Four Corners

Horatio had done it. Through the night, he had evaded several guard patrols and wary civilians to make it to the castle. Or at least, that was what it looked like. In a world full of cartoon horses, he couldn't tell if anything was straight anymore. Standing at the front gate to the castle, Horatio took in his surroundings. Posted on several lookout towers were guard horses, around eight or so, emitting a bright light from their horns and searching the shadows. Horatio decided it was time to make a plan.

Huddling behind an old dumpster close to the castle wall, he devised his master plan. First, he would try to sneak into the castle. Judging from the first horse's reaction, he didn't look too friendly, so he decided it best to sneak inside the castle and look for help elsewhere. Maybe there was a human king or queen that could tell him that this was all a strange dream and he was back on the moon in bed.

Step 1: Sneak in.

Step 2: Wait until morning.

Step 3: Look for someone in charge.

Step 4: Beg to be sent home from this crazy world.

It was a foolproof plan. Judging by the moon's height, Horatio judged it to be around 12:30 midnight. Time to get to work.

Despite his muscular build, Horatio's suit greatly hindered him as he slid along the castle wall, avoiding spotlights. It wasn't quiet either; the clink-clink of his suit's metal boots against the cobblestones under his feet drew several spotlights, but none landed on him. He couldn't take it off either, or at least not without another helper. When he was close enough to the front gate, Horatio reached over with a gloved hand and gave it a slow push. To his dismay, it was locked tight.

Clang!

Horatio froze as his metal-backed glove caught on the cold steel of the castle gate. All spotlights were now ravenously searching the area, looking for the source of the noise. Voices broke the silence.

"What in Luna's name was that?" A voice asked.

"Dunno, sounded like a bird or something."

"Sleek Skin, go check that out." A gruff voice made itself noticed.

"Yes, lieutenant." The first horse's voice ended as hoofsteps approached cautiously.

Horatio pressed himself against the marble wall as the gate slid open slowly. A searchlight shone from behind the wall, before a rather tall horse emerged from behind the gate's marble border, searching the darkness. His eyes flicked from side to side, scanning for threats, but thankfully Horatio wasn't spotted.

"Looks like it's gone, sir," The horse called before backing itself into the castle walls again. "Must've flown off."

"Good enough, our shift is over anyway."

Hoofsteps were heard farther and farther away from Horatio as said horses left the vicinity. Some of the spotlights from before vanished also, but two still remained. Horatio sighed in relief. He poked his helmet around the corner to make sure, then watched as a tall guard horse in golden armor knocked three times on the raised drawbridge connecting the castle from the rest of the city. A door beside the drawbridge opened suddenly, and the three guards wasted no time hustling indoors, free from the night's cold. The light form inside vanished as the door slammed shut again.

In a flash of good luck, Horatio noticed that the guards had neglected to lock the front gate. Thinking quickly, he dashed around the corner-

-and straight into a guard horse, carrying a set of keys. It wasn't one of the guards from before; its eyes were more cat-like and it had bat wings instead of angel-y ones like Horatio had seen on the guards from before. It was also dressed in purple armor, and Horatio thought it had fangs, but couldn't be sure in the darkness. The guard swiftly turned his head, searching for his assailant.

"Oof! What the...?"

The guard's pupils narrowed as he focused on Horatio's mirror-like visor.

"Wha... wha..."

Horatio fiercely put a finger to his visor, instinctively making a shushing noise. Instead, his suit's damaged voice receptor made a growl not unlike that of an angered hungry flame dragon made out of darkness.

"Help... HEL-"

Horatio's gloved hand was suddenly over the guard's mouth, preventing his scream from being heard. The guard's wings flailed helplessly and his hooves batted against Horatio's arms with slowly decreasing strength. When the guard's struggles slowly drew to an end and his eyes rolled back, Horatio let his hand fall from the guard's mouth. He was relieved to see that the guard's chest was slowly rising and falling. Alive.

Horatio pulled the unconscious guard into a dark corner of the castle courtyard, where he leaned against a wall for support. His heart was racing; He'd never hurt another living being on purpose before. But now that he had, he felt a newfound courage inside of him. He was far stronger than the guard he just subdued, so he didn't really have anything to fear if things got ugly. Regaining his breath, Horatio picked up the keys from the ground carefully and checked to make sure the other two guards on duty hadn't overheard the struggle. Horatio saw two spotlights still cluelessly searching the darkness outside of the castle walls. Horatio tiptoed towards the drawbridge, remembering that the guards had knocked three times to enter. Horatio followed the example and knocked three times, bracing for what he was about to do.

The door creaked open, and a white horse with golden armor peered out.

"Yes?"

Horatio, thinking quickly, picked up a stray rock and tossed it at the guard tower not far from him. Still hidden in the shadows, Horatio's suit made little noise thankfully. The rock made a loud clang as it rebounded off the metal roof, scaring both spotlight guards to death and causing the door guard to bolt out, spear at the ready. Horatio darted past the guard, and despite his stark white space suit, remained unnoticed as he slipped into the doorway, narrowly avoiding bashing his helmet against the frame. He slammed the door shut and pulled the deadbolt across, leaning against the door triumphantly. He was glad to be in the light again. Thought dim, it was still light. Turning his head, Horatio picked out the tail of a nearby horse. Whipping around, he stared into the aqua eyes of a startled horse.

This horse was different; It was a light blue color and it had a differently shaped nose, like some of the other horses he had seen today, but it was the first he'd seen that was actually wearing clothes. They resembled a maid's outfit. It wasn't, however, the first to run down the nearby corridor, screaming in terror.

Horatio tailed after her swiftly, ignoring the heavy slaps his boots made against the smooth marble floor. Adrenaline fueled his desperation, and he was now rapidly catching up to the horse. His breath came in ragged bursts. It was a good thing he trained for this on Earth; It was as if this planet was nearly identical to Earth gravity-wise. Not to mention that the aliens were speaking English.

"HELP! Somepony, HELP ME! MONSTER!" The horse, boasting a woman's voice, was terrified at the monster chasing her down the hallways.

Horatio finally caught up to the horse. Using the last of his adrenaline, he dived headfirst onto the horse, tackling her to the ground and covering her mouth as he did to the guard before. Gathering himself and the horse, he thrust his boot into a random door. It flew open, several hinges broken. He ushered himself and the struggling horse inside, slamming the door shut behind him and deadbolting it. Horatio was once again shrouded in darkness and silence, save for his heavy breathing and the horse's whimpers of terror. Horatio did his best to calm the horse. Instead of trying to subdue her, however, he left her nostrils uncovered so she could breathe. She was trying to beg, but her muffled words fell on deaf ears. Seconds later, hoofsteps were heard galloping down the hallway.

"It came from this way, lads! Hurry!" Guards were heard sprinting down the hallway, and more voices were heard elsewhere, barking orders.

The hoofsteps faded, and Horatio turned his head back towards the poor horse still struggling in his grasp. Horatio's mirror-like visor reflected the horse's light blue eyes, but he could see her somewhat from the moonlight shining in from a single window. From the crates and old dusty books, Horatio guessed he was in a storage room of some sort. Lucky; It would have been a disaster if he'd stumbled into a sleeping horse's room.

The muffled screams of the horse lowered to nervous whimpers. Horatio peered into her eyes, knowing that she could still feel his gaze through his visor. He lowered his voice box's volume to a whisper before speaking.

"I'm going to let you go now." Instead of his calming voice, the mare heard something far worse.

"I'm feeling hungry for your blood now."

The mare's screams escalated once more, and she thrashed helplessly against Horatio's immense strength. Horatio did something he hoped he would never have to do.

He slapped the mare hard on the face, silencing her. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared into his visor.

"Be quiet!" Horatio's voice was loud enough to be heard through his helmet.

It seemed that had made it through his voice receptor fine, and the mare was quick to obey Horatio's orders. Horatio tried again.

"I am going to free you. Stay quiet."

Surprisingly, Horatio's voice came out crystal clear. The mare's pupils expanded slightly and she relaxed before nodding. Horatio slowly let his hand loose of the horse's mouth. She began to cry, and darted off into the darkness, hiding behind some crates. Horatio leaned against the door, satisfied. His fatigue began to set in, and he felt himself drifting into a deep sleep.

Twilight awoke to the sound of a loud clang, followed by the screaming of a mare. Then silence. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she found herself alone in her bed. Fear swept over her as a thousand scenarios of the murderous, white monster tearing her apart filled her head. Twilight lit her horn, bathing her room in a faint purple light. Moonlight also lit the room, shining in from her window. Hoofsteps passed by as guard ponies sprinted down the hallway, no doubt to investigate the screams that still rang fresh in Twilight's ears. Twilight closed her eyes again, but after several minutes was unable to fall back asleep. Groaning in frustration, she threw off her covers and walked lazily over to her door. She ventured down the dimly lit hallway to Fox's room. She knocked quietly at first, then louder when no response came. This time, low curses and footsteps came from behind the door.

Fox's face, fur matted from sleep, emerged from a crack in the door.

"Twilight?" He asked. "What's going on? I heard screams."

"I did too," Twilight replied. "I came to check up on you, you know. Make sure you're alright." Twilight blushed slightly. "That, and I'm a little scared to investigate alone."

Fox nodded knowingly and retreated back into his room to retrieve his boots and jacket. Moments later, he and Twilight were walking down the hallway together in silence.

"What do you think that was?" Fox asked.

"Probably some mare who had a bad dream," Twilight replied. "Happens a lot in Ponyville."

"That where you live?"

"Yeah, and my other friends."

"I see."

They walked on awkwardly in the dim torchlight until reaching the main lobby. There they found several Solar guards carrying a Lunar Stallion, body limp. Twilight recoiled in shock, and Fox's eyes widened in surprise.

"What happened?" Twilight asked a nearby Lunar Stallion.

"Dawnbreaker was just found knocked out in a corner," The stallion replied before quickly darting after the unconscious Lunar Stallion.

Fox turned to Twilight. "Who do you suppose did that?"

"I don't know. There are a lot of strange ponies in Canterlot."

"Purple horse," A voice came from behind Twilight. She and Fox turned to find Milvar tiredly rubbing his beard. "What's all the ruckus?"

"Just some guard that got knocked out. No big deal."

"Alright..." Milvar scratched his long hair. "Well, I could do with a midnight donut. Goodnight, you two."

"Night," Twilight and Fox said in unison. Milvar stumbled off towards the kitchen.

Before long, Twilight and Fox were walking back to their bedrooms. When Twilight arrived at her door, she hesitated.

"Goodnight, Twi," Fox called over his shoulder.

"Fox, wait!" Twilight took off after Fox, who turned in surprise when she hugged his leg. "I'm, um... I'm scared of being alone tonight, what with the crazy murderers and all," Twilight's face turned a deep red. "Do you mind if... if I..."

"...Yes?" Fox asked, clueless.

"DoyoumindifIstaywithyoutonight?!"

Fox stood dumbfounded. "Well, sure, if you're that scared by a little hollering. Come on."

Twilight walked alongside Fox, and they both entered Fox's room quietly. Fox hung his jacket on a nearby coathook and shook off his boots. Yawning, he turned towards his bed and found Twilight snoring quietly on one side.

Nice enough of her to leave me some room.

Fox felt a little embarrassed at sleeping with yet another alien horse, but he didn't want her to wake up alone and scared again. Slowly, Fox crawled in beside Twilight and couldn't draw his eyes from her. She was, indeed, quite beautiful. For a unicorn. Her figure was not unlike that of Krystal's, and her coloring was similar as well. Finally managing to close his eyes, Fox drifted off into sleep. Again, totally non-sexually. At all.

Horatio cracked open his eyes as his suit's alarm woke him up. Judging by the sunlight now blinding him, he judged it was morning. Groaning, he turned his head and glanced about the room. The horse from before was sound asleep atop a cushion on top of a small fort made of boxes, a vain attempt to ward off the would-be monster should it get hungry. Moaning in fatigue, Horatio turned his attention to the beeping red button on his space suit's HUD. He almost wished he didn't.

His suit's air supply was at 26%, a meager 2 day's worth. If he was lucky, the air on this planet was breathable to him, but the suit's air tester had been damaged when he smashed through the castle's marble and stone roof. Horatio's stomach also let out a loud growl, muffled by the thick layers of space suit that covered him. He needed food, water and air. Where was he to get any of that on this alien world? Maybe, if he asked nicely, one of the guards wouldn't brutally impale him on a spear.

Thud thud thud!

Horatio jumped as the door he was leaning against rattled on its hinges, barely being held on after Horatio's brutal door kick last night.

"Is somepony in there?" A voice called from the other side. "The door looks like somepony bucked it in."

The maid from last night awoke with a start, squeaking when she saw that Horatio was indeed still alive. The door was knocked on again.

"I can hear you in there, miss. Is everything alright?"

Horatio turned his gaze to the horse, now standing atop her makeshift fort. Her eyes were darting between Horatio and the door, as if choosing to turn him in or remain silent. Horatio made a begging motion with his hands, as if he was praying. The mare looked between him and the door once more before opening her mouth again.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," The mare called. Her voice trembled in fear. "I'm just getting some... band aids." Horatio's shoulders relaxed.

"What for?" The voice sounded closer to the door.

The door was suddenly rattled by someone on the other side, and Horatio threw his weight against it, keeping it from opening despite the deadbolt. The voice on the other side returned, this time angry.

"Why is the door locked?"

"Please leave me alone!" The mare called out. "I'm... um... I'm in here with..." The mare sighed, giving Horatio a glare.

"I'm in here with my coltfriend."

Horatio facepalmed. Literally, facepalmed. His glove slapped against his visor, making the mare jump in surprise. The voice on the other end refused to respond to this, but after a moment of awkward silence, he returned.

"I see."

"Yeah, so-"

The door was suddenly burst down, a lone guard in golden armor tumbling in. The door fell on top of Horatio, covering him from the guard, who was now on his feet on the fallen door, scanning the room. Horatio felt the weight on his back shift.

"I don't see anypony in here with you, servant!" The guard's voice was furious. "You've wasted my time!"

"Please, you don't unders-"

"You're coming with me. I've been pranked enough this morning."

The weight on Horatio's back lifted and he saw the guard pacing towards the mare, brandishing his spear. The mare backed into the corner defiantly. Thinking quickly, Horatio slid out from under the wooden door, making a scraping sound on the floor. The guard whipped around instinctively.

"What in Celestia's name?!" The guard lowered his spear towards Horatio. "What the hay are you?! Surrender!"

Horatio let his arms rise in defeat.However, isntead of seeing the guard jabbing him with his spear, he saw the mare behind the guard grab something that looked vaguely like a lamp. Sneaking silently, the mare reduced the lamp to glass shards as she whipped it against the back of the guard's head, knocking him out colder than a January blizzard. The guard hit the floor with a thump, spear clattering beside him. Horatio stood amazed.

"Dude," The mare said, "Whatever the heck you are, you owe me. Big time."

Horatio smiled for the first time since he'd been stranded on this wretched world.