalon loves his sleep as much as you do, but we still need to meet up with the griffin escort picking him up. Did you even listen during the mission brief? You’ve been asking me questions this entire trip!” He laughed at that last part. “Aren’t you my senior here?”

I rolled my eyes at him, fiddling with my modified horseshoes. “Don’t be silly, of course I was listening. I’m just testing you, my cute little rookie.” I gave him a wink, but he just rolled his eyes at me, levitating his helmet onto his face, the enchantment instantly transforming his appearance to mirror a solar guard. His red coat was now a white, pristine one, his orange mane turning a deep blue, and his tail growing a little in length before it too, was blue.

What many ponies didn’t know about the guards is that before adorning our armor, we are all very different ponies. However, once our armor is complete, the enchantment takes effect, allowing for complete uniformity within the ranks. The only noticeable detail that would be different in a side-by-side comparison was the red star given to special units rather than the usual blue on the center of the golden armor.

As if to emphasize this point, Dynamite struck a pose, winking at me with his now light blue eyes. “How do I look?”

Snorting at him, I flung a pillow at him with my wing, only for him to catch it in his magic. “Just like every other day guard, you goofball.” Turning to the mirror to check over my armor before adorning my helm, I gave myself a once over. I was a white Pegasus mare with long pink hair and light blue eyes, often mistaken for grey. Unlike most pegasi, I was rather large, and my wings were no different, a little bigger than your standard Pegasus to account for my extra weight. My cutie mark was that of two white wings below a yellow halo, so I was often nicknamed ‘Angel’ since my name was a bit of a mouthful.

C’mon mom, really? Divine Intervention?

Groaning at the thought, I shook my head and put on my work face, finally putting on my helmet, which transformed my appearance into a smaller, whitewashed Pegasus guard with golden armor, my mane now a shorter blue. Turning to Dynamite, I saw him sliding a short sword onto the side of his armor, a slight grin on his face as he practiced sliding it in and out of the sheath with his magic. His appearance was now back to normal, due to the enchantment on my armor. It was just for show, we had to be able to distinguish the ponies under our command after all.

Shaking my head, I trotted back over to the bed, carefully sliding a wing blade onto both of my wings with my hooves, snapping back my wings quickly, retracting the steel blades so they hid comfortably underneath my feathers, the enchantments on them making them white and difficult to see to the untrained eye. I turned around to see Dynamite looking at me, now completely ready to go, whistling at my appearance.

“So am I ever going to see those things in action?” His eyes gleaming in interest like the young colt he is. I gave him a slight grin, and just said, in a mentoring tone,

“Now, now, rookie, we should never search for reasons to use our weapons,” My grin grew a little more. “But if someone is dumb enough to try and attack Mr. Thalon, well…” I started towards the door and looked at him over my shoulder, giving my now unimpressive rump a shake and wink, “I’ll make sure to put on a show for you. Now come on, as you said, we have work to do.” He just snorted and composed himself, used to my passing antics, following me out of our room and into the hallway, closing the door with his magic.

As the two of us walked into the courtyard, coming across a small fountain, I couldn’t help but look at our surroundings again. We were currently at Mr. Thalon’s Equestrian residence, one of many, this one located in Las Pegasus, where he had met with other pony and griffin nobles to negotiate the terms of some deal Celestia wanted to implement between Equestria and the Griffin Empire. The nobles had all rejected the thought of meeting in Canterlot and decided that they would discuss plans in Las Pegasus, while also having fun in some of the casinos around town. While this wasn’t necessarily uncommon or unsafe, there had been a influx of griffins and other high class nobles in Equestria going missing so the princesses decided that a little of extra protection wouldn’t hurt to have, making Dynamite and I one of four guard teams protecting the nobles during their stay.

Because of Mr. Thalon’s connections to Equestria, he already had a rather large residence here, and decided he was above staying in a hotel with the other nobles, separating us from the other guards. His residence was made up of three buildings, all centering on the courtyard forming a U shape, His personal quarters and main hall at the center, a red bricked three story building with two silver griffin statues standing proud outside of the main doors. The other two buildings were two story buildings that housed visitors and pony maids that took care of the residence in his absence, though there was nopony, or attending griffins here during our stay. The main entrance to the place was gated off. That kept the partying ponies of the city from getting too adventurous or nosy.

Reaching the gate, we stood in silence for an uneventful 10 minutes, relishing in the cool winds of Fall, and staring blankly at the occasional passerby. With nothing of importance happening, I looked at my watch, strapped onto my left leg, right above the horseshoe.

The escort party is late.

Knowing of the traffic in this city, I decided to not mention anything about it as Dynamite looked at his watch as well, saying nothing. I was the lead after all. Ten more minutes passed and the sun started peeking above the horizon, the tall buildings doing nothing to shield our eyes from the sunlight now gently burning into our pupils. Two more minutes passed and as Dynamite was about to speak up, a dark blue Pegasus guard flew into the courtyard, saluting quickly with his wing as he landed, approaching us. I recognized this approaching guard as Starlight Breaker, no codename to note, as he was just a regular solar guard joining us on this mission.

“Ma’am, All escort parties are accounted for, and everyone is at the rally point except for the two of you…are we cleared to leave without you?” His expression was confused and for good reason! We were supposed to be en route to Canterlot 15 minutes ago. Shaking my head, I put a hoof to my muzzle in thought, tapping it slightly before setting it down and looking at my red companion.

“Dynamite, I want you to stay here with him and keep watch at the gate, I’m going to check in with Sharpbeak, maybe he’ll know something we don’t. That escort should have been here by now.” The stallion nodded at me, and I took to the air, flying to the third floor window, which was open, oddly enough. I approached it with caution, planning to land just inside the window, before thinking better of it and flying above the window, taking a deep breath, then looping back to land inside, an extra burst of speed, just in case. Landing several feet inside the hallway, I just barely escaped a pony’s knife strike.
Just a few feet away from me was a unicorn dressed in a bandit’s garb, black clothing, and a mask cloaking any distinguishable feature about him. He was against the wall, in a corner that was hidden from the outside. In the floor where I had planned on landing initially was a knife, embedded in the carpet. His eyes widened, as I’m sure he wasn’t expecting me to zoom in like that. Before he could rip the knife out of the floor completely to strike me, I rushed him, flapping my wings for an extra burst of speed, getting me airborne and reared an foreleg back, then forward, punching the stallion in the muzzle with all the force I could muster.

Thankfully, the guard shoes I was wearing had an enchantment on it, doubling the amount of force I could deal out. The poor stallion didn’t have a chance to even shout as my blow sent his head cracking up against the wall behind him, knocking him out instantly.
Landing on all four hooves, I quickly spun around to witness Sharpbeak, the personal guard to Thalon, in a silent grapple with another griffin, also draped in bandit clothing. Sharpbeak was on the ground, being strangled by the other griffin, trying to reach for his blade, which was out of his reach.

Thinking quickly, I grabbed the knife out of the ground and with a “Hey you!” threw it at the attacking griffin, getting him to look up at the knife making its way to him, releasing his prey and flinching backwards to avoid being impaled. Seeing an opportunity, Sharpbeak tucked his legs underneath him and launched the griffin into the air with a squeaky roar, flying towards me. Before I could move, the airborne griffin changed direction in the air with his wings, and placing a claw on a side wall, lunged at me, a falchion in his talons.

Instinctively, I brought my wings out to defend, the wing blades breaking their enchantment, and flipping out their sharpened steel. His eyes widened. Smirking, I batted his sword aside with my left wing and sent my right blade forward, aiming for his exposed chest…only to hit a metal plate underneath his clothing, stopping the blade’s advance. He reacted quickly, grounding himself and reared back slightly to claw me, but I ran at him, going low, sliding to the side of him, leaving a wing outstretched to slice open the side of his leg, making him yelp in pain. Whirling around as I came to a stop next to a recovering Sharpbeak, I took to the air again, my foreleg reared back. He took the bait, angling to the side, ready to strike me with his sword, but with a flap, I sent myself to the ground behind him, landing on my front hooves, my back legs tucked in, then releasing a powerful buck to his turning body, sending him flying down the hallway, where Sharpbeak snatched him out of the air by the throat, and slammed the griffin into the ground, knocking him unconscious. The falchion he was holding skittered toward me and I picked it up, waving it at my feathery companion with a panting smirk.

“Pretty tough for a pony, aren’t I Mr. Predator?” He just glared back at me, probably remembering when he tried to laugh us off when we arrived to help protect Mr. Thalon. Something about how we were just weak little prey who wouldn’t do anything against a real threat, like another griffin.

“Shut up, pony. I just didn’t see that stupid unicorn until it was too late. I had the situation handled.” He growled at me, panting slightly. I looked at him, trying to hide the mirth in my eyes.

“Uh huh, right. You got this now, right?” He just gave me another glare, searching the downed griffin for information. Peeking in Thalon’s room, I entered the sleeping griffin’s room quietly, checking for more bandits. Finding none, I exited, closing the door behind me. Sharpbeak was now dragging the bandit towards the unconscious unicorn from earlier, giving me a nod as I gave him the all-clear. Before searching more, a feeling in my gut stopped me, making me look at the downed unicorn bandit. Searching with a hoof in my armor pouches, I grinned as I tossed a ring inhibitor from the pouch at the griffin guard who caught it, saying nothing.

I looked around the hallway, trotting past him, tucking the bandit’s sword in my right wing. I inspected the empty bedrooms and stairway, making sure that they were safe. Taking another few minutes to quickly fly through the rest of the building, sword outstretched in one hoof, I made it to the front door, flying through the courtyard to my companions, no escort party in sight. Landing next to them, they looked at me with curious gazes. Throwing the sword at Dynamite, who caught it in his magic, I looked to our Pegasus companion. “The bodyguard was attacked, something definitely isn’t right here. Starlight, go to the rendezvous point and grab Hawksy. I want the two of you on overwatch and coordinate with the rest of the teams to find the escort party. X-Ray should have a locater spell that should help. Report back to me in ten minutes, or as soon as you find anything, whichever comes first.” The guard saluted me and took off, while I looked at Dynamite. He was looking at the falchion.

“You know, this blade is in mint condition, I don’t think these guys are experts. No chips, no bloodstains, so signs of sharpening...” He looked at me, hope in his eyes. “I think that escort party is going to be alright.” I looked away from him, hiding a proud smile and started to walk back to the front doors.

You act like such a child sometimes, but its moments like these that remind me why you're our youngest member.

“I hope you’re right. Let’s fall back to the doors, I want to talk to Sharpbeak about this.” He trotted to my side quickly, now a excited grin on his muzzle.
“Sooooo can I keep this?” He looked at me, his eyes wide. I laughed, snatching the blade out of his magical grasp.

And there goes my pride...

“As if! This is my souvenir for this trip, maybe I’ll even train with the commander when we get back, get in her good graces with some steel to steel bonding!” The red stallion pouted at that, taking position outside of the doors at our approach. He muttered something under his breath, but I leapt into the air, flying back into the third story window, landing inside behind Sharpbeak. He looked at me with a grin, seemingly in a better mood.

“I guess you pony guards are good for something after all!” He waved at the unicorn bandit, who now had broken teeth, a few bleeding claw marks, and a noticeable black eye. “The stupid thing tried to attack me with his magic while I was searching him. That ring of yours did its job, but I felt he needed a little more punishment.” He grinned darkly at that, and I inwardly cringed.

I think he's just happy he got to punch something...

“Just make sure he doesn’t die before we can interrogate t-” He cut me off with a wave.

“Yeah yeah, I’m not a idiot like some of you ponies. I mean getting attacked by changelings? Ridiculous!”

Just had to throw that last bit in there huh, that's old news at this point but it still hurts... I shook my head, and cleared my throat.

“Right. So the escort party never came.” He looked surprised at this, resting his talons on his sword hilt. “I currently have some guards searching for them in case they were attacked like you were.” He snorted at that.

“If they did, I’m sure they regretted it. Lord Thalon has close ties to the Emperor. There must be at least six or seven griffins coming to retrieve us.” I nodded at that, it was also why four of us from the Knights of Harmony were here at the princess’s request. Thalon was a close friend of the Emperor, and Princess Celestia considered him to be one of the more friendly griffin ambassadors.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine as well, my companion thinks that these bandits, based off of their gear, are inexperienced. I have to agree, with how quickly the two of us took them down. Even with this in mind, that escort is extremely late at this point. Can you think of anything else that may have held them up?” He scratched his shoulder and opened his beak to speak, but a window smashed open down the hall, and the both of us whirled towards the sound, each of us wielding a blade, ready to attack.

A new griffin appeared where the window exploded, two blades in his hand, wearing leather armor with various patches on it. Blood stained his armor and he looked at us with fury, but relaxed and lowered his blades when Sharpbeak sheathed his blade and spoke. “Ah, Captain Buck, we were just talking about you. I take it the carriage was attacked?” Before I could hear the newcomer speak, a door creaked open behind me and I tucked the sword back under my wing. Lord Thalon, leaning a rather large sword against his shoulder looked at me with tired eyes as he opened the door completely. This made me widen my eyes a little, but I quickly composed myself as he waved at his guards briefly, and looked back at me expectantly.

Predators...even their nobles aren't afraid to wield a little steel.

I smiled, giving him a slight bow, noticing out of the corner of my eyes that Starlight was back and standing beside Dynamite, talking to the griffins at the top of the stairs. “Nothing to be too concerned about Mr. Thalon, just a few bandits, but I believe your escort and my fellow guards have remedied the situation.” He nodded at me, reaching up and setting the great sword above the inside of his door on hooks I hadn’t noticed before. I cleared my throat quietly as I continued. “We’ll be headed back to Canterlot soon, once we’ve turned the bandits over to the local guardsponies and verified your safety. Is there anything you would like me to tell the princesses upon our arrival?” As soon as I finished speaking, I noticed a new guard enter the hallway and beeline to me, stopping before he got too close to our discussion. Thalon just shook his head in response to my question, his eyes briefly flickering to the guard as well.

“Your pony nobles will have all of the information they need, and I assume they will present their findings to your ruler themselves. Just give the princesses my regards.” I gave him another slight bow, to which he grunted in response. With that, he walked back into his room, closing the door. Our conversation finished, I greeted the unicorn newcomer with a nod, who upon closer inspection, I recognized as one of the Princess’s elite messengers. He saluted me before speaking.

“Ma’am I have an urgent message from Princess Luna.” My eyes widened, as the Night Princess rarely called upon me. I took a levitating scroll from the guard and read over it quickly.
Guardian,

I require your skills for a delicate special assignment, should you accept. Return to Canterlot immediately and report to Captain Midnight Blossom for a debrief. Messenger Sweet here will assist with your return to Canterlot. If you must, he is prepared to take command of your team until further notice.

Princess Luna

I looked up at the unicorn, expecting at least a brief explanation. He took that as an invitation to speak. “I am prepared to teleport you to Canterlot immediately, if you are ready.” Sighing, I tucked the scroll under my unoccupied wing.

“Go ahead and prepare your teleportation circle downstairs, I need to speak to my team for a moment.” He nodded, teleporting away. I shook my head, walking towards my companions.

Unicorns…

Standing next to Dynamite was X-ray, my second in command for the mission and a fellow senior knight, a dark green unicorn with grey hair and golden yellow eyes.
Noticing my approach, he nodded to me and met me halfway.

“We located the griffin escort with no issues. The bandits had been dealt with upon our arrival, most of them KIA, but they were stuck because of a shattered wheel. The captain over there had already left to come here, so I helped them out. I assume everything went well here?” I nodded, explaining what happened and the princess’ request. He just gave me a curt nod and took over the situation, leaving me to hurry on my way.

Since everything I needed was on me, I took my souvenir and waved goodbye to Dynamite, heading home.

--
Canterlot Castle
3 days later

I walked through the hallways, enjoying the fact that for the first time in weeks, I had slept in, taken a long shower, and completely abandoned my gear. I. Felt. Amazing.
Now if I could just get a good lay in before I go to Ponyville…Hmm...My team should be back soon so maybe Fire Starter would be up for it. He is rather cute after all, and the best part? I'm not active! Fraternization policies don't apply to me anymore!

The sound of someone--yes someone, I have been all over the world, I’m not a foal--clearing their throat, stopped me in my tracks. I looked up, breaking out of my thoughts, and to my disdain, it was the vice-commander of the Knights of Harmony, Strong Hoof. He was a large brown earth pony, his eyes a dark forest green, one eye with a large scar across it, its origins unknown. His mane was a jet black, but his tail was a brilliant white, often startling new ponies with its contrast. The most noticeable of his features though, was a large claymore he always had strapped to his back. He never went anywhere without it, and as I had seen during some of our training sessions, he was a destructive, precise, and very scary opponent who did things with that sword no pony should be able to even imagine doing. A memory flashed in my head of our last training session, and I shivered, knowing that Steelwing was probably still in the infirmary. Looking him in the eyes, I mustered a fake smile.

“Good day to you, Vice-Commander. Is there something you needed from me?” Snorting, he glared down at me and then spoke, his gravely voice making me wince a little.

“I heard that you’ll be removed from the roster until further notice. I understand the Sun and Moon have high hopes for you.” He paused, his glare intensifying. “Just because you aren’t on active status does not mean you are allowed to slack off. We will be checking up on you periodically, so if you sully our name, allow citizens to be hurt, or abandon your charge, so help me…” He leaned in to whisper in my ear. “What I do to you will make Steelwing’s injury look like a papercut.” Shivers ran down my spine, and out of nowhere, my gut feeling told me to leap back. Never underestimating my gut, I flew backwards quickly, my eyes widening as Strong Hoof’s giant blade slammed down onto where I had been just standing, cracking the floor tiles. At a loss for words, I looked at him in horror, only for him to return the gaze with an evil grin. He sheathed his blade back onto his back.

Even if I wanted to tell someone...no one would ever believe me or find my body after he found out...

“As I would expect from a fellow knight. Make sure that doesn’t change while you’re foal-sitting that human.” His head held high, he walked away, leaving me to shiver in fear in the middle of the hallway.

I think I’ll take another shower before meeting the human, I’m lucky I didn’t drink anything this morning…
--

Hours, and many shots of the Apple family’s finest later with Fire Starter, I found myself outside of the room that the human would be staying in when in Canterlot. I steeled myself, as much as I could, and put on a smile. Bringing my hoof up to the door, I realized that this human was my retirement plan, and we’d be living together for at least a year while he got situated.

Well if he can’t deal with the real me now, they need to pick another mare.

Whether it was the alcohol, the fresh lay, or the thought of an easy retirement, my smile grew into a smirk and I reached for the handle instead, and pushed the door open.

“HEYYYYYY ROOOMIE~”

My sudden entry seemed to make the odd creature spring up from his bed and proceed to fall on the floor. I cocked my head to the side as I took in the creature I would be guarding for the next year. Unlike the recorded descriptions of the ancient humans that once waged war upon Equestria, this one had dark skin, a light brown color, and his mane, or hair I should say, was short but curly, a jet black. When he stood, muttering something under his breath, I realized that he was taller than Princess Celestia, and if he wasn’t he sure was close. He was only wearing what looked like underwear, so I got a good look at his physical features. While he wasn’t winning any competitions, he seemed fairly muscular. What did interest me though, was the large set of white wings sprouting from his back. They hung there limply, as if he didn’t know how to use them. His eyes, much like his skin, were brown, but instead of the glare I was expecting from such a rude awakening, he almost looked confused. Not wanting to make things more awkward, I continued.

“My name is Divine Intervention, I am a proud member of the Knights of Harmony and-“

The human reached out and poked my nose, making me scrunch up my nose at the touch. I just looked at him in confusion. He just started laughing. Not knowing what to do in this situation, I just sat on my rump, shaking my head at the odd creature. After a few minutes, he calmed down and held one of his hands out to me, speaking softly.

“Sorry about that, I just had to make sure you were real.”

How could I not be real?

“I mean, no offense, but Divine Intervention? That can’t be your real name.” I sighed at that, swatting his hand away.

“Well it is, and you’re just going to have to take my word for it.”

I curse my mother every day.

He snickered at that for some reason, but then just stared off into space without warning. I cocked my head at this and walked toward him, waving my hoof back and forth. No reaction. It was as if he was possessed, or sleeping with his eyes open. If he was, I was impressed, and wanted to take notes. Yet, I felt that wasn't what was happening here. The report I had received said that he was a bit of an odd being, but they didn't elaborate.

“Um are you oka-” With no warning from my gut, the human tackled me to the ground, rolled to the side, grabbed me again, and leapt out of the room, diving for the hallway. My eyes widened but I narrowed them quickly to focus. According to my mission brief, the human wasn't known to be violent unless provoked. Something was wrong here. My training kicking in, I searched the room with my eyes over his shoulder for anything that would have given the human a reason to panic. He stopped, putting his back against a wall and sliding down it. I took another glance. There was nothing that could be considered a threat present. Confused, I twisted my body in the humans arms to come face to face with him. He was panting heavily, continuing to stare into the room as if there was some demon in there, ready to attack. His grip on me was tight, but oddly enough, it felt more comforting than painful.

Not really knowing what was wrong with him, I did the first thing that came to my mind. I licked his nose. He instantly came out of his panic and just looked at me as if I was crazy. I grinned sheepishly.

If the ends justify the means...

I cleared my throat. “So…um, wanna tell this pretty, young, and dangerous mare what that was all about?” He raised an eyebrow at my self description, but shook his head, releasing me from his grasp. I just stayed on his lap, looking into his shifting brown eyes with all the concern I could muster. Ignoring me, he pushed me off and stood, adjusting his clothing, the little he had on. He put his arms across his chest and looked away, seeming to glare at something in the distance.

“Sorry about that.”

I gave him a flat gaze.

“Really? That’s all you’re going to tell me?” He shifted his weight from one side to another, and then lowered his arms, his eyes staring into mine. We kept this up for what felt like an eternity, until he blinked, sighing.

“Alright…you’re the guard that’s living with me in…what was that city called again?” His eyes started gazing off into the distance. I cleared my throat, bringing his gaze back to me.

“Ponyville?”

He chuckled before responding. “Heh, that’s right, how could I forget such a silly name like that? All most as silly as yours...” Getting up, he started walking back into his room, and I followed, shaking my head, but expecting him to continue. He searched around, and put on a shirt, realizing they wouldn't fit over his wings, and took it off, resorting to covering his chest with his arms. Irritated, he sat on the bed, patting on the space beside him. When I didn’t join him, he looked at me in confusion.

I grinned.

“Use your words sweetie…” He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Luna did say you would be…difficult. Alright…yeah I’m not calling you Divine whatever. Can I just call you...Angel?”

“If you take me to dinner first~”

“Oh shut up, that’s not what I meant.”

“Mhm.”

“Are we gonna talk or what?”

I rolled my eyes and hopped onto the bed with him, ceasing my teasing. There would be plenty of time for that later.

“So…?” I started, the silence starting up again. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, appearing to hold it, and then released it, opening his eyes, looking at me.

“My name is Osprey. I’m a human, I like long walks at night, and sleeping. If you wake me up without a good reason, I will throw you out of a window.”

I smiled. “I’m the same way.” I tapped one of his wings, which shuddered under my touch. “I hope these pretty things aren’t just for show.” He blushed at that for some reason.

“Um...about that, when Luna asked me my preference on the kind of guard I wanted, I asked that it was a Pegasus so they could well…teach me how to fly.” I sighed, knowing that my assignment sounded too easy. He just continued. “Discord gave me these wings, where I come from no human has wings, so I don’t even know where to start with these overgrown things. Heck, I broke one of them yesterday by rolling over in my sleep.” I cringed at that.

Interesting, so Discord was free after all. I’ll have to look into that further.

“But the last thing you need to know is, well, I see things.”

I giggled. “We all see things silly.” He quickly shook his head, his gaze serious. He gently grabbed my head, and I resisted the urge to back away or punch him, and he got close. REAL close. I could feel his breath on my muzzle as he spoke again, his brown eyes narrowing.

“I mean. I. See. Things.” He released me, staring off into a corner of the room. Then he pointed. “For example...Right where I’m pointing, there’s a human, just standing there, sharpening a large butchers knife. I call him Greg.” I let out a little sigh, starting to get the picture as he pointed at the room’s closet. “Over there, a shadow appears sometimes and opens the door, whispering overly creepy and murderous things at me.” He then looked at me. I flinched a little, expecting him to point at me. He just sighed. “The reason I tackled you earlier is because, well, while I struggle with figuring out what is reality, and what is just another figment of my imagination, what I do know for a fact is…Discord is free. That little bastard is real, and wants me dead so he can take over this ponified world. I'm pretty sure he brought me here. He gave me these wings, made animals attack me, use me as a pawn in a wager with Celestia, and earlier, he was about to snap. Literally. He muttered something about ‘too much harmony’ and just glared at you. I've never seen him so...angry.” He looked at me with concern in his eyes. “Luna said you were a mare of great moral character, and is also capable of putting me on my ass with no problem.” I smiled at that. “But now that I know Discord wants to hurt you as much as he wants me to die, well…I need you to trust me.” I looked at him in surprise.

Uh…isn’t that my line?

He continued. “Were you able to see him earlier when you came in?” I looked around the room, looking around for the well-known god of chaos, but couldn’t see him. I shook my head at Osprey, and he frowned.

“That’s kind of what I thought. Ever since that deal with Celestia, he’s been popping in and out of random places to screw with me, but he’s been mute, unlike when he brought me to ponyland. So far, I’ve been the only one who’s been able to spot him, other than that pink pony I met the other day, but honestly, she seems more mentally damaged than I am.” He laughed at that, shaking his head before continuing, looking at me. “So I have a proposition for you.” He grinned and I cocked my head to the side. “Since Luna vouches for you, and in the last…20 minutes we’ve been talking, you’re kind of growing on me. So…how about we skip formalities and the whole bodyguard thing and just be friends? You’re already going to be my roommate, so this is essentially your last chance to bail.” Seeing another chance for a jab, I gave him a curious grin.

“Oh? Why the sudden interest in being friends? I know I told you to take me out to dinner but I was-“ A finger pressed against my muzzle.

“Shhh. Get your head out of the gutter. I’m serious. Bodyguards have a job to do, and only that job. Friends however, are loyal. I’ll watch your back when Discord is around, and you can help ground me to reality when I'm chasing demons and trying to strangle myself.”

Cringing a little, I considered this, bringing a hoof to my muzzle.

Well, targets are easier to protect when they trust you…and if it’s true that Discord is around, and he can actually see him…

I looked up at him, while it was endearing, I was still kind of confused at the sudden offer of friendship from someone I just met. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “And we don’t have to send friendship letters to Celestia every day. Luna counts as my first friend, you would be my second, and as per the Princess’s terms for the first month, which means I’m in the clear.” He sat up straight again and extended his hand to me. “So…friends?”

I grinned, shaking my head at his craftiness, he almost had me there with his bodyguard talk. Despite that, I felt, deep inside, that I would come to like this human. I put my hoof in his hand.

“Friends it is, Osprey.”

He shook his head, clenching his hand, still outstretched.

“No no, real homies fist-er excuse me...hoof bump.”

He’s already growing on me. I guess Princess Luna was right.

I met his fist with my hoof, sealing our first day of friendship.

Author's Note

As stated before, this story will swap between Osprey and Divine Intervention (Angel) as they become more acquainted with each other. The title will give you hints as to who's POV will be the main focus of the chapter.

Status: Could be doing better

Ponyville – 4 months later

With the sun starting to set, I wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead before setting the door on its now finished hinges.

“Osprey please just come back to the castle with me!”

Looking around on the floor for my screwdriver, I continued to ignore Twilight’s protests. She had been at it for the last three weeks, every day, following me around, begging me to come back to her. No matter where I went, she followed, voicing her disapproval of Angel and I’s decision of sleeping in this broken, abandoned house just outside of Ponyville. We had tried staying with Pinkie Pie, but within the first day, I was broken, screaming every time she popped out of somewhere she shouldn’t have been able to fit in, often talking to my other delusions, making it difficult to ground myself to reality, not knowing what was actually real.

We tried staying with Applejack, offering to help out around the farm, but her livestock kept trying to kill me for some reason. AJ said they didn’t act like that around other ponies and after a few days of running away from various animals, we decided to leave. She wasn't very fond of me anyway, so it was probably for the best.

Staying with Rarity was a nightmare for everyone involved, though she is nice enough to continue making me clothes so long as I stay far away from her shop, especially when Sweetie Belle or her friends were around. Staying with Rainbow Dash just seemed like a bad idea in general. Staying with Fluttershy was near impossible due to a killer bunny actually taking a blade to my throat when his master left the room. Due to the danger of possibly being the target of one of Discord’s summonings or other creatures naturally attracted to my strong chaos magic, we decided to not live with any of the more normal residents. I tried to request a move back to Canterlot and stay at the castle, but Celestia rejected it, stating I needed to be near the element bearers at all times, just in case my inherited chaos magic went haywire.

Living in Equestria these past few months have done nothing good to my mental state, introducing me to true terrors of the world. Vicious animals, crazy attack pegasi, timberwolves roaming the town at night on at least a weekly basis, random screaming from unseen parts of town, and so much more that I try not to remember, lest it give my hallucinations any more ideas to pull from.

A hoof nudged me on the forehead, breaking me out of my thoughts. Looking up, I saw my white pegasus companion giving me a little smile, handing me my screwdriver with one of her wings. Taking it, I scratched her behind the ears before returning to the task at hand. We came across this run down home after asking the mayor about lodging. She said it was abandoned by some pony noble years ago, and it was rumored to be haunted, so the town never tried to remodel it. She said it was free for us to use, no other pony wanted anything to do with it, since it was relatively close to the Everfree Forest. Not really having any other options, we decided to try and fix the place up. Ghosts be damned, they'd just have to share the place with the rest of my hallucinations.

“Knight Intervention, can’t you talk some sense into him?”

Angel looked at the purple nag briefly, then back at me, shaking her head.

“Princess, I agree with Osprey here…your experiments are rather extreme. I'm in the business of keeping him alive...” She paused, narrowing her eyes at one memory in particular. “And strapping someone down to ‘inspect’ one’s privates in a seemingly sexual manner without consent to, erm, understand the human arousal process is still considered borderline rape princess.”

“I said I was sorry!”

“Still rape princess.”

“We all know it wasn’t like that!”

“Looked pretty scandalous to me, your highness.”

Twilight huffed.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re moving into this place! It’s not even big enough for the both of you to live in!”

“We’ll manage.”

“But I already promised I wouldn’t do anything like that anymore!”

Angel sighed, looking at me for help. I shook my head, starting to pack up all of AJ’s tools into Angel’s saddlebags.

“Look sparky, I’ll level with you. We’re moving because it’s just too dangerous to live with you. The castle gets lit on fire at least two days a week, your potion making always ends in injury, the pink menace visits daily, and you can’t even restrain yourself when I spar or train to fly with my assigned bodyguard.”

“But you could get hurt!”

I just gave her a look, starting to walk to the apple farm, my Pegasus companion following me. Unfortunately, Twilight continued to follow us. I just continued.

“Look, one other reason, the most major of them all, is that I eat meat. If you’re going to react like you did when Luna sent me jerky from the griffin ambassador, how are you going to react when I’m carving into something from the Everfree on the kitchen counter?” I could hear her gag slightly at the idea.

“You’re still planning on going in there? It’s dangerous!”

“Well, I need protein. Besides…”

I waved a hand at my side where my sword hung. The very same that Discord had given to me, the only 'gift' of his that actually benefited me these days.

“I haven’t been training for nothing. I also have an adorable bodyguard who likes to show off. If things get dicey, I’ll just use her as bait!” Angel laughed at that, batting me with a wing.

“Hey now, I just have to keep you alive. If anyone is going to be bait, it’ll be you. I’m sure the monsters will let you go after biting a arm or two off.” I rolled my eyes at her, knowing she didn’t mean that. Even if she did mean it, our training sessions have shown me that she’s more than capable of keeping me safe. Twilight on the other hand, still seemed to have her doubts, still following us down the dirt road to the farm.

“I still think you shouldn’t go into the forest. It’s truly an evil place. All manner of things could catch you off guard.”

I just stayed silent, not wanting to discuss it any further, preparing to deal with the antics of the apple family and the adorable predator that was Applebloom. Her stealthy cuddle attacks were truly something to fear.

Sleep, it seemed, would never come easy to me. I had been having trouble sleeping ever since I came to this pony land, and tonight was no exception. Beads of sweat rolled down my face as I was woken from my slumber. As I tried to wipe the salty liquid from my face, I began to start panicking. No matter how strongly I willed my arms to move, they didn’t budge, staying completely still underneath the comforter.

Fuck.

Looking around the room, my eyes widened as I saw a familiar black mist flowed in from the bottom of the bedroom door. Slamming my eyes shut, I tried to force my body to move, but a gentle laughter from the darkness stopped me. I recognized that dark laughter. Slowly opening my eyes, I began to regret doing so, realizing the black mist had reappeared above me, and instead of the yellow eyes of my personal tormentor, this newcomer had deep red eyes that would have made me piss myself if I had control of my body. Noticing my eyes were now open, the creature smiled, its fangs glinting in the moonlight that shown in from the broken window of the bedroom. Unable to look away, I continued to look at the creature’s blood red eyes, my heart pounding in my chest, my breathing becoming more and more labored as the creature slowly went for my neck, its mouth wide-

“What the buck?” The creature pulled back, growling, but disappeared as Angel leapt onto the bed, her tired eyes now filling my vision. Despite the disappearance of the shadowy demon, not being in control of my body was making me freak out even more, the world darkening as I began to suffocate. Voices echoed in my head, their voices overpowering my own internal thoughts.

“Osprey? Hey you don’t look so good…are you-hey hey!” A worried voice sang louder than the other voices, but the darkness creeping over my vision only continued its conquest. Just as my vision went black, pain erupted from my forehead. The unseen force holding me down now gone. Clutching the sheets tightly, I breathed in deep, oxygen filling my lungs, my mouth trying to swallow it like a fish out of water. My vision coming back, I could see my Pegasus companion’s storm grey eyes looking at me with fear. My breathing now more controlled, I sat up, looking around the room for Discord. A pair of hooves brought my gaze back to Angel.

“Hey, focus on me okay?” Still freaking out, I couldn’t do much more than nod slightly at her, taking slow, deep breaths. “Tell me, what did you see? Was it Discord?” I took her hooves in my hands, cocking my head to the side.

“Wait…s-so you didn’t see it?” She shook her head. I took another shaky deep breath, trying to calm myself.

“Something…woke me up. I had a gut feeling that I needed to come check on you. When I entered, you were visibly shaking, and you sounded like you were choking. It was terrifying honestly, like you were trying to suffocate yourself. The entire time, you were just looking straight ahead, your eyes wider than I’ve ever seen them.”

I sighed, realizing what had just happened.

“It wasn’t Discord. Or at least not entirely. I think I was having a sleep paralysis attack. I woke up from a dream, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t move, and there was this…creature. It had red eyes and large fangs, seeming to want to bite into my neck.” I looked back into her eyes. The storm grey eyes of hers were filled with worry, yet I felt more comfortable looking into them. As helpless as it made me feel, she had a knack for calming me down. “Look Divine, I…really don’t want to ask but,” I looked away, feeling my cheeks heat up, “C-can you stay here with me? I don’t think I should sleep alone anymore…”

Gah, what am I? A child? A horny teenager? Fucking hell, I’m never going to hear the end of this-

A sudden warmth enveloped me and pushed me back onto the bed. My eyes widened. She had wrapped me in a hug, her wings wrapped around my own, pushing them against my body, the tips just barely under the weight of my back, and her front hooves rested on the sides of my stomach. Looking down at her, I expected some form of teasing grin or sultry look to be on her face, but I was only greeted with a light smile, her eyes peering out from underneath her ruffled strawberry mane. Looking into her eyes, I felt like I was in the eye of the storm, the calm within the chaos.

“Don’t worry Osprey, I’m not going anywhere.” Her sincere grin then formed into a smirk as she slowly crept further up my body, until her muzzle was just a breath away from my lips, her eyes lidded. Against my wishes, my heart started to beat a little faster. “Though if you’re going to invite a pretty mare to bed, and look at me like that, you better be prepared to take responsibility…” I groaned in response.

And there it is.

I moved my head to the side before she got any ideas.

“God damnit Angel.” She just giggled, resting her head on my chest, but continued.

“Ooooh what’s got you so excited Osprey? Could it be?” She gasped in mock shock. “I can’t help but wonder what kind of dirty, human on mare fantasies you’re having…luring me into your bed with such devious acting, why, what would the princesses think?” Rolling my eyes, I threw her off of me and turned over. Seconds later, I felt her attempting to spoon me, one of her hooves playing with my now twitching wings.

“I need a new bodyguard.”

“And lose your cute and cuddly teddy bear?”

“Tch, maybe I’ll get a guy this time, I’m sure Big Mac would be happy about it. That poor guy doesn't deserve what you put him through...”

“Oh don’t you worry, I will have that big, red, stallion one of these days. Don’t worry though sweet cheeks, there’s enough of me to go around~”

Not wanting to warrant that with a response, I closed my eyes, admittedly feeling more comfortable, as I drifted off to sleep.

The shattering of a window jolted me awake, and I shoved the pink haired Pegasus off of me. Before she hit the ground though, she sped out of the room, intent on finding out what the disturbance was. Looking at my watch that had somehow survived my trip to this crazy ponyland, I groaned knowing I could still be sleeping. As I left the bed, wiping the grogginess out of my eyes, I heard the sound of Angel talking with someone.

Upon entering the kitchen, I winced as I stepped on a piece of broken glass, cursing myself for not being more careful. Looking around, I saw Angel ushering out a familiar grey Pegasus, one with blond hair and a bubble tattoo on her ass.

Friggin Derpy. She’s lucky she’s cute, in her own ditzy way…

Picking the glass out of my foot, Angel walked back into the kitchen, grimacing at the damage.

“Well, we needed new windows anyway…” She said, putting her hoof to her head. I sighed, knowing we’d have to get a broom later on.

“What did she want? Luna usually normally sends her letters through spyro-I mean um, spunk, wait no uh, spike…?” Angel raised an eyebrow at me. “What? I’m bad at names, okay?” She just shook her head and walked into the living room, which she had turned into her armory. Varying sets of armor and all manner of weapons were laid out in an organized manner on the wood floor. Shoving a rather large cardboard box over to me, she flexed her wing, where a blade popped out. I was still getting used to that, making a mental note to not mess with her wings every time i saw her do that. A flap of her wings later, the box was cut open and we both looked inside. Sitting on what looked like hay was a rectangular black box with no logos of any kind on it, just a simple latch on the front.

Picking it up in my hands, it was fairly heavy, and as I knelt down to open it, Angel stopped me with a wing.

“Are you sure we should open this? What if it’s one of Discord’s pranks?” I just shrugged.

“Well why don’t you open it then, Ms. Bodyguard?” I stepped away, motioning her over to it. She just rolled her eyes and with a flourish of her wing, she hopped aside as she flung the top of the case open. Nothing happened, but inside was a letter, not a scroll, sitting on top of a wooden sheet, still concealing the contents. Picking up the letter, I flipped it open, reading it aloud.

Something to help with your acquisition of protein.

-Your Benefactor

Flipping it over a few times, I found that there was no other information about who sent me this object, or even what it was. I gave it to Angel, but she had the same luck, shrugging, and tossing it to the ground. Looking at each other, we decided to just lift the wooden cover.

Inside the box, which was a lot deeper than it seemed, laid a short black bow and three arrows with reddish-orange feathers. While I picked up the bow, inspecting it, Angel took one of the arrows, gasping.

“No way! This has to be Princess Luna, these look like Philomena’s feathers!” Not really knowing how bows worked, I lazily took the arrow from Angel and prepared to notch it.

“You act like that name means something to me.” She just rolled her eyes.

“It’s Celestia’s pet phoenix that lives in her gardens. She apparently only makes herself known to those of a pure heart, like me, of course.”

“Don’t lie to yourself, the only thing pure about you is your ass tattoo.”

“Oh, so you’ve been looking at my flank, have you? Enjoy the view?”

I just shook my head while she giggled at my misfortune of walking into that joke. Focusing on the bow and arrow once more, I notched the arrow, pulling the back against the line as carefully as I could so I didn’t smack myself in the face, and let it fly towards my target: Angel’s guard helmet, the plume to be exact. To my surprise, the arrow flew slightly off course and punctured the metal, and looking closer, it had embedded itself into the floor underneath it. Seeing this, Angel shrieked and ran over to her now damaged armor. My jaw open, I just stared at the bow, wondering if I should have taken up archery or gone hunting back home.

“You ruined my helmet!!” I looked up to see a hovering Pegasus holding her helmet, now with a hole the size of my thumb. I shrugged.

“It’s just a hole, can’t you just fill it in or slap some duct tape on it?” Her eye twitched, not warranting my question with a response. Looking past my companion back at the floor, I tensed up for a moment to see a human laying on the floor, twirling a jagged dagger in his hands. Taking a deep breath, I ignored him the best I could, flinching as he thew the dagger at me, but I knew it wasn’t real, as the pain never came.

I hate you Phil, bring Greg the butcher back.

The arrow I shot was still embedded in the floor, so I gave it a tug, and it came up snapping, the tip now broken. I sighed, turning to Angel so we could go somewhere and get it repaired or something, but her shocked expression made me look back to my hand. The arrow was engulfed in a bright red flame, but it didn’t hurt. Seconds later, the arrow had somehow reformed itself, tip and all, as if nothing had ever happened to it. I looked at Angel, my jaw ajar.

“So, was that a magic spell or something?” She had no answers, she wasn’t a unicorn. Since we didn’t have any better ideas, we made our way over to sparklebutt’s castle.

“This is amazing! Who made this? The magic enchantments on these arrows are so complex, it’ll take me weeks to even scratch the surface on how to replicate it!” After showing it to Twilight once, she hopped around us, destroying the arrow over and over, the flames igniting and reforming the arrow within seconds with every spell.

“We think it was Luna because of the phoenix feathers, though I’m not sure why she’s being so secretive about it.” Twilight shook her head.

“I would recognize the princesses magic anywhere, and you would too, after all, you said you can see the aura of one’s magic.” I just shrugged.

“Hey, I don’t understand this witchcraft y’all ponies have.”

“Magic.”

“Whatever.” Snatching the arrow out of her purple magic, I put it into my pocket for safekeeping. “Anyway, we’re going to go into the forest, although…until I actually understand how to use a bow, I’m just going to leave it at home. Do you have any tips before we go get ourselves killed?” Twilight scowled at me.

“I really wish you wouldn’t but…” She hung her head in defeat, making me raise an eyebrow. I was expecting another lecture from her. “I had a discussion with Princess Luna in my dreams last night. I think I understand now how important eating…ugh, meat is for you to be healthy. Please just don’t get lost or eat anything sentient. That’s all I ask, even if I don’t agree with your ridiculous plan.”

“I’m with you on that, but how will I know if it is or not?” Twilight put a hoof to her muzzle in thought before smiling.

“Talk to Fluttershy or Zecora, if you can find her, they know more about the forest than I do. Oh and…avoid the flowers in the forest. They’re…” She shuddered. “Evil.”

I nodded, and thinking better of it, I gave the purple unicorn the arrow from before. Her face lit up. “I’m not going to be using it anytime soon, so you can study it more until I know more about the bow.” Twilight flapped her wings once and hugged me, nuzzling my cheek, making my cheeks burn.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!”

“So…do you know anything about animals in the forest? At this point I don’t think flutters is home.” I looked down at Angel, knocking for a twelfth time, just in case she was asleep. The animals around the house were glaring at me, probably natural hatred and for being so loud. My bodyguard just shook her head, reaching into her saddlebags.

“All I have is a partially completed map of the place.” She hoofed the paper over to me, realizing that the map simply said ‘Everfree forest’ over some crudely drawn trees and next to it, a somewhat decent drawing of a hut, reading ‘witch doctor’. Looking back to her, I raised a brow.

“This is what your military calls a map? Really?” She rolled her eyes at me, shifting her equipment around as she tucked the paper away.

“Obviously, there are better ones out there, but most ponies aren’t exactly fond of the Everfree, and even fewer desire a need to navigate it. Let’s just go in and take a look around, maybe we can find this Zecora that the Princess mentioned.” She set off towards the forest and I followed, watching her tail swing slightly back and forth. It was…mesmerizing, like watching a pendulum. With a little shake of her ass, my companion decided to speak up again, smirking at me. “Maybe the purple princess was onto something, you certainly like to stare at my angelic flanks quite often for someone who isn’t attracted to ponies…”

Rolling my eyes and feeling a blush coming on, I sped up my pace, walking next to her so I wouldn’t be tempted, and she couldn’t continue to tease me. She just giggled, and a thought came into my head.

“You know that you don’t have to call her ‘Princess’ all the time right? Twilight seems to loathe the title actually.” Angel sighed.

“When you work for royalty as long as I have, it’s a habit that’s hard to break. Princess Luna actually briefed me to just be myself around you in particular, saying that calling you sir and treating you like a noble would just irritate you.” I smiled at that, silently giving the night princess more brownie points in my head, though she was already at the top of the list, being one of my first friends in the past four months of arriving in ponyland. Thoughts aside, we had finally reached the edge of the Everfree and we looked ourselves over, doing an equipment check.

While I didn’t have armor, I was wearing the winter clothing Rarity had made me, sweating up a storm in long black slacks, a grey jacket, my steel toed boots I’ve been wearing since I got here, and a satchel to carry anything we might want to bring back, and one of Angel’s hunting knives, given to her by a Leopard noble she had protected years ago. The only weapons I had were my pocketknife that had survived the trip to Equestria, and the runic obsidian blade that Discord had given me all those months ago. During my sword training with Angel, she had said the sword had an innate magic that seemed to make up for my lacking swordplay abilities, so I kept it, no matter how much I didn’t trust the mini devil. Twitching my wings, I sighed knowing they were still useless. Even after weekly training, I could only hover a few feet off the ground and fold them properly against my body. Looking at my companion, I grinned at the more positive sight.

Angel was armed to the teeth. After having a discussion with her about my protein needs, she agreed to be my cute little attack mare, obviously in her words, and help me hunt. She had spent a lot of time around griffins on her missions, so the thought of me eating meat didn’t faze her in the slightest. She even stated that she would occasionally eat fish, as pegasi where she was from considered it to be nutritional.

That said, I looked over her body, awing at the sight. She was wearing black armor that clung to her tightly, fitting more like an exoskeleton rather than hardened clothing. On her hooves she wore silver shoes, which she had explained, had an enchantment on them that doubled the force behind her strikes. On her right side, just below her wing and under a saddlebag, was a sheath that held her falchion, a souvenir from her last mission as a bodyguard. Even without hands, she proved that she was deadly with the weapon during our sparring matches, able to wield the blade with her wingtips, mouth, and in her hooves when she got on her hind legs or hovered in the air. After living here for a while, I had stopped comparing the ponies of the world to the animals back home. They were flexible in ways that didn’t make sense, intelligent, and magical in all aspects of the word.

Continuing to look over my companion, who no doubt was preparing to give me hell, I looked at her left side. All that hung there was a saddle bag that seemed to be ready to burst with all manner of equipment. Sitting on the center of her back, kept in place by the straps of her saddlebags was a foldable spear, something she said most of the night guard made a point in carrying because of how portable it was. As always, now that I had seen them in action, I could make out the outline along the outside of her wing, were her wingblades, white enough to blend in with her white feathers, invisible to the untrained eye, until it was too late. Bringing my eyes back to her head, I could see her sly grin, her stormy eyes lidded, probably ready to say something sexual, as she always did. She wasn’t wearing a helm, having told me that she and her fellow knights rarely ever wore them unless they were filling in for guard duty, as they restricted the flexibility and situational awareness required for the more difficult missions they went on. Besides...Angel's now had a hole in it.

“So human…like what you see?” I let out a sigh.

Yes actually, but I’ll never tell you that.

Gotta love a girl in uniform.

“Yeah yeah, I just hope all of your fancy equipment isn’t just for show. Now let’s get to it so you can start showing off and I can eat some damn steak again. It’s been too long…”

Walking in front of me, she gave a sway to her hips, making me lock onto her flank, the base of her tail moving aside for the briefest of seconds, which made me feel things I really shouldn’t. She giggled, flipping her hair back to look at me with lidded eyes.

“Oh I’ll give you a show alright…”

“Hush you.”

“You know you love it.”

“Ugh.”

The forest got darker as we wandered further into the forest, the various noises of animals reminding me more and more of home. A light rain had begun, only making the forest more ominous. Avoiding flowers like Twilight said, we had come across a number of odd looking fruit. Knowing better than to eat things I didn’t know the name of, I tucked a few away in my satchel to ask about later.

Angel, her wings tense, nudged me to look ahead of us, the scenery of the forest changing from trees with low hanging branches to sweet smelling paradise of bright red and green colored plants, my gut telling me to stay away as I started to recognize some of the plants. Leaning down to whisper in Angels ear, I kept a close eye on the plants.

“You smell that right?” She nodded, looking at me curiously. “We need to avoid getting near any of those plants. If they’re anything like the ones on my world, they are very dangerous to be around.” I pointed to a large plant, much bigger than any I had seen during my time on earth. Along the edges were curled spines, and along the surface was a pinkish red, a dip in the middle hardly noticeable. The head of the plant stood on a large green stem that protruded from the earth, three others like it coming from the same point of origin. “It looks like a venus flytrap. There’s a sweet smelling substance that lures in prey, and the edges fold into the center, crushing the target, while caging the space along the edges with its spines.” On cue, a small bird, dropping something landed onto the plant’s surface for the briefest of seconds, making the plant spring to life, its jaws snapping quickly together, causing the bird to screech in surprise, but it was too late, the head of the plant lowered from the weight now on one side, blood dripping from the inside of its caged mouth. Angel looked horrified, taking a step back.

“That’s horrifiying…but I didn’t take you for a botanist, Osprey.” I just shrugged, walking away from the scene, towards a clearing in the opposite direction of the murderous plants. Angel joined me at my side.

“I’m not, I just had a few smaller versions growing up, they helped with the flies during the summer and they looked cool. I just figured if it’s in this wacky forest, it’s bound to be dangerous.”

With nothing more to add to the conversation, we walked further into the forest, and my blood started to run cold as I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I stopped, drawing my sword slowly, the blade singing a quiet metal sound coming out of its sheath. Angel hovered in the air, whispering in my ear.

“What did you see?” Ignoring her question, my eyes darted around to the bushes and tress that could hide potential threats. I didn’t have to look for very long. Coming out of the darkness, several meters away, the bear of my nightmares appeared. Its red eyes bore into mine, its fangs becoming apparent as its maw curled back into a threatening grin. Steadying my blade that had begun to shake, I prepared to shout at it, but Angel hovered into my view, blocking my sight.

“Hey whatever you’re seeing right now…its not real. Calm down.”

My eyes widened and I shoved her to the side, raising my sword to strike as the bear appeared behind her, lifting a paw up to strike. Stepping forward, I swung my blade, hoping to hit the demon bear in the chest with my second strike, only for the delusion to be dispersed and find myself breathing heavily, my blade several inches in the ground. I knelt down, taking a deep breath to calm myself. Once again, Angel came into view, placing a hoof on my sword hand, and the other at my cheek. Her eyes stared deeply into mine and she gave me a light smile, speaking to me in a gentle voice.

“Osprey? Osprey. Focus on me. Focus on my voice, my touch, my eyes. Know that I am real, and remain by your side to protect you. No matter the threat, delusion or otherwise, I will be here, with you, by your side.”

Over the past couple of months living with her and becoming closer, she had found a way to ground me to reality. After explaining more about the delusions I suffer from, she made it a point to try and touch me gently whenever she talked to me, and encouraged me to do the same if I ever felt unsure, as if to confirm her presence wasn’t just another illusion. After being introduced to many different ponies in Canterlot and Ponyville, there were times where a mysterious or familiar pony would appear alongside my other delusions, making it hard for me to know what was real.

Bringing a hand up to cup her cheek, she leaned into it slightly, her stormy eyes never leaving my own, a light smile and blush coming to my face as they filled me with comfort, having stared into them so often.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime, after all, my big, strong, human, what kind of guardian angel would I be if I didn’t save you from yourself?”

Shaking my head at the now giggling mare, I sheathed my blade, following her deeper into the forest.

A while later, we found dry ground near a cliffside, the tall tree cover of the small clearing sheltering us from the rain which for a time, had become heavy, taking a moment to rest. The rest was short lived however, as Angel quickly hid behind a tree, waving a hoof at me to do the same. Following her gaze into the forest, we watched as a wounded manticore stumbled through the forest, scars riddling its body and it took a moment to lick a foreleg, nursing it with great care. Angel looked at me and gave me a questioning look. I pondered this for a second. We hadn’t caught anything during this hunt and while manticores weren’t known to be sentient from the stories we’ve heard, it was still a dangerous predator. Looking back at Angel, still armed to the teeth, I gave her a nod, reaching for my sword as she spread her wings and put weight onto her hind legs.

As if hearing us, the manticore suddenly reared its head up, looking around and getting low to the ground, ready to attack.

Before it could get spooked and run off, I leapt off the ground, running at the creature, putting my faith in my Pegasus companion and hoping the creature would think me too easy of a target to pass up. The beast looked at me, baring its fangs, and raising its tail. Seeing the spikes and remembering a Greek mythology fanfiction I had read, I thought better of it and rolled to the side as a thorn was flung towards me, embedding itself into the ground, confirming my fears. Scrambling to my feet, I prepared to dodge again, but before it could shoot another from its tail, a blur of white, black, and pink flew behind it, severing the tail, causing it to flip around, roaring in pain. Angel grinned, flying just in front of the manticore, evading its claws with ease. With it distracted, I raised my blade and charged, feeling a familiar energy pulse from my weapon. I neared it, ready to strike, but it whirled around to meet me, a claw slamming down to slash me. Leaping to the right and swinging my blade at it, I managed to slash at its forearm, blood spraying from the wound, a visible dark energy also encompassing the wound. The creature roared in pain once more, lifting its paw again, which was now bleeding profusely, thanks to the magic of the blade. This would prove to be the manticore’s final mistake though, as Angel was the true threat.

Landing on the creature’s back, she stabbed the falchion into its backside, sending it deep into the roaring creature, and with a flap of her wings, sent a powerful flying hoof strike into the manticore, sending it to the ground on its side, belly exposed. Seconds later, I took the opportunity and slashed at its neck, cutting deep, while Angel slammed her spear into its eye. The manticore shuddered to a stop, its wailing ceasing after the spear entered its brain, and flinched when she ripped the spear back out, ceasing its movement completely. Panting heavily, I gripped my blade and looked at Angel.

“I-is it dead?” Giving it a nudge of her paw, she nodded at me, flying over to me, circling me.

“Are you hurt at all? I know it shot one of its thorns at you.” Batting her away, I waved at the ground a few feet away, the thorn still there, glinting in the now cleared sky, a large hole in the forest ceiling letting us see the orange sky and a passing cloud.

They weren’t kidding about the spontaneous weather here…

Realizing it was getting close to sunset, I took the hunting knife out of my satchel, looking at my guard.

“It’s getting late, we should just bag him and go…what do I cut and take with us?” Circling the manticore and retrieving her sword, she poked the creature in various places. Before she could speak, a series of howls sounded off from behind her, and as I looked in that direction, my blood ran cold.

“Fuck fuck fuck! Please tell me I’m hallucinating!” I shouted at Angel, pointing in the distance, but she had already whipped around, confirming my fears. She took to the air, flying towards me.

“RUN!” Turning around, I took a step, stopping immediately and grabbing Angel’s tail, bringing her backwards as a large timberwolf leaped down from a branch, right where she had just been moments before. Backing up and looking around the clearing, I saw that we were surrounded. There were at least seven Timberwolves and probably more on the way, all of varying sizes circling us, but they just watched, pacing until a deep howl called out from the darkness of the forest, where a timberwolf emerged, unlike the others.

The newcomer was made of wooden pieces, like the others, but instead of the usual brown and green colors of the smaller wolves, this one was as tall as Luna, with jet black wood and a yellow energy where its eyes should be. Drawing my blade, I took a deep breath as I saw angel flex out her wingblades, preparing to attack, guarding my back. My sword ready, pointed it at the nearest wolf, readying a strike, my wings twitching at the breeze that had started to pick up. A loud laughter erupted around us making my blood run even colder as I realized we had just walked into one of Discord’s traps. Three of the wolves sprung forward, two at angel, one at me, leaping into the air, fangs bared.

With my training from Angel, I felt I was ready, bringing my sword in a controlled arc in front of me, ready to intercept the wolf mid-air, when everything came to a stop. My eyes widening, I started to panic as the familiar sensations washed over me. The growls of the wolves and chirps of the distant birds were nonexistent, my surroundings were awash in a dark haze, and nothing within the clearing, Angel, the wolves, or my body could move.

A familiar figure appeared in a wisp of dark mist on the blade of my sword, grinning.

“Did you miss me?” Discord gave me a light smirk as I screamed internally, knowing my life may as well be forfeit. Straining against the unseen force, I tried to move, only able to finish my step backwards slowly, as if I were moving through molasses, but regaining my balance all the same. Discord raised an eyebrow. “So you’re able to move? Interesting, it seems that insufferable pegasus’s natural harmonious magic is mixing with your own chaos magic...I’ll have to keep an eye on that.” He grinned, now standing upon the fingers that held my blade. “Now my little birdie, while I’m glad you’re enjoying my gifts, I’m afraid none of them are without a price.” He motioned at the obsidian blade. “It’s cursed you see, the runes upon my blade cause misfortune, often by increased bleeding or disease on those you cut into, as you saw with that beast over there.” He looked at me, now pouting. “However, the curse of this great power is that it drains the very life force of it’s wielder, and at the rate you’ve been using it, you’ll be dead within a few more strikes.”

He sighed.

“Since this is a gift is a part of me, and I had promised not to kill you myself with that blasted magic pact, I’m going to have to interfere.” He snapped and the sword suddenly misted out of my hand, reforming into a small broken talon, which floated over to Discord. I hadn’t noticed before, but on his eagle hand, he was missing a section of his digits. Grabbing the talon out the air, he grinned, plopping it onto the broken section, and flexed, all digits working perfectly. “Ah much better, always a nuisance, missing parts of yourself, though I’m sure you’ll understand here soon. I needn’t bother with dirtying my figurative hands when I have such wonderful creatures to do it for me! Good luck to you, I’ll be watching with great interest…” He smirked, raising his lion paw to snap, and I prepared my next move, cursing him with everything I had as I returned my focus back to the outstretched timberwolf.

The sound of snapping was heard and as time roared back to life, I quickly laced my hands together in a large fist and stepped forward, continuing to swing my hands into the jaw of the timberwolf, slamming my makeshift mace into its maw, sending it to the ground in front of me, stunning it. Briefly looking at my hands, a winced as I saw tear marks from its teeth, my hands bleeding. Biting my lip, I quickly lifted my boot up and lunged forward, slamming my foot down as hard as I could onto the top of the wolf’s head, the wood giving away and splintering as I tried to curb stomp the creature. Thankfully, their heads seem rather fragile, and my boot slammed into it with little resistance, ending its life.

Just as I looked to Angel for a weapon, I felt something slam into my side, sending me onto the ground. I instinctively raised my arms up, protecting my face and neck, catching the shoulders of a large timberwolf, pushing it back. It tried leaning down to try and bite me again, its claws digging into my heavy clothing, but a silver flash slashed through its head and the body came down upon me, lifeless. I looked up to see Angel pushing the creature off of me and bite my jacket, hefting me onto my feet. Before I could speak, she was off again, narrowly dodging a strike from the alpha, trying to lead it away from me, facing off against it with a flurry of strikes from her wingblades.

Looking around, I stepped to the side as a new timberwolf entered the fray, leaping at me, going low with its claws. Bracing myself to catch it, my eyes widened instead as a cyan blur bashed into the side of the creature, tackling it to the ground. My jaw hung open as the cyan mare, with a powerful buck, smashed in the timberwolf’s head.

“R-rainbow?” Turning to me, she flashed a grin at me.

“The one and only~” She leaped beside me, snatching the hunting knife off the ground with her mouth, presenting it to me, my eyes lost to her vibrant magenta eyes for a moment. Shaking my head, I snatched it from her, and she pushed me back, lifting herself into the air as a timberwolf jumped into the space between us. Readying myself, Rainbow came down with a kick to the creature’s head, sending it to the side, and rushing over to it. I looked around for another target, but a white blur slammed into the side of my head, bringing us both to the ground, throwing my knife aside.

Breathing deep, I clutched the white Pegasus in my arms and blindly rolled to my side, my wings cracking slightly under the pressure, but just in time, hearing a claw slam down where we had just been. Leaping out of my grasp, Angel took to the air, and I tried to quickly get up but a heavy strike stopped me and sent me flying into a nearby tree, my back slamming into it, and after the shock, I felt my chest and wings erupt in spasm of pain. I screamed in pain, attracting the alpha again, its gaze glaring into my fearful eyes.

“Osprey no!”

I looked down to my chest, my vision coming in and out of focus to see blood pooling onto the forest floor. I coughed, spasming slightly in pain again and looked up to see Rainbow flying towards the alpha as he knocked away Angel. Rainbow was fast, lightly kicking it when she got close enough and bounding away just as fast, but the alpha watched carefully, and seconds later, quick arcs of its black claws sent the cyan mare shrieking in pain, crashing into the ground a few feet from me. Pain coming in waves, I started pulling myself towards her, and I could faintly hear the sounds of Angel giving the black beast hell, but with my vision coming in and out of focus, I had to check on Rainbow Dash before I faded to the darkness. Reaching her, I propped myself above her with one of my arms. She grimaced at the shadow, but looked at me, giving me a weak grin.

“H-hey there…just can’t-agh- keep you out of trouble can we?”

Flinching from a stab of pain, unable to respond, I looked over her body, trying to keep myself from collapsing. Biting my lip, I focused, looking for wounds. She had a claw mark along the length of her side, bleeding slightly, but not deep. One of her forelegs and right wing looked broken, but before I could look her over more, the sound of paws behind me shocked me into a last minute effort; placing myself over Rainbow.

I screamed as I felt claws ripping into my back, and I fell forward, but I did my best to cradle the cyan mare in my arms, keeping the wolf from getting to her. A few more strikes sliced into my back, shredding the jacket I was wearing, and as I began to see dots of black, screaming, the strikes stopped. Hearing a yelp, I glanced a look behind me to see the timberwolf that had been on my back being torn apart by a familiar looking grey blur. Just inside my peripheral, I saw Angel land a staggering blow on the alpha, making it yelp in pain, get to its paws, and limp away, howling.

Feeling that the danger was over, I let pain overtake me as I slumped into the ground, holding Rainbow close to me, who was whispering something I couldn’t hear, her magenta eyes wide. My vision began to fade, and I saw three blurs stand over me, their voices muffled. One white, one yellow, and one grey blur were all I could comprehend before my world went completely black.

Author's Note

As usual, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and while the pattern suggests otherwise, the next chapter will be from Osprey's POV.

Status: I need a break

“Agh! Mother Fucker!”

A sharp jolt of pain woke me from my sleep, making me arc back, and send my eyelids fluttering open. My vision was slowly coming into focus, but I could still only make out colorful blobs. Shaking my head to focus, I looked to my right, where my cracked window let in the fading light of an orange sky, and I could just barely notice the telltale signs of the coming night.

Taking a deep breath to help ease my pain, I shifted in my bed, receiving more painful feedback. Looking myself over and throwing the covers off of me, I noticed that I wasn’t as bad off as I was expecting. There was an assortment of bandages and wraps on my arms and legs, as well as a large bruise on my chest. Putting pressure on my rib cage, I lightly touched my bones, noticing that there was no pain, I sighed in relief, everything seemed in order. Trying to get up, I realized that my main issue was my back. Just by shifting a few muscles, I could feel the pain all over, and my eyes widened as I flexed my wings out, fully expecting them to be shredded.

To my surprise, my wings flared out with ease, but there was something off about them. Instead of the angelic white wings I once had, they were now a bubblegum pink. Taking my right wing into my hands, wondering if it was a prank or from my blood, I licked my thumb and rubbed at one of my feathers, but nothing came out, as if my wings were naturally this way.

I don’t mind pink but…how did this even happen? Am I just seeing shit again?

Hearing muffled footsteps, I was alerted to a new arrival at the door to the bedroom. Standing there was a grey Pegasus decked out in a light grey and black armor. He had white hair and light blue eyes. Upon narrowing my eyes, I could see that he had a small saddlebag that hid a sheathed dagger on his right side.

In my peripherals, I noticed a human sitting on the floor, a white pony with orange hair sitting in his lap, a knife to its throat. Flinching slightly, I looked closer at the two, and the human smiled back at me, giving me a wave but saying nothing as the blade sunk further into the pony’s throat. Not able to stomach the scene, I closed my eyes, looking away and bringing my bandaged hand to my mouth, trying not to throw up.

This can’t be real, that’s not real, just ignore it, don’t throw up…

Before anything else could happen, I heard someone clearing their throat. I opened my eyes to find the previous situation gone without a trace, and to the left of the bed, the grey Pegasus from earlier at my side. His eyes flickered from where I had been staring and my eyes as we continued to be silent. We stayed like this for a while, looking at each other before I realized my delusions were normally a bit more extreme than this.

Well if this is Discord again, he’s really stepped up his game.

Cocking my head to the side, I cleared my throat and spoke to the stoic Pegasus. “Um…Not to offend, but are you real?”

The Pegasus blinked at that, likely not knowing what to say. Before I make up my mind on whether I should ignore his presence or not, I felt a sudden gust of air, making me wince, closing my eyes briefly and then saw him hovering in front of my face, his wings flapping with little effort, his eyes looking at me curiously. Then he reached out and poked my nose. I scrunched up my face at this, and he nodded, landing on the bed with me.

“I certainly like to think so, Mr. Osprey.”

His voice was deep, yet scratchy. I narrowed my eyes at him. I rarely got visitors outside of the girls and an adorable orange Pegasus. Looking him over again, I took the armor he was wearing into account before speaking to this grey stranger.

“Are you some kind of guard? I know I haven’t seen you around town before. Where’s Angel?”

He looked confused. I rolled my eyes.

“White Pegasus mare, pink hair, grey eyes, sometimes wears armor, is with me 24/7…ring a bell?”

“Do you mean Divine Intervention?”

I scowled at that name. “I refuse to call her that, now please start telling me what’s going on, and why you’re in my house.”

He gave a light smile and began to dig inside of his saddlebag for something. I flinched slightly, thinking he was reaching for his ‘hidden’ dagger I had noticed earlier, but started to relax as he pulled out a scroll instead, looking over its contents briefly before tucking it back in his bag, bringing his attention back to me.

“You certainly have friends in high places, Mr. Osprey. I have been cleared to answer any, and all, of your questions to the best of my ability.” He began to stretch out on my bed, one eye still trained on me, but saying nothing, leaving me with more questions. Shaking my head, I folded my arms, wincing slightly as I received another arc of pain. Noticing my silence, he extended his wings, one of them covering my legs. I could see that his grey wings were better taken care of than Angel’s, no broken feathers, dirt, or pieces of cloud to be seen, but there were small scars around the base of his right wing. Sitting back on his haunches and curling his white tail in front of him, he spoke, puffing out his chest slightly.

“I am Knight Steelwing Flex, a fellow comrade of…Angel’s. I was sent here ahead of my team to help nurse you back to health.” I tapped a finger on my bicep, wondering if I should be concerned. Here I was, injured and in bed, but Angel was nowhere to be found or heard. It was rare for her to leave me alone to even hang out with the girls, she was akin to a helicopter mom watching her child walk for the first time.

“Okay…nice to meet you I suppose, but you didn’t answer my question. Where is Angel? Is she hurt?”

He shook his head.

“No, she’s just fine. From what I understand, you were brought here by the element of kindness and Knight Intervention-er, Angel, after coming in contact with a dangerous timberwolf Alpha, we have codenamed Charcoal, ending up severely injured.” He picked up a blue feather from underneath my leg I hadn’t noticed before. “The report I received also stated that you held onto and attempted to protect the element of loyalty, refusing to let her go, even in your unconscious state.” He gave me a small smirk. “When I arrived here an hour ago, the two of you were sleeping, all cuddled up. It was rather adorable, especially with those pink wings of yours.”

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to speak, but a door slamming open made me flinch, and Steelwing looked to the bedroom door, his wings slowly raising in anticipation. A moment later, Rainbow Dash appeared in the doorway, her wings bandaged to her body, and a bag of something in her mouth. She grinned, walking over to the bed and dropping the bag on the covers, her eyes looking at me curiously.

“So, you’re finally awake huh? It’s about time you big-” Steelwing put a hoof to her mouth, cutting her off.

“I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about, but first things first.” He looked at me, backing up a little. “I need you to lay down on your stomach so I can check the wounds on your back. I can imagine that you’re in a bit of pain right now, correct?” I nodded, rolling over, and sucking in air as more pain registered from my body. Cradling a pillow, I looked to the side, seeing Rainbow looking at my back, her face scrunched up slightly.

“Um…is it bad?” I asked, then yelping in pain as I felt Steelwing start unpeeling the bandages on my back. Rainbow looked away before coming closer to me, her head filling most of my vision.

“Its…uh, not pretty back there.”

“Far from the worst I’ve seen, though your wings have completely healed, albeit a few crooked and broken primaries. The cuts back here are deep, but you should be fine in a few days.” I could hear him rustling around in his saddlebags. “Do your best to hold still, I’m going to start picking out some of these branches lodged in your skin.” When he said that, I gripped my pillow a little tighter and Rainbow looked over at me, clearing her throat.

“Say, what were ya doin in the forest anyway? You know that place is like super dangerous right?” I bit my lip, trying to ignore my back pain.

“Well, you remember how I told you girls that I need to eat protein to survive?” She nodded. “Well, Angel and I decided that we’d start our hunting trips today or…yesterday? I thought we were prepared, and since we couldn’t find Flutters or the witch doctor, we kinda just went in. There were these weird plants, funny lookin squirrels, we killed a manticore-”

“YOU DID WHAT?!” Rainbow shouted at me, putting her forelegs on my face, as if she couldn’t believe what I just said. Steelwing ripped out another piece of wood out of my back, getting another yelp of pain out of me. Shaking my head out of her grasp, I used one of my arms to shove her away and turned to glare at the grey Pegasus behind me. He simply shrugged and continued what he was doing. I looked back at Rainbow, excitement in her eyes.

“…he’s gonna rip out my damn spine next if you yell like that again.”

“Yeah yeah, but there’s no way you took down a manticore, those things are huge!”

I rolled my eyes before continuing.

“Well obviously Angel helped, and my sword did a lot of damage to it. It almost got me with one of those thorns tho.” I looked at her, remembering the timberwolf attack. “Then we got attacked, but you already know that…why the hell were you there anyway?”

The cyan mare gave me a sheepish look, lightly blushing, rubbing the back of her neck with a foreleg.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, that is not natural.

“Well…I was actually looking for you, but I saw ya walking into the forest with your bodyguard. You didn’t hear me yelling at you, so I flew over the forest but couldn’t see you anymore! After a while I got tired of trying to find you, so I took a quick nap on a cloud. I was having this great dream of Soarin and Spitfire but I heard screaming, and sure enough, there you were! I saw you were surrounded so I swooped in to save the day!” She growled, narrowing her eyes. “That big black one was tough though, ima kick his flank all over the forest if I see him again.” Steelwing chuckled lightly, and I could feel a cold substance being rubbed into the cuts on my back.

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that after tonight.”

Rainbow and I looked back at him in confusion.

“How so?”

“Whaddya mean?”

Before he could speak, a yellow blur flew into the room, and a pair of blue eyes were all I could see.

“Ohmygoshyou’reawakeandI’msosorrythatyoucouldn’tfindmepoorangelbunnywassickandIwaswithzecorafindingmedicineandthenyourwolfranoffandtherewasfightingandsomuchbloodandI-” A grey hoof stopped her tirade and Rainbow dragged her back to the ground, but Fluttershy continued to look at me with concern. I smiled lightly, shaking my head.

“Flutters, take a breath, sheesh, I’m okay now.” I looked at Steelwing. “I’m okay…right?” He nodded, but grimaced slightly, looking at his wings, his tips were stained with blood.

“You’ll make a full recovery, but something about that chaos magic is making you bleed a lot more than normal. I managed to close your wounds when I first got here. If you were a pony, you’d still be unconscious for sure, and we’d need a blood transfusion immediately. Though I don’t advise walking around just yet.”

I turned back to the worried yellow mare.

“See? All good.” I took another deep breath, thinking about her tangent before speaking once more.

“Alright so let’s slow down here, you said something about my wolf? I haven’t even seen her since we left Canterlot all those months ago, I figured she went back to the wild.” Fluttershy smiled lightly before shaking her head in response.

“She’s actually been following you around during the day, making sure you stay out of trouble.” I looked around, and sure enough, there was no wolf to be seen in the room with us.

“How do you know that? She’s rather big so I think I would have noticed her by-” I was interrupted by a sight that should only have existed in my nightmares. In the shadows of my closet, a familiar grey wolf stalked out from its depths, her glowing amber eyes staring deeply into my eyes. Her sudden presence was joined with a low growl that seemed to echo throughout the room, making me shiver in apprehension. The room still silent, and all eyes watched as she leapt up onto the bed with me, laying down next to me, her muzzle a breath away from my own.

“Uh…well hey there wolfie, haven’t seen you in a while…life been good?” Her gaze showed no emotion, only continuing to look into my own as if to say ‘Really?’
I chuckled nervously, looking over at Fluttershy. “So…you’re already acquainted with my companion here?”

Surprisingly, Fluttershy just giggled, sidling up to the wolf, nuzzling her, and in turn, received a nuzzle back, giving the yellow pegasus a look of content.

“That’s right! She’s been so helpful! She comes to sleep with me every night and helps keep my animal friends from getting too rowdy around dinnertime.” She then glared at me, her friendly demeanor disappearing instantaneously. “You know, you should really spend more time with her. She’s been so lonely ever since the two of you came here and you haven’t even looked for her until now.” I gaped at Fluttershy, giving the wolf a quick glance.

“D-did she tell you that?” Fluttershy nodded.

“I know you’ve explained that Humans on your world are the only sentient creatures there, but your wolf is capable of understanding us. Just because she can’t talk doesn’t mean she doesn’t have feelings.” I gave another glance at the wolf, who was looking elsewhere, her head resting on her massive paws.

“Um Fluttershy, I know your special talent is talking to animals, but I hate to break it to you, I don’t speak canine. Even if I was remorseful, she wouldn’t understand.” Fluttershy shook her head quickly, taking a step closer to me, her brilliant blue eyes looking deeply into my own.

“Osprey. She can understand you completely. She told me that she wasn’t able to before, back on her world when she first met you, but since you’ve come here, she’s understood everything everypony, you and Discord included, has said.”

Raising my brow at Fluttershy, I looked back at the wolf. Meeting her amber eyes, I slowly raised my hand to her head. She looked at my hand curiously, her fangs slowly becoming more visible, which sent a shiver down my spine as I remembered the last time I attempted to pet her. Clearing my throat, I slowed my advance even more.

“Um…hey there uh sweetie-“ The wolf narrowed her eyes and growled at me, making me flinch back, and in the corner of my eye, I saw Steelwing reaching for his concealed dagger. Fluttershy cleared her throat loudly, then hid behind her mane as everyone’s eyes were on her.

“Eep! Um…well, um Osprey…she doesn’t like being called that…” I sighed, putting my hand back on my chest.

“Well, what should I do? You seem to understand her better than I do.”

“Um…well…maybe you should name her?”

I laughed, but as I looked at the wolf, I noticed her eyes looking at me, a twinkle in her amber orbs. Taking a chance, I raised my hand to try and pet her again.

“Okay…how about…Uh mittens?”
The wolf growled at me. Fluttershy spoke up again.

“She said that she’s not a house cat…”

I nodded, trying to think of a name that would make her pride stay intact.

“Okay…” An idea popped into my head, and I focused on my memories of greek mythology and other works of fiction surrounding them. “How about…Lupa?”

She growled at me, but less aggressively.

“Oh come on! Not even the name of a wolf goddess is good enough for you?”

Rainbow muttered something but was too far away to hear. Fluttershy piped up again.

“Osprey…think about this. Names should be given with adoration in mind.” She gently took my head in her hooves and positioned me to look at the wolf once more, her head next to mine. “Look at her, and I mean really look at her. Find something you admire about her and name her with feeling in your heart. She is your companion, your protector, and most importantly, she could be your friend. She should look forward to you calling her name.” Sighing, I took her words to heart and looked at the grey wolf once more. She was much larger than any wolf had a right being, close to Princess Luna’s size. But even with her claws, size, and fur, there was always one part about her that I noticed first. Her eyes were a beautiful amber color, reminding me of happy memories of when I would spend hours in the prehistoric section of my favorite museum, looking at fossils and rocks encasing life from millions of years ago. Looking deeper into her eyes, I realized that this wasn’t the same wolf pup who had bitten me in spite in the winter forest of our home, but a creature like me, trying to find meaning in this crazy new life that the mini devil forced onto us.

Third time’s the charm, right?

Raising my hand once more, I smiled lightly.

“Okay…how about Amber? I can’t think of a better name to match those beautiful eyes of yours.” As my hand met the fur on her head, there was no growl, no flinching, or even the slightest baring of her teeth, just her eyes closing as she met my gesture, pushing her head into my hand, her tail moving slightly.

Fluttershy let go of my head, moving to sit next to her pegasus companions.

Scratching Amber behind the ears, I looked at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. “So…anything else I should know about? Like maybe why you were so desperate to follow me, skittles?” The cyan pegasus rolled her eyes at me while the other two pegasi laughed at the nickname.

“Ugh don’t call me thaaaat.” Before she could speak though, Fluttershy spoke up again, surprising me. She normally wasn’t this talkative.

“Um…well, I have a request if-if you don’t mind that is…” I raised a brow at her. She continued. “Well, I-I said you should spend more time with Amber, but um…I know that she’s not the only one who feels neglected by you recently…” Rainbow Dash picked up the slack.

“Yeah! What’s up with that? I thought we were friends? Ya never hang out with any of us anymore. The only one who’s seen you lately is Twilight and that guard who follows you around.” She walked over to me, pointing a hoof at me. “Besides we still need to prank Princess Celestia, remember?” I smiled, but then frowned, once again realizing absence of my favorite winged mare.

“I’m sorry about ignoring y’all like that, I promise to spend some more time with each of you.” I looked to steelwing who was writing on a scroll on the floor, glancing at Amber every few seconds.
“So, is anyone gonna tell me where Angel is?” The grey pegasus looked up from his writing, a small grin on his face.

“Honestly, it’s better you didn’t know.”

The sound of clashing steel rang out loudly outside. I looked out of the window but only saw the orange sunset and a field that led to a part of the Everfree. I gave him another look, but he just reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a syringe.

“Now as for you Mr. Osprey, you need to get some more sleep and allow the medicine I administered some time to help you recover. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for you, and lots of walking at that.” He walked over to me, sticking the needle in my arm. I flinched but focused my attention on him.

“What do you mean? And not that I don’t appreciate you taking care of me, but why are you here again? You said something about a whole team of y’all coming, Angel’s missing, and now I’m learning that my day of lounging around is-“ He put his hoof to my mouth.

That’s kind of getting irritating

“Shhh…all in good time Mr. Osprey. I can assure you that Angel is fine…er, well, at least for the moment.” He visiably cringed as if remembering something painful, which didn’t help my nervousness. “She’s outside training with our Vice Commander.” I gave him a curious look, but my vision was fading, probably from the mystery vial he gave me. He continued. “Commander Strong Hoof is rather dissatisfied with her performance in keeping you safe…anyways, Princess Luna will be here to answer more of your que-“ With that last utterance, I fell into the darkness of my sleep.
— —

2 Months ago, at a lake near Sweet Apple Acres…

“Again, again! Throw it again!”

Taking the blue frisbee from the adorable orange filly that was Scootaloo, I looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was stifling her laughter.

“You sure y’all aren’t part dog?” I threw the frisbee as far as I could, watching Scootaloo chase after it, her tiny wings buzzing happily.

“Why do you keep saying that?” The cyan Pegasus asked, putting a hoof to her face. I smiled, inching closer to her.

“Well, y’all certainly love to fetch things for me, chase your tails, and are sluts for my expert belly rubs…” She scoffed at that.

“We are no-eek!” She yelped as I swept her into my arms, placing a hand on her stomach, grinning like a madman. She looked up at me in horror. “N-no y-you wouldn’t…”

“Oh? Scared of a little belly rub?” My hand started a slow circle on her stomach, a brief moment of bliss appearing on her face before she tried her best to fight the inevitable cooing sound that would soon come from her mouth. I chuckled darkly. “Tell me skittles…do you want me to stop?” I began to raise my hand from her, but a set of blue forelegs latched onto my hand, making her glare at me, a light blush on her face. She looked away, her short mane hiding her face as she muttered something. I quirked an eyebrow, leaning into her. “Oh? What was that Ms. Mumbles?” She shot a magenta glare at me before speaking.

“I never told you to stop…” I looked over at my white companion who looked at us with a smirk.

“Five bits Angel, I’m tellin ya, y’all are part dog or something.” Before she could reply, a small weight crashed into us, sending the cyan mare out of my arms and putting me on my back, a grinning orange filly filling my vision.

“Frow if afain!” Her cute voice was muffled by the blue frisbee, making me feel as if I had cavities from her adorableness. Tossing the frisbee aside, I cradled the filly.

“Scooty you are just so friggin cute!” She giggled and Rainbow Dash laughed at the two of us. I looked at the Pegasus, grinning. “You should take notes skittles, she’s bound to get more belly rubs than you.” She scoffed at that, a light blush still apparent on her face.

“Tch, who needs to be cute when you can just be AWeSOME!” She struck a pose. I laughed at that. I whispered in Scootaloo’s ear.

“Do you think I should tell her she just looks adorable? Awesome is so last year-
__ __

Present

A sudden pressure slammed into my stomach, making me instinctively curl up into a sitting position on my bed, waking me from my memories. I cursed as my eyes slammed open, looking around the room, my vision fading in and out before finally settling onto my lap where I was greeted with a familiar, yet horrifying face.

In my lap, in its dark, wooden glory, was the head of the Alpha Timberwolf. Shocked, I continued to stare at its lifeless head before looking at my doorway, where Princess Luna, in dark blue armor, stood proudly, though she didn’t look happy.

Tossing the head off my lap, I tried to get up to embrace my favorite princess, but a blue aura encased my body, rendering me unable to move. Luna’s face looked strained, but she continued to hold me in place.

“It would seem Twilight Sparkle was correct, th-grr-you seem to have quite the resistance to magic.” Without warning, I was flung into the air, and within seconds, I was positioned on the Night Princess’s back, still unable to move. “Now, come along human, Canterlot awaits.” Before she could move, I finally gained control of my mouth.

“Luna! What the hell is going on? I’m so happy to see you but this is ridiculous, I can’t move, that wolf is dead, Angel is missing-“ I could feel more magic sweep over my body, rendering me mute once more.

“SILENCE! Th-erm, you disappoint me, human. Your recklessness as of late can no longer be ignored. Surely you know what’s at stake if you were to perish during your time here.” She looked back at me, glaring deep into my eyes, making me understand that perhaps striding into the Everfree without a better plan was a bad move. “Now, be quiet and think about what you’ve done.” With that last statement, a bright flash erupted from her horn, and moments later, I looked around to see that we were in the throne room of the night court. Before I could see anything else, the effects of teleportation hit me like a bullet train, and I fell off of Luna, curling into a ball as I tried not to throw up, my vision fading in and out, the world suddenly a whirl of bright colors.

“Ah…Right.” Luna muttered above me before I felt another wave of magic pass over me, wiping away most of my discomfort.

Closing my eyes, I reached for the night princess, my hand meeting a comforting furry feeling. Using her to brace myself, I slowly stood on my feet, leaving my eyes closed.

“Lu-urf-Luna I know you’re mad at me but…can we please not do that again?” I opened my eyes, staring into her blue orbs of beauty. “I’d rather be a chew toy for the timberwolves.” She rolled her eyes, looking away.

“Charcoal will bother you no longer. The alpha has met its end by my blade.” She turned to me, scowling once more. “What were you thinking? Going into my ancient homeland with only a pegasus to protect you?” Her eyes narrowed even more. “Know this Osprey, Discord does not play fair, no matter how he may word his lies. You could have…” Her gaze lightened and she looked away, sitting on her haunches. “We-I cannot lose another to that creature. Not again.”

Feeling guilty, remembering her previous human friend, I wrapped my arms around Luna in a tight embrace, getting an adorable squeak out of the dark princess. I waited for her to throw me off, but she stayed still, her armor slightly digging into my bandaged skin.

“Princess…I’m sorry. I-I know that it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, Sparky even warned me against it multiple times, but I need y’all to understand. I need to eat meat. Every day I feel myself getting weaker and weaker. It’s hard to hold a blade or open a door without shaking these days. I’m lucky that Discord’s sword was so light or I would be in the maw of some manticore right now.” My stomach growled as I thought about my missed opportunity of cooking the mythological beast into delicious, peppered jerky. “Besides…with that gift you sent me I figured you supported my desire to hunt?” She looked at me, a look of confusion on her face.

“I have done no such thing. What is this gift you speak of?”

“A bow and three regenerative arrows. They have phoenix feathers.”

She shook her head. “You will have to show me these gifts of yours later.” She released herself from my embrace, standing up and walking towards her throne. “However, bringing you here was not only of my accord. Captain, you may enter.” Hearing a set of doors open, I looked behind me to see a grey mare with what looked like large bat wings walk up beside me, kneeling before Luna. “You may rise. Please escort Osprey to Silent Night. She’ll be expecting his presence.”

“As you wish, my lady.” She rose and looked at me curiously with her golden cat-like eyes. Her hair was a light purple, and adorning her body was a dark blue armor, mirroring Luna’s. A foldable spear laid on her back, but aside from her dark horseshoes, she appeared to have no other weapons. Then she smiled. My eyebrow raised as I got a good look at the set of fangs she had hidden from sight, glistening in the candle-lit lighting of the lunar court. She raised a hoof to me. “A pleasure to finally meet you Osprey, I’ve heard and briefed oh so much about you.”

Not quite trusting the large fangs on the bat pony, I reached out to shake her hoof. “Charmed, um, Captain.” She nodded, then waved at the exit doors. I looked back at Luna, wondering if I could get a quick hug, but she only glared at me in response.

Maybe later then…

The walk around the palace was short, but my batty companion explained that she was Midnight Blossom, a new Captain of Luna’s night guard. She also explained that I would be meeting with the Commander of the Knights of Harmony, who Angel was once associated with. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get more information out of her, because we had arrived at a large dark courtyard, which she explained was one of the training arenas on the palace grounds.

Surrounding the torch-lit courtyard were many stairs which I assumed also made for good seats to watch ponies smack each other around in the arena. It looked kind of like a Greek theater. At the bottom, an assortment of weapons, shields, and armor adorned wooden benches, the objects fitting neatly inside of their respective carvings. Midnight led me to the center of the arena and took a seat on one of the stairs.

I gave her another glance, but after she said nothing, I looked around at the various weapons while I waited for something to happen. Picking up a greatsword, I held it in front of me with both hands, struggling to keep it upright. Giving it a downward swing, I yelped as the momentum and sheer weight of the blade nearly sent me into the ground. Composing myself and putting the sword back, I could hear the bat pony snickering at me. I gave her a glare.

“Don’t you have paperwork to do?” She scoffed at that.

“Hun, you are the cause of most of my paperwork.”

And mine as well

A voice echoed in my head. Grabbing a dagger, I whirled around, looking for the new voice.

Discord, if that’s you, you can fuck right the hell off outta my head.

I heard a light chuckle in response, but this voice was different. It was female, but far from friendly. Continuing to look around, I gave Midnight a fearful glance. She simply waved a hoof and pointed behind me. Whipping around, I was greeted to a dark newcomer who wasn’t there moments ago.

The mare in front of me was the darkest shade of black I had ever seen, wearing a lightly pulsing blue armor, like Luna’s. Matching her dark presence, she had short, dark blue hair, reminiscent of the night sky, but with a bright white stripe that seemed to glow in the darkness of the night. Her tail matched her mane, but it was much longer than I had seen on a pony, and I wondered if it dragged on the ground as she walked.

Her cutie mark, interestingly enough was a white quarter rest note that was surrounded by three grey diamonds. The most unnerving part about this newcomer was the shade of red in her large pony eyes. They seemed to glow in the darkness, sending shivers down my spine as I remembered my waking nightmares.

Holy shit those eyes are scary.

The mare in front of me sat on her haunches and cocked her head to the side, staring at me.

That’s rather rude to say to a pretty mare

My eyes widened as I finally understood that the unicorn was not only reading my thoughts but speaking in my head.

I gave her a sheepish grin, setting the dagger down and rubbing the back of my neck.

I don’t suppose you and Angel are related?

The mare grinned.

Not in the slightest

I shook my head, crossing my arms and clearing my throat.

“I take it that you’re this Silent Night I was told to meet?”

She nodded. I raised a brow.

“I think I understand why you’re named that…but I would like to know why I’m here…Ms. Dark, Silent, and Mysterious.”

She grinned once more, and a dark void suddenly appeared in front of us, and was gone as quickly as it appeared, leaving a wooden crate in its absence.

Open it

I did as she said and was greeted to yet another letter addressed to me, with hay covering the rest of the contents of the crate. Giving her a look, I opened the letter and read it silently.

Osprey the human,

It has come to my attention that you are unable of properly protecting yourself, even with the assistance of my most skilled of knights. To this end, I, and the commanders of my military have agreed that arrangements will be made for you to return to Canterlot to receive survival and combat training from myself, Commander Silent Night, Captain Shining Armor, Captain Midnight Blossom, Knight Steelwing Flex, Princess Twilight, and Princess Luna.

As it is of the upmost importance to ensure your safety for the fate of Equestria and your world, you are to remain in Canterlot until your training is finished. Knight Divine Intervention will be reactivated and released from her current duties until further notice.

Furthermore, in order to curb your reckless actions in the procurement of meat, you will be allowed to visit the Griffin ambassador’s quarters once a day to receive a protein-rich meal. Do not abuse this right, as there is little for you or my ambassadors to partake in until we receive new shipments from the Griffin Empire.

Lastly, in regards to your mental health, you are required to receive therapy from either Princess Luna or Dr. Hypo in the guard barracks once a day.

To your health and the Prosperity of Equis,

Princess Celestia

P.S.

Silent Night and ‘Angel’ have been working hard to create a suit of armor for you to wear in dangerous situations. You will find this armor in the crate before you. I suggest you thank them for keeping your safety in such high regard.

Raising a brow at Silent Night, I waved the letter in front of her face.

“Not that I’m not thankful to receive training or anything, but this was just one time. Sure, I’ve already had some run ins with Timberwolves in Ponyville before but I always came out fine, just with some minor injuries. Angel was doing a great job in my opinion, not sure why she’s being punished…” The dark unicorn showed no emotion, but her voice rang out in my head once more.

Despite the unpopular opinion many have with you being here in Equestria, surely you must understand your purpose in the grand scheme of things. This is the first time you have had any serious damage done to your…person, but we only wish for it to be your last. It only takes the loss of one life, yours, to bring our world into complete disarray, all at the mercy of Discord, a being who feeds on chaotic energy, with little to no interest in morality. Additionally, proper training will do more than prepare you for combat against the various creatures that would do you harm.

She walked around me, as if to inspect my figure.

Also, as a Commander of an elite branch of the royal military, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in you. The history of your kind is impressive. Your companion also speaks highly of your training sessions with her and noted that before you were inflicted with this mental illness of yours, you had aspirations to be a soldier, only to be stopped halfway through your training.

She stopped in front of me, finished with her predatory circle. Her lips curled up into a smile.

Who knows, once your survival deal is completed, you may want to stay here. If our efforts here with you are successful, both in body and mind, I may have a job offer for you.

I shrugged. While I did wish to go home, back to my world, back to my father, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t miss some parts of this place. There were pros and cons to both decisions, as much as I wish there weren’t.

“I guess that’s fair, but I’m still worried about Angel taking all the heat for this.” The commander shook her head, putting a hoof on my leg.

While I believe it is noble of you to stick up for your friend, to the rest of us and the princesses, she has failed in her duties. There was no good reason for the two of you to explore the Everfree on your own. She is an elite guard, not a child. The reason she was placed as your guard was for her innate ability to make good decisions on the fly, but it has been made clear to us that something has affected her reasoning skills, placing you in danger like that. She’s one of my best Knights, and has the makings of a good leader, so there is reason enough to keep her doing what she does best, rather than sit in the dungeons for her negligence. That said, I have noted that the two of you share a close bond, and if your training goes well, she will be back by your side once more, as it would benefit your mental health.

Silent Night backed away, lightly smiling and levitated the crate towards me. Knowing what she wanted me to do, and my curiosity getting the better of me, I set the note down to the side and dug through the hay, pulling out various pieces of armor. With the assistance of the two experienced mares, the armor fit perfectly on my person. A mirror was teleported in front of me, and I had to admit, I looked kind of legit, as if I had walked out of a Dark Souls game.

It was a simple suit of light armor, but the metal was colored a dark blue and black, mirroring the armor of Princess Luna’s night guard. Upon doing a little twirl, saddened that there was no cape, I saw that there was a lunar crest on my back, as if to show that I was affiliated with the princess of the night. There were two empty sword sheaths on my belt, and what seemed to be three small pockets on my right leg for something long and cylindrical. On my left leg, there was a sheath with a hunting knife inside of it, which Silent Night explained was uniform for all of her Knights. She told me I would be receiving my twin blades when I began my training with her, and after enchanting my armor with spells she didn’t explain, she sent me out of the training grounds, with Midnight escorting me to my room.

Walking down the hallways in my new armor, I shivered slightly, the shadows becoming works of nightmarish art in my mind. Glowing green eyes, fleeting objects, and light cackling echoed throughout the halls while I tried to focus on the lightly swaying flanks of the night captain. Upon reaching a set of doors with a familiar Lunar Crest, I looked at Midnight in confusion.

“Uh, aren’t I supposed to go to my room? This is Luna’s.”

She simply smiled, knocking once on the door, giving me a wink, and jumped out of a nearby window, leaving me alone to deal with the unhappy Princess. The door opened with a light hue of blue, and Luna gazed at me, emotionless. I gave her a smile and opened my arms wide.

“Can I get a hug?” She said nothing, walking back inside her room, but leaving the door open. Sighing, I followed, closing the door behind me. Looking around, I took in the sight of the Lunar Princess’s room. It was a large room with a giant bed in the middle, dark curtains pulled aside from the windows to allow the faint light of the moon shine through. There were bookcases that lined the walls, filled with large tombs that I had tried to read but failed. Near the back of the room, there was a dark hallway that led to a bath, that really could be described more as a swimming pool, due to its size.

Looking at Luna, I gave another smile.

“I know you’re mad at me but…I’ve missed you, my friend.” She gave me a glance, but looked away just as quickly, showing her disappointment. Walking towards her balcony, I opened the doors to witness the masterpiece of glowing constellations in the night sky, raising my voice so she would hear me. “You're such a talented artist...your night is truly something to behold Luna. I’m just left breathless every time I see the moon in the sky, unlike that annoying ball of fire that ruins my sleep.”

"Hmph!"

The sudden sound making me flinch, I heard someone muttering dark things next to me. Looking to my right, another balcony was there, and I could see the flash of a multicolored tail retreating into the adjacent room. Luna giggled behind me and I turned to see her smiling, her cyan eyes glinting with mischief.

“I think I can forgive you after what just occurred.”

I bowed slightly, grinning more. “Well, you are my favorite princess, how could I not adore the nights you put so much effort into creating?” The night princess pulled me into an embrace, armor and all.

“I have missed you too, my human friend.” We split apart and I looked at the room, feeling tired.

“So…wanna cuddle?” Luna shook her head, motioning for me to follow her. I did, and she levitated a small box over to me. Grabbing it, I gave her a curious glance before opening it. Inside was a necklace, but unlike any I had ever seen. The string seemed to be made of a delicate silver, and on it was a blue crescent moon which seemed to glow in a familiar blue hue.

“I wanted to give this gift to you...erm...personally.” She levitated it onto my neck, the magic of the necklace sending cool waves of energy over my body. “I have spent many a moon enchanting this, and I believe it will help with your terrors of the waking world. With the loss of your companion, I hope that it will help ground you to the reality you so dearly cherish, my friend.”

Looking at the necklace, I smiled, hugging the lunar princess once more. “Thank you so much Luna…I hope it works. My hallucinations these days only seem to get worse and worse the more I learn about this world.” Escaping my embrace, she smiled at me, pushing me towards the door.

“Yes, I hope my gift will give you peace of mind while you stay here in Equestria. Now, Captain Midnight will escort you to your quarters, I have a moon to lower, and you have a friend waiting for your return.”

Sure enough, once the doors closed behind me, I was greeted by a smirking Midnight Blossom. I ignored her, walking down the hallway until she flew in front of me, leading me to my room. Thanking her upon reaching my door, she gave me a light smile before disappearing into the shadows, making my skin crawl. Instantly, I felt cooling waves of magic wash over my body, making me smile lightly.

She truly is the best Princess

Pushing open my door and closing it behind me, I found myself being tackled to the ground. Groaning in pain, I focused my eyes into a familiar set of stormy orbs. Her lips were turned up in a smirk.

“Looks like you need more training after all.”

Realizing who it was, I smiled, wrapping her in a tight embrace. Despite our armor clinking together and chafing, the warmth and comfort of the pegasus mare made it all worth it.

“Oof- what, did you miss me, you big oaf?”

“Shh…lemme just enjoy this. You're like a teddy bear.”

“You’re such a big baby.”

“You know you love this.”

“Just like you love my flank? You know, you may as well cop a feel before I leave, I certainly won’t tell…”

“Shh you…”

“Uh…Osprey, we have a guest.”

Furrowing my brow, I turned to look at the door, which was now open. Inside the doorway was a pink alicorn, slightly bigger than Twilight, with a collection of yellows, pinks, and purples adorning her mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a crystal heart, blatantly obvious against her bright coat. Her purple eyes seemed to shine, and her lips were forming a wide smile, looking between the two of us. Angel's tail uncoiled from my leg, something I hadn't noticed happen.

“Oh I do like what I see here…”

For some reason, for the first time, I saw Angel blush.

What the hell does that mean?

“Cadie, what are you doing-oh.” A voice from the hallway called out, the voice stopping short as a white unicorn stopped beside her, looking at the three of us with curiosity. From underneath his two-toned blue mane, his eyes finally settled on me, a smirk forming on his muzzle. He then cleared his throat, taking a step closer. “So you’re the human I’ve heard so much about…” The look on his face sent a shiver down my spine, reminding me of my drill instructors from basic whenever someone did something stupid, and they thought up a punishment.

Gulping slightly, I let go of Angel and sat indian style, wondering what these two were about. I looked at Angel, who was still blushing, looking to the side. Grinning, I looked at the pink newcomer.

“Well, she's never done that before...” The mare giggled, a sly smile forming. The stallion beside her rolled his eyes, looking over at Angel.

“Knight Intervention.” Angel seemed to sober up immediately, standing proudly with her chest puffing out a little.

“Captain Armor.”

“I believe your team is waiting on you, perhaps you should be on your way.” His tone made it clear that it wasn't a suggestion.

“Understood.” Without even a glance at me, she left the room, the sound of her hoofsteps fading quickly. I furrowed my brow, looking at the stallion.

"She couldn't have, I dunno, a few more minutes? I haven't been able to talk to her since the attack." He snorted.

"That is hardly any of your concern-" He was interrupted by the pink mare stepping forward, her eyes half lidded, peering into mine.

"Oh I'm sure the two of you will have quite the time together when she gets back...distance makes the heart grow fonder after all..." I scrunched up my nose at the statement, removing a dirty thought that came to mind from her implication.

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but I'm not into ponies like that. She's just a good friend." The pink mare dropped her act, cocking her head in confusion.

"Wait, so you don't find us...attractive?" I shook my head, ignoring a small voice in the back of my mind. Surprisingly enough, she narrowed her eyes, not convinced. Her horn began to glow a bright pink, but before she could say anything else, the stallion cleared his throat.

"Anyways...I believe you're going to be my trainee for the next few weeks. Care to join us for breakfast? Maybe do a little sparring afterwards? If you're anything like the ancient legends say, I definitely want to see how you fight." I looked at my watch, sighing. The sun would be rising soon.

"Pass?" The stallion smirked, and his horn glowed a deep blue. He strained at first, but soon my body was floating off of the floor, unable to move.

"I'm afraid you don't have much choice in the matter, even though you seem to have quite the magical resistance." Before he could move me out of the room however, we were greeted by a familiar voice.

"Captain, Osprey here is supposed to be recovering." The magic gave out, putting me back on the floor while I smiled at my favorite princess, who stood in the doorway wearing the same tired look from earlier. The stallion's eye twitched, and the pink mare spoke up.

"Isn't that more reason for him to join us for breakfast, Auntie?" Luna smiled.

"I believe your interrogation about his love life can wait Cadence, I am no stranger to your antics with newcomers, do not take me for a fool." The pink mare blushed slightly, looking away. Luna then looked at me, walking in the room, giving me a sly wink. "Besides, I believe a proper snuggling is in order." She turned around, and despite my previous claim, I couldn't help but admire the shapely flanks in front of me, her starry tail swishing slightly in the invisible breeze.

"Now leave us, we shall not be disturbed during our rest." The door was shut before anything more could be said, and she turned to me, her cyan eyes locking onto mine expectantly. I couldn't help the smile that continued to grow on my face.

"Have I ever told you that you're my favorite princess?" She smiled at that, tossing her regalia to the floor, and with a quick flash of her horn, I was left in only my boxers, my armor stacked in a corner. Looking up from my declothed self, I raised a brow at Luna, who was curled up on my bed, grinning madly.

"Come, my human friend, let the cuddling commence!"

Author's Note

Doing my best to keep these chapters under 10,000 words, but we'll see how long that lasts.
Next chapter will be from Angel's POV, we won't be seeing Osprey for a while. As for Discord, well...you'll just have to wait and see.
Enjoy!

Enter: The Dragon

The chilled breeze flowing in from the train’s window did little to ease my mind. All I could think about was Osprey. Wether it was the amount of trouble he would get himself into during his stay at the palace, the stress of his training, pranks he would pull on Princess Celestia, his smile after accomplishing such a feat, how happy he would be to eat meat once more, how toned his body would become after his training, how his armor fit just right in all the-

Dear Luna, am I really thinking about that?

Shaking the oncoming lewd thoughts away, I sighed as I looked around the train car from my seat. For the purposes of our trip, the car had been cleared of it’s usual seating arrangements, and only a few small tables lined the walls. On the floor, cushions were littered about, favoring our mixed company.

This mission was to be a combined effort of equestrian, griffon, and feline forces. Our mission was to investigate and detain any significant leadership behind the recent foalnappings of pony and griffin nobles in Las Pegasus. Whatever organization was behind the threat had began to branch out to the griffin empire, causing chaos to ensue amongst the upper echelons of power. Due to the significance of this mission, the Emperor had sent his forces to Celestia, wishing to aid us in our future operations. Looking around, I took inventory of the ones I would be working alongside these next few weeks.

At the front of the room sat the griffons. Out of the group of seven, I only recognized three faces. Sharpbeak was talking to Fire Starter, most likely about the craftsmanship of his blade, holding his falchion out for the red stallion to see. Captain Buck and Lord Thalon were conversing quietly, shooting the occasional glance around the room. Despite his noble rank, age, and influence, he was an operative of this mission. Thalon was a full blown warrior who wielded a large buster sword, made of the thickest and sharpest steel I had ever seen, almost putting Strong Hoof’s weapon to shame.

Continuing my gaze, my eyes settled on the nearby group of solar guards. There were six in the group, all of whom had seen time in various parts of Equestria, however, the only face I recognized was Starlight Breaker, a pegasus guard who served with the knights from time to time.

Locking eyes with him, I gave a light smile before looking to the next group, laying in the shadows of the car, the six lunar guards. It was a little past noon, so they were catching up on rest they had missed out on due to our morning briefing before our departure. I didn’t know much about them, only that the lead of their guard was a bat pony by the name of Lunar Shackle. He was notorious amongst the night guard for using a chain and blade combo when entering combat, earning the simplistic nickname of ‘chain’ amongst his peers.

Settling my eyes on the last group, i narrowed my eyes on the small group of knights. There were only five of us on this mission, and my eyesore of the day was happily his greatsword, talking to one of my seniors, keeping a narrowed eye on my corner of the train. Unfortunately for me, he had been granted full authority of this mission, making him commander of the headquarters we would be establishing with the guard in Las Pegasus. I glared at him, still feeling the soreness in my wings from our most recent sparring match outside of the Everfree forest, where he hounded me about honor, service, and my lack of either as well as my failure to protect my charge. It had taken everything in my power to dodge, block, and fly away from his blurring strikes of his greatsword and his earth pony magic. He had been so brutal in his punishment that he had broken one of my wingblades, leaving me with only one for this mission. On my side, just under my left wing was my sheathed falchion. I would have to become more acquainted with this souvenir until we returned and my wingblade was repaired, re-enchanted, and ready to serve.

Looking past my settled wing, my mood lightened as a particular dark green unicorn slept soundly beside me. Shining Leaf, codenamed X-Ray, was one of my favorite knights to work alongside, with Steelwing and Fire Starter as close seconds. He and I had joined the knights at the same time, making fond memories together during our years of service. He was extremely talented with nature magic and dabbled in something called Eagle’s Watch, a grandmaster observation spell he was trying to perfect before he retired.

Looking to my other side sat the V.I.P of the mission, a mysterious feline mercenary that went by the name of Tasha. She and I were to be working side by side during this operation, scouting out leads in Las Pegasus she had acquired alongside Commander Silent Night about the shadow organization. I had a hard time trusting her, especially after learning she was once part of the very organization we were looking to uproot. The majority of our intel we had received was from her, and the entire operation just smelled of deception. My gut told me this was a trap, but when the princess herself gives the briefing, and the commander backs her, there’s not much more to do than follow orders.

I sunk my head back in my hooves, feeling irritated about the situation. I had been reactivated as a knight, scolded by Princess Luna, and placed under Strong Hoof’s command as punishment for being unable to protect Osprey, by the command of Silent Night, who had a disappointed look on her face when I saw her. I knew that it was wrong for us to venture into the forest alone, but I was feeling cocky, and wanted nothing more to see him smile, rather than being cooped up in smallsville, starving himself because of his insatiable desire for protein.

I felt myself thinking more and more about him as time went on. Despite him being a stressful, unpredictable, and dangerous entity to protect all hours of the day, I would be remiss if I didn’t notice how close we had gotten. He was a real sappy, fragile thing, tormented by discord, and even his own mind, but one with a good heart, sharp sarcasm, and a calming demeanor, making no two days feel the same, drawing in the presence of many different ponies.

Thinking about his waking terrors, chaotic pull, and Discord"s taunts, I couldn’t help but want to be by his side, even now, knowing he was under the best protection the world had to offer.

Shaking my head, i froze, realizing I was starting to replicate the human’s tendencies.

Maybe some time away from him is what I need after all. He’s rubbing off on me. I need focus, I need drive, and I need…to get laid. Its been so long…

I looked at Fire Starter, who was still talking to the griffins. I sighed again, remembering I couldn’t get a good rutting in if I tried. The knights had a strict policy on members sleeping with each other, especially while on the job. My saving grace last time was being deactivated and removed from the roster, creating a loophole that I could no longer take advantage of.

Yet another thought of Osprey popped into my head, and of the recent interaction with Princess Cadence, who had made me question a few things about our friendship. I felt her magic digging into the depths of my mind that day, and even now, surfacing feelings and thoughts I would rather not explore.

Before I could think more on my internal struggles, the sound of gear being assembled made me look out of the window. Sure enough, we were close, and it was time to prepare for our departure. With the cloud city coming into view, and the foreboding forest beyond it, I started assembling my gear, focusing on my current mission, thoughts of the human fading into the darkness of my mind.

— —

"As displeased as I am with you, Knight, Star was very insistent on you leading the investigation in Las Pegasus with Lord Thalon." Strong Hoof's glare intensified. "Tasha is important to the success of this mission, I hope for your sake, you do a better job of protecting her than you did the human." I flinched inwardly but maintained my bearing, refusing to give the bull-headed commander the satisfaction of getting under my skin again. He began to walk away, starting towards the guard outpost on the outskirts of the city with the remainders of our joint force, preparing to establish a camp deep in the forest where reports of the shadow organization had been seen. He looked over his shoulder, giving me one more meaningful glare. "You have two weeks. Come back with intel, and the cat, unharmed, or I'll cut you down myself." With that, the group started off with a brisk pace, following the now galloping commander, drawing the looks of the occasional passerby.

Tasha, standing beside me, put a hand on my back. "Does he always threaten your life, my pretty little mare?" She traced a finger down my spine, giving me chills. Shooing her paw away with a wing, I ignored her comment and looked at my squad. With me were Lord Thalon, Sharpbeak, Starlight Breaker, Tasha, and Hawksy. Hawksy was one of my senior knights, having joined long before me, and as such, I had never been granted the opportunity of learning his actual name. He was a Sunflower yellow pegasus with blue eyes, his mane and tail a dirty blonde, both cut short. Since we were in a cloud city, it was necessary to have the winged members of our force on this mission, so if we ever had to retreat to the main camp with Strong Hoof, or do aerial reconnaissance, all bases would be covered.

Motioning them all over, we gathered around a table at a nearby bakery, the griffons of our party effectively scaring away curious glances. I looked at Thalon, who was joining me to follow up on intel and resources he had in the city he visited so often. As such, our temporary base of operations would be his estate if the need should arrive, in the casino district, where we would be spending the majority of our time. This would be the first time I would be working side by side with him, so I was admittedly a little nervous about being in control of someone so high on the nobility spectrum. As if noticing my apprehension, he gave me a light smile, which was uncharacteristic of a griffin. Despite that, I took a deep breath, taking it as a sign.

"Alright, so here's the deal. The best use of our time here would be to split up. In the military, pairing up with another species is no big deal, but as I'm sure you all know, there's bad blood between Griffins and pegasi, so doing so here would draw in unnecessary attention." Thalon nodded, and Sharpbeak rolled his eyes at me.

"I wouldn't want to work with prey anyway, you'll just slow us d-ow!" Sharpbeak started, but was smacked upside the head by Thalon, receiving a dirty look from the older griffin. Chiding done, he looked to me.

"As you say, Guardian. I have an informant here that should be able to shed some light on this situation, but he is rather wary of his own kind. It will take a few days to track him down, but it will be done." I nodded at Thalon, thankful he understood I wasn't trying to be supremacist.

"Thank you. As there are only two leads we'll be checking on, I'll be leaving the two of you to your own devices. As for the rest of us..." I looked at the two pegasi. "Breaker, Hawksy, you'll be tailing a leader of the local mafia."

Starlight Breaker put a hoof to his muzzle before speaking. "You're talking about Short Straw right?" Hawksy smacked him with a wing, while I sighed in irritation.

"Breaker, I know you're still getting used to this whole espionage thing, but if you ever want to join us on the playing field more often, you have got to be more careful about what you say, and where you say it." He muttered an apology, his white hair shielding his light green eyes. I continued. "But yes, you're right. I encourage against working with the private security around here, he's been known to make rather generous donations to authority." The two of them nodded. While Breaker was new to this, he had a lot of enthusiasm and natural talent, so being paired up with an experienced stallion like Hawksy would only ensure his growth. "Everyone has the necessary resources for R&R correct?" They all nodded. "Good. Exfil is in two weeks, meet at Thalon's residence no later than 0600, or we'll assume you've been compromised and leave you behind." More like put the city on lockdown and abort the mission, bringing the wrath of Strong Hoof upon the mafia to find them. They all nodded, and each pairing walked away from the table, not saying a word. I looked at Tasha, who was playing with my hair for the upteenth time today. Batting her paw away, I glared at her. She just smiled back.

"Now that you're all done with your big speech, let's go have some fun!" She said, dragging me along towards the casino district, where we would blend in for a few days, and begin our search for her mercenary brethren, working in the shadows. I was relying on her, as she stated that there were many leads in Las Pegasus, but I felt a sneaking suspicion that this cat was just in it for a good time. After all, she hadn't told me anything, but Silent Night trusted her, and I had little choice but to follow along.

2 weeks later, Outskirts of The undiscovered west

“I can’t believe we wasted all of that time in Las Pegasus so you could just gamble! This is ridiculous! I should drop you right now! Celestia knows what good it would do Equestria…” I growled back at the feline riding me, who was covered in golden and colorful jewelry, laughing maniacally. She patted my side, whispering in my ear.

“You could, my precious little mare, but then who would be left to show you the location of the mercenary camp?” She put a paw in my mane, a devious smirk on her face as she played with my strawberry locks. “All this business and no fun? Why a girl’s gotta have fun, babe, and who better to protect me from thieves and swindlers and than you, my faithful Guardian Angel.” I ripped my hair out of her grasp with a hoof, growling slightly. “Come come now, I was told you’re the fun one? All this rushing...Have someone waiting for you back home or something?” She whispered once again in my ear, her paws sliding down my stomach. “Cause I can change that…we could have so much fun together…” Her paw brushed against one of my teats, making my eyes widen, a shock of pleasure shooting through my body in the chilled winter air.

“PAWS. OFF!” I roared out, doing a barrel roll, diving sharply, and pulling into a violent spiral, making her shriek and latch onto my barrel, ending her teasing. Righting myself moments later, I noticed I was getting looks from my squad. Sharpbeak was smirking, Thalon was raising a brow, Hawksy was glaring at me, and Starlight Breaker glided next to me, with a concerned look on his face.

“Hey, um, you alright?” He asked, looking at the two of us. Tasha was quiet, still clinging to me tightly. I smirked, composing myself, knowing full well she wouldn’t try that again. Cats weren't fond of heights.

“Oh I’m just fine, just giving this pussy the ride of her life...” I could hear Sharpbeak chuckling behind me. Breaker just gave me a confused look.

“Well, um, Ma’am, with all due respect, could you like, not, put our informant in danger?” I waved him off with a hoof, pointing to a break in the tree line.

“Calm down Breaker, we’re here, and believe me, I cannot WAIT to set her down.” A heard a light growl of agreement from my hitchhiker. With a few flaps, I lowered myself into the open clearing, my companions landing around me in a protective circle. The forest was silent as we stayed still, our formation unwavering. Under the assumption that we were in good hooves, I sang the challenge phrase, expecting a response from the undergrowth.

“Sweet Caroline.” I stomped my hoof three times in a rhythmic fashion. I had to contain myself from smiling at the memory of an intoxicated Osprey re-enacting a story of his highschool days when he was in band, and his drum major had gave him the cymbals out of desperation one day. The human had given a very passionate performance, and it made for an interesting report later that night.

The forest remained silent for a few more moments before a rustle of bushes echoed the expected response.

“Good times never seemed so good.” The undergrowth opened up, letting X-Ray and one of the Lunar Guards enter the clearing. X-Ray gave me a look. “That is by far, the oddest challenge I have ever heard.”

I smirked. “Would you rather, Sunshine, Sunshine, Lady-“ The green unicorn held a hoof up, shaking his head.

“Point taken, Guardian, let’s just get moving already.”

I nodded, turning back to the feline on my back. “This is the part where you get off of me, Tasha.” I spoke the last part with as much venom as I could muster. To my dismay, she seemed to have recovered from my airborne threat. She caressed my cheek with a paw, kissing the pinched spot gently, then whispering in my ear.

“I think I’d rather get you off, my-“ She was suddenly levitated off of my back, and over by an unamused X-Ray.

“I believe the knight has spoken. The Bull awaits.” She gave me a narrowed gaze, but walked alongside our unicorn escort, finally allowing me to stretch, letting the rest of the group enter before me. Thalon tousled my mane with a claw before walking ahead of me, and I followed after him, a small smile coming across my face.

Our walk to the base was quiet and uneventful, allowing me to witness X-Ray subtlety rearrange the nature around us, making our escort hard to see from any outsiders within the forest. Before long, we were greeted by a makeshift barricade of felled trees and vines, which were pushed aside by our green unicorn with ease, allowing for the sight of green and black tents to be seen from the entrance.

Upon entering the camp, I had to admit that Strong Hoof, code named Bull, did a fine job with making our rather large scale operation well hidden and run. Along the edge of the encampment were guard patrols, each with a different pairing. Griffin with Solar, Lunar with Knight, ect ect. The tents were arranged in a circle, with the command tent mirroring the others to make it difficult for the uninformed to understand our organization. The command tent was the second tent we came across, where Tasha, Thalon, and myself entered, leaving the rest of our party to scatter throughout the camp.

Inside the small tent, sat Bull, greatsword strapped to his back like always, and wearing a camouflaged uniform, much like the rest of the camp. He narrowed his eyes at me, and I nodded to him. He spoke one word.

“Report.”

I sighed, glaring at Tasha, who found an interest in her many jewels adorning her body.

“Waste of time, Short Straw is missing, our leads in Las Pegasus turned up dry, dead, or unwilling, Thalon killed a small group of bandits, and our feline friend was withholding information so she could get her party on.” I pointed a wing at a map that hung from the walls of the tent. I circled a small area, which detailed the location of our camp. Then pointed at a large ravine, circling it in its entirety. “The main camp is expected to be around here, but she refuses to specify where exactly.” I looked at Tasha, who shrugged.

“I’m here to guide you, and your map is hardly detailed enough. Face it, equestrian, without my assistance, you’d be walking into a massacre.”

The earth pony looked at Tasha with distaste in his eyes, then returned to glare at me.

“All that time, and you found nothing?”

“Nothing but dead bodies. Our informant is keeping a very tight lip.” Tasha giggled and Thalon cleared his throat trying to take some of the blame off of me.

“Our team encountered a group of bandits, but they had no relation nor any skill to the group we’re hunting. My connections were useless, they had been paid off by a third party and refused to tell us anything. It appears that something knows were coming, as even my most trusted informant was killed before I could speak to him. ” He sat on his haunches, folding his lion forelimbs over each other. “It would seem we're wasting our time, I believe we should strike immediately.”

Bull nodded at the Griffin Lord. “I agree, I had hoped to uncover the larger operation with these leads Star had gathered…” He glared at me.

Sure, blame this all on me.

“But it appears that I am to be disappointed with my operative once more.” He cracked his neck. “Guardian, you are to take Tasha, and six others to scout the area, attack the compound should you find it, capture the leader, and eliminate all hostiles. They have overstayed their welcome in Equestria.”

I narrowed my eyes. Tasha scoffed. Thalon’s beak was slightly ajar. To his credit, the earth pony had gave his order with confidence, as if it were the best possible option.

Six? Is he trying to get me killed?

“With respect, Bull, if you want me to scout and assault this camp, I’m going to need more than 8 ponies-er operatives. I don't understand how I'm supposed to accomplish so many objectives with so little support. Do you plan to follow us?”

He growled. “You may send a runner, like you are trained to do, should you be incapable of this task. However, you are a Knight, and I expect results, especially after your recent failures. Do not disappoint me. Should I have to come to your aid for anything short of Discord himself, I will personally send you to Tartarus for your worthless performance.” He glared at all three of us, the shock of his ridiculous expectations rendering us silent.

“You are dismissed.”

Snapping out of my shocked state, fury in my very essence, I stormed out of the tent with Tasha and Thalon close behind. I ignored passing patrols and friendly faces while I tried to come up with a plan that wouldn't end in death. Upon reaching an abandoned tent, I entered, giving up on my planning and just trying to understand the suicidal orders I had been given.

“There are forty of us here. What in Celestia’s name am I supposed to do with eight? What is he thinking! This is bullshit!” Looking over at Thalon, I saw a grim look on his face. He didn’t seem bothered by my outburst, but I could see his claws kneading the dirt floor.

“That idiot does not command me. I will have words with your Princess upon our return about his incompetence. Pick your six, Guardian, my warriors and I will fight alongside you. Of our own accord.” With a low squawking sound, he left the tent, presumably to rally his followers. I looked at Tasha, who stared at the entrance of the tent. She was no longer admiring the various jewels that hung from her body.

“You should know, I don’t trust your commander. I haven’t from the start, and I don't think I ever will.” She looked at me, a serious gaze I hadn’t seen from her before. “Star speaks highly of his destructive power, but his arrogance and pride will kill us all.”

Trying to compose myself, I took a deep breath, walking towards the entrance of the tent.

“If you want us to make it through this, and this group is as deadly as you say, I suggest you stop toying with me. I have no more patience for your games. More lives are at stake now, and the blood will be on my hooves, should we fail.”
— —

“…So in other words, we’re going to die.”

“Can it rookie.”

“I agree with Dynamite, Star must be made aware of this. A plan like this is unbecoming of a leader.”

“X-Ray, its far too late for that.”

“Are all ponies this stupid?”

“Sharpbeak, we’ve been over this.”

“We’ve got eyes on a ravine.” Thalon dropped down from the treeline, Tasha in his arms. She dropped down in front of me.

“There’s nothing there, they’ve definitely moved since I was last here.” I pulled out a map, getting everyone to circle around it.

“Okay, when were you here last?”

“A month ago, they couldn’t have gone far, this forest and the mountain range make for an excellent location to hide their base of operations.”

I looked to Starlight Breaker who was joining us on our road to suicide. “Patrols came up with nothing right?” He nodded, looking at Lunar Shackle, who spoke with irritation in his voice.

"My lunar guards used their location magic on patrol, their patrols only found a few travelers who were interrogated before being sent away.”

Tasha shook her head. “Their dogs don’t handle altitude well, their only option is the forest. I just can’t think of where else they could stay concealed from airborne patrols and your surveillance magic.”

I put a hoof to my muzzle in thought, looking at the ravine once more, an idea coming to mind. I turned to X-Ray.

“Can you see through water with your spell?” He shook his head.

“Water has residual magic, just like plants, I have only been successful so far because of my affinity for nature magic. Elemental magic is an entirely different field of study. Why?” I looked at Thalon.

“Did you see any waterfalls near the ravine? On the map there’s a large clearing at the end of this part of the ravine.” He shook his head, but Sharpbeak stepped forward.

“It’s like you say, pony, I saw a waterfall near the end of the eastern sector of the ravine. What does that have to do with anything? Feeling dirty or something?” I smiled, ignoring him, looking at Tasha.

“I don’t think they went very far at all. Tell me, are their dogs skilled at digging through stone?”

“Yes, they’re often used for breaking into banks but-oh.”

I nodded, looking back at Sharpbeak. “Did the waterfall look off at all?” He shrugged. I looked to Thalon who was preparing to take off again. “Don’t get too close, but can you see if the waterfall looks deeper than normal? I think they’re hiding out in a cave behind it.” He gave me a curt nod, flying off, two of his griffin guard with him, along with Lunar Shackle and Starlight Breaker, who brought up the rear. I looked at the map once more, taking a few minutes to think up a plan of attack.

It would be a one-way entry point most likely, leaving few chances for a sneak attack. Guarding such an inconspicuous entrance would be a waste of time, and a smart merc would have their guards close to the goods and main force, likely having the security right inside of the cave. This would have to be an entrance of shock and awe. No matter what we do, they would see us coming, if they haven't already.

“Now, as for-“

“INCOMING!”

"Scatter!"

Grabbing the map and spreading my wings, I looked up to see a large tree hurtling through the air, right towards us. My mind in overdrive, I tensed my muscles, and waited for my moment to jump away. The airborne tree slammed into another tree, splintering off into several different projectiles, cutting off various escape routes, as if it had been planned. I could swear I heard a dark chuckle echo throughout the forest as I sent a gust of wind to the side, sending my body flying backwards, and kicking into a tree moments later, sending myself flying into the ground a few meters away, just barely avoiding two sharp pieces of flying timber. Hitting the ground, I allowed myself to roll twice, getting some extra distance, gritting my teeth as my armor dug into my fur. Crawling behind a nearby bush, and looking up, I saw there were no more projectiles in the air. Sniffing the air, I tried to pick out my team's scent. The only one I picked up was Tasha's, and looking up, I could see her clinging to a tree trunk, several feet off of the ground. She locked eyes with me, not saying a word. The forest was quiet. Waiting another minute to find nothing else happening, I motioned for Tasha to drop down to me. With her feline grace, she did, her paws barely making a sound. Before I could speak, I heard the others call out once more.

"Move!"

"Heads up!"

Looking up, I could see three more projectiles showering down from the tree tops; a rock, and two more shattered trees. Picking myself up, I leaped forward, Tasha right beside me, and we leaped from side to side, tucking and rolling, dodging branches, rocks, and sharpened tree trunks. Whoever was doing this knew exactly where we were and in order to minimize casualties, we were going to have to split up. Wincing from a hit from a fallen branch, I slid behind a tall tree and took a deep breath.

Poking my head out from cover I yelled out, "Pair up! Find the source! Rally in one five!" Not waiting for a response, I felt a familiar sensation in my gut, and leaped forwards, hearing the sound of snapping branches behind me. Flying just a few feet off of the ground, I caught up with Tasha, who was running along a dirt path. I looked back, and saw more rocks raining down from the tree tops, getting closer. My eyes widening, I flapped my wings, aiming backwards, and flung myself into the feline, sending us both rolling to the side as a tree slammed down where we would have been next. Tasha raised a brow, looking at the large tree.

"Thanks."

I ignored her, picking myself up, and taking off into a full gallop. I could hear the sounds of a river, and based off the map, that would mean an open clearing would be in sight. Tasha was right behind me, but before we could reach the edge, a voice called out from the distance, a word that made my blood run cold.

"-RTH DRAGON!"

I stopped short, whipping my head to the left where the voice came from. I looked at Tasha, but she was already running off, her claws out. Not having any better ideas, I followed close behind her, gaining a burst of speed from my wings. Reaching the edge of the tree line, we came across a slow flowing river. Over the sound of the water, I could hear the sounds of battle.

"Tasha hop on!" I leapt in front of her, spreading my wings wide. She straddled my back, smacking my flank. Growling, I took to the air, feeling her claws dig into the chinks of my armor. The added weight was straining, but the sight I witnessed made me forget about it entirely. In the middle of a clearing of shredded trees and demolished rubble, was a large brown dragon, its claws swiping at the air where Sharpbeak and a bat pony were, evading the strikes to the best of their ability. Getting closer, I yelled at Tasha to hold on and I put on a burst of speed, flying behind the dragon, my front hooves aiming for the back of his head. Tasha jumped off, onto the reptile's back, and I flipped forward, slamming my back hooves down, aiming for the top of its head. My hooves connecting, a shock ran through my body, the force of the kick registering through my horseshoes first, shattering parts of them, then running along the back of my legs, back, neck and to the top of my head as I screamed out.

"ARRRAAAGGHHHHH!" The force of the kick sent the dragon's head slamming into the ground, and I could hear a satisfying crunch of the dragon's mouth being slammed shut as the momentum of my kick sent me flipping forward twice more before I righted myself with my wings, and slowed myself into a gentle roll onto the forest floor, stopping against a tree, my armor ringing out a metallic note upon the impact. I gasped for air, my vision still spinning as I tried to focus on the sounds of my team wearing the dragon down.

My vision, finally returned, allowed me to see that the dragon was still recovering from my hit, staggering slightly, but aware enough to bat one of the griffons away, its long spiked tail slamming into the griffin's chest, sending him rolling on the floor. Getting up, I felt that my back shoes were broken, not meant for going blow for blow with giant armored beasts. Flapping my wings, I hovered above the ground, kicking off the shoes, allowing my bare hooves to touch the ground. The sound of hoofsteps made me flinch to the side and look to the trees where X-Ray and Dynamite stopped beside me, watching the scene in disbelief. Shaking my head of the last bits of dizziness, I shoved Dynamite forward.

"GO! Blast him to hell already!" Without looking at me, the red stallion charged into the fray, shooting a bolt of lightning from his horn, the spell hitting the dragon square in the chest, making it stumble backwards. I looked at X-Ray. "Letter. Bull. NOW!" He gave me a quick nod, and I took to the air, looking for Tasha. Staying far enough away to avoid the flying bits of earth and tree the dragon was flinging at all of us, I circled the area, noticing the feline jumping away from the dragon's spiked tail, her daggers drawn. Flying down, I motioned for her to grab onto me, and she latched onto a hoof, letting me take us into the air just as the swinging tail grazed my wingblade, protecting the base of my wing, but sending an uncomfortable vibration through my bones. Flying high, I swung her onto my back, where she hung on as I dived back to the forest where X-Ray was seen last.

Taking cover behind a wall of vines, branches, and tree splinters, X-Ray was healing a downed griffin, Breaker beside him. I landed, flinching as a chunk of earth flew into the wall. "Well? Any response?" The green unicorn's eyes were closed in concentration, but spoke in a strained voice.

"No...Response."

The griffin in his care groaned, finally waving X-Ray off, shaking himself, drawing a blade, and taking to the sky, faltering ever so often. Breaker flew up beside him, steadying the feathered warrior. The unicorn shook his head, narrowing his eyes as they took on a blue glow. He was using Eagle's Watch. I waited patiently, peeking out from the wall to witness more griffins join the fray. Captain Buck, with his jaguar half, dived a well placed kick just above the dragon's eye, flipping over a claw, and diving away unharmed. I looked around more, but there was no sign of Thalon or Shackle. Dynamite was still shooting bolts of lightning at the dragon, but Earth Dragons are more magically resistant than most dragons, especially when on the ground, making full use of their dragonic magic to nullify elemental attacks.

The best course of action would be to call a retreat, and lure the beast deeper into the forest, stunning it, then assaulting him with everything we have, or even better, avoiding it completely. But until Thalon and more of his group returned, I couldn't risk spreading our forces with this dragon to pick off our stragglers. Looking back at X-Ray, I waited a few more moments until he looked at me, the glow absent from his eyes. He didn't look pleased.

"No one has left the camp. Bull is nowhere to be seen. We're not getting any help, that bastard is leaving us to die!" My eyes widened, anger starting to build in my stomach. He continued. "Thalon is on his way, we just need to hold out until he gets here." His eyes narrowed, looking at the scene in front of us. He pulled out a glowing purple vial from his saddlebag, looking to me. "I'm going to try and restrain it with vines. Can you weaken it? I won't be able to overpower him as he is now."

Thinking, I looked for Dynamite and one of the solar unicorns shielding a downed bat pony. I looked back at X-Ray. "Wait for my signal. Keep an eye on Tasha." Not waiting for a response, I took off, soaring over to the bat pony, dragging him closer to the two unicorns. The solar guard threw up a shield around us, a rock shard bouncing off harmlessly. I looked at Dynamite, who was taking deep breaths, a hoof to his head. "Alright, help isn't coming, so I need to know if you can stun that thing with enough lightning for us to get a good hit in." He winced at me, nodding.

"I think I can summon an actual bolt of lightning, I'm just going to need some time to charge it up...and I'm going to be useless afterwards. Are you sure what you're planning will work? Lightning Magic is hardly my specialty." I looked at the solar guard. I think his name was Cider Barrel. "Do you know any lightning magic?" He shook his head, maintaining the shield as he healed the bat pony, Faded Moonlight. He had a gash in his armor, but he looked decent enough aside from a few large bruises. "Alright, then I need you to keep this shield up until his spell is done, and I want you two as close to that bastard as possible. If he gets back up, I need you to shield everyone for a full retreat." I looked to Moonlight. "Do you still have your impacts?" Cracking his neck, he got up, looking at me with amber eyes.

"Yes ma'am, but after what happened to yours-" I raised a hoof, wincing as more debris flew into the shield. "Don't worry about it. I need you to follow right behind me, and I mean RIGHT behind me. I need you to do that scream thing in his ears and put everything you've got into knocking him down. We're going to pin him down for X-Ray. Follow me!" Before he could say anything else, I opened my wings, watching him do the same. I nodded at the unicorns and they let us out, charging their spells. Flying towards the main group, I noticed Shackle and Thalon in the far distance. Straining my tired body, I put on a burst of speed, grabbing Breaker by his armor, helping him out of the way as a burst of hot steam rushed past us, scorching the ground. Following me in the air, circling the dragon from a greater height, I quickly told him the plan, and dived down, letting gravity help speed my descent. The griffons on the ground noticed us, and immediately attacked at once, gaining the dragon's attention. We soared past his head, and Moonlight let out an ear-piecing screech, making the dragon wince away, only to catch Breaker's back hooves slamming into the side of his head, sending it back towards me, with Moonlight shooting straight up, readying to mirror my attack from earlier. My Falchion in my mouth, I slashed the blade against the dragon's eyelid, drawing blood and a deafening roar, turning it's head towards me instinctively. Before it could recover from the head trauma of Breaker's kick, the bat pony streaked down from above, landing a beautiful strike that sent both the dragon and the pony slamming into the ground.

I looked at Dynamite who was right next to the dragon's now downed head, his horn and the ground around him sparking with electricity. He didn't need any further encouragement from me, letting his lightning shoot from his horn, electrifying its head, the current sparking throughout its body, making the dragon writhe in pain on the ground. I looked towards the back of the clearing to see X-Ray throw a vial on the ground, and the area around us cracked and splintered away as large, spiked vines rose from the ground. With the dragon splayed about, suffering from shock, little resistance was offered to the tightly binding spiked ropes, pinning the dragon.

Thalon, Shackle, and two Griffins landed in the clearing, weapons drawn, looking at me. I looked at the dragon who was now trying to struggle against the vines. Dropping my blade I yelled out, "Take it down!" Thalon hoisted his massive blade above his head, taking to the sky, and Shackle uncoiled his chains from his armor, waving it around, striking the dragon from various angles, and chaining down its tail with a final strike. Cider Barrel and Breaker slammed their hooves into the Dragon's front legs, making it take the combined punishment of the group until, in a flash of steel, and a warrior's cry, Thalon slammed his great blade down on the side of the dragon's head, the steel sinking in, making it roar in pain, and eventually, stopped struggling against its bindings. Taking labored breaths, we all waited, Thalon still on the dragon's head, blade poised to strike again. Minutes passed by until X-Ray, panting, sidled up beside me.

"It's...not dead...the spikes had a powerful...venom, so he won't be an issue...for a while." Slumping down, we circled up, recuperating. Out of the fifteen of us, no one had been severely injured, thanks to our two unicorns as Dynamite was still unconscious, recovering from the mental exhaustion of using so many powerful spells at once. Looking at the group, I took a deep breath, standing to my hooves readying myself to give a debrief. I was in no condition to exude confidence, and we were all tired, but there was still a mission to accomplish.

But as I opened my mouth, the sound of clapping made me whip around, and immediately become frozen mid spin. Earth dragons were the least of my problems today, it would seem. Standing before my group, stood a bipedal female fire dragon, still young, only coming up to Celestia's height, wearing a grey cloak, hiding any weapons she may have. Her red scales shimmered in the daylight, and her green eyes shone like the emeralds upon her black crown.

Next to her sat a smirking Strong Hoof, in his full blackened armor, saddlebags bulging with parchment, and his greatsword across his back, menacing as ever, was stained in a crimson liquid. He whistled, looking at the downed earth dragon behind me.

"I must say, I was not expecting that out of you. It would seem I underestimated your strength, even if you did drag those blasted griffins along with you..." He looked at the dragoness beside him. "Sorry about your pal, hun." She huffed, narrowing her eyes at the downed beast.

"He has proven himself to be worthless, falling to the likes of your kind." Strong Hoof rolled his eyes. Before he could speak, my rage surfaced, breaking me out of my trance. I couldn't move my body, but my mouth would do just fine.

"YOU...YOU PLANNED THIS?! I-I should have fucking known. Sending me out with only six ponies on a suicide mission, you celestia-damned traitor! Why I-" A snap rang out in the clearing, and I was unable to do more than keep my eyes open as a small talon came into my vision. With it, came the being of chaos. Discord, floating on his own time, flew on an invisible breeze, putting his paw and talon behind his head, giggling lightly.

"Now now, Angel... if you want to see your precious human again, I suggest you behave. He misses you quite dearly, and it would be a shame to tell the poor boy that you joined his father in the great beyond..." My body stayed frozen in time as he snapped, summoning Hoof's great sword, impaling it in the ground, allowing his miniature body to stand on the pommel, his arms crossed. "Now, let's have a friendly little chat, shall we?"

Author's Note

As expected, Angel will be starring in the next chapter. Warning for the next chapter, it'll be rather dark, if the cliffhanger wasn't enough of a hint.

Enter: Dark Dreams (Warning: Dark, Light Gore)

“Lets talk, shall we?”

Unable to do much more than stare, I continued to try and gain control over my facial features to glare at the draconequus. Standing atop Strong Hoof’s blade, he took the silence as acceptance and began his oncoming monologue.

“I must say, for a pony, you have become quite the thorn in my side as of late. Sure, I expected those overprotective sisters to assign my dear little bird a few guards, or merely protect him themselves, but instead it’s you, a mere pegasus.”

A well-trained pegasus mare, thank you very much.

He grinned, floating over to me, stopping in front of my muzzle to lightly poke my nose. The touch sent a shock through my body, but as I was frozen, my body didn’t react outwardly. To both of our surprise, seconds later, a pink bolt of electricity shot from the spot he poked me, and flew towards discord, the hit landing center mass, and almost comically, his body shook, electrified, and moments later was found charred and smoking. Composing himself by brushing the soot from off of his body, he narrowed his eyes at me, now keeping a distance from me.

“Then again…you are hardly anything but a normal mare, Divine Intervention.” He turned away, floating back to his perch, atop Hoof’s blade, muttering just loudly enough for me to hear. “Just like your mother, blessed by that damnable tree.”

Blessed? Tree? What is he talking about?

As if he were able to hear my internal pondering, he reappeared in front of me, a magnifying glass in his hand, peering into my eyes. Finding something, he tossed the glass aside, crossing his arms, smiling.

“Ah…so even as she lives, you don’t know? Well now, it would seem she continues to surprise me even now, a true shame your dear mother refused my offer…”

Strong Hoof walked beside his impaled blade, clearing his throat. Discord looked at him, rolling his eyes. “Yes, yes, perhaps I should explain…”

Strong Hoof growled. “Lord Discord, I feel as though you are wasting precious time here. Let us cut them down and be done with this already.” He glared at me. “Despite her recent failures, I would be an idiot to not recognize how formidable she is.”

Discord scoffed, waving a claw at me. “Pish posh, my little pony. I wish to play a game with the royals, I am a being of chaos! A mere easy win with no challenge, luck of the draw, or flaws is no win at all.” The earth pony cringed at his wording, but Discord continued. “As much as I wish to put those insufferable sisters in their place, I too, understand the necessity for balance. Long ago, I once ruled as I threaten to, and I must say, chaos, unchallenged, is quite boring. Why, the very reason I started this game was to ensure a proper balance back to this world. These ponies, living their lives in their so called, harmony, leaving conflict to a mere six mares simply irritates my very being.”

The dragoness stepped forward, joining the conversation. “I believe I understand, and though it pains me to do so, I agree.” She looked at me, an unreadable gaze upon her face. “These equestrians are much too complacent. They are too easily satisfied to lead these insignificant lives of comfort and becoming ever more resistant to change. The tides of change wait for no one, pony or otherwise, and they have sat upon their golden throne, ignorant of their true duty as a world power. Despite their desire for harmony, as they put it, they are much too content, unwilling to face the true problems of this world, only limited to the pony lands. Action must be taken, and their ignorance will be their downfall, as they will soon learn.”

Discord clapped, wiping a fake tear from his face. “Well said, my fair dragoness. I suppose to us, having as long as we have, it is easy to see. Their peace is flawed with aspirations for complacency, and even after the unification of their three tribes, they are still at war with even themselves, but do nothing about it.” He then flinched, glaring at someone behind me. “Although It appears that our companion has a point. This particular group is rather troublesome. Given time, they very well may foil your plans of a revolution…”

As if sensing a chance for bloodshed, Strong Hoof hoisted the blade out of the ground, rearing his head to the side for a swing, no doubt ready to cleave me in two. However, upon his strike, the steel was stopped in its deadly arc, only severing a few hairs from my fur coat. Discord, pushing the sword away from my neck, shook his head at my former commander.

“Now, now, your time will come soon enough, calm your bloodlust, after all, you left quite the mess in this forest as it is.” The brown pony considered this, then responded by sheathing his sword. He smirked at me.

“I suppose you're right Lord Discord, those ponies were hardly worth my time. Foals put up more of a fight than those guards did.”

My eyes widened, despite Discord’s magic. This did not go unnoticed, as the creature turned to me, smiling. “Ah forgive me, my dear, it would not do to leave you so out of the loop. Allow me.” He snapped, and in a flash of light, we were teleported to the forest camp, where a horrific sight awaited my eyes. Tents were set ablaze, occasionally exploding into larger fires due to their contents. Various weapons littered the ground, broken, shattered, or untouched. Drying bloodstains littered the camp. In the small clearing, the center of the burning circle of tents was a gruesome pile of lifeless bodies. The smell of the charred and battered remains made me sick to my stomach, and as I looked on, I saw that the wildlife of the forest had begun to converge at the pile, dragging away corpses, or tearing into them where they laid. As I screamed internally, Discord once more floated into my vision. I focused on him, trying to forget about the gruesome sight in front of me.

“Truly, this bland little camp of yours was in need of some decorations. Your pal over there appears to be quite fond of red.” Discord looked at the sight around us once more before suddenly glaring at something behind me, his yellow eyes glowing a light blue briefly before he spoke once more. “Now, as wonderful as it has been talking to you, my lovely fallen angel, I’m afraid you have a role to play, and as such, I must send you on your way. You can thank your leafy companion over there for my brevity. Now, do try and give me a good show, would you? I’m sure my little bird will be quite happy to see you again, in time.” He paused, bringing a talon up to his muzzle in thought before he reached into his ear, pulling out a silver necklace, and placed it around my neck. “A gift from your human, though I believe he is quite the mess without it. But I’m sure you’ll need it more than he does. Never let it be said that I don’t treat my mares fairly. Oh! And do tell Lulu I said hello, I haven’t the time to attend every pony I know~” Winking at me, he snapped his fingers, and with a loud pop, my vision went black.

In this dark void, only whispers of the fallen could be heard. The dark void was endless, devoid of the sun’s embrace. Faces of those who I left behind stared into my very soul.
“Please…please just kill me.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I-i never even got the chance to tell her…that I loved her…”

The voices, the torment, the visions of death, they all play before me. I can’t move. I can’t breathe. I can only watch.

“Please! Why are you doing this?!”

“To arms! Slay the traitor!”

“For the princess!”

With every vision, the guards who I had left behind battled against Strong Hoof, helpless against his blade of destruction cleaving through armor and bone as if it were butter. He swatted aside grown stallions as if they were flies. Spears and swords did nothing to his armor. With his every movement, drops of crimson splattered the ground. With their every breath, a scream sounded, and with each scream that sounded into the night, the guiltier i felt. With tears beginning to flow, I gained control of my body and turned around, hoping to see anything else.

Unable to escape the visions, the scene eventually shifted to a sight of a pile of corpses. It was piled high, and flames raged in the background, illuminating the darkness of the forest. Before it all, sat Strong Hoof. His brown coat was stained in red liquid. His saddlebags were filled with parchment, likely of information to be used against Equestria’s military. His eyes sparkled in the firelight. He was grinning with such an insanity that it sent shivers down my spine, but once more, I was unable to move, fueling my never ending dread. He rose to his hooves, walking towards me, yet his sword was nowhere to be seen.

Upon reaching me, his smile faded, taking on a look of disappointment. He nodded to my side, and able to move my head, I followed his gaze with my eyes. Beside me was…Hawksy. My senior knight. One of my many mentors. I had never gotten to really know the older pegasus, and even after learning the names of most knights I worked with, I didn’t know his true name.

Though now, it was too late. His body was covered in wounds, and his legs had been severed in multiple places like some sort of sick jigsaw puzzle, waiting to be put together, only for those that tried, realize that the pieces don’t fit together like they should. Not being able to stomach the sight, I tried to look away, but I couldn’t move. Even with my muzzle firmly shut, my screams echoed throughout the void, and the voices of the fallen spoke once more, as I continued to look at my battered companion, his wounds growing more and more disturbing.

“Some guardian you are.”

I...never wanted this. I never wanted that name, this life, this career, any of it.

“You knew something was wrong.”

Sure I did, but...but what else was I supposed to do? Ignore orders? Strong Hoof would have cut me down where I stood.

“Why didn’t you say anything to the rest of us?”

I...I just felt so worthless, I was supposed to be a leader! I...needed so desperately to prove myself worthy again...after Osprey got hurt...

“Why didn’t you confront him further?”

I should have. But-

“Because of you, I’ll never see my wife.”

I'm sorry.

“Because of you, I’ll never have a family.”

I'm so sorry.

“Because of you, my child will suffer.”

None of you deserved this.

“You should have died with the rest of us, with honor."

Suddenly, the screaming stopped. My body, moving of its own accord, extended my right wing, popping out my wingblade, its steel glowing white in the darkness of the void.

"Why should you continue to live on, knowing what you do, and having done nothing to stop it?"

I agreed with the voice. You're right. I'm...worthless. I should have done more, and yet I ignored every red flag that traitor waved. My wing moved on its own, slowly edging the blade closer and closer to my neck, to end my suffering, to right my wrongs.

"Yes, that's right. Do something with honor for once in your life. Die among our ranks. Come. We will welcome you, Knight of Equestria! Atone for your sins! Join us!"

The blade just barely reached the end of its journey, and I felt at peace. Everything would be as it should. This nightmare would end. In the end, Osprey would forgive me. I'd be able to join my brethren and apologize for being such an idiot. The princess would have one less failure to reprimand. Yes. This was the right thing to do. I would end my journey here.

“ENOUGH!”

A harsh, but familiar voice rang out, and the voices, the visions, and my pain were no more. My wing dropped and the blade disappeared. I was left alone in the darkness once more. Robbed of my release, I felt angry that I would have to continue my suffering instead of letting it all end. Of course...how could I ever deserve the easy way out?

Yet, something was different. For once, the void was silent. The void was dark, absent of any vision.

“Cease this self pity at once. These are your own thoughts, not the desire of your fallen companions.”

The words were sharp and unforgiving, yet compassionate, reminiscent of the night mistress I once served under. Stars, small specks of yellow, white, and blue light, began to fill the darkness of the void, and I could move freely. My body collapsed, and my heart ached as I began to remember what I had seen once more. Warm, wet, stinging tears flowed down my cheeks as I prepared to see the visions once more in this endless cycle i found myself in, knowing that I wouldn't be allowed the mercy of suicide. The night mistress was surely just another trick, to give me hope, only to rip it away again.

“Calm yourself. You have witnessed a great tragedy. Many lives have been lost to the great expanse. Yet you still remain, guardian. You must understand that to take your own life, is to uproot everything they lived to accomplish. This is not your time. You must go on.”

I waited, trying to ignore the disembodied voice, preparing myself for the next vision. Yet, the visions never came, and one by one, the guards who had been slain in the camp walked out from the void, standing amongst the stars, staring at me, their once empty eyes now filled with light. Their bodies flickered with starlight. In their gaze shared they all shared a silent sorrow, and yet, they wore a smile.

“Do not despair, young one. They are lost to the world, and yet, they are with you now, as they will be with you always, among the stars and in your heart.”

Hawksy, no longer in a battered and broken state, stood in front of me. He smiled, moving a hoof to my face to wipe away my tears, yet they threatened to continue as I stared at him.

“I-i don’t even know your real name…” My voice was barely louder than a whisper.

“You will find no answers here, Guardian.”

The voice spoke once more, and still silent, Hawksy motioned for me to follow him. We walked in silence, the stars twinkling in the darkness of the void, and as I passed them, each guard gave me a curt nod or a gentle smile before glowing brightly, leaving a blue star in their wake, floating in the darkness of the abyss.

Soon after seeing the last of the fallen, we arrived at a large pink ball of light, where Hawksy put a comforting hoof on my back, and walked away, disappearing in a vibrant flash of blue flames. In front of me, the pink light began to wash over me, filling me with warmth that I hadn't known I was missing. The voice came once more, a mere whisper in my ear.

“To find the answers you seek, to avenge your fallen, you must escape your own despair. Do not linger among the lost, as you do not belong among them. Understand that your time has not yet come. You are a knight of Equestria. Remember your mission. Remember what you fight for. Remember those you wish to return to.”

With that, I was left alone in the darkness, the voice, stars, and fallen fading away as I started to come to my senses, awakening from my now apparent nightmare. The darkness in front of me began to splinter with a pink light, and I began to feel very cold. Slowly, the cracks grew, and I could hear the sound of stone breaking apart.

With one final crack, the darkness around me shattered, and I was greeted with the sight of the forest, its trees bathed in waves of white snow. Thankfully, the pile of bodies no longer stood in front of me, and I could see lunar guards with torches poking through the remains of our destroyed camp. I blinked a few more times with great effort, realizing that the pieces that fell from my eyes were hard, like stone. Looking down, I saw that my legs, sure enough, were encased in stone.

“Welcome back to the realm of the living, Ma’am.” A voice called out from behind me. Starlight Breaker, wrapped up in a black coat, stepped in front of me, his lime green eyes showing a deep sadness.

“B-breaker…what h-happened?” I managed to stutter out, ignoring the crumbling stone coming off of my body, and the chill of the winter air around us.

The stallion flinched, and looked away. He sucked in a deep breath, then looked me in the eyes once more, his messy white mane covering one of his eyes.

“Discord happened. While he was talking to you, that green unicorn...X-Ray i think, somehow, spoke to me though my mind. We weren’t as frozen as you and the others were, just sluggish. He planned to teleport me as far as he could and told me to report to Luna. After that, he teleported me, but it was to our camp and w-well…”

He looked down. The chilling winter winds picked up speed around us, filling the silence he left with an ominous howling. While it blew, the blue stallion removed his cloak and covered me with it, my body still unable to move completely with stone encasing my lower half. I said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

“I couldn’t move. How could anypony not be frozen in shock when...There just…there was just so much death. Everything was on fire. I-i just couldn’t bring myself to do anything." He took a long breath, composing himself. "Then, you all appeared in the center of camp, and Discord looked right at me.” The stallion shook his head and looked at me. “He didn’t even stop me. He just glared at me. Then I ran and flew as fast as I could to hide, but after a long time of waiting, he never came. So…I just had to come back. I know it was wrong, but I had to find out what happened to you all.” He put a hoof on my leg, still encased in stone. “When I returned, the camp had been burnt down completely. There were no supplies, weapons, orders, potions, teleport circles…it was all gone. But…” He cringed. “The bones were all that was left, I think the animals had eaten everyone who had been left there. Except all of you. Whatever happened after I left, you all had been turned to stone.”

He started chipping away at a part of my body that was still being un-petrified by the mysterious pink light.

“After seeing that, I flew to Canterlot as fast as I could. It took me a few days, but I reached Ponyville, and after recovering for a day there, I made my way to Canterlot. I spoke to Princess Luna, and well…here we are.” He grinned sheepishly. “It…um, took a while to find you. Everything looks the same in the snow.”

I was silent, trying to understand everything that had occurred, yet one thought made its way to the forefront of my mind. Strong Hoof.

“Breaker. Do they know? About...Strong Hoof?” I asked him, my voice still no more than a whisper.

Another voice spoke out from behind me, the very same that had rescued me from my nightmares. “Indeed. However, Knight Intervention, we will discuss that later.” An all too familiar blue alicorn stepped into my view, adorning black armor and was levitating a purple potion in front of her. “Drink this. You have been in stasis for over two months, and you need to recover. Its a miracle you're even still alive.” The cork popped off, and I opened my mouth to allow the liquid inside. Immediately, I felt weak, and my eyelids started to close.

“Rest now, I will speak to you in your dreams.”

—

I opened my eyes to a world full of ornate floating mirrors. Unlike the void from my nightmares, I too, floated in a space full of stars, their gentle glow reassuring me, especially since I could move. A nearby mirror began to float over to me. Unlike the others, the edges were covered with white, pink, and blue feathers. As it got closer, I could see that it was no ordinary mirror.

When I looked at it, I saw a memory, bringing a smile to my face as I recognized the face of Osprey.

“O-okay sparky, lets just take it easy now…”

I giggled from behind Osprey, who had his hands up in front of him, trying to protect himself from a curious Princess Twilight. The two of them had been sitting on her bed, talking about the difference between their respective cultures, and had finally stumbled upon something the human was uncomfortable with.

The purple princess took another step forward towards the retreating human, her quill scribbling furiously against a journal she was levitating in her grasp. Her eyes were looking up and down his body, taking in every detail she could find, yet there was one area that the human had been refusing to show her.

“Oh come on! I promise there’s nothing to worry about, I just want to see the difference!” She growled out at Osprey. He simply narrowed his eyes.

“And how would you go about that? You haven’t even seen a real penis before!!”

The purple mare blushed furiously, but held her ground, edging closer to the human, who was now against the wall, trying to scoot towards the door.

If only I had some popcorn…

“Y-yeah but…I’ve seen them in books! That should be enough t-to note the difference between the-“

“No! Absolutely not! I am not having some purple little virgin poking and playing around with my dingaling just because she can’t get laid. I know your game here sparky, and besides! You already made me draw it for you, that should be enough for your,” He put emphasis on this, “Studies.”

The purple mare turned an adorable shade of red only an innocent could turn. Still, that wasn’t enough to dissuade her.

“I-I am not going t-to play with it! Sure, I will need a sperm sample from you to understand your..." She levitated her journal back, skimming a few pages. "D-deoxyribonucleic acid, so I can compare our biological differences and w-well, to make the process more...comfortable I-I have been reading on how to give a-“

“Oh Hellllll no!"

"BUT CADENCE SAYS THAT ALL STALLIONS LOVE A GOOD BLOW!"
To her credit, the purple mare didn't stutter through that sentence, but when she finished, Osprey paled to a color that couldn't have been healthy, and the mare's eyes widened, her pupils lost in white, as if she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"NOPE!"

With that, the human ripped the door open, smacking a ruffled, but extended wing into the door in the process, then proceeded to go running through the halls screaming ‘nope’ over and over. Meanwhile, a blushing purple princess sighed and looked at me, fading hope in her eyes.

“I don’t suppose you’d, help me with this, would you?” She asked, her eye slightly twitching.

I put a hoof to my muzzle, trying to conceal the smirk that was only growing wider with the plan I was creating. I walked over to her, and started to whisper in her ear.

“Let me tell you a little secret Princess, if you realllly want to get a stallion in the mood, first you need to-“

“So this is your fault?” Osprey asked me, his arms folded, trying to glare me down. The pink mare that he was wearing as a hat was not helping. Especially when said mare was cloaked in camouflage, peering through binoculars at a nearby tree.

“Hehe well, I did give her some advice, but I didn’t think she’d try and strap you down like that…though, did you see her flank in that latex? She’s got some curves…” I sauntered up to him, giving him a lidded gaze, earning a light blush out of him. “Come now, don’t tell me you don’t want to claim that cute little princess. I saw that little tent you were sporting...”

He only rolled his eyes, turning away from me, still unaware of the pink mare on his head…somehow.

“I won’t fuck a pony. It’s just so wrong…”

For some reason, that kind of hurt. I shook it off, tallying it up to being deprived of a good time in over a month of being in Ponyville. It’s not like I had feelings for the human.

Even if you do have beautiful wings.

Before I could say anything else, he went to scratch his head. Still unaware of his new hat, his hand went to his hair, only for his fingers to strike gold between the legs of the pink mare, who moaned slightly, making the human freeze. He looked up, and Pinkie Pie looked down to meet his gaze, her gaze now half lidded.

“Ooh that's good...d-don’t stop now…”

He screamed while grabbing the pink pony and tossing her off his head, then ran back into town, furiously rubbing his fingers on his shirt, as if he could wipe the shame away.

“Fuck no! Nuh uh! I AM Never using this hand again! Why was she up there! How did she even-“ His voice faded into echoes as he sprinted further into town, getting curious looks from the other ponies. Meanwhile, I couldn’t stop laughing, even as I spread my wings, ready to take flight to catch up with my charge. Before I took off, I looked for Pinkie Pie, but mysteriously, the pink mare was gone, and in her absence was a note. It read: ‘Call me!” And was covered in kisses. I shook my head, grinning at his misfortune.

One of these days, Osprey, one of these days…

The scenes shifted between more memories of my time with the human, each memory ending in some embarrassing moment that he created, but the mirror suddenly glowed a dark blue. Then the scene shifted to a memory I remember fondly.

Osprey had finally calmed down, his waking nightmare having been banished by my presence. I looked back at the closet in his room, seeing nothing there. Whatever beast he had seen, there was no trace to be found of it. Just to be sure, hoping to put his mind at ease, should he wake again, I crept out of his embrace, and walked over to the door. I looked inside again, checked underneath the bed, and glanced outside, but saw nothing.

I guess even grown stallions have nightmares...

When I looked back at his sleeping form, he looked strained, as if he was having a bad dream, his calm demeanor from moments ago no more. Turning to his side, he shivered, and whispered one word.

“Angel.”

I cocked my head at this, wondering if he had woken, getting on the bed again. He shifted once more, his body now facing me, but his eyes were still closed. I moved forward, and tapped his nose, receiving no reaction.

“Hmm. Well I hope you enjoy whatever dream you’re having of me, you naughty-eep!” I began to whisper, before his body twitched, and quicker than I could react, his arms closed in around me, pinning me to his chest. His grip was tight at first, but his muscles relaxed slightly when held me close to him seconds later. I breathed lightly, expecting him to wake up again, but he was silent and his head dipped down to nuzzle the top of my head. He sighed in content, and I felt warm, feeling his body heating up against my fur.

I should do this with him more often...he’s so warm, and big…

He shifted again, and one of his wings draped over our sides, adding an extra layer of warmth. His wings twitched, so I wondered once more if he was awake, but his breathing stayed consistent.

I wonder if he has these terrors every night and just doesn't tell me about it? Surely he knows that I'd be happy sleep with him if it made him more comfortable...

I grinned a little at that thought, feeling just a little of what the human was concealing underneath his boxers. It was at 'half mast', as he called it, and I had to admit, for being a different species, it was still a decent length.

Oh Osprey...if only you weren't so...what was that word he used? Xeno...Xenophobic...yes! I could show you such a good time, and those hands of yours...just seeing the way that Pinkie Pie moaned that day...I have to wonder how good you could make a mare feel when you're actually trying.

He shifted again in his sleep, cradling me closer and tighter to his chest, unfortunately bringing my flank away from his nether regions, as if subconsciously expecting me to try something. I pouted a little at this, but his grip on me was firm, and I knew I wouldn't be moving anymore that night.

Now completely unable to move, I banished my thoughts, turning my body to curl up into his chest, getting more comfortable.

“I guess I could get used to this…good night, Osprey.”

—

The memory ended as the mirror faded into nothingness, and i felt myself smile, even as I was greeted once more with the starry expanse of my dreams. A part of me wished to be in the humans embrace again, outside assumptions be damned.

“He is quite cuddly, isn’t he?” A familiar voice spoke out from behind me.

“I suppose you would know better than anypony else, Princess Luna.”

I turned, meeting the smiling alicorn’s gaze.

“Indeed.” She waved a hoof at the stars, and the mirrors began to fade into nothing. She turned towards me, and I saw that her friendly expression faded a little bit. “Shall we?”

I nodded, the happy memories fading away as I began to remember past events. I walked beside her, and we strolled among the stars, our path now becoming more solid, forming a familiar forest around us. Taking a deep breath and allowing my body to become more rigid, I decided to give her my debrief, hoping that I would feel better after speaking my mind.

“Princess, to keep it brief...all leads in Las Pegasus are no more. Our informants were killed before we could reach them. We’ve been betrayed. Strong Hoof was never our ally, and he finally showed his true colors. I don’t know what his goal is, but he sent us on a suicide mission where we took down a mature earth dragon and...” I stopped, a thought occurring to me. “Now that I think about it...the dragon was surprisingly easy to take down, we didn’t lose a single guard to the battle. He didn’t fly, dig into the ground, or even breathe fire…I think he may have been guarding something.” I looked at the princess. “Were you able to look at him? Or the surrounding area?”

The princess shook her head. “We searched the area after Starlight Breaker's tale, but the dragon was gone, and there was a large hole left behind, but nothing inside of it. It seems whatever was there has already been reclaimed.”

I sighed. “Well then I’m sure Breaker has already told you, but when we were recovering, Discord came along and talked to me. He had a bipedal female dragon with him, and she talked about an upcoming revolution of sorts...has anything happened while we were out of commission?”

Once more, she shook her head. “My sister has heard rumors from the east of dragon activity nearing the outposts, but there have been no reports of aggression. I will not be surprised to discover this is something that Discord has...whipped up on his own.” I shook my head, tapping a hoof on the ground.

“That’s just it though. While I’m sure he had some sway in this, from their conversation, it just sounds like this was already planned, before Osprey even came here. It doesn’t seem feasible that Discord would be able to convince the dragons, who we all know, hate his very existence more than we do, on such short notice. And who looked like a dragon lord, no less. Besides…if he was trying to keep this a secret, why would he let us live? Or even let Breaker make it back to you? There has to be something else at work here, some greater picture I'm not seeing.”

Surprisingly, Luna flinched at something I said. “Yes, it would seem unlikely that Discord would gain such loyalty from the dragons…however, we will have to address this at a later date, when you have recovered. As for something else you said…” She placed a hoof on my shoulder, her eyes showing a sadness in her eyes. “Much has happened, and while we were relieved to find you, there is something you must know.”

I felt a twinge of pain from my gut. I would not like what she was about to tell me.

“It would seem that Discord, for reasons only he would know, has taken a liking to you.” She manifested a necklace onto her hoof, the very same that had been put on my neck before i had been turned to stone. “This necklace was a gift to Osprey. I spent many a night enchanting it, and there are very strong protective charms that are placed on those in its presence. You were turned to stone, yes, but with his magic, that very act should have killed you. However, it seems this necklace protected you, and even kept you in stasis as you began to suffer from starvation, dehydration, and even a lack of air.” She put her hoof down, the necklace falling, and a sudden realization came to my mind.

“You…mean to tell me that…” She nodded.

“Others…were not so lucky. Those who were close to you are still alive, but suffering far worse than you are. Everyone else however, was not so lucky.” A lump formed in my throat, but I stuffed it down to ask a question I wasn’t sure I was prepared to hear.

“How many others...?.”

“The mercenary, Tasha, is missing. She was not among the bodies of your camp, nor was she encased in stone with the others. X-Ray is suffering from a magically induced coma, and will likely be unable to use magic when he awakens, due to his magic trying to keep him alive for so long. Dynamite is also in a magical coma, however, it is not as extreme, but he is having difficulties breathing on his own. Shackle and Lord Thalon, having been right next to you are in similar states, suffering, but will be able to make a full recovery if all goes well.”

She stopped there, and I knew the answer, but asked regardless.

“And the rest of my team…?”

“Deceased. From our examinations, the griffons with their lack of magical resistance, the stone killed instantly. The others had suffered from a lack of oxygen.”

I sunk to the floor, unable to bear the weight of the information. Luna sat beside me, placing a hoof on my head as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Let it all out, Guardian. I will stay by your side as long as you need.”

Despite being in the presence of my princess, I couldn’t help myself. I shed my tears as quietly as I could, remembering the faces of the fallen, hoping that the stars above would welcome them into their embrace.

--
The train continued on its course back to Canterlot, and it was all I could do to just focus on the sound of the wheels clicking against the tracks outside the open window, rather than the images and memories haunting my mind. I could finally understand Osprey and his grim outlook on the world, as I too, started to have waking nightmares. It had been three days since we were uncovered from stone in the clearing, and despite Luna’s uncharacteristic sympathy, even allowing me happy, nurturing dreams of my mother, I was still struggling to accept everything that had happened. It was just too much to handle all at once. The death of my team, the time that was lost, the dragon encounters, and Strong Hoof’s betrayal. Really, I should have known better. A suicide mission? Despite the fact that our training as knights focused on survival and protection, even against the most unlikely of odds, we were told to rely upon each other, but also remain skeptical at all times. Despite the rank, we were allowed to refuse any and all idiotic orders given to us that would put lives at risk when there were better options. Yet, I had still gone through with it, trying to prove my worth after failing so miserably to protect Osprey. I had put everyone in danger, all to prove myself to the one that murdered our allies in cold blood and laughed while doing it.

I glared into the snowbound expanse outside of the window.

“Mark my words, if it’s the last thing that I do, I will make you pay for this, Strong Hoof.” I whispered, as if he could hear me. A voice spoke up behind me, making me flinch.

“Little filly, you’re going to have to get much better before you even think about that again.” Turning towards the voice, I looked into the glaring eyes of Scalpel, Luna’s personal medic. Her red eyes bore into mine as I looked her over, like I had many times before. She was a smaller mare who sported a pair of black, leathery, serrated bat wings on her back, matching her black coat, that seemed to suck away all light and fade into any shadow with ease, as if the creator wished her to be unseen until she was needed. Her cutie mark was one of a Scalpel, much like her namesake, with three drops of what I could only assume was blood, dripping from the tip. Unlike our modern medical professionals, often white coated earth ponies with bright manes and happy, pink marks, she was from the darker days of Equestria’s history, over a thousand years old, with training to not only save lives, but also take them just as easily, oaths of mercy be damned, as Luna’s medic had never taken them. She, like many of the night guard, had come out of hiding to serve the night mistress upon her return from the moon. Being an ancient blood sucker, she had a unique set of skills and talents, but still had to avoid the sun’s harsh embrace.

“Honestly, you’re hardly any threat as you are now, broken and weak like that. A foal could take you right now.” She poked me gently, slightly unbalancing me. “Pull your head out of the clouds, you’re in no shape to make such threats, even if that colt needs a good whuppin or two. Now sit back down and let me poke you with sharp things.” Sighing, I did as she said, trying not to look at the vial of greenish liquid she was loading into a syringe.

“Do…I want to know what you’re putting in me now?” I shivered, thinking back to yesterday’s blue concoction which had me over a toilet bowl until I had passed out from exhaustion. If I didn’t know any better, the mare was trying to kill me, rather than put me back on fighting hooves. “I don’t think I have anything left to hurl, unless you want me to choke on my intestines next?” She rolled her eyes, sticking the needle into my hind leg with no warning.

“Oh hush, that was for your own good. Surely you didn’t want to explode from magical buildup? For all the good my mistress’s necklace did, you can’t leave magic untapped like that. You were basically glowing when we cracked you out of that stone. You should be grateful really, I could have made you try and fly it off instead.” I winced at the thought, knowing my wings were still incredibly sore from the fight with the earth dragon. The necklace had put me in complete stasis, and the stone had left me with no way to relax my muscles out of their agitated state they had been in.

Scalpel continued on, ignoring my discomfort, and prodded a few more places on my body. “Now, if you’re done complaining about yourself, I believe that we will be arriving soon. Ready your belongings and let that young stallion waiting outside carry them for you. That potion will cycle through your bloodstream for a while and put a little more pep in your step, but don’t even think about training, or I swear I’ll put you in a coma like those idiots in the other car.” She passed an irritated glare to the train car behind me, where Fire Starter and Shining Leaf were still suffering from magically induced comas. She began to walk away, muttering under her breath. “Damned unicorns…” When she left the train car, I rose to my hooves, shoving my few belongings into my saddlebags, before pausing to stare at the pair of sheathed Falchions that sat next to my bed.

A tear started to form in my eyes as I touched the trio of red, brown, and white feathers that were tied to the hilt of one of the falchions. It had belonged to Sharpbeak, Thalon’s personal bodyguard, who I had worked alongside many times. While he had been arrogant and rude at times, he was a proud griffin soldier who was loyal to a fault and would be missed dearly. I closed my eyes, remembering the times that he and the other griffins had drank until they climbed bartops and sang the silliest folk songs in falsettos, just to make the older griffin noble laugh when he had a bad day from dealing with the politics of Equestria and the Griffin Empire.

I had tried to give the blade to Thalon, but he told me to keep it, as Sharpbeak would want me to have it for saving his life on multiple occasions, even if the younger griffin would never admit it. Looking up, I could almost see him, arms crossed, rolling his eyes at me, pointing out my tears, and complaining about how emotional ponies were. Shaking my head, I placed the harness on, sheathing the blades on each side of my body, comforted by the thought of the griffin accompanying me in spirit. As I reached for my saddlebags, Starlight Breaker walked in and cleared his throat.

“Um, ma’am with all due respect, I’m supposed to carry all of that. You’re supposed to be recovering.” I sighed, looking at him.

“Breaker, how many times do I have to tell you to cut it out with that ma’am garbage? There’s no need for all of that.” Smiling, he puffed out his chest.

“No ma’am, the Knights are all officers of the guard, and as a solar guard, I salute you, always.” Then he saluted, making me groan and wave him off. He continued to smile, and snatched my saddlebags off the ground with ease, piling it onto his own.

Feeling the train coming to a stop, I looked out the window to behold the city of Canterlot, the streets lightly covered in a blanket of snow, the lights of the city illuminating the dark clouds above. Taking me away from the window, Breaker led me through the train until we were greeted by a tired looking Thalon, leaning on his sheathed sword like a cane. It was odd, but the old griffin always walked on his hind legs for some reason. Princess Luna was nowhere to be found. Confused by this, I looked at Scalpel, who was yelling at a nearby nurse to be gentler with moving our unconscious friends with magic. Noticing my confusion, she inclined a wing towards the castle.

“The mistress already left for the castle, I believe that you three have orders to meet in the throne room.” She glared at the nurses. “I’ll join you in a bit, I need to make sure these worthless mares don’t injure those idiots any more.” Nodding to her, we took off towards the palace. It was late and there were few ponies walking the streets, leaving a stale silence between us. Not wanting to disturb the peace, I continued to stay silent until we reached the castle gates, where a pair of night guards joined us, guiding us to the throne room. After a few minutes of walking, Breaker cleared his throat and spoke to me in a hushed tone.

“Ma’am, may I ask you a question?” I offered him an irritated glance.

“Only if you stop with the titles.” He remained silent for a few more minutes. He just stood there, saying nothing more. Knowing that he wouldn’t humor me, I rolled my eyes. “Fine, what is it Breaker?” Stopping right before the set of golden doors, I let Thalon and the guards enter before it was just us in the hallway. He shifted from hoof to hoof, not meeting my eyes.

“I just wanted to know if I could ask about becoming a knight.” I cocked my head to the side in confusion.

“...Why? I'm sure you're aware that we’re handpicked by the princesses themselves, and even then, our jobs are, well…” I cringed at the thought of what happened in the forest. “Suicidal, if I’m being honest. What we do is extremely dangerous, and I really wouldn’t encourage anyone to willingly join us.” He shook his head, sighing.

“Yes ma’am, but after everything that’s happened, I want to help you.” He looked me in the eyes, and I could see the anger in his eyes that betrayed his shy demeanor. “I want to do something that matters. When I’m on orders with you knights I feel like I’m actually making a difference.” He waved a hoof at the empty hallways of the castle. “Walking around these hallways just standing around watching portraits isn’t what I want to do with the rest of my career when I know that our comrades were killed in cold blood, and that the traitor is still roaming alive and free. Please let me join your ranks. I joined the guard to fight and protect ponies, not to be sidelined by six mares every time something happens in Canterlot. I know I can be of use, and I've worked with the knights on multiple occasions already, I have an understanding of how your teams operate, and the missions you take on. I know I can do more with my service, for Equestria, for the princesses, and for you. Please…consider my request.”

Before I could respond, I felt a familiar twinge in my gut. Glancing to the shadows, I saw Silent Night stalk out from the shadows, her face emotionless.

“Well Guardian, what do you think? He certainly seems determined.” Her voice echoed throughout the hallway, despite her lips never parting. Flinching, the stallion hastily threw up a salute for the mare, only to be ignored as her eyes bore into mine. Acknowledging her presence with a nod, I thought it over. Despite some of his naïve comments and actions, he had a point. Starlight Breaker was one of very few solar guards that accompanied the knights on their more large scale missions, and he always came through. Taking the fight with the dragon in mind, he could certainly hold his own in a fight, and he did manage to make it to Canterlot on his own after we had all been stoned. He hadn’t failed my team, despite the tragedy he had left behind.

I nodded at the commander.

“If he wishes it…I would vouch for him. I think he would be a capable knight, he just needs some more training I think. He does well in a fight, but he would struggle with our more tactful missions.” She nodded, walking past us and motioned for him to follow her. Smiling widely, he saluted me with a wing and followed after her. Shaking my head, I began to wonder if I was really doing him a favor with my recommendation.

Inside the torch-lit throne room, Princess Luna sat upon her dais, speaking in a hushed tone to Scalpel, who, to my surprise, had beaten us here. I had to wonder how she did it, as we hadn’t seen her on the way, nor was she able to teleport, being the winged mare that she was. Looking around, I saw that one of the great windows of the room, despite being decorated in murals of legend, was open. Assuming that was the most likely explanation, I looked back at the mare, who was now seated beside Luna, with a look of awe.

She’s quick, even I couldn’t fly here that fast.

Before I could ask about her supposed flight, Silent Night, in her telepathic echo, spoke.

Princess Luna, if I may, I wish to begin so that our tired companions here could go get their much needed rest.

Luna nodded at the dark unicorn, and then at Thalon, who sat in an undignified manner on the floor, his great bastard sword laying to his side. Silent Night looked to the three of us in turn while she spoke, her eyes portraying no emotion.

As we are all aware, there has been a great stir in the balance of the world. Many members of our military have gone rogue or missing, ancient creatures are rising, and there is now the matter of the dragons' sudden appearances within Equestria’s border.

I wanted to ask about the plural insinuation of her statement, but something I had learned long ago was to never, under any circumstances, interrupt the commander’s briefing. She never vocally spoke, and rarely made her thoughts known to others that couldn’t be expressed through her body language, through written briefings, or the disembodied echo she was using now. Long-winded conversations were not her personal preference, likely from spending so much time as Princess Celestia’s go-to agent for assassinations and espionage, long before she was made Commander of the Knights.

In response to this, there are many changes being made to combat this disruption of harmony. First, we will be spreading our military forces. As we stand here, the 23rd Solar are being deployed to Baltimare and Griffonstone, to help reinforce the borders while the dragon’s activity increases. Second, Osprey the human, after completing his final trainings here, will return to Ponyville. From our observations of the area, and having personally reflected on his current combat ability, he should be safest there. In addition to this, Princess Twilight Sparkle has been given a small outfit of guards to help with the increase in Timberwolves.

She paused for a second, and I frowned. There was more to this that the Commander wasn’t saying, and I felt a twinge of unease ripple through me.

Lastly, upon your orders, Princess Luna, I will be taking a leave of absence to investigate the disappearance of Tasha. During this time, and in light of recent events, I have promoted Knight Steelwing Flex to Vice Commander. In my absence-

“I’ll be taking over.”

An all too familiar voice rang out, cutting Silent Night off. To my disappointment, it wasn’t Osprey’s voice, but another who made me flip around, and look on, wide eyed.

Entering the room was a light grey pegasus mare. Still shaking off snow, she wore a white cloak, held together by a silver emblem of the Knights of Harmony, a balance scale with a spear and sword behind it, fastening the cloth together at the neck. As the mare walked closer, I took in more of her features, wondering if I was still dreaming. The mare had golden yellow eyes that seemed to brighten the darkened throne room. Her multi toned pink, yellow, and white hair was french braided, hiding nothing from her heavenly eyes of light. Underneath her cloak, even though I couldn’t see it then, I knew that the mare, under her grey wings, was hiding enchanted silver blades, in decorative blue sheaths on each side of her body, and her cutie mark was a symbol of a cloud that was supported by yellow wings, underneath a white halo, all of which were normally easy to see against her grey coat.

I knew this because the mare who now stood in front of me, smiling a wild grin, was my mother, Seraph Sky.

“Hello, my darling angel child, I’ve missed you.”

--
I was excused shortly after my mother's arrival, who said that we would have to catch up later, as there was much to discuss with Luna, Thalon, and Silent Night.

I walked down the hallways of the living quarters of the palace, and as I walked, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was following me.

The hallways were torch lit, which made many shadows dance in the nighttime breeze, but I had gotten used to that during my service as a knight. The tension in my gut hadn't released ever since I had left the courtyard, where I had given Breaker a few tips and expectations on what the training and approval process would look like for the knights, as Luna had approved of his dedication.

I looked around again, seeing nothing and no pony, only the darkened hallway.
Am I imagining things? I hope I'm not going crazy like Osprey, I don't know if I could take a repeat of my nightmare in the stone...

Shaking myself of the thought, I continued on, looking for the human's bedroom, which had been moved closer to Celestia's quarters for some reason. When I had asked why it had happened, knowing full well of their aversion towards each other, the servant had just shrugged and gone about her business.

I continued to walk through the hallway, and I could feel the breeze of the winter air coming from behind me. There was an unusual scent on the breeze, and I could faintly hear sounds from somewhere, but I couldn't pinpoint their origin.

A light rush of air passed me, and as I turned another corner, and suddenly, I bounced back, running into...

I looked up, seeing nothing.

What in Luna's moon...

Before I could move to investigate this invisible barrier I ran into, a familiar chuckle froze me in place.

"Looks like Sky owes me twenty bits. It hardly took any effort to follow you around, and supposedly, you're never caught unawares. Your mother seems to think the world of you, you know."

The air in front of me appeared to shimmer, and I was greeted with the welcome sight of Osprey.

With a smile on his face, he lowered a hood from his head, and I took in the sight of him.

He was wearing short blue socks, a pair of black cargo shorts with a three diamond emblem above the right pocket, and a white shirt that had a sun crest that was wearing a pair of sunglasses. On his sides, to my surprise, hung my mother's twin blades, one long, and one short, each glowing with a light blue energy. Across his chest, I saw the bowstring of the black bow he had gotten the day before the forest attack. On top of all of this, loosely hung a dark blue cloak with Luna's cutie mark on it. Osprey himself, while carrying a disturbed look in his eyes that flickered away moments later, looked to be glowing with health, and when he uncrossed his arms, I could see his muscles had toned even more, making him look more like Iron Will, the blue confidence seminar minotaur, and less like the sickly skeleton I had left behind.

I smiled, and without saying anything, I leapt at him, my forelegs spread wide. He caught me in his warm embrace, and I heard his wings snap out from under the cloak, wrapping around me. I smirked, turning my head, ready to ask him how he was liking his pretty pink wings, and I was shocked once more. His wings were dark blue, the same color as Luna's. I looked back at him, cocking my head to the side, still embracing him.

"I gotta say...when I came to see you, I wasn't expecting all of...this. Why are your wings blue now? And aren't those blades my mother's? With how possessive as she is, I can't imagine that she just lent them to you."

Osprey rolled his eyes, and shifted me in his arms, beginning to walk down the hallway, presumably to his new quarters.

"You've got questions, and I've got stories, why don't we go someplace a little more comfortable before I get into all the details?"

I curled more into his embrace, flicking his nose with my tail.

"My first day back and you're already trying to take me to bed? My my, Osprey, have you no shame..."

"Shut up Angel."

I smiled. It was good to be home.

Author's Note

It's certainly been a while, and unfortunately for all of you still keeping up with this story, it's because I forgot to press 'publish' :facehoof: anyway...more chapters will come as I have time for them, so in the mean time, I wish y'all the best!

Status: Sleepy

“Oh Mr. Human…” A voice whispered into the dream I was having. It was not the first, and unfortunately, for some time, the voice had been patient, but incredibly persistent, trying to wake me from my sleep.

Dreams, unlike the waking world, were the only place that I felt safe, able to escape the various demons, monsters, ponies, and horrifying images that sent shivers down my spine whenever I saw or even thought too hard about them. When I did, I often accidentally willed them into theoretical existence with just my imagination. Really, some days I just wished I was blind. This condition of mine drove me mad sometimes, having to identify every little thing that I came across and confirm that it matched up with the ideal reality I lived in, on top of what little I knew about this damnable ponyland.

Yet here in my dreams, when I knew I was asleep, no matter what I saw, how I felt about a situation, or the voices I heard, I knew that it was a dream, nothing more, and nothing less, able to be changed by my semi-conscious mind. Back on my world, we called this ‘Lucid Dreaming’. A state of mind where the dreamer understood he or she was in fact dreaming, and was able to control their inner mindings, to a certain extent.

To me, dreams had always been easy to distinguish from reality, despite the waking terrors I faced in the reality that was my life. This was because unlike reality, a dimension where I had no magic, power, or creation, in my own subconscious mind I was my own master. I could do anything, with anyone, anytime I liked, only limited by my own imagination.

This time, I had chosen to lay in an ever-expansive field of grass, all below a night sky filled with constellations of stars from both my home and Equestria’s. No matter what kind of day I had, in my dreams I often returned to this place. Even though I was alone, with nothing but the crackling of a small campfire beside me. And because it was a dream, I could not feel, smell, or taste anything, I felt that I was at peace, rather than going on some crazed adventure, or spending this imaginative time with someone, or somepony, as it wouldn’t be real, and I knew it. Luna had claimed that she was able to dream walk, to be able to enter the dreams of other beings, but up to this point, I hadn’t seen her.

Whether she was lying, avoiding my dreams out of respect, or couldn’t because I was a human, I didn’t think much of it. I enjoyed spending time with the night princess, sure, but this was my dream, something that nothing and no one other than myself was able to tamper with, not even Discord, a being of chaos, and that suited me just fine.

“Mr. Osprey…if you don’t get up, I’ll have to fetch a rather cold bucket of water…”

So maybe it wasn’t entirely true. Whenever someone tried to wake me from my sleep, without fail, I could always hear them. I had to wonder sometimes if I actually slept, because my mind was always running, aware of the outside world around-

“H-HOLY FUCK!”

I screamed out, ruthlessly ripped from my dream by a concussive wave of freezing water.

Blinking rapidly and trying clear my eyes from the wet disturbance, I looked around my room for the one who had so cruelly taken me from my sleep. During my brief search, I saw that Luna was nowhere to be seen, despite having claimed me for ‘cuddle time’ and saving me from whatever pink princess and armor boy wanted to do with me. A quiet giggle earned my attentions, and I stared into the pink eyes of a mare that I knew I had never seen before. As I glared at her, I took in her features, dedicating it to memory so I could find her later and make her life absolutely miserable.

She was a light tan pegasus mare, almost the color of beach sand really, and she was small in comparison to Angel, who stood above most of her pegasus species. Her hair was a mixture of being a dirty blonde mess at the top but otherwise was braided into a tight weave that hung all the way down to the bottom of her stomach as she stood. Oddly enough, she had a few strands of blue hair that offset her bright appearance. Her tail was the same, kind of messy, and then tightly bound in the same weave, dragging slightly on the ground. Her cutie mark was a bright sun that was wearing…sunglasses or sleepwear of some sort. Not unlike most ponies I saw in the castle, she wore a light set of golden armor with a sun engraving, which must have marked her as a solar guard. Even weirder…she had a golden magical aura outlining her body, not unlike the variety of colors I see on other ponies here, but there was only one being I knew that had a golden one...

I narrowed my eyes at her, baring my teeth a little, hoping to impart some feral intimidation so that she would just leave, too scared of the big, scary, human. Unfortunately, she just smiled.

“Oh my! That’s quite the lovely smile you have, Mr. Human…”

Her voice sounded oddly familiar…too close to an irritating sun princess I knew. I shook my head at her and tried to climb back into bed, curling up with my now soaked bedsheets and blanket. Sure, it was uncomfortable, but I’d dealt with worse before.

However, the new pony was having none of it, as the sheets and blanket were ripped off me, and suddenly bright sunlight shone through my window, right in my face. I glared back at the bright star in defiance for a moment and muttered under my breath.

“Oh, fuck off sunshine. Seriously, long live the winter months, where all your days are cloudy and grey. There’s just no need for this level of brightness. Right in my eyes no less! Every freakin morning, without fail, ever since I got here! I swear Celestia does this shit on purpose. Take notes from your sister already and dim down the daily lightshow.” I bit back another stanza of my morning monologue, remembering I wasn’t alone.

As I looked back at the pony, it seemed that she heard me, and to my surprise, she looked sad, as if my comment personally offended her. My eyes widened, and I knew that I recognized those pink eyes, and even though the body didn’t match, I knew, deep down, that this mare had to be Celestia. It made no logical sense, but this was ponyland. Besides, no common pony would take such offense to the ramblings of someone who just woke up. Heck, most of them would probably agree. Besides, she hadn’t even bothered to conceal her voice, not truly, and that golden aura of hers…I would doubt myself more, but after all this time in ponyland, and spending every single day of my life inspecting every little detail I’ve seen in the waking world, I’d learned to trust my instincts more.

I held my tongue though; after all, this was a curious thing that she was doing. Before me was the mare that seemed to hate every fiber of my being, and I in turn, had grown to dislike her. Every interaction we had was filled with glares and cold statements, which was understandable. Even though Luna was friendly with me and considered me a close friend, humans in their past had ravaged this world, warring against the sisters alongside Discord. Sure, I was not the same as them, but to her, I was a horrible memory of their darker past.

Narrowing my eyes again, I brought myself out of my thoughts. Forget sleeping in, at this point I just wanted answers. Not just why she was trying to hide her identity from me, but also why she thought it was necessary to wake me from my sleep. Judging from the daylight, I rationalized that I couldn’t have slept for more than a few hours, which was more than well-deserved after everything that had happened. Sure, when you got down to the nitty gritty details, what had happened was really my own fault, but still, I had been through a lot.

“Why are you waking me anyway? I’m assuming you’re a guard, right?” She seemed ready to respond but I cut her off. “Well, for your information, I’m injured! I should be sleeping! By the order of Princess Luna no less!” All true, Luna had even chased off the other royals so I could sleep, and assuming this was in fact Celestia, she would know that already. Yet, her sad expression switched to one of mischief.

“Well, with every respect I’m sure you deserve, Mr. Osprey, you have been sleeping, unbothered might I add, for the past two days. I believe that is more than enough sleep for anyone, injured or not, don’t you? Even the humans of the old days didn’t sleep as long as you have!” My mouth gaped a little, but she continued, smiling sweetly at me, sitting on her haunches, and puffed out her chest, taking a more professional stance, like the guards in the hallways. “As for your first question, I am Knight Sunny Daze, Mr. Osprey, and I have been assigned to wake you up every morning and escort you to your daily duties! By the Princesses’ decree of course!”

I closed my mouth and rubbed my temples. It was going to sound repetitive, but I just had to hear it again for sanity’s sake.

“So, you mean to tell me…I’ve been asleep for two days straight, with no one waking me, without food or water, or even a bathroom break, and for some ungodly reason…you’re the guard that’s been assigned to me as my alarm clock?” She nodded, and her tail wagged slightly, as if she were a dog trying to contain her happiness over something as trivial as being someone’s alarm clock.

Is she just bored or…?

I looked at my watch. It was half past ten, and I only wanted to climb back into my bed and return to the sleep I had been ripped from. However, before I could voice such a comment, I felt something soft brush against my boxers, and by extension, my privates, which sent a shiver of pleasure through my body.

“Woah…it’s so much bigger than I expected…” The mare in front of me whispered, who was now hovering over my erect member, with one of her wings brushing against it slightly. I raised an eyebrow as I stared downwards. It would appear that boxers were part of my new hallucinations, because I was completely nude, at the mercy of Sunbutt’s curious avatar.

Thinking more on it, I didn’t remember going to sleep without my boxers on, which was something I’d have to ask Luna about. I blushed as she feathered my member again, sending more shivers of pleasure through me, but snapped my fingers in front of the mare, and attempted to compose myself, mainly getting my wings to lower from their agitated state. They were way more responsive these days, despite not being able to fly. A little voice in the back of my mind wished she would continue, but I couldn’t allow my moral compass take any more hits, it had already taken too many from Angel’s antics and Twilight’s…experiments.

“Um, right, Lady? My eyes are up here, thank you.” She looked up at me, retracting her wing and blushed a little as well.

It seemed that she was telling the truth about some things, as I felt the full force of my bladder suddenly threatening to burst. It was as if I were some geyser ready to burst, and while these ponies had some odd fetishes, I doubted Sunbutt here enjoyed golden showers. I looked back at her, and surprisingly, she hadn’t looked away, just continued to stare at me, in that calculating gaze that her other more regal form always wore.

“Right, well, um…Sunny? I’m gonna go take care of this…”

She nodded, but didn’t move. I stared at her. She stared back. I could still feel pressure in my nethers, but she was acting odd, as most people would have left, spoke, done something, and yet, here she was, just…watching me.

“So, um, you gonna leave or…?”

She gave me a sly grin. “And why should I do that, Mr. Osprey? If you’re ashamed of your little friend there I-”

Nope, not worth it.

Before she could finish, I gave up and walked to the bathroom, and relieved myself, not bothering with the door. I shook my head at her antics.

You wanna be creepy? Fine, be that way, see if I care Sunbutt. I’ll never understand the women of this place…but if I can outlast your crazy mares in ponyville, I can outlast you.

After taking some time to compose myself, and forgoing the towel, I walked back into my room, at half mast, and folded my arms, trying my best to intimidate my morning intruder. No need to cover myself when she’s already had first contact with it after all.

To her credit, she just looked on with a smile on her face. She said nothing else, so I just opted to pretend she wasn’t there, dressing myself in a blue shirt and black cargo shorts. Interestingly enough, when I had Rarity make this pair for me, they had come back with a small crescent moon emblem just above the pockets. When I had asked about it, she just winked and told me to ask Luna.

Fully dressed, I looked around my room once more. The palace room that had been made up for me was a simple one, allowing for a large bed, a small desk, a closet, and a side bathroom, complete with a shower. And of course, a large window that pointed towards the east, where the sun always rose.

I sighed, looking at the rising ball of flames, knowing that it was going to be a very long day. I looked back at the mare in front of me and decided to play along.

“Alright Sunny Daze, lead the way.”

The walk through the halls was uneventful. I walked behind Sunny Daze, as she beamed at every pony we passed, and she told me all about the wonderful sunrise she had woken up to. She told me nothing about my plans for the day, but from the direction we were heading, I assumed, and hoped, that we were heading to the dining hall for breakfast. Even though I just wanted more sleep, no man I ever knew ignored his stomach.

During the walk, I tried to stretch out my limbs and ignore the pain from my back and right arm, where the Timberwolves had ripped into me days before. I expected to find more pain, but it seemed, as resistant as I was, the magic from my treatments had only left me incredibly sore, and I felt none of my wounds open as I moved along.

My wings, still pink, felt incredible, however. Unlike before, where the large white wings had been more of a heavy burden upon my back, and even moving them had been an intense test of willpower, they felt different, more natural even. We turned another corner, and I saw that we were approaching the doors to the dining hall. I smiled at that but continued to check out my wings.

More curious now, I maneuvered my right wing out in front of me, and to my surprise, it snapped out with great speed, sending a small gust of wind out. I stopped and held the wing in my hands with awe. My wing felt incredibly light, and I could feel a slight breeze running through each of my feathers, which were all sorts of unaligned and disorganized, but as I examined it closer, I realized that they were incredibly sensitive to my touch, as gentle as I was being. It almost felt like my wings were as sensitive as my hands, even being able to feel the ridges of my fingerprints.

“Woah…” I breathed out, continuing to check out my wing. A light ‘Ahem’ brought me out of my stupor. I looked over to see Sunbutt, still in her disguise looking at me with a small amount of concern in her pink eyes.

“Is…everything alright Mr. Osprey? Something the matter with your wings perhaps?” I shook my head and realigned my wing so that it rested on my back comfortably, like Fluttershy had shown me how to do many months ago.

“No, I’m fine.” Her eyes lingered on my own for a few moments longer, as if she didn’t believe me, but smiled and turned around, entering the dining hall.

“Well then come along Mr. Human, we’ve got a schedule to keep. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to check yourself out later…”

I rolled my eyes but followed her. The main dining hall was a massive room but was separated into three different sections to accommodate the different species that visited the castle. The guards had a small section to themselves, along the left wall, that looked like an express line at a high school cafeteria, where small brown sacks sat on a countertop just outside the vegetarian kitchens, likely so that guards could grab their food to go. In the center of the room was a large circular stand where a very pretty looking brown earth pony with a stylized mane brewed various liquids, the majority of which was coffee and tea, but also had what looked like a blender and some interesting looking water infusions sitting on the counter behind her. Near the back of the room sat another set of doors that led to a hallway that led directly to the formal dining quarters of the royal family, where servants were bringing back dirty dishes. On the right side of the room was a small kitchen that had a bar top right outside of it, where the meat eaters ate.

Sitting at the bar top, talking to a griffin behind the counter, was Luna, who looked like she was on the verge of falling asleep. Upon seeing our entrance however, her face broke out into a small smile, and she waved, inviting us over. As I sat at the bar top next to my favorite princess, I noticed the silent exchange of expressions between Sunny and Luna. The night princess also flicked a curious gaze between the two of us, but said nothing, only choosing to focus her teal eyes on me.

“Good mor-ooahhhmmnn-ing to you Osprey. I trust you slept well?” I smiled at her great yawn interrupting her greeting. I raised my hand to her head, scratching behind her ears, which she leaned into, sighing in content.

“Better than you apparently…did something happen during night court? You’re normally asleep by now.” A look of irritation spread over her face, and Sunny raised a hoof to her mouth, attempting to conceal a snicker, and failed miserably. Luna glared at her but answered with a growl.

“I do not wish to talk about it. It was…bullshit, as you say. The audacity stallions…hmph! What are riches and court favor to a princess such as myself? As if I care about such fickle things…I-“ Luna cut herself off, composing herself, and moved away from me. “Never mind, it is not important. Now.” She gestured at the griffin behind the counter. “Osprey, I’d like to introduce you to Buster Brown-” I choked, almost bursting out into laughter. Luna gave me an odd look but continued. “-a chef of Lord Thalon, our ambassador of the Griffin Empire. He will be handling your daily ration of protein until the griffin lord returns, so you,” She looked at me with narrowed eyes, “Don’t partake in any more of your featherbrained attempts at hunting.” I flinched but raised my hands up.

“Hey, look, I know how it turned out, but I took down a manticore just fine. I mean, that’s gotta count for something, right?” Sunny scoffed.

“Oh? I believe your injury report says otherwise. Are you sure it didn’t simply take pity on you, and roll over and die? Well, after using you as a plaything of course.” I glared at her, half tempted to call her out, disguise and all, but chose to ignore her instead, looking back to Luna, who seemed amused.

“Yes, that is true, and while Knight Intervention spoke highly of your performance before the timberwolf attack, we simply cannot have you running off to…to…what is you’re always saying? Tangle? Tussle? Tango? Yes, tango with dangerous creatures without proper supervision and training.” She smiled at me, and leaned forward to nuzzle my cheek, muttering in my ear. “Although…if you truly wish to experience the thrill of the hunt again my friend, I would be delighted to join you. You only need ask of me, as there is very little I would not do with you… ” For some reason, that sent shivers down my spine. The way that she said it was less friendly and more…primal, even seductive, as if she meant a little more than just hunting. She gave me an intense half lidded gaze, her cyan eyes baring into mine, before, almost comically, her eyes began to shut further, and her stance slackened. It was as if she fell asleep on her feet-er-hooves. Then she rose, her eyes snapping open once more and shuffled her wings a little, yawning deeply. “Now, I must take my leave, I wish to sleep and allow my sister’s day to shine brightly…without my presence. Take care Osprey, I shall see you later.” With that, she teleported away.

I sighed and looked back at Buster Brown, a smile creeping onto my face. “So…Buster Brown, what’s for breakfast?” The griffin crossed his arms and looked me up and down, as if to say, ‘Are you sure you’re not my breakfast?’ I rolled my eyes, folding my arms against my chest, hoping to make my arms look the slightest bit bigger. “C’mon man, I haven’t had a decent meal in so long…” I looked at Sunny, licking my lips. “Even the little horses are starting to look appetizing.” The mare only glared back at me, while I earned a smirk from the griffin.

“I’d lay off if I were you, I’ve heard those…pegasi are rather stringy. It’s hardly worth the effort.” He turned around, and grabbed a brown sack from the counter, roughly the size of a bowling ball, and tossed it at me. I caught it, surprised by the lightness, and as I opened it, I was assaulted by the scent of spices and sweet savory goodness. Inside the bag were dry chunks of reddish-orange meat, which I had never seen before. Taking a piece out, I looked at the griffin.

“What is this? I’ve never seen meat look like this before.” The avian chef inclined his head.

“Manticore jerky. From what I hear, it’s from that beastie you killed. If I’m to believe the story from that rainbow abomination,” Sunny shot him a furious glance, “-er pony friend of yours, anyway. Why don’t ya give it a taste?

Smiling a little, happy to know that my hard work in the forest hadn’t been for nothing, I bit into the meat, finding it wonderfully tough, and sweet to the taste, with a small kick from the spices he had used. I closed my eyes and hummed to myself in satisfaction.

Remind me to thank skittles for getting the meat…though shouldn’t that have bothered her or something?

“That…was fucking delicious.”

The griffin gave me a curt nod, and disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing moments later with what looked like scrambled eggs, chopped potatoes, and assorted diced fruit. He placed it in front of me and began to take off his apron.

“Of course it is. Now, you should know that I’m only ever here in the evenings, as I am only here serving you as a courtesy to the Princess, and we hardly have the stock to feed ya one meal of the good stuff a day. I suggest you make that jerky count, though if ya’ll bring me more fine fresh meat like that to cook, I’ll happily make more, after taking some myself, of course.” Sunny continued to glare at the both of us, but I paid her no mind.

I smiled, holding out a hand to shake. “Sounds good to me, if the Princess ever lets me out of the castle again.” He shook my hand, and took his leave, attaching a sword belt to his hips. Why are these griffins always strapped?

“I’ll be seein ya then.”

Giving him a nod of farewell, I dove into breakfast, which was unfortunately cold, likely from sitting on the counter for too long. I figured I’d give him a break since he made me some jerky. Jerky that Sunny was eyeing disdainfully while I finished off my plate. Pushing it back on the counter, I looked to her with a raised brow.

“So, Sunny. I’ve met the chef…can I go back to sleep now or…?”

She rolled her eyes and revealed a scroll she was hiding in her wing somehow.

“I’m afraid not. Follow me please. Also, do be a good young stallion and take your dishes to the washing bins.” She nodded to the bins at the end of the hall, where wooden boxes labeled ‘to wash’ sat on a table. Rolling my eyes, I accomplished this task, and followed her through the castle. It didn’t take us long to reach our next destination, as Sunny decided to speed up her pace after looking at the sun, like some kind of clock, and told me to hurry or we’d be late.

We eventually arrived at a familiar courtyard, where Sunny tossed the scroll at me, and then quickly flew off into the sky, saying nothing more than ‘Bye!’

Giving a quick glance to the scroll, I just shrugged and walked down to the training floor. Next to the armory, was a somewhat irritated dragon, who was casting its angry gaze into the sky as I approached.

“Um…hi?”

His sharp gaze transferred to me before it transformed into a more disapproving one.

“You’re…shorter than I was expectin. And weaker. Much weaker. Hardly any meat on you.” Before I could say anything to defend myself, he continued, crossing his arms. “Whatever. The name’s Midnight Flicker. The ponies just call me Flick. I’ll be the one taking over your survival training.”

Awed, I took in the sight of the dragon. Flick was a bipedal black dragon with an orange underbelly. He had to be at least seven or eight feet tall, towering over my scrawny self. His eyes were green, like Spike’s, but they had a sternness about them, as if he was waiting for me to make a mistake so he had an excuse to barbecue me on the spot. On his back was probably the largest battle axe I’ve ever seen, though why a dragon that huge would need a weapon, I’d never know. All in all, he looked awesome.

Not bothering with a handshake, I rested my hands behind my back, a habit that I had picked up from the Army, and never really broke…though very slackened. In a way, this dragon was my superior, so it just felt right.

“Uh…Right. Nice to meet you Flick, I’m sure you know already, but my name’s Osprey. Sorry that I’m not quite what you were expecting but it’s hard to keep a good shape in ponyland when all the meat is sentient and Discord’s trying to kill you.”

Flick rolled his eyes.

“Yeah don’t bother with feeding me your excuses boy, I’ve read the reports, and I know that you’ve had previous experience with some form of military. I can see some semblance of a muscular build on you, if you can really call it that, but I can also see…” He smirked. “That from the ridiculous lack of muscle on you, boy, you’ve been neglecting your training, regardless of proper protein intake.” The dragon then motioned towards a set of large saddlebags that appeared to be made for someone of my size. “We’re gonna fix that. Throw on those bags.”

Sighing, I folded the scroll in my hand and shoved it into my pockets before strapping up. Oddly enough, it felt like a rucksack, even though the bags themselves were positioned along the sides of my body, more than my actual back, leaving room for my wings. Taking a step towards Flick, who was now resting a claw upon the sword I attempted to pick up days before, I realized that the weight of the bags was much heavier than I expected. I was already breaking a sweat.

Flick smirked at my struggling form and inspected the bags, tightening straps, and prodding my body every now and then before nodding to himself.

“Looks terrible, just like you. It’ll do for now, but we’ll find something more form fitting later. In addition to your bags, during your training with me, you’ll be carrying this beautiful work of steel.” He handed the sword to me, and due to the massive length and weight, I just barely kept myself from falling forward with it. Flick narrowed his eyes at my display. “Every time you drop that sword boy, I expect thirty wing ups.”

My eyes widened. “Wait wait wait. You mean…” Rolling my shoulders, I released my wings, which spread wide and flexed out in front of my body. “These things can do push-ups?” The dragon cocked his head to the side.

“Show me what a push up is.”

I sighed, knowing that a push up with the weight of the bags would be difficult, but did as he asked, setting the heavy blade next to me. Positioning my arms to my side, I strained to do one push up. Looking up, Flick just seemed amused.

“I suppose that’s one way to work on those flimsy arms of yours. Now, I understand that you weren’t born with wings, so I suppose that alternative will do. However, I know that you will be undergoing flight practice with another winged instructor soon, so I expect you, after a few weeks, to be able to do wing ups.” With that, the dragon, still folding his arms, fell forward towards the ground, and somehow, caught himself from faceplanting, with his outstretched wings. Continuing to look at me, he gradually rose from the ground, with only his wings. It was one of the most confusing things I had ever seen. It didn’t even seem possible, theoretically, the wings should have broken underneath his weight.

Then again…Angel was able to use her wings to maneuver and control blades.

Shaking my head, I rose, and picked up the blade from the floor. “Sorry to disappoint Flick, but I don’t even know how that’s possible. I think I’d break my wings even thinking about it.” The dragon rolled his eyes.

“We’ll get there. For now, you and I are going to go for a little run.”

When Flick had said run, what I was thinking was that we would run around the castle grounds, and maybe take in some of the scenery of the city of Canterlot itself. What I didn’t expect was to SCALE the mountain the castle rested on. Sure, I suppose we weren’t climbing the mountain with our hands and feet, but the rugged mountain paths Flick led me up felt no different. How the dragon managed to stay level, I’ll never know. After a few hours of putting me through the ringer, and not even making it to the five-mile marker like he wanted, Flick had enough and flew us both back to the training grounds, where he waved me off and told me I was to report to him every single day for exercise, as I was nowhere near ready for his ‘survival’ training. Needless to say, after that hellish experience, I took a nap.

Sleeping on the stairs to the training grounds, I found myself being shaken awake by a guard. Though most of the day guards looked the same, this one was a familiar face..Sun Chaser if I could remember correctly. The set of his muzzle with a few scars crisscrossed upon it, a dead giveaway if nothing else.

“Mr. Osprey, I am to escort you to the throne room. Princess Celestia wishes to speak with you.”

Ignoring my sore body, I tried to mentally prepare myself to deal with the sun goddess and followed the guard.

“Hey…you’re Sun Chaser right? Sunbutt’s usual messenger I think. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of you without the other…except of course when you’re coming to fetch me.”

Turning his head, he gave me a pained expression.

“Yes, Mr. Osprey and while I am happy you remember my name, I do wish you wouldn’t disrespect my princess so…blatantly. I promise you that she’s quite wonderful if you took the time to know her better.”

I scoffed at that.

“You’ve been at our meetings Chaser. You know damn well that disrespect is very much mutual. I can’t really blame her, since humans have a bad rep here, but still, she’s the one who’s always so cold, unlike Luna.”

The guard’s ears perked up at the mention of Luna. A coy smile spread across his face.

“Not to pry Mr. Osprey, but there are a few rumors floating around…you do seem to spend a lot of time with our lovely night princess. Perhaps there is something more than just friendship at play between the two of you? She has never seemed quite so chipper as she is when you’re in her presence in the time that I have served here.”

I sighed and remembered this morning, where Luna had given me a rather curious proposition. It had sounded like intimacy, but unlike Angel, Luna was less straightforward and even harder to figure out at times. That and she’s a pony, soi I may have just misread into her words. So, I simply went with my age-old answer.

“Sorry to burst your bubble there Chaser, but I’m just not into ponies, I promise it’s not like that. Luna’s just my friend.”

Even with my statement, the guard didn’t look convinced.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Osprey, whatever you say.”

All my life, I had expected mythological creatures like dragons to be fierce, intimidating, and tall as houses, and after seeing Flick, I was willing to continue my outlook, noting him as a younger dragon. What I wasn’t prepared for was the beautiful creature that stood before me in Celestia’s throne room.

She was…exquisite, and even that word seemed lacking. Gentle sea-green eyes watched me curiously as I did my best to take in her features without running forward for a closer look like some kind of fan boy. The female dragon beside Celestia was slender, graceful, and had curves that made me feel things I couldn’t completely understand, or maybe just didn’t want to. The dragoness was covered in sky blue scales that faded into deep a blue and purple near her wingtips and underbelly, yet there were a few deep scars just above her chest that seemed to glow a faint green color. Unlike Flick, she stood on all fours, just barely taller than Luna.

Apparently irritated by my lack of greeting, Celestia cleared her throat and approached, with her horn glowing gold.

“If you’re quite finished ogling my ambassador, I believe we have matters to discuss.” Her tone was icy, as if I were about to be in some sort of trouble. Tearing my gaze away from the beautiful creature beside her, I folded my arms over my chest.

“Right. What did you want…Princess.” As much as I wanted to call her Sunbutt, I wanted to make a good impression on the dragon. If I was lucky, she might just stick around to talk for a while.

Giving me a slight nod, as if she approved of my faux politeness, Celestia’s horn flashed brighter, and suddenly a heap of dark, shredded metal loudly dropped to the floor in front of me. Not completely sure what I was looking at, I bent down to examine the pile closer. Picking up a small piece of it, I looked back at Celestia with a raised brow. She looked concerned at my lack of response.

“I believe those are the remains of the armor that was crafted for you. I was hoping you would have an explanation for its current state of existence.”

My eyes widened, looking back at the scrap of metal in my hand.

“Holy crap…something did…this?”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. It seems that we will need to post a stricter watch on the palace grounds. This is a clear attack against you, as no other creature within these grounds can wear that armor. I’ll put in a request for another set, but for now, do your best to stay out of harms way, Mr. Osprey.”

I smiled. “Princess, I’m sure you know as well as I do that Discord thoroughly enjoys making my life…difficult.”

The dragon smirked.

“I believe that difficult is a very lacking description of your situation, my dear human.” Celestia sighed at that, turning to face the dragoness.

“Indeed. My apologies, I believe that introductions are in order. Osprey, this is Ryomi, an…ambassador of sorts. She requested to meet you upon hearing the news of your arrival.”

I raised a brow at that, but the dragoness stepped forwards and began to circle me, looking me up and down. “Quite so. It is not often I find another creature that has traveled to other worlds as I have.”

“Wait. You can travel to other dimensions? How is that possible?”

She smiled at that. “I am a dragon. I am not limited to your mortal limitations or understanding.”

“Fair enough I guess…so, knowing that you supposedly have the ability to do so…would you be able to take me back to where I belong?” Ryomi frowned, stopping to sit in front of me.

“There lies the problem…where you belong exactly. I have been told of the deal that Discord has given you. You should know that your world is-”

A sharp snap echoed throughout the throne room and Ryomi was unable to speak, her maw snapping shut sharply.

“Now now, my fair lady…I can’t have you spoiling my good fun.” With those words spoken, Discord appeared out of thin air, floating on an invisible breeze. All three of us glared at him. He clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Now now, that is no way to greet an old friend.”

Apparently recovering her ability to speak, the dragoness scoffed, looking around.

“Friends of yours? Here? Please point them my way so I may put them out of their misery. All roads lead to ruin when you are involved, and I pity even the fools who walk alongside you.”

Discord rolled his eyes at Ryomi and floated over to me, examining the necklace Luna had gifted me.

“My dear dragoness, I’m sure you understand that only fools find themselves on the road to ruin as they are destined to. My meddling has no effect on free will after all, much to my dismay…” He looked up at me, his eyes flashing blue. “It is the choices we all make of our own accord that lead us down the road of our so called destiny.” He poked my nose. “It is why I have made a deal with you, my caged little bird. I only wish for you to make choices of your own, so I may see how your path will come to end.” I shivered at that, and he grinned.

Annoyed once more, Celestia cleared her throat. “As I have stated many times before, Discord, you are not welcome here, and you have sworn to behave yourself if I remember correctly. I must ask you to explain your purpose here or leave immediately, as you are interrupting a PRIVATE conversation.”

Discord waved his talons at her, as if dismissing her. “Yes yes, I know well what I swore to. However, I am here to offer assistance, rather than spread more of my namesake.”

Ryomi barked a laugh. “This is a first.” Discord glared at her, eyes still an uncomfortable blue, then turned back to face me.

“Now, I understand dear woona has given you a gift my boy. I am here to offer you a choice.”

Cupping the necklace with my hand, I narrowed my eyes at the miniature hellspawn. “What kind of choice? If its anything like that deal we made in that forest, I’m not interested.” Discord just chuckled at that.

“I for one, am quite enjoying the results of that deal my dear boy, however I believe that you will be quite interested in this. After all, it does concern a dear friend of yours…Divine Intervention.” A flash of yellow appeared in his eyes and he seemed to cringe at saying her name, before returning to an annoying grin once more.

Another hallucination? Why do his eyes keep changing like that? Its almost like there’s more than one…being in that body.

Casting my thoughts aside, I went to grab him.

“What did you do to her?” The chimera just slipped out of my grip and rolled his eyes.

“I have done nothing yet, I simply see a…path where your pretty pink angel finds herself in a bit of a pickle is all. Forgive me for being ever so kind as to find you and offer assistance.” He sighed and with a talon, appeared to rip the very air around it into a dark void, almost like some kind of portal, just big enough for his small body. ‘Oh well…I suppose if I am not wanted, I shall be on my merry way…”

He began floating into the void. I sighed, knowing that he was trying to play me in some way, but if it really did concern the well being of Angel, I couldn’t just stand by and not do anything about it.

“Wait.” Discord grinned as he turned to face me, the portal fizzling into black bubbles, then into nothingness. I gave that a curious look, but then shook my head and continued. “Go on then, what’s this choice you speak of?” The dragoness beside me sighed.

“This is a bad idea…”

Discord ignored her, once more inspecting the necklace.

“Now we’re talking…now this is a simple thing really. I wish for you to give me this necklace.” I glared at him.

“Why the hell would I do that?” He shrugged.

“To help your friend of course.”

“How?” He laughed, ruffling my hair.

“Now now, I can’t tell you that…why it would ruin the surprise!”

I groaned. “How exactly is this a choice that benefits me or Angel again?”

Discord shook his head. “I do not give you an easy choice, my dear boy. You must understand that this choice I offer you will not be mutually beneficial. One of you will suffer in the future, and that necklace is a powerful remedy.” He looked at me with those piercing blue eyes of his, a serious intent in them, very unlike his usual jovial personality. “I ask you this, little bird. Would you sacrifice a little sanity for the well being of another?” He held out his lion’s paw, gesturing to the necklace, and his eyes turned yellow, an unnerving grin spreading across his face. “Make your choice.”

Still confused at all of this, I looked to the Celestia and Ryomi, who had both been very quiet. It appeared that they had been silenced once again. Celestia was furiously shaking her head at me. Ryomi however was just staring at me. There was what looked like a calculating look on her face, as if she were more curious on what I would do, rather than offering any insight. I looked back at Discord who seemed to be getting impatient.

“And you won’t tell me anything else about this danger that she faces? Or how this necklace helps? How do I even know that you won’t just take it for yourself, using it to hurt someone?” Discord rolled his eyes, which flashed yellow.

“I suppose that you will just have to trust me. Need I remind you that I am a GOD? I care not for your actual feelings on the matter. I am here for my own entertainment. Do or do not. Make your choice, I have things to do, beings to see.” He opened the dark void again and began floating towards it.

Not so friendly now I guess. Seriously, what’s with those eyes?

Thinking about it, the necklace was helping me feel better about the world around me, the magic seemingly keeping me anchored to reality. Yet, I had been dealing with all of this well enough before Luna’s gift, and if it would really help Angel in some way, while she was being punished and off on a dangerous mission…

I took off the necklace and held it out.

“Take it and give it to her.” Discord was back in an instant, coiled around my arm and gripping the necklace, smiling. I grimaced at that. “This doesn’t mean I trust you, I just want the best for my friends.” Discord rolled his eyes at that.

“How noble and utterly predictable of you. Truly a knight in shining armor. Now, things to do, beings to see. Ta ta, little bird!” With that, he was gone. No void, no flying out of a window, just gone, as if he had never been there. A shiver ran down my spine, and once more I was greeted with the familiar feeling anxiety. I could also swear that some of the shadows were moving near the edges of my vision, but when I looked, there was nothing there.

Great. Back to this.

I looked back to Celestia, and she opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Discord, reappearing out of thin air, dressed in a pink tuxedo, and tall, Abraham-style hat to boot. “Oh and one more thing, dear boy.” He gestured at the black mound of metal that used to be my armor. It disappeared into thin air. He looked me up and down. “Armor does not suit you I’m afraid, I suggest you find some other means of…outer wear. One should always be comfortable, even if that means nudity.” He winked at me and disappeared once more. The room went quiet.

“I guess we know what happened to the armor now.”

Ryomi tapped a claw on the ground, giving me a curious look.

“That was a rather interesting interaction…it seems the lord of chaos truly does have a fondness for you.” I sighed at that. Celestia however, was fuming. The princess wore that look she always had when we talked, as if I could do nothing right, and my one goal in life was to harm her and her subjects. It appeared that she did not approve of my choice. Sure enough, within moments, she invaded my personal space, bringing us nose to muzzle.

“I had hoped that these few months in equestria alongside Knight Intervention would help you develop common sense, but I must ask. Are there nothing but feathers floating about in that head of yours!? Why would make yet another deal with that no good-” She continued on a tirade, but I just tuned her out, as always. She must have realized this as she glared harder and raised her voice.

I rolled my eyes and looked past her towards Sun Chaser, who was standing guard near the doors, giving me a sympathetic look.

Here we go again.

Celestia’s lecture had gone on for a while, until she had given up and sent me away. On my way out, the dragoness Ryomi said that she would find me later in the week to talk more but stayed to talk more with the irate princess. Giving a nod to Sun Chaser, I walked out of the doors of the throne room and wandered about the castle. I didn’t really have any particular destination in mind. Unfortunately, I had left the scroll from earlier in the throne room, and I didn’t want to deal with any more of Celestia.

Honestly, I didn’t know what her issue was with me. First this morning with her avatar and then that pointless lecture. I knew what I signed up for. Sure, I would admit that none of my interactions with Discord had ever gone well, but a necklace was a small thing in comparison to Angel’s supposed well-being. Besides, I didn’t think Discord had ever lied to me, he didn’t exactly have a reason to, being a god with magical powers. I did, however, miss the necklace. Walking through the hallways, I could feel my senses return to normal. No more peaceful cold sensations flowing through my body, only the flickering shadows in my peripherals, and I could hear whispers on the breeze returning to their haunting symphonies.

Coming closer to my room, I realized that the whispers were getting louder.

That’s odd…maybe I’m not hallucinating?

Sure enough, something was happening. I slowed my pace as I peered around the corner and saw that the door to my room was open. The whispers had stopped, as if someone had heard my footsteps. I felt in my gut that I should turn around and get far away. This entire walk, I hadn’t seen any guards walking through the hallways, which was odd, considering it was still daytime and my room was close to Luna’s hall, which was always guarded with night and day guards patrolling the area around it.

As I was pondering this, I felt something sharp grab one of my wings.

“Easy there human…not a sound and we’ll all get along just fine.” My blood ran cold. As I turned my head, I saw that a large griffon had appeared seemingly out of thin air right behind me. He was on all fours, aside from the one of his front talons wrapped around my left wing. Meeting my eyes and putting a talon to his beak, which I assumed was the motion to be silent, he leaned past me into the other hallway.

“Oi! I’ve got him, get ya flanks over here.” He whispered furiously. Seconds later, three figures appeared. One was another griffon, slightly smaller than the one holding my wing and appeared to have a reddish hue to his feathers rather than the usual brown and white combination I was used to seeing. The other two were unicorns, one blue, one grey. All of them had saddlebags on, and I saw that the unicorns both had unsheathed blades strapped to their backs underneath the bags. All three of the newcomers stared at me, as if expecting me to explode or something.

I had a general idea of what this was. It had to be a kidnapping. An odd one, but it was too sketchy to be anything else. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but their equipment and lack of guard apparel pretty much said it all. Flexing my wings, a little, I looked back to the one holding my wings.

Better play this careful like. Or maybe just stupid.

“What are you guys doing?” He gave me a flat stare.

“You’re our payday human. I suggest ya come along quietly. You’re worth more alive, but I’m not very patient.” He dug his claws into my wing, and I felt an arc of pain shoot to my spine. I nodded quickly at him.

“Alright I got you. Can…you let go? Look, I won’t cause any trouble. I’m not a complete idiot, I know I can’t do anything against your unicorns. No magic of my own and all. Just lead the way.” The griffon grinned even more. He let go.

“Hmph. After all those bedtime stories, I thought ya would have more fight.” I shrugged, a plan already forming in my mind.

“I don’t have magic, my wings don’t work, and y’all have weapons. why start a fight I don’t have a chance in winning?” He seemed to like my answer.

“Smart choice.” He nodded to the blue unicorn. “Watch him. We’ll scout ahead and get outta here.”

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I watched the three of them turn, and the blue unicorn walked closer to my side. He grinned.

“Get a move on then.”

Then I smiled. “Get real.” His expression became confused as I quickly gripped his horn and proceeded to use all of my body weight to swing him into the wall. It really wasn’t impressive with me more dragging him than gaining any actual lift but the impact made a satisfying thump, and I was running off toward the other unicorn as the others turned around, looks of shock on their faces.

I knew that the blue one was probably only stunned, but my plan was simple. Take down the magic users and then run like hell, probably screaming bloody murder along the way.

Reaching the grey unicorn in a few strides, I raised my right leg up and kicked the pony in the face with everything I had, carrying the pony into the air slightly with a crack.

The griffons unfortunately weren’t as shocked as I thought however, as a feathered mass crashed into my side as I was preparing to run, rolling us further down the other hallway, closer to my room.

The reddish griffon snapped his beak at me furiously, trying to peck my face as he struggled to get his talons from under me. I winced in pain as we crushed one of my wings underneath us, but I reached back a fist and punched the avian in the face repeatedly, remembering what Angel had said about how fragile their beaks were. He squawked loudly and rolled off of me, and I prepared myself to run.

Then I stopped as I looked at the griffon’s companions. The grey unicorn I had kicked was still in a mound on the floor, groaning, but the other griffon and blue unicorn were being held down by a set of bat winged ponies in dark armor. Another bat pony was beside me, looking at the griffon I had just punched. She looked back at me with a grin.

“Well. Princess Luna was right; you are a feisty one!”

With the four kidnappers being taken away by solar guards that had shown up minutes later, the three night guards escorted me to my room, with the female one by my side, a big smile on her face. I held my left wing in my hands, making sure that I there wasn’t any more damage. Despite finding nothing wrong with it, just like this morning there was something odd going on with my wings. I made a note to talk to sparky about it next time I saw her, consequences be damned.

“So…mind telling me what that was all about? Also, who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” I asked the female night guard.

“Sure! Let’s secure your room first though, make sure there aren’t anymore baddies waiting for you.” The three of them checked my room, and having cleared it, invited me in and shut the door. I was still feeling whiplashed from how fast everything had just happened, so I walked over to my bed and the female followed me, sitting in front of me with her companions alongside her. Still smiling, she gave me a quick salute with her bat wing, which was utterly adorable. “I’m Midnight Song, and these two are Midnight Echo and Midnight Shadow. We’re filling in as your protectors while Knight Divine Intervention is away.”

I raised a brow at that. “My new bodyguards huh? I love you adorable ponies, but I don’t think y’all are doing a great job so far. I was just taken hostage yknow…” Midnight Song giggled, oddly enough.

“Silly human, you were never in any real danger. We’ve been following you around since this morning.” She put a hoof to her muzzle, as if rethinking her statement. “Well actually, it was Breeze and Dream earlier…” Then she looked back excitedly. “But we changed shifts as you were coming out of the meeting with Princess Celestia!” She hoof pumped the air. “We got the fun shift!”

Both of my eyebrows raised at that. Looking at the trio, I knew that I hadn’t seen them at all throughout the day. Or any other night guards for that matter.

“What? How? I didn’t notice anyone following me at all.” One of the male bat ponies, probably Midnight Shadow, smirked.

“Just doing our job Mr. Osprey, no need to be seen until its necessary. We’re really just meant to be your shadows. Though you’re going to have to put up with at least Song here, she’s too…excitable to stay hidden for long. We’re working on it.” Song rolled her eyes at him, then bounced onto her hooves, grinning at me.

“Well, I don’t want you to be lonely with your friend gone, so you can talk to me while I’m on shift! I’d really really like to know more about you!”

I smiled a little. “I think I’d like that. You’re like a less crazy Pinkie Pie.” I shivered as an odd sensation washed over me, like I had seriously ruined someone’s perfectly happy day and would receive some serious party time with gummy to make up for it! Pinkie really is a very nice pony after all, she would neeeevverrr do anything to hurt anybody, no matter what they said about her!

What the…where did that come from?

I came back out of my…whatever that was to Song waving a hoof in front of my face. She looked concerned until we locked eyes and then the smile was back.

“Oh good, you’re back!”

I shook my head. “Right, sorry about that. I uh, space out sometimes. Nice to meet y’all, but what about the kidnappers? What was that all about?”

Midnight Echo, the other male bat pony, cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“One of the reasons we didn’t immediately step in was to find that out for ourselves. Like they said though, it seems that there’s some kind of hunt going on for you. You’re the first human to appear here in a long time, and some ponies out there can be a little…obsessive with exotic creatures. We should have more information once the kidnappers have been interrogated.” I nodded at that, but still had another question.

“Okay, fair enough, but what was the other reason you didn’t step in quicker? Angel was really good at her job and usually handled things for me or alongside me, rather than watching as I got attacked. Plus, you guards always seem to posture against threats instead of wait to attack like you did.” The three of the guards shared a sheepish look with each other. Song spoke up for them.

“Well…we were curious what all the talk about Osprey the human was about. There are rumors about you fighting manticores, Timberwolves, and other crazy things. Besides, we know from our brief chat with Knight Intervention that you don’t really like to be sidelined.” She smiled at me again. “We really were watching the whole time; you weren’t in any real danger. We’ll just be able to do a better job at guarding you if we know what you’re capable of.”

I grinned. “So, did I live up to my reputation?” All three of them grinned, nodding.

Echo smirked. “It was kind of underhoofed how you lied to their faces and then slammed that poor unicorn into the wall like that.”

Song bounced in place. “That kick was awesome though! You sent that meanie flying and he wasn’t even a pegasi!”

I laughed. “Yeah, it was kinda sneaky, but I think it worked out well, I think I might have actually escaped without your help.”

A pounding on the door interrupted our conversation and like a switch, the three bat ponies lined themselves in front of me, ready for a fight. Then Echo relaxed and opened the door, letting in Flick, the giant dragon having to bend over to get inside. He was holding the large sword from my earlier day’s training and had a very interesting look of anger on his face. His green piercing eyes looked into mine.

“Didn’t I say that you were to carry this around until I told you otherwise? You should never be unarmed.” Then he dropped the sword to the floor, letting it clang loudly throughout the silent room. Glaring at me, he motioned to the floor. “Now, sword’s been dropped, I believe you owe me some push ups…I believe that three hundred should do for your stupidity this day.”

I groaned but clammed up and smirked at the dragon, crossing my arms.

“You know Flick, I don’t think I owe you any push ups. You said if I dropped the blade, I would pay for it, but it’s you who’s dropped it.” The dragon smirked.

“So, the human is smarter than he looks. Alright then, you escape this time, but come tomorrow…” He began to leave. “Your training will reflect your level of stupidity today.”

Then the dragon was gone. The bat ponies didn’t move for a second, then Song, ever the catalyst for conversation, turned to me once more.

“It seems that you are already real chummy with the midnight clan Mr. Osprey! Just how many of us do you know?” I sighed, attempting to pick up the sword, and groaned once I saw Midnight Blossom enter the room with a smirk on her face.

“Too many midnights, just way too many.”

Author's Note

It's been a while, but the story still lives! Updates are going to be scattered as I try to slow the story down a bit, but I hope you enjoy.

Status: What even is my life?

The last day of my ‘normal’ life started like any other. My alarm clock had gone off, making me groan and try to hit the snooze button without looking, which failed miserably. The annoying beeps only grew louder, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep past that point, no matter how hard I tried. I opened my eyes angrily, unplugging that damned thing instead, finally ceasing the unforgivable sound. My sleep having been rightfully avenged, I left the bedroom, making my way to the kitchen.

Flipping on a light switch, I turned towards the cupboards, coming face to face with another human, which had surprised me, making me flinch. He was sitting on the counter, his gaze expressionless, sharpening a rather large butcher’s knife. He grinned devilishly as I took notice of him, pointing his knife at me, and drawing a finger across his throat menacingly. Shaking my head and clenching my fists, I took a deep breath and ignored him, trying to relax while I reached for my medication.

This was Greg. One of my many hallucinations, albeit one of the easier ones to deal with as he was so off-putting and out of the ordinary, compared to the creeping shadows at the edges of my vision, the random noises from my closet at night, or even the bird-like shadows that sat on the branches outside of my window, that grew fangs and had glowing red eyes that haunted most of my mornings when I was too tired to reason with myself.

See, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia much later than most people I knew of, having found out at the ripe age of 20. Growing up, I never had any symptoms, nor even a history of mental problems with anyone in my family, but three quarters into my basic training for the army, it hit me hard, and without warning.

After high school, I didn’t have any real aspirations for my future, so I decided to say 'what the hell' and join the military, since I didn’t enjoy my somewhat brief college experience. During basic, my training wasn't necessarily intense, like I had seen in so many movies, but despite that, one morning right before a ruck march, my symptoms came out of nowhere. The instructors found me nearly choking myself to death, while I screamed and lashed out at nothing.

That morning, I woke to hear screaming, saw flashes of lights and shadows, battles of greek gods and men running around in armored robes, fields of injured animals, talking multicolored horses, dragons, and after all of the flashes had seemingly ended, a black mist with green eyes swarmed my vision, and I felt like something was forcing itself into my body, suffocating me as it entered my nose, mouth, eyes, making me go ballistic in fear. They had told me that the experience hadn't lasted long as they had to eventually knock me out before I did serious damage to myself. Yet, to this day, even though I knew what I had experienced wasn't real, and just all in my head, I swear I heard a masculine voice whisper “You’re mine!” before the world went black.

After calming me down, I met with a psychiatrist where I told them everything, still shaken from what had happened, and through various tests, where I was still seeing things that weren't there, they diagnosed me with schizophrenia, and sadly told me that I was unfit to serve.

Three months later, here I was, living with my dad, who I barely ever saw. I had to wonder some nights on whether or not he was real too, as I never actually heard him come home at night, nor...could I remember how to describe him.

After slamming my meds down, scattering dark thoughts about a missing father, I glared at Greg the butcher, reminding myself that he wasn’t real, until he faded away, and I felt a slight buzz, likely the effects of the drugs finally kicking in. That done, I grabbed an apple from the fridge and lounged on the couch, turning the T.V. on, the local news being the first channel I came across.

“…and while the handlers are still searching, the pup from the Wolf sanctuary has still not been found, likely still roaming the nearby area. This wolf is considered friendly, but we’d like to remind our viewers that-“

I rolled my eyes, changing the channel to the HDMI, so I could play the rest of my day away on my Xbox. Who watches the news these days anyway?

A few hours later and a phone call from my dad telling me to stop being a couch potato, I found myself walking through the woods behind my house, the snow crunching underneath my feet with every step, and I occupied the silence with the whistling of any song that came to mind. It had been a while since I had taken any of these trailheads near the mountain, and since I was feeling adventurous, I decided to abandon the trail I started on completely, making new tracks in the untouched snow, knowing that I could always just use my phone to find my way back.

Too late, I realized that this decision was a terrible idea, because after about an hour of wandering around, I checked my phone, and realized it was dead. I had one of those shitty phones that lost a charge the colder it got so it had likely died at some point during my walk, with me none the wiser. I growled at it, trying to force it awake by holding down the power button, as if I could revive it through sheer will, not looking where I was going. I proceeded to trip over something, which in turn, launched my phone into the snow. I tried to catch myself from smacking face first into the ground, and while I succeeded in doing so, before I could completely pick myself up, I heard a low growl from where I had tripped. Instinctively I froze, hearing my heartbeat pounding in my ears as I looked back, expecting the worst.

While it wasn't some demon conjured up by my overactive imagination, I did find that I was looking back into the eyes of a predator, a grey wolf. An animal that, while small, still had one of the most devastating jaw strengths in the animal kingdom, able to rip my throat out, break a bone, or tear apart my skin like we did with chicken legs from KFC bowls.

“I’m so fucked.” I whispered to myself, slowly getting up as the wolf began to circle me. Though as I stood and began to tower over it, the wolf gave me more of a curious look than anything, head slightly cocked to the side, and kept a safe distance from me, waiting for something. The memory from the news that morning hit me like a slap to the face and I realized it probably wouldn't just attack me, even if I had just stepped on him.

Not trusting my judgement completely however, I took a chance to look around while the small predator was giving me space. Looking around, through a break in the trees, I saw that I was close to what looked like a small pond, iced over of course, and a small cabin just on the other side. The wolf growled again, making me flinch and look back at it, the animal now closer to me, its nose in the air as if it smelled something...on me. Wondering what it could want, I searched my pockets and realized that I had some jerky in my jacket. I had totally forgotten about it, and no doubt, the wolf could smell the spices and cooked meat from miles away.

Grinning, I took a piece out from the bag, and the wolf sat instinctively, as if it had been trained with treats before. Its amber eyes locked onto the treat as I waved it back and forth, slowly getting closer. When I was only a few feet away, I realized that this wolf didn’t even come up to my waist, so I figured it was too young to do any real damage to me, compared to the full grown wolves that I had learned about.

“That’s a good wolf, now I’m just going to give you this little pi-ARRAAGH!” The wolf sprang forward, ignoring the treat, and biting my wrist with the meat, making me drop it on the ground as I tried desperately to pry the wolf’s fangs off. The wolf growled louder and shook a few times, his teeth going deeper into my skin, and with a pained cry, I felt the tendons there snap and the bone under it splinter. The wolf shook harder and harder, until I punched its muzzle with my other hand. The wolf let go, rearing back to growl at me, teeth bloodied, with its fur bristling in rage.

Hot tears of pain running down my face, I cursed myself, and not really knowing what else to do, I held my wrist close to my chest, and ran with everything I had towards the pond. I looked back as I ran, and the wolf seemed preoccupied with tearing into the jerky bag with a savage hunger, determined to leave nothing behind, but its eyes never left me. I faced forward again, and leaped out past the break in the treeline, sliding onto the frozen pond. I slipped on my second step, and tried to catch myself, but howled in pain as I put pressure onto my injured wrist. The pain was unbearable, almost making me black out.

Before I could completely get up, hindered by the ice and my wrist, the wolf slammed into my side, sending both of us further onto the frozen pond. Shoving the wolf away before it could bite me again, I froze as I heard an evil cackling ringing throughout the area. I was stressed, and likely going to die, so why wouldn't my mind try and mess with me? It was only the icing on the cake to this already bad situation. I shook my head and bit my lip, knowing it was probably just me. The combined pain from my lip and wrist making me more focused, I looked back at the wolf, only to find it was looking around as well.

Well that’s odd…

I narrowed my eyes at it, wondering what was spooking the wolf. It did have the better senses after all. I hoped that it was just another human who would help me even the odds. But of course, I was wrong.

The voice rang out again, louder this time, making the wolf whip around again, and making my blood run cold as I recognized that voice from basic.

“Well, well, well…look at what we have here…” The voice boomed, making the ice crack and splinter from underneath us, the cracks continuing to the edges of the pond. My eyes widened in fear, and the wolf, forgetting about me, raced to the edge behind me, the ice cracking more with every step it took.

“NO!” the disembodied shout rang out, shredding the ice in front of the wolf, who yelped as it dropped into the dark water. The wolf was under for a few moments, but emerged again, swimming towards my chunk of ice, a visible fear in its eyes. Instinctively, I backed away, making the ice crack even more beneath me. Looking back at the wolf, I tried to shoo it away, but as the wolf climbed back onto the ice and ran toward me, the voice cackled in laughter again, an unseen force shredding the rest of the ice, sending us both into the frozen water below, the edges of the pond too far out of reach.

“Now come to me, human.”

My eyes widened as I started to enter full panic mode. I struggled to swim upwards towards the surface, towards air, but the weight of my boots and winter jacket now just added water weight, holding me down. The pond now seemed much deeper than it should have been, and I sank further into the depths. I wasn’t a strong swimmer to begin with and I was running out of air quickly, so I started flailing around at my zippers, wanting to lighten my load, however possible.

Finally ripping off my jacket, I cast it into the darkness and tried to swim upwards again, but was slammed aside as the wolf suddenly flailed into me as if it was thrown into me, and an unseen force pulled us both into the depths, making my whole world go black as I suffocated, the cold water entering my lungs.

I woke in a panic, coughing up water from my lungs, gasping for breath, and shivering as I realized how close to death I had been, hoping it was all just a bad dream, keeping my eyes shut a while longer. Eventually opening my eyes, I found myself in an unfamiliar area.

I was still in a forest, but everything looked…different. It was as if the colors of the world were more vibrant and alive. The snow on the ground was almost shining a sparkling white, and the trees were…green with leaves? Shaking my head, I knew I had to be seeing things. Narrowing my eyes and taking a closer look at my surroundings, I realized there was only snow surrounding me, everything a foot away from me was in fall colors, fallen leaves, various wild flowers, and weeds covering every inch of the ground outside of my snow circle. Adding to my amazement, the forest seemed to hum with life, and I could hear insects and birds chirping in the distance.

“Wasn’t it like…winter?” I asked aloud to no one in particular.

“Oh but it’s Autumn my dear boy, surely even the likes of you can see that?”

I whirled around, looking for the new voice that came from seemingly nowhere, the tree branches and bushes empty, carrying only a slight breeze. Laughter erupted in my ear. Instinctively I swatted at my right ear, noticing out of the corner of my eye that something jumped from my shoulder and onto the ground in front of me, making no sound. My jaw went slightly ajar as I looked at what was in front of me.

I took my meds today…right?

What stood in front of me couldn’t have actually existed, and I had never seen anything like it before, so it was hard to immediately chalk it up to my wild imagination. While it was small, just about one or two feet tall, it looked like someone just took the parts of every animal it could find and slammed it all together.

It had a horse head with big yellow eyes, two horns protruding out of it, the body of a chimera, but with the tail of a dragon rather than a snake. All in all…it hurt to look at, i didn't know where to look, everything about the creature just unnerved me.

While I looked it over, it grinned at me and did a little wave, comically large yellow eyes filled with what I assumed was mischief. Seeing that little interaction, I sobered. I shook my head, took a deep breath, and started walking away.

It’s not real. It’s not real. Just walk away, focus on the trees.

“Why look at trees when you could look at me?”

I shook my head in bewilderment as I saw the creature laying across a tree branch ahead of me, blowing a kiss at me with its lion paw. I furrowed my brows and just looked at the ground, only to find the creature looking back at me, grinning. Shocked, I fell back, catching myself with my hands, but an arc of pain from my wrist made me shriek in agony, sending me falling to one side, reminding me of my past injury. Tears flooded my eyes from the pain, I took a closer look at my wrist. It was bleeding again, the skin shredded along the bleeding holes and I swear I could see broken bone protruding from my skin.

“My my, your little friend certainly did a number on you didn’t they?” The creature said, looking at my wound, its paws behind its back. I ignored it, cursing my hallucinations as I took off my shirt, wrapping it around my wrist, and biting my lip hard as the pain coursed through my body again as I wrapped it as tight as possible, trying to keep pressure on it. It wasn’t the best fix but I didn’t exactly have a first aid kit handy. I took a deep breath and growled slightly at the pain becoming more and more apparent with the newfound pressure. I got back up on my feet, looking at the lake I was next to and the ever expansive trees that hid the sunlight from the sky. Shaking my head to focus, I began to walk towards the trees, looking for anything that looked even remotely familiar.

Seeing this, the creature giggled in delight. “Oh what fun this is going to be to watch!” It said, snapping, then clapping its paws together. I glared at it but immediately reared back as a deafening roar erupted from the forest, a giant bear suddenly materializing in front of me. At first glance It looked like a regular brown bear, tall and muscular, but upon closer inspection, it also had a long pair of fangs in its mouth and crimson red eyes. My flight or fight kicking into overdrive, I looked up at it, wondering if it was real or not, and glanced to the creature that was now dancing on my shoulder for some reason.

The bear wasted no time in answering my question as it began to rush me, its paws cracking the earth underneath it, sending pollen from some of the flowers exploding into a cloud between us.

“Fuck fuck f-”

I tried to scramble away, muttering to myself, but it was too late as the bear swiped a paw the second he got close enough, his claws slashing into my arm and sending me into a nearby tree, making me cry out in pain.

The bear seemed to grin at this, watching me closely with its demonic eyes as I ungracefully picked myself up and started to run deeper into the trees, smacking branches out of my way and tripping over weeds in my path.

Why didn’t I just stay home!?

Laughter mixed with the roar of a bear chasing me, both creatures followed me deeper into the forest, getting closer every time I looked over my shoulder as if I was in some bad slasher film.

After what seemed like an eternity, I felt I had finally lost the bear, only barely escaping it as I climbed through a small crack in the denser vegetation deeper in the forest, which continued into a beaten path that led to a cave, seemingly unoccupied. At least I hoped so, as there were various animal tracks leading to it, the closer to the entrance i got.

Staying near the entrance to the inside of the cave just to be safe, I sighed in pain as I collapsed, my chest covered in scratches and bruises from my escape from the demon bear, my tank top barely protecting my body. My shirt, still wrapped around my wrist was no longer a light blue but a deep purple as blood continued to pump out of the untreated wound, probably worse for wear with all the pressure I put on it, scrambling through a dense forest for my life. Just looking at the blood-soaked shirt made me feel lightheaded, and I started to feel a little dizzy, my adrenaline starting to wear off. Before I could try and get my shit together, a series of low growls and yelps echoed from deeper in the cave, spiking my adrenaline output once more.

I’m such an idiot.

Stupidly curious and forcing myself to my feet, I took a tentative step towards the darkness of the cave but stopped myself as I saw a familiar grey wolf running towards me.

“Oh just fuck me in the ass.” I muttered out, turning to run again but froze as I realized that the wolf was injured, bleeding in several places, and barely gave me a glance as it raced past me. When I turned toward the darkness again, I understood why.

Emerging from the darkness were wolf-like creatures but instead of fur, they had what looked like wood and branches holding their bodies together, and where their eyes should have been, a dull green energy glowed menacingly. I shivered as they raced after the grey wolf, five in total, all of varying sizes, the smallest coming up to my waist. As they raced past me, I braced myself for an attack, but they didn’t seem to even notice my presence, which made me wonder if they were real.

“Oh they’re as real as you and I, little bird.” A happy voice spoke from my shoulder, coming from the smaller creature from before just sitting there, grinning at me. Giving into this bout of insanity, I took a shaky breath and leaned my back against the wall before speaking to my newest hallucination from hell.

“Okay dude, I’ll bite. If they’re real, then why did they just ignore me?” I glared at it, half expecting the small creature to disappear away as soon as I gave my attention to it. Surprisingly, it didn’t and just grinned even wider.

“Oh it’s simple. I hid you. Seeing how they just want your furry friend over there; you didn’t need to be involved.” The creature leaped to my head, laying down in my hair. “I'm sure you'll be happy to know though, they seem very intent on killing that poor pup. What comes around, goes around am I right?”

My eyes widened and then narrowed, my dazed eyesight becoming more focused as I felt something…primal inside of me awaken, a strange desire to help the wolf.

Choosing instead to agree with the creature's observation, I shook my head. This was karma at her finest, the wolf had attacked me, and no doubt, he went looking for trouble in this cave, and obviously found it. I looked at my wrist, still bleeding through my shirt. Even if I could escape whatever hellhole this place was, I didn't think that I would ever be able to use my hand the same way again. It was my right hand, my dominant hand, used for just about everything in my daily life and that wolf had ripped into my wrist, not giving a damn about how it affected me, even when I was just trying to offer it a treat. This was justice.

Yet I still couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that lingered in the back of my mind. Canines were man’s best friend after all, and even though he bit me, nearly tearing my hand off, I felt an odd kinship to the animal. He, like I, was lost and afraid, chased by creatures that by any right shouldn’t exist. And I was right, he was an animal...surely he didn't know any better. As the intelligent being, the only one who would harbor any regret or anger from the encounter was me. The right thing to do was go back the wolf up. Even if the smart thing to do was run far, far away from this forest, and ensure I didn't lose more than a hand.

Steeling myself, I decided.

I just hope this is a bad dream.

I ran out of the cave in the direction of the wolves, and the creature on my head squealed in delight, saying something, but I ignored him, trying to figure out where they went. A howl and sounds of snarling was much closer than I had hoped. Slowing down and taking cover behind a tree, the scene I witnessed wasn’t pretty.

The grey wolf, much smaller than the wooden abominations, paced slowly, its amber eyes flickering from creature to creature, growling and showing its teeth each time one got closer. The poor thing was certainly worse for wear, its right foreleg flinching every time it touched the ground, its sides with red claw marks, and its coat covered in splinters, blood, and dirt. Looking around more, I noticed that there were only three of these creatures in the small clearing, with two small wooden mounds close to me, unmoving. I looked on, impressed by the grey predator.

Does he even need my help?

With a snarl, the largest of the creatures sprang forward, closing the distance and opened its mouth to bite the wolf. The wolf tried to leap aside, but the other two wolves closed in, each clawing its sides, making it yelp in pain and fall to the ground. The largest of the creatures approached again, looming over the downed prey, baring its wooden fangs in a show of dominance. Despite the pain, I couldn't watch any longer, I had to do something.

With my heartbeat pounding in my ears, I grabbed a nearby fallen branch, hefting it above my head with my good arm and yelled as loud as I could, making the creatures leap away as I slammed my weapon into the rear of one of the creatures, making it spin into the ground with a satisfying yelp. It recovered quickly however, springing back up, barking at its companions, and all three to focused on me, encircling me like a group of vultures.

Looking over at the grey wolf, I saw that it was motionless, but its amber eyes were cracked open, watching me. A rising growl made me whip my head back as all three creatures leaped at me, as if they had coordinated it, all different angles, and as the first wolf reached me, biting into my leg, I knew it was all over. I dropped my now broken branch in pain and went to punch the creature but realized that it wasn't moving. Blinking owlishly, I looked closer, noticing that it was still latched onto my leg. After giving it a shake, I realized that I couldn’t feel any pain. Looking around more, I gasped as I saw the other two frozen in midair, the larger one leaping for my back, and the other just inches away from biting into my hip.

What the h-

“Want to make a deal?” A voice echoed throughout my mind as I looked around, seeing nothing. A talon tapped me on the forehead as the small creature from before peered down from its place on my head, grinning. I stared back at a loss for words, as his touch confirmed that he was real and not just another hallucination. He just chuckled at my expression and leapt off my head, his tiny wings buzzing to life until he was eye to eye with me.

“This situation hardly seems favorable after all, and while I would LOVE to see you try and prove me wrong, I think we can make this more interesting.” He winked at me, making me stare back at him in confusion.

More interesting?

He nodded. I looked at him and then back at the situation I was in. Woodsy creatures about to tear me limb from limb, talking chimeras, unfamiliar forests, demon bears, and fighting for an animal that bit me not even hours ago, ready to tear me apart for some jerky. Looking back at him, I shrugged.

Well if I’m going to die anyway…why not?

He grinned darkly, bringing his talons up in front of me, as if he were about to-

SNAP

~Canterlot~

“Sister…do you feel that?” A dark blue horse with wings and a large horn asked her white companion, apprehension in her tone as she lowered her sandwich.

Celestia, the sun goddess of Equestria, glared off into the distance, a feeling of foreboding spreading through her body as she felt a large wave of chaos magic. The only creature even capable of displaying such power was currently in stone, and even then, his magic was never this noticeable unless he wanted to make some grand and flashy appearance. Celestia took a deep breath, rising to her hooves, looking at her sister, a steely gaze in her magenta eyes.

“Ready your armor Luna, let us prepare for the worst Discord has to offer.”

Disembodied laughter echoed throughout the courtyard, the voice all to familiar to the two sisters, confirming their fears.

“AAAARRRGGGHH”

The pain coursing through my body became unbearable as time resumed, but the wolves were thrown back from me in a blast of cold air, sending them flying through the air, crashing into low hanging branches. Large white wings suddenly sprouted from my shoulder blades, and a black mist exploded from my chest, then rushed back inside me, and the cold air swirling around me became an inferno of flames, scaring away the wooden creatures. An Obsidian blade sliding into a sheath appeared in front of me, covered in glowing red runes, with a visible aura of darkness encasing it. Another arc of pain shot through my body and the creature laughed evilly as all of my injuries suddenly worsened, blood flowing from them like a river, and a black glow slowly started encasing my body. Numerous voices ran rampant in my head, my vision going dark, and with another loud snap, peace and quiet filled my head, the voices dispersing into fading echoes.

With my vision slowly returning to normal, I panted out; “W-what the hell was that about?” I looked to Discord, his name now a whisper repeated over and over by the new voices in my head. He looked at me smiling, and said;

“All in good time, my caged little bird” he snapped once more, and the wooden wolves, who I thought had been scared away, entered my sight again, circling me, the largest of the trio with a noticeable limp.

“Now, will you survive?”

I looked to the sword in front of me, kneeling to grab it, and readied myself, holding it in my hands, wincing at the weight it put on my injured wrist, well aware of the blood still dropping onto the forest floor. Bringing the blade slowly out of the sheath, I prepared to die. Only for a snap to ring out, ripping me and the grey wolf into a void in the lion palm of Discord.

Blinking a few times to try to get the world to stop spinning, I put the blade down in front of me like a cane, slowly coming to a kneel as I felt the need to vomit, feeling the bile climbing my throat. Before I could empty my stomach on the floor, my vision cleared for me to see what I could only hope were delusions.

I appeared to be inside of some kind of court room, marble lining the floor and ceiling, cushions neatly arranged on the floor and in the back of the room, an interesting looking throne seated on an elevated dais. In front of me was my next surprise of the day. Two large horses, decked out in battle armor stood in front of at least a dozen other smaller white and blue horses, also wearing armor, matching their fur coats. The larger of the two horses, was a white Pegasus, but with an added feature, a unicorn horn. She had large magenta eyes that seemed to glare right down into my very soul. Her mane was a sight to behold. It seemed to float on an invisible breeze, a pastel rainbow that flowed down to her back, kept out of her face by a golden crown, which matched her golden armor, adorned by many sun engravings.

While I examined the new crowd in front of me, they only stared back, not making a sound, until the white horse stepped forward and with her piercing glare, spoke. I was shocked that she spoke, but I couldn't understand what she was saying, the language was foreign to me. Noting my silence, she spoke again, louder.

It sounded like…Greek? No...Latin? Unable to understand or begin to comprehend what was happening, I just stared into her eyes, which only continued to narrow at me. There was anger there, but I couldn't understand why, but I figured I was going to pass out soon and die, so I hardly cared after a moment or two. She spoke a few more times, and apparently gave up trying to communicate, creating a deadly silence in the air where Discord decided was a perfect time to speak up, appearing out of thin air, his feet resting on my makeshift cane.

“Why hello there Celestia, and Oh! Dear little Moonie as well! I’m so happy to see you-“ The large blue horse slammed a hoof on the floor, her black armor pulsing slightly as she did so.

“THOU SHALL NOT CALL US THAT, VILE DEMON!”

As she spoke, her voice echoed in my head a few times making me wince back in pain from the set of lungs on this horse. Coming back to my senses, my eyes widened.

Was that English?!

From his perch, Discord just giggled, failing to hide his smile with a lion paw. The white horse, who I assumed was Celestia, shook her head and shifted her glare from me to the chimera of the day. Her voice, speaking now in perfect English was cold and unwavering, chilling my bones.

“Have you not learned anything from your previous conquest? Whatever you’re planning, by now you must realize that these humans are quite fragile.” She paused, giving me a once over, unfazed by my battered body bleeding from various places, before shifting her gaze back to him. “In fact, you seem to already have broken him, even if he is overflowing with dark magic.”

Discord smirked, snapping his fingers, making both horses flinch back, both sets of eyes darting around the room in panic, as if they were expecting an attack. He appeared on Celestia’s head, toying with her ears, which flicked away from him in annoyance.

“Now now my dear friend, what fun would a conquest be? Your brute force is hardly one I’ll test again. I simply want to play a game. Our human friend over there is already interested.” He leaned down to hang in front of her eyes. “What say you?”

Unenthused, she looked at him before shaking her head, flinging him back over to me, where he just floated onto my head, toying with my curls. I looked up, glaring at him, then looked back at the crowd. Celestia narrowed her eyes at Discord, or me, I really couldn’t tell as the blood loss was making me feel rather loopy, with the corners of my vision threatening to darken even further with each passing moment.

“Oh? Now, what kind of game requires you to bring such a being to this world? Again.” She asked, emphasizing that last part. Before I could pipe in, he patted my head and flew to the floor. He stretched, cracking various limbs on his small body before he smiled looking at the two horses.

“Well as the god of chaos, I believe the state of the world is a bit unfair, my lady.” He bowed at Celestia, who just snorted in response, her eyes rolling. He continued, unfazed. “With your pesky elements of harmony, the scale has been tipped for far too long, which has made existence, for a lack of a better word, quite boring.” He paused to look at me, smirking. Celestia cleared her throat, obviously irritated.

“If you could get to the point, there are many of us with actual responsibili-” Discord gasped in mock shock, a lion paw to his chest for dramatic effect.

“I’ll have you know that I take my responsibilities quite serious, thank you, why even as we chat, I’m at work!” He grinned, staring at the guards behind the two horses. Celestia glanced back to see her guards turned pink instead of their natural white color. She sighed, looking back at Discord, unamused.

“Very well, you may…continue.”

He grinned, and I swear I heard him squee.

“Like I said, there is a disturbance in the balance of harmony and as you push back when I go too 'far', I must as well.” He smirked, using air quotes. “That said, our normal interactions are rather dull. I manipulate your enemies, you send your element bearers after them with that dreadful rainbow cannon. I start a war, the whole world hates me for it. I enjoy myself for one day in a small town and I get turned to stone.” Celestia rolled her eyes at that last one, but he continued. “So how about a wager? An end all be all if you will.” Celestia narrowed her eyes, her horn starting to glow a golden hue.

“I’m listening.”

His smirk intensified, waving at me.

“I think it’s time to let this world to decide for itself, a game where neither you nor I will have full control over the end result. Like you said, humans are rather fragile, and to one without magic, well, even this innocent little world can be a dangerous place.” He waved at me again. “That is why I’ve given this poor soul the means to defend himself and perhaps a companion, should he choose to tame her.”

Her? Isn’t that wolf a male? I looked around in confusion, my eyes falling upon the grey wolf, who was watching the chimera with narrowed eyes, as if she could understand him. She turned to glare at me, and then pointed her nose up. I guess that’s what I get for being sexist.

Discord continued, ignoring our interaction.

“The terms are rather simple. If the human can survive for one year in Equestria, you win. I will leave this world forever, leaving it in its disgusting state of harmony. No complaints, no war, no petrification, I will exile myself from the planet entirely.” Celestia brought a hoof to her chin, appearing to be thinking, then moments later looked back at Discord.

“And if you win?” He smiled, then looked at me.

“No offense, to you, little bird, but should you perish,” He teleported in front of Celestia, grabbing her cheeks. “Then you and I will be wed, and you will join me at my side, my beloved queen of chaos, with your element bearers turned to stone, and your adorable little sister…”He winked at Luna, who glared at him. “Will join us in her madness as the once feared Nightmare she once was.” He then teleported to my cheeks, pinching them. “And you will be resurrected, my protégé, a lord of chaos, destined to live for eternity, destroying everything you ever held dear.” He leapt back up to my head, doing a little dance, spreading his arms wide. “We’ll be one big happy family~” My blood ran cold at the realization that there are worse things than death, and I had sold my soul off to this crazy mini devil. Celestia’s eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed again, looking at Discord.

“While that sounds…interesting, I feel there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Discord chuckled, his paws up in a placating manner.

“Sharp as ever, my little sunshine.” Celestia just stared at him. He continued. “There are a few requirements for this wager to work properly, it's no fun if it isn’t fair, as I’m sure you can agree. The first of these rules, is that I can’t kill him, and you can’t immortalize him. That would just be too easy for me, and even worse!” He gasped. “He wouldn’t be able to learn any of your precious friendship lessons.” She scowled at him. I gagged. He just giggled, which was something that was getting rather old. “Second, you can’t use your elements of harmony on him.” She raised her brow at that. “Or at the very least, I wouldn't advise it. You see, the chaos magic he inherited from me is very delicate and is part of what keeps him anchored here.” I smiled at that a little, hope sparking as I began to think of what I believed to be a very easy way home, if I could figure out how the elements worked.

Seemingly omniscient, he turned towards me, cocking his head to the side, then booping me on the nose with a talon. “If removed, and you get sent back home without my assistance…well.” He giggled. “There are worse things than death. For one way, of many ways I may add, it could affect you, is that the rampant chaos magic would tear your body apart slowly, and then repair you, only to repeat the process, over and over again. Atom by atom, century by century, invisible and incurable. The madness you would achieve would rival my very own…” I cringed, sighing internally. He just smiled at my misery and continued. “The last of these terms, is that he,” He pointed at me. “Can call this wager off at any time and choose a side. Chaos.” He pointed at himself. “Or harmony,” He pointed at Celestia. “At the cost of not only his life, but the destruction of his home world.” Celestia and I looked at him in horror. He just giggled. “Don’t act too surprised, after all, his choices are what make this fun!” He clapped his hands together, grinning at Celestia. “So what do you say?” He said, extending a paw out to her.

Before she could answer, a window shattered off to my left, and I barely had the time to look before pain erupted from my shoulder, and I was sent sliding across the room, accompanied by a cyan blur, before it disappeared from my sight as quickly as it had appeared.

Finally coming to a stop against one of the rooms pillars, the world faded in and out of focus as I could faintly make out the sounds of shouting before a bright flashing of various colors took over my sight, blinding me and making me cover my eyes in pain. After the light died down and my vision started to come back, the only thing I could hear was the all too familiar sound of Discord laughing.

The shapes and colors coming clearly into view, I could now see that we were joined by six small new horses, each with some kind of gold jewelry on their bodies. There was a unicorn with a white coat and a purple mane, two pegasi, one a light yellow with pink hair, the other a familiar cyan with what looked like a rainbow mane and tail, two regular horses, one orange with blonde hair, and the other was…too much pink. The last of the newcomers was a purple unicorn with wings, much like the other two horses from before but much smaller. She seemed to be surprised, her mouth hung open, staring at Discord, who was on his back laughing.

“Wha-why didn’t that work?! Surely I couldn’t have done the incantation wrong!” The purple one was now muttering to herself as Discord, with a snap, reappeared upon my head, looking to Celestia, who, to her credit, seemed to be taking what just happened in stride.

“Really now, did you really think that would work on me again?” He cackled madly as the six new arrivals looked to Celestia in confusion and fear. She simply held a hoof up to them. Then she smiled.

“Actually, I understand perfectly, my mischievous little friend. You aren’t actually here. Of course the elements of harmony wouldn’t work on you.” Celestia smirked at Discord, who was smiling back at her, giving her a little clap.

“Indeed. As much as I’d love to be at this little reunion and sprinkle in a little more of my namesake, I am still mostly trapped in that cold stone prison of yours. However, with this human here, I could simply just leave it and possess him. He seems to be producing a very healthy amount of chaos for me to feed off of, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” He smirked at Celestia. “But I am willing to behave myself…if you play this game with me.”

She shook her head, giving her dark blue companion a look that I couldn’t read, even though these horses seemed to show a lot more human behavior than I would have expected. Of course, I was still getting over the fact that they were talking, pegasi and unicorns existed, along with their weird pegacorn princess offspring, and I had signed my soul off to the devil. She spoke again, delaying my panicking thoughts.

“Very well, I’ll play your little game. After all, you seem to be holding all of the cards…” She glared at him. “If I didn’t know any better, it would seem you have been planning this for a long time.” Discord just chuckled.

“Well, when you’re trapped in stone with only your thoughts to keep you company…you could say I’ve been busy. Or, perhaps, this was all fated to be, even out of my own control.” Before he could continue, Celestia spoke again.

“I have one alteration to this little deal of yours. If this human and I win, you, my chaotic little friend, will not leave. You will be transformed into a earth pony, forced to live a normal life, and will be sending me daily friendship letters every day about your time here in Equestria.” She smiled darkly at him. “You seem to loathe the very idea of it all, so it seems to be a fitting punishment for your actions.” He sniffed at that, throwing a look at her I couldn’t see as he was still on my head.

“Very well Tia. It would seem we have a deal.” He flew forward, holding his lion paw out to her as if to shake on it. She looked at this, then held out her hoof. When the two touched, red glowing chains snaked up the side of their outstretched appendages, coiling around their bodies until it reached their necks. Neither of them seemed phased by it, and let go with ease, and with Discord snapping once more, my body suddenly lit up in the dark glow from before. Before I could brace myself, I was lifted into the air, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the wolf was being lifted by the dark energy as well, with her amber eyes never leaving Discord.

Without any warning, my body was lit with a green hue, and I could feel my wounds starting to mend. My eyes widened as my shirt came undone, falling to the ground in a bloody heap. The wounded wrist started snapping back into place, and tendons were weaved back together, newborn skin covering it all up, as if nothing had ever happened. It felt surprisingly good, and as I looked over at the wolf, she appeared to be back to her original state that I first met her in, though she seemed much bigger now. I hadn’t noticed before when she was holding off the forest creatures but instead of the pup I first met, she was at least half of my height now, and her thick winter coat was gone.

With another snap, my musings were interrupted as the green glow faded away and I slammed back into the ground, knocking the wind out of me. Looking up from the ground, I could see Discord standing in front of me, smiling a dark grin.

“Oh my precious little bird, we are going to have so much fun together…” After he said that, his eyes flashed blue, and suddenly wore a more serious expression. As if possessed, he glanced at Celestia, his demeanor more rigid, and his tone cold.

"You should know Tia, I'm doing you a favor, and you'll be thanking me at the end of this." He looked back at me. "And so will you, little bird."

And with another snap, he disappeared, leaving me and the wolf alone, surrounded by colorful horses, all prepared for a war that didn’t come, reflecting on his cryptic departure.

“I see.” Luna sipped from her white teacup daintily, which was encased in a dark blue glow, matching the color her horn was glowing. After Discord disappeared, the six late arrivals bombarded Celestia with questions and Luna had taken the liberty of escorting me to a side room with a dining table, leaving guards to block the door. She had a smaller grey horse retrieve tea for the both of us and she wasted no time in interrogating me about how I came to be in Equestria, which was apparently the world I was now stuck on.

“Do you have a name, Human? I feel we are going to be in close contact during your stay here. It hardly seems fitting to call you by your species name.” I raised a brow at that last part, setting my water down on the table. I had already gone through the entire pot of tea she had brought out, which tasted heavenly. It reminded me of the chamomile tea from back home my grandma used to give me when I was sick. I cleared my throat, my eyes tentatively leveling with hers. Her blue eyes burned back into mine, making me flinch back a little. Still, there was something that was bothering me about all of this.

“I uh, have a question for you first if you don’t mind?” She nodded at me to continue. “Well, um, when I first got here, the white horse,”

“Alicorn, known as Princess Celestia, my sister.” She interjected, her voice calm.

“Right. Celestia, started speaking what I only assume is Latin, which is a relatively old and outdated language where I’m from. I was kinda hoping you would be able to tell me why? Also, while I’m surprised to see unicorns and pegasi walking around, you don’t seem to be surprised of my existence. Are…there others like me here?” I flashed a hopeful look at her.

Luna narrowed her eyes at my question but composed herself before speaking, looking down at her tea.

“Many years ago, before my banishment, we were at war with Discord. He brought many creatures of chaos and destruction to our world, but humans were the only creatures that truly gave us any cause for worry. While they were fragile and magic-less, they were great tacticians, very organized, resilient, and fearless. ” She raised her head to look at me. “But while they caused the most havoc and destruction out of all of Discords summonings, one human tried to make peace, coming to us,” She caught herself, clearing her throat. “Me with an offer to end the bloodshed.” She looked to the door where we had entered. “He spoke this Latin language you speak of, and taught it to my sister and I so we could attempt to negotiate peace with the rest of his kind.” She suddenly looked pained. “He… was cut down by Discord and his brethren. They were too proud, called him a traitor, and Discord’s influence was too great to reason with them on our own. The army of his humans discarded our offer of peace and attacked my sister, who…well it’s best you don’t know. It was quite gruesome.” She glanced at me sheepishly. “You shouldn’t expect sympathy from my sister, as she was not fond of your kind and the things they did to our ponies.”

I sat back further into my chair, my mind trying to comprehend everything Luna had said. Before I could contemplate further, Luna cleared her throat.

“While my sister is not friendly with the thought, we did learn much from the soldier who wanted peace. I especially, spent much time with him, and during one of our talks, he spoke to me of how one’s namesake is important to every human, much like the ponies that live here in Equestria.” She looked at me curiously, her blue eyes peering into my soul. “In his short time here, he became one I could call a friend, and I hope to call you one as well, even if your time here is short.” She gave me a hopeful smile, leaning across the table slightly. Her eyes seemed to grow slightly larger, similar to puppy dog eyes. It was honestly kind of cute. She didn't ask again, but I knew she wasn't going to let it go.

I took a deep breath, still hoping that I was in some messed up nightmare and spoke.

“My name is Osprey.” I smiled, walking over to her and extending a hand. “ and I hope we can become friends too, Princess Luna.” Her smile grew wider as she reached to shake my hand, hoof steps growing louder outside of the side room doors.

Author's Note

Updates will come as I have time for them. Additionally, this story will mainly focus on Osprey and a OC (who you will meet in the next chapter) so if you're wondering where in the timeline this story exists, you may as well give up now. :trollestia:

Until next time, I hope you enjoy this chapter!