Rank & Full Name: Swift Wildshadow, F.O.S.
Letter’s Date: x2/x2/2x2x
Address: North Solar Boulevard, Bldg. 0123, District 001, Canterlot, Equestria
Contents: Letter

“Hello, Ma. Hello Dad.

So, yesterday, I was introduced to my first assignment as a First Officer Specialist. It did catch me by surprise, but not by the type of creature they assigned me to guard.

No, it was ‘who’ they decided to pair me up with.

I should have listened to everypony’s warnings regarding this specific creature. The problem was…

They were ALL SOWRONG!!"

========================================<>=========================================

“Good morning, Specialist Swift! Are you ready for your first assignment?” Princess Celestia chirped from the throne.

“Yes, Your Highness!” I said confidently, saluting toward the alicorn.

She grinned. “It seems like you are ready.” Celestia turned to her younger sister, who didn’t look back. Instead, her eyes wandered and stared off into space, her frame…shaking?

“Lulu?” Celestia asked, nudging her sister slightly.

“Ah!” Luna responded before staring at her sister. “Don’t do that, Celly!”

“Whaaat? You were doing it again. Can’t I have any fun?” Celestia said, sticking out her tongue.

“N-Not after last n-night,” she said, stuttering. She was acting almost the same way I was when…oh yeah. That mission. Princess Celestia ignored it as she continued.

“Well, today’s the day we assign Specialist Swift here to his first ‘important’ creature,” she said, smiling. “Without further ado, let’s go meet ‘him!’” I saluted as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna descended the throne and passed by. Celestia nodded before proceeding, but as Luna approached me, she whispered something to my ear.

“Good luck with this one, Swift,” she said quietly before departing after her sister.

I looked at the lunar princess, tilting my head in confusion before marching behind them. Odd, I thought. As I followed them through the castle’s corridor, I started to imagine who it could be that I would be assigned. Why is she so worried? Maybe one of the Royal Ambassadors for GriffonStone? No. Perhaps a celebrity in Las Pegasus? That would be cool. Or from a faraway land? I’d bet on tha-

The princesses suddenly turned right and opened a tall, skinny door. I stopped and peered at them before they ushered me in. As I was brought into the small corridor, I looked back at them briefly before peering forward and looking up.

gasp!

“Stairs?” I asked quietly.

“Yes,” Celestia said. “Stairs.” There was a brief pause. “...We’ll wait for you at the top, Specialist Swift.”

“Wait, whu-”

pop!

With a quick spell, the alicorns teleported away, leaving me alone at the bottom of the staircase. I groaned in frustration, turning around to look up the almost infinite staircase. The one thing I dread in this castle, I thought while slapping a hoof to my face.

Stairs….

========================================<>=========================================

huff! huff! “Oof…I-I need to work on my cardio again,” I said weakly, plopping on the top set of stairs. “I forgot how tall these spires are….” huff!

“Lulu, he’s here. Wake up,” Princess Celestia whispered to her half-asleep sister.

“Whu-Who ordered me candy?” she responded before seeing me shakily stand on all fours.

“I’m gonna ignore that,” Celestia said before beckoning me with one wing to pass her.

huff! “C-Couldn...Couldn’t you have taken me with you?” I asked softly, panting heavily.

“Unfortunately, you will have to do this daily from now on,” Celestia detailed. “And there might be times when you may have to do this multiple times in one day, Specialist Swift.”

groan! My shoulders ached as I approached the door at the corridor’s end. I peered at the massive door before me with a sense of fascination and fear overtaking my frame. Who could this creature be? my mind pondered. What do I do?

“Well? Go on now,” Luna called out. “Knock on the door.”

I looked behind me, only to notice the Princesses had backed up to the stairs. Ummm, why are you not helping me? They both nodded and stared at the door, which I also did. I took a deep breath and reached out with my right hoof.

puuk! puuk!

Two soft knocks.

Ten seconds passed. But…no response.

I tried again.

knock! knock! knock!

I knocked louder this time.

But, still…no response.

“Is ‘he’ up?” I heard Princess Celestia say quietly.

“Oh, trust me, dear sister,” Luna responded. “‘He’ IS up….” This irritated me more. Why are the alicorn princesses not helping me? My mind was racing with angry thoughts. Who could this possibly be, and why am I waiting at a door for them? Shouldn’t it have been in the throne room?

Bum! Bum! Bum!

“Anycreature in there?” I called out frustratingly. I put my ear to the door and listened.

“...”

No shuffling.

No breathing.

Nothing.

I turned around, looking at the two alicorns, my jaw clenched in frustration. “Is this a joke?” I asked, my body becoming agitated. “Why the secrecy? Why did you back up from me? What is going on here?”

“Specialist Swift, those are all great questions,” Princess Celestia said pleadingly. “But you need to practice patience with thi-”

“I HAV-” sigh “I have learned how to be patient, Your Highness,” I retorted before gesturing to the closed entrance. “But this? This is ridiculous!” I stamped my hoof into the ground, the alicorns staring at me.

“First, you tell me I am assigned to somecreature of high importance, but there is no background for me to read about ‘it.’ Your Highness, I was provided with nothing,” I told the older alicorn before pointing at the younger one. “Secondly, Princess Luna is telling me ‘good luck,’ because apparently, SHE herself is worried! And to top it all off,” I gestured back to the door. “I am banging on this door with my hoof, to which there is no response!”

“...” Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at me silently, remaining neutral in their stance. I decided to collect my thoughts and be reasonable in my actions.

sigh “I apologize for my outburst, Your Highnesses. Don’t think I am being rude, but after all I have been through, this feels like a joke. What kind of creature is it? Where are they?”

creak!

My ears dropped fast as my eyes widened. My blood froze as I looked toward the two alicorns. They looked past me and audibly gulped. That door opened, I thought as I turned around. Wha-

“I don’t think this is a joke, little pony.”

The first thing that greeted my face was a giant wall of clothing. As I peered up at the creature before me, my face whitened as I saw the creature’s facial features, which looked very familiar. It was…different from that of a pony.

gulp! “Uhhh, g-good morning, Alex the ‘hyuman…’” Celestia said, her voice trembling. At that moment, I remembered all the gossip flowing throughout Canterlot about this massive, unidentified creature, whom nopony knew anything about. And as I stared at the ‘hyuman,’ one thought immediately plastered itself onto my brain.

What have I gotten myself into?

========================================<>=========================================

“So, as you can probably tell, I got my work cut out for me. If I don’t write back to you for a while, it isn’t because I can’t find time to write letters. It is because it will be challenging to find said time to do so. In the meantime, hang in there, and I will write back as soon as possible.

Wishing you tremendous health,

Swift Wildshadow, F.O.S.

P.S. It may be hard to admit this, but ‘everypony’ in Canterlot, including the Princesses, are justifiably terrified of this creature…and I am too.”

========================================<>=========================================

Was he really that scary? I pondered to myself with a face of confusion. I, for one, certainly am taller than he was, and nopony was afraid of me when I showed up. They barely realized I was there.

I started chuckling to myself. “Haha, I was so wrong in thinking that,” I jokingly said while placing the letter back in the envelope. “Those boxes they set up couldn’t even contain my whole lower half! So how will they stop a bugbear if one appears?”

I tossed the envelope into the box and brought out envelope number SEVEN. Again, I turned it over and took the letter out. This time, the message on the inside was smudged excessively, with only a couple of words popping out to me.

“Noc---t--- --ou-- ---w o- --- ex--te--e, ye- ---y do. - -m a---m-d -f o-- ki--.”

“...”

You…you dolt, I bitterly thought as I opened up the letter. Why would you ever believe that about humanity? We have a lot to offer! Our technological advances, human intelligence, and the never-ending progress we create have propelled us forward so much. I shook my head as I stared again at the message.

There’s no way you could think that. I mean, come on, we aren’t ‘that’ bad…

“...”

R-Right?

Author's Note

15 chapters in, and we are already meeting our first recurring villain...the "stairs."

As always, feedback is appreciated in the comments below. See you in the next one!

-Harpy