“Dear Luna,” He scratched out onto the paper.

Kestral stopped. He put the eraser to the 'Dear', and rubbed it out of existence. It sounded too formal, too impersonal, at least to him. It wasn't how he talked, why should it be how he wrote? He continued.

“I need to know the reason for the sudden change in communication. I find it suspicious that we'd go from having meetings to both of us playing courier just to talk.

And what about the dreams? Why would you not be able to visit them anymore?

I expect an answer soon. In the meantime, I will follow your suggestion of finding a changeling in the street. I should ask, though; You were adamant on keeping chaos to a minimum before, so why are you okay with me causing some now?

Please get back to me as soon as you can,

Dream-Walker”

He signed off with the nickname he made for himself.

Kestral tossed the letter into the safe, and closed it. He spun all the numbers into a random sequence, then pulled down on the layer of dead bark, sticking the putty on its back against the live bark. He took a step back, looking over it again.

It was camouflaged well enough. The dark putty blended in with the wood wherever it excreted, while the sheet of dead bark fitted in where a low branch had been cut off, giving it the look of an odd growth, but was otherwise not worth a glance. If he hadn't started checking random trees, he probably wouldn't have found the drop. If anything, it was a testament to Luna's skill in camouflaging it.

He turned back, looking towards the brick wall that represented the edge of the park. He passed by a few trees, walking to it, then threw his hands over. He hoisted himself up, and hopped over the wall.

He landed in the back of an alley, where four-story tall apartments turned their backs to him. He scanned over each window, door, and balcony in search of any onlookers. He found none, though a couple of the windows were lit up.

He went down the side of the wall a little ways, where it almost met the building, and stopped between the two. He stood under the windows, looking up to the third floor. Kestral glanced side to side before throwing a foot onto the lowest sill, and thrusting himself up. With his magic, he shifted the direction of gravity towards the wall, and scaled as quickly at he could. He pulled out his flatbar, and stuffed it under the unlit window on the third floor. With a single push, the pane gave way, opening up his path. He hopped in, closing the window once he did.

Once he flicked a flame into existence, a look around the room revealed messy furniture with mysterious stains, dirty dishes stacked on a coffee table, and a dart-board covered in throwing knives. A tiny kitchen was along the back wall, stacked with even more dishes, and had little walking room, while a pair of doors on the opposite side took their place. A whiff of air filled Kestral's lungs with the invasive stench of tobacco, along with a more subtle amount of alcohol.

Damn. He thought. Either someone lost their job, or I just stumbled on the home of laziness incarnate.

He stepped through the mess, and grabbed a chair from the living room. He carried it over to the entryway, and set it under the handle, tipping it over and making sure it fit snugly. Once he was done with that, he went back to the window, and stared out. He made his scope appear in his hand, and held it up, giving him a closer look at the park.

He waited, constantly scanning over the thicket in front of him. The sun was already touching the horizon, so he knew it should not be a long wait. Several moments later, he was proven correct. The sun slipped under the land in the distance, and the crimson light turned into a pale aura as the moon took its place on the opposite end of the horizon.

It became more difficult to peer out into the trees, but as he scanned the area, a blob of shadow appeared, darker than its surroundings. The blob scurried across the ground, got next to the target tree, then took form. 'Huntress' appeared where the shadow was.

She looked around, making sure no one was watching. In less than a few seconds, she opened up the bark, and snapped all the dials into position. She peeled back the safe's door and snatched the note inside. She unrolled it, and read over the parchment. When she was done, the edge of the scroll was set aflame with her magic, and she tossed it into the grass.

She pulled a fresh scroll from one of her saddle bags, along with a feather and jar of ink. She quickly scribbled on the paper, then rolled it up and tossed it into the safe. She slammed the door shut, and scrambled the dials. Finally, she pulled the bark down, and sealed it.

She flicked her head back a forth, ensuring she wasn't seen, before melting down into another ethereal darkness. The shadow bolted across the ground, escaping his sight at high speeds.

Well, that definitely looks like Luna. He thought.

He waited several minutes more. If there was anyone curious about the safe, he was sure they'd start moving for it. After another long wait, though, he didn't spot a single soul going after it.

Kestral put the scope away, and walked back to the apartment door. He pulled the chair away, dragging it back to its spot in the room. Once he did that, he went back to the window and pushed the pane up. He put himself over the edge, and magically adhered to the wall again. He scooted to the side, making sure the other windows were not in his path, and slid down the wall. Once he hit the ground, he vaulted over the wall that separated him from the park.

He looked around once again, checking for onlookers. Once he knew the coast was clear, he jogged over to the safe. He peeled back the bark again, revealing the face. Several flicks of the dials later, the door was unlocked. He pulled it open, and snatched a scroll inside. He rapidly closed everything down again, turning the dials randomly after he closed the door, then sealing the bark.

He casually walked toward the wall again. He jumped over it a final time, letter still in hand, and landed in the space between the wall and the apartment building.

Kestral untied the ribbon, and pulled it and the royal seal off, stowing them both away. He unrolled the letter, eyes darting for the start.

“Dear Kestral,

Please, first and foremost, disregard my mention of making a public scene. My remembrance of the comment escapes me, as I may have been partially inebriated as part of a cover. Suffice to say; I do not wish any kind of terrorizing.

Regarding the dreams; I should make it clear that they have nothing to do with the changelings. Sister is suspicious of my activities involving your dreams, after I had mistakenly mentioned that 'humans have nightmares, too'. At first, she was confused, but she has since shifted to curious, and has been trying to pry into details about you.

I will not be visiting your dreams, because if she follows me there she will be able to find you at any time you sleep. Worse yet, through your dreams she can find your physical location. In the meantime, I'd suggest doing some research on rune making, if at all possible. There is nothing stopping sister from visiting every dream-scape she can find in an effort to get to you. Conversely, the mentioning of me having been to your dreams may convince her to try it very soon.

And, please, do not let the dead drop gain attention. I am going through great lengths to ensure we can communicate without suspicion. Your cover as my personal courier has become high profile, as some of the nobles have taken great lengths to question who this 'dream-walker' is.

At some point, it may become necessary to fabricate a story. Tell me if there is any new development on Press' attempts to intercept our dialogue.

With sincerest regards,

Luna”

Kestral rolled up the scroll, and put it away. He breathed a sigh of... something. Relief, maybe. At least now he had confirmed that it was, indeed, Luna in a disguise. Her sister, Celestia, was apparently going to be a problem, but he wasn't sure what to do about it. He was going to take Luna's suggestion with the rune making, definitely, but he couldn't help but wonder if he could convince Celestia the same way he did Luna...

An attempt might not be worth it, though. Unless he played his cards perfectly, Celestia might draw the conclusion that Kestral was using Luna for something. If she did, she'd be breathing down Luna's neck for everything about him, and all the help they were able to give eachother would suddenly be gone, leaving them both in a worse position. That may have just been his paranoia telling him that, but completely avoiding Celestia seemed to be the safer move, regardless of how easily he thought he might convince her.

It wasn't something he had to come to a decision on right away, of course. He could prepare himself, then leave himself in the open, if only to see what Celestia tries. It was something to mull over, while he was out.

Well, he thought, I don't have much else to do. Might as well get started on this rune business.

He checked his surroundings a final time, before he switched his usual clothing for his disguise. He walked along the wall, heading straight for the main road.

The moment he stepped out of the alley, and onto the road, a wall of wind blew against him. It nearly swept him off his feet, but he managed to stay balanced. It died off, leaving a slow, continuous stream of air pressing against his body. The occasional gust burst through the area, pushing him this way and that.

He looked around, watching other people get tossed around in a similar manner. One stallion chased his top hat down the street, while a pair of mares kept dropping their groceries.

“WEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

In the meantime, a group of children sailed down the road on a red wagon modified to have a short mast.

Huh. He shrugged off the sight before him, and kept walking. The weather team must be losing it. He thought. A few days ago, I might have felt a slight breeze every once in a while up here. Now, it's almost as bad as the lower district.

He kept marching on, taking each gust as it came. The moment he spotted a pair of guards making their rounds, he went right for them. He almost didn't notice their eyes directly on his as he approached.

“Excuse me, ma'ams.” He said, at which both of the mares stopped and stared at him. “Do you mind if I ask you directions?”

“Yes.”

“We do.” They said, continuing down their path.

“Alrighty, then.” He said, moving on.

He continued going the opposite direction of the guards, passing by other pedestrians,who were stuck in their own conversations. Eventually, he saw a mare walking by herself. He approached her, drawing from her a look of surprise as he grabbed her attention.

“Excuse me, ma'am.” He said. “May I ask for some directions?”

“Huh?” She blinked at him, taking a long moment to realize that he had asked a question. “Oh, uh...” She paused bouncing her eyes between him and the surroundings. “S-Sure.” She said. “What do you need?”

“Do you happen to know where I can find someone that makes runes?” He asked.

“Sure.” She said. “There's an erilaz near the train station. Just go up the road, and go right at the stairs to the noble district. Go past the train station, and it'll be on your right, just before you hit all the street vendors.”

He gave an exaggerated nod, and waved her off as he walked past. “Thank you, ma'am. Have a good night.”

“Sure.” She said, moving on.

Kestral kept going, following the directions given. As he neared the noble district, the wind seemed to die down. Up in the air, he saw pegasai flying around, mostly in groups. He spotted several teams working together, beating their wings against the wind. One of the groups formed a straight line, and pressed through the air. As he passed under them, the wind died down completely, letting him walk with less worry in his step.

I'm never going to understand how they do that. He thought.

He turned right, and kept close to the side. He made his way down the street, passing by a few other pedestrians as he did. He began to question where people were at; Usually, the street was filled with all kinds of people in the night's youth. Oddly enough, it was almost vacant, barring the guards. Maybe there was an event going on, or perhaps people just got tired of the wind, but he largely doubted the latter. Still, the social anomaly was something that roused his curiosity.

He neared the area where vendors set up shop. Many of them had packed up and left, and the few that were still there were now doing the same. He turned to his right again, and searched the buildings' names. There wasn't a single building that just grabbed his attention, but eventually he read the name 'Rue's Runes', so he went straight for that one.

He entered the shop, though he was mildly surprised that it was even still open, considering how dead the streets seemed.

He walked into a bright light, shining straight down from above. He wouldn't have cared, or even noticed, except for the fact that it seemed to follow him around. Every step he took, the circle of light followed, matching his exact pace, no matter how many times he suddenly stopped or changed direction, trying to floor whatever was above him. There were other, more standard lights on the ceiling, but this one was far brighter.

After a good minute of fooling around, he gave up, and looked around the shop. On the back wall, there was a counter, but he didn't see any employee manning it. Behind the counter was a pair of doors, both set wide open.

The room itself was open, but far from empty. On one wall, held with a large display case, crystal after crystal lined shelves, most of which were of different shape, size, and color. To the side of it was a similar case for a series of rocks, albeit with much less variation; Most of the rocks could only be distinguished by whether they were rough, smooth, or ornately engraved. Each rock had about the same diameter as the length of his hand, and was shaped like a disk, with about an inch of thickness.

Around the room was dozens more of the rocks, most of which had glowing symbols on them. One sat on the ground, sending visible pulses upward, which brought his eye to an array of random items floating a few feet off the ground. Behind that, another carved rock emitted a perfect beam of light straight up to the ceiling, which then dispersed around the room. Another one kept producing small amounts of fog.

Several more examples of what runes were capable of were there, but he generally ignored them. He felt it would be more useful to see a compiled list of possibilities than to stare idly at whatever was presented before him.

Then again, he thought, staring at the first one again. That's actually really cool.

He shook his head. He didn't have time to be distracted.

Kestral stepped through the room, and stood at the counter, leaning on it casually once he did. “Hello?” He called out.

Several steps sounded out from behind the open door on the right. They ended on an extra loud THUD, followed by a string of muffled expletives. He wasn't sure what was said, but they were clearly words of great frustration.

CREEEEAAAAK

And earth pony -who had quite clearly earned his race's name, judging by the number of smooth rocks that were seemingly glued to his body- walked from behind the door, and dropped one of the rocks from his mouth. Once he did, the rest of them lost their glowing quality, and quickly fell to the floor as well. The stallion offered a straight smile, walked to the side of the stones, and leaned over the counter, looking at him.

“Terribly sorry, sir.” He said. “Didn't even hear you come in.” The stallion looked up at the one that was hovering over Kestral, then threw a hoof under the counter. He pulled his hoof back up with a ball of some kind of putty. He tossed the material against the rune above, knocking it down.

For whatever reason, the putty stopped the stone from having any kind of magical effect. It stopped floating, stopped emitting light, and most importantly, stopped following him.

“Sorry, sir.” The stallion said. “Been experimenting with tweaking runes. Some of them may seem a little more, er..... annoying, than others.” He said. “What can I do for you?”

Kestral looked around for another small moment. He hummed, as if he was still thinking. “What's the price for a rune?”

The stallion put a hoof under his chin, doing whatever math he needed in his head. “Just a rune is either eleven, thirteen, or fifteen, depending on which kind of rock you want.” He said. “Each charging crystal is another ten bits.”

“'Charging crystal'?” He asked. “Is that what those are?” He pointed at the supply of crystals behind him.

“Yes, sir.” The stallion said. “Is this your first time using runes?” He asked sincerely.

“Yes, it is.” He admitted. “There anything I need to know about them?”

“Well, there are lots of things you ought to know before you use them.” He said. “Firstly, you should always know how to activate or deactivate what you've got. Some runes are used by contact, or by the sound of hooves clopping together. Others, by simply being near them. It all depends on how they're made, and you should always ask your supplier before you purchase.”

“And yours are.....?”

“Contact!” He proclaimed. “They're the cheapest and easiest to make, and don't have much chance to go off unnecessarily.” He paused. “As for the runes themselves, they'll last about as long as it takes to start breaking apart the surface. Chipping and scratching are prime examples of what not to do with a rune. If you can, find a reasonably strong material to work with, though, most runecrafters will supply their own material. Many find one that suits their skill. I work with stone, as you can see here.” He gestured towards the large supply behind Kestral.

“Glass cracks, wood ages and scratches, but rocks smash the competition!” He gave a winning smile, and plowed through the rest of his short lesson. “As for the crystals, just touch one against a rune until the light stops flowing, and it's all done. You can find Mana Services at the university to charge the crystals themselves, or the runes, if you don't have crystals. Of course, most unicorns are taught how to charge crystals in equestrian education, so there's that. There's also the 'drainage' setup.”

“The what?” Kestral asked, just as confused as when he started.

“The 'drainage' setup.” He said. “It's a bunch of special runes set up that lets you pull magic out of whatever can put in a three-foot diameter circle. Most non-unicorns use it to pull magic from their own body, so they can use it in whatever way they want, rather than just what their body does with it.”

“Oh, cool.” He said.

“Yep.” The stallion rested his head on his hoof, looking at Kestral. “That's all the essential knowledge there is, really. Beyond that, and you may as well be making the runes yourself. Now,” He paused. “Any questions? Or are you here to purchase right now?”

“Uh, here to purchase.” He said. “Though I might be asking questions later.”

The stallion made a deep nod, and stood behind the counter, at the ready. “Sure thing.” He said. “What do you need?”

Kestral crossed his arms. “I need a rune that can shield me from anyone trying to enter my dreams.”

The stallion dropped any smile he had, and took on a neutral expression. After a few seconds of silence, he gave a low whistle. “That's, uh.... that's actually a pretty tall order.”

“Is that going to be a problem?” He asked.

“Not at all.” The stallion said. He grabbed a book from under the counter, and set it just in front of himself. “If anything, it's going to be quite expensive. Anything involving psychology requires special materials and a hefty tax stamp.”

“What's the end price on it?”

The stallion tossed his head side to side, mumbling numbers as he did. “Around fifteen hundred.”

It was Kestral's turn to give a low whistle.

….oh, who was he kidding? By that point, he had paid more for the name of a book.

“Sounds good.” He said, at which the stallion made a subtle face of surprise. “Do you want the money up front, or afterward?”

“Um.” The stallion paused, as if he didn't anticipate getting right to the money. “A thousand up front would be good.” He hesitated again. “Just.... go pick out which stone you want it on while I work out the final price.”

The stallion ducked down under the counter, and started pulling random parchments, tossing each useless one behind him.

Kestral shrugged internally, and turned towards the stones. He walked up to them, and snatched one of the smooth ones. He didn't really care which one he had; All he did was grab the nearest rock. With that done, he turned back towards the counter, and walked. The stallion had a large stack of documents setting there, and was shuffling through them, looking for... something. He set the stone next to the register.

“Ah, there they are!” he said. The stallion pulled out a few papers, and started copying numbers from them onto another parchment. After another moment, the stallion looked to the stone, then to him. “Fifteen-hundred-sixty-five bits is the total for the rune.”

Kestral nodded, and stuck a hand into his satchel, and made a gold bar appear. He pulled it out, and placed it in front of the stallion. “There you go.” He pulled his hand back, but paused. He ran through his memory again, and realized that he was handing off his last gold bar. Crap. He thought. I'm going to need to get more. He felt around in his dimension, and confirmed that, yes, there were no more gold bars. There were no silver bars, either, just bits, and not very many at that. Should have noticed that earlier.

The stallion set it aside, and gave him a curt nod. He wrote down a note on a scroll, then stamped it with green ink. He rolled it up, and gave it to Kestral. “Don't lose this.” He said. “This is what let's me know that you're who you say you are when you pick up the rune. The other five-sixty-five is due then.”

Kestral nodded, stuffing the note in his bag. “How soon will it be ready?”

“By noon, tomorrow.” He said, still writing through a bunch of papers.

He frowned. “Would it be possible to have it done by six A.M?”

“Well, I....” He looked back towards the room behind him.

Right. Experimenting. He must be working on something. “I'll sweeten it with another two hundred bits if it can be done by then.” He offered.

At that, the stallion perked up, and nodded curtly. “I'll do what I can.”

Kestral nodded as well, and began walking back to the entrance. “See you then.”

“And you.” The stallion called back.

With that done, Kestral walked out into the desolate street.

His obvious next move was to find a new target to rob, but that wasn't really what was on his mind. Through the dead silence of the windless street, he could hear faint echoes of sharp clicks, and soft whispers. The curious portion of his mind quickly took over, and he began pressing in that direction, towards the entrance to the noble district.

He reached the stairs, but the sound had only increased gradually. He realized that whatever was making the sound was much farther away than he had anticipated. He ascended, stopping every once in a while to make sure he could actually hear it. Still, he continued on, reaching the top of the long steps.

After the final step, the sound only increased gradually, again. He looked towards the castle, where it seemed to be coming from, and saw movement at the base. He couldn't quite tell what it was, but his best guess was that it was a mass of ponies. He ventured forward hastily, with both curiosity and sweat building up at the same rate.

He closed it, and saw it was a crowd. In fact, 'crowd' did seem to capture what it was; Realistically, it was more akin to a mob. People -ponies, mostly- piled up and pushed eachother around. They spewed out the gates, and stood compacted together, with everyone trying to see over eachother. The minotaurs in the crowd had a definite advantage, though a few of them knelt down to give others a better view of the events. Diamond dogs and felis alike stood on back legs, keeping themselves a head above, on average.

As he aggressively waded through the crowd, he spotted a line of guards separating the crowd from the stairs leading to the castle. They weren't just standing there, though. Oh, no; Half of them were sparring. Apparently, standing around and acting nice doesn't get people to give space to the guards. It let him know where the suddenly-loud strikes of metal-on-metal was coming from.

He shifted his eyes to the stairs, where the middle section was shifted straight upward, forming a high platform, for all to see. On top of it was a familiar mare; She wore a black suit with a red tie, thin-framed glasses, and held her coffee-brown hair in a bun.

Rapid Shift? He thought.

Before he could question why an acquaintance of his was up there, a new face made an appearance. From above the stone platform a heavily armored stallion walked up. He placed his colorful helmet at the hooves of Rapid, and gave her a light peck on the cheek, along with a short set of words, finished with a smile. His short, black hair contrasted too much with fur, which was a color far too pure of alabaster to have been the result of anything but bleach.

What the...?

He held his spear in his wing, somehow pointing it straight up once he stood rigid. As he did, whatever conversations people were in suddenly died off. The sparring stopped, as if the guards knew he was there, even without being able to see him at such a steep angle. The air grew tense, as if everyone was trying to latch on to whatever he was about to say with every fiber of their body.

“Mares and gentlecolts!” He called out. Some of the people in the back tried to angle their ears to hear better. The stallion seemed to notice, and took a deep breath.

“MARES AND GENTLECOLTS.”

If anyone didn't hear him earlier, they certainly did then. If they already did before, well.....

Tinnitus seemed like a preferable option.

“I AM HERE TODAY, TO SPEAK ABOUT OUR PLAN TO RID THE CITY OF HOSTILE CHANGELINGS.”

Oh, cool.

The break allowed the crowd to shout out their thankfulness. Some of them jumped in excitement, others stayed focused, but all in all, most were happy at the words.

“BEYOND THAT, WE ALSO HAVE A PLAN TO TAKE DOWN THE HUMAN KNOWN AS KESTRAL.”

The same thing happened, but with even more effort exerted by the crowd.

Oh, no.

“I PROMISE YOU, ON THIS DAY, THAT WE WILL BRING DOWN BOTH THREATS TO THIS CITY, AND THIS NATION....

...OR MY NAME IS NOT CAPTAIN SWIFT STRIKE OF THE EQUESTRIAN GUARD.”

…...Oh, shit.....

Author's Notes:

Bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but I think it fits well enough.