“Captain Fairlight ?”. My eyes felt like they were full of sand, and Goddesses, did they hurt. The bright light was like staring into the sun directly. My mouth and throat were so dry, my tongue had stuck to roof of my mouth. I tried to speak, a croaking noise emanating, “Wa…water….water”. Pretty pathetic, but it was all I could manage.

“Yes, sorry Captain, here, please…”, the voice, male, sounded friendly enough and he reached forward to help me sit up whilst holding a glass to my parched lips. The water hitting my mouth was like liquid life, pure, cool, and I gulped it down greedily. “More…” I gasped. Another glass duly arrived and that too was downed in quick succession. A female voice travelled from across the room, “That’s enough, he’s going to take some time to come round, we can’t rush things.”

Hoof steps announced the arrival at my bedside of the owner of the voice, “I’m going to sit you up now, Captain. Do you understand ?”

I nodded.

“Good. Now, once you’re sat up I’m going to put some drops In your eyes, yes ?”

I nodded again.

The two of them slid their forelegs behind me and helped me up into a more comfortable sitting position. I was quite surprised by how much more alert I was beginning to feel, my nerves seemingly coming back under my control, simple sense, touch, taste, warmth, cold, all coming back. The female tilted my head back and I felt her try to pry my eyes open a little. They were gunged up with something crusty and horribly, I could feel it crumbling while she dribbled some fluid into the corners.

“There you go, that should…”

Light and colour flooded into my eyes, momentarily blinding me, but suddenly, I could see again. The first thing I saw was a brown female nurse, staring at me with her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. She half held the eye dropper in her hoof which I reached out and took from her before she dropped it. My movement broke whatever spell she was under and she let out the most ear-splitting scream I’d heard, even worse than a Thestral shouting in your head. Well, almost.

“My Goddess…” The male in the room was still there, gawping at me with saucer wide eyes like the nurses. At least he didn’t run screaming from the room.

“No…not quite”, I replied dryly, “I’d prefer it if you just called me Fairlight. That is my name after all.”

I took the glass of water from the bedside table and downed the rest of it before plopping some more of the deliciously cool drops into my eyes. The cream coloured male shook his burgundy mane and fought to regain control of his faculties, “I….you….your….”, he stammered. I tutted, swinging my hind legs off the bed. Great Luna they were stiff, I flexed them several times, rubbing them to get some circulation going. Bloody hell, what had happened to me ? I stretched out gingerly but not feeling any pain, other than stiffness, I decided I’d try my luck and get out of bed.

I spotted the mirror, a full length one across the room and walked over to it. There was a loud metallic crash as the cream male backed up into the medical trolley, sending him and its contents spilling into the corner. I glanced at him and rolled my eyes, he was still staring at me with his mouth flapping.

“You keep doing that and you’ll stick like it”, I quipped, dodging past him to look at the mirror. Here goes nothing….

I’d heard of ponies having a ’double take’ but hadn’t really understood what they meant until now. What looked back at me…well…what can I say ? I had to imagine that it actually was me, I mean, its not like someone was on the other side ‘mirroring’ my movements right ? And so, I was lead to the only conclusion I could reach, that the pony looking back at me with…Great Celestia, no wonder they were scared…those eyes ! My eyes !

I still had the trademark grey coat, marked and scarred from various injuries. A few bald patches here and there where fur had burnt away or been cut away, judging by the stitches. My ears were still attached, swivel…swivel…yup, still okay. Muzzle check, all teeth present and in good order. Mane, bit singed but still that nice black and white pattern. Eyes, now there was the sticking point. Hadn’t they been brown before ? Now, for whatever reason, somehow, they were almost glowing a fluorescent ice blue. I’d never seen their like on a pony. Sure, I’d seen blue eyes, but none like this, it was like looking into the void.

In a daze, I looked back at my flank, expecting my cutie mark to still be missing as it had been in the Wither world. What I saw was even more unexpected. There was one! Only…it wasn’t mine, or at least it wasn’t the one I used to have. This was a simple white flash, like lightning or something. What it meant I had no idea, I mean, what was my special talent now? ‘Zapping magic’? Hang on….magic…my horn! I turned back to the mirror and saw…damn, still broken. It sparked slightly when I tried it out. Levitation seemed to work somewhat but hurt like hell when I tried. I’d come back to that later, once I’d found out what had happened, what they’d done to me and….Shadow. Where was she ? Gripped with a sudden desperation, I turned too quickly and skittered on the polished floor, sending the prone medical pony into conniptions. Thankfully, I managed to catch hold of the bed before I broke my neck on the tiled floor, who the hell designed this place?!

Hospital gowns are apparently designed to be a pain to remove and this one was no different. I managed to virtually strangle myself with the bloody thing in my attempts to get if off and run to the door all at the same time. The doctor entering the room as I barrelled into him, was not impressed, “What one earth are you playing at ? Get back into bed !”.

I picked myself up, throwing the gown over the shocked fellow’s head and took off down the corridor, looking into the various rooms for Shadow. They were all empty, one after the other, just empty rooms. This place felt abandoned, deserted, almost like I was intruding into a museum after closing time.

The last room had a large set of double doors of solid wood with heavy iron fittings. I tried pushing…nothing, bucking…nothing, horn…Ow! Damn it, the bloody thing wouldn’t budge and now I felt like someone had stuck a hot poker in the top of my head. I reached down inside, trying to tease out the strength within me, to freeze this door into ice or blast it to matchwood. But there was nothing there…not even a trace. I had one more option, head back and take the second corridor, maybe Shadow was there ! My heart set, I charged off once more before I was picked up off my hooves and sent sliding along the floor to crash unceremoniously into a drinks dispenser.

My horn smacked right into the thing making me see stars, little pinpricks of blue light sparking in my vision while I pulled myself shakily back to my hooves. That’s when I saw the huge orange unicorn in front of me, “I knew you would be trouble”, was all he said. I stood there for a moment dumbfounded, my head was still a mess of emotions and shock. The transition from the Wither world to the mortal world had not been kind to me mentally or, by the looks of things, physically either.

Two ponies in black suits walked out of a side room sporting sunglasses and TED’s, a much neater one than our old watch issued devices. These looked familiar too….

Spoke into the TED, one of them whispered in the ear of the big orange pony who nodded and then addressed me, “The Mistress wishes to see you. Pick yourself up and come with us.”

I felt I had little choice in the matter and followed warily, the big guy leading and the other two behind, blocking any chance of escape. Not that I had any idea where to go in any case !

We reached the large double doors that had foiled my attempts to open earlier and the orange pony produced a glowing silver rod. He pointed it at the door and a faint beam of white light shone out, causing the door to click and swing open. I marvelled at the device, a magically tuned key, very impressive. Some high end magic was going on here and my panic to find Shadow lessened, replaced in part by curiosity. These characters would know where she was and I would stand more chance of getting to her if I played nice. For now at least.

Beyond the double doors was a spacious office, log fire burning merrily in the large stone hearth. A set of tall bay windows let in the baleful light from the moon and stars, magically powered lanterns adding their yellow glow to the serene, if rather ominous setting. Before the window, standing tall on the thick purple rug, was a black robed pony wearing a veil. All that was visible were the glittering silver shod hooves.

I stood patiently waiting, feeling oddly naked somehow. Not a nice feeling for a creature covered in fur. The ‘Mistress’, whoever she was, spoke in a loud commanding tone, “Thank you Warlock, you may leave us now.”

The orange pony bowed low, “As you command my Mistress”, then back out whispering under his breath, ”I warn you pony, if you try anything, I’ll kill you where you stand. Remember that.”

I wasn’t intimidated by this character, I’d been threatened by bigger and meaner things than he could ever dream of. I’d play along, play their game, then I’d get the hell out of here. This place just didn’t seem right to me.

“You are well, Watch Captain Fairlight ?”, the voice boomed. Goddesses, it was like being inside a hurricane. What was it with ponies bellowing at me lately ?

“Please, Mistress, forgive me. I am still a little unwell, if it pleases you, would it be possible to speak a little quieter ?” I tried diplomatically.

She tuned and faced me, her veil wafting as she breathed in and out. It was rather disconcerting being looked at from someone behind black cloth, I couldn’t even see their eyes. I didn’t like it at all. She walked around me several times muttering to herself and occasionally prodding me with those hooves. She was a unicorn, that was obvious, but there were also the bulges on her sides beneath the robe that twitched occasionally. The room was a little dark but I caught a glimpse of a delicate midnight coloured leg as she walked back to the window, facing me.

“Captain Fairlight” she said in, thankfully, a more normal volume, “We need your help. Equestria, needs your help. Will you come to her…our aid ?”

This was all very formal sounding and I was floundering like a fish out of water. I decided I had to take a grip of the conversation and try to steer it back to what I wanted to talk about. “Mistress, forgive me, I find it hard to converse with someone who I cannot see, for only in your eyes can I determine the truth of things. I beg you, please remove your veil so that we may have nothing standing between us.”

She snorted, the veil lifting slightly, giving me another glimpse of the midnight pony beneath, “We would not have you know our true identity Captain. Your honeyed words will avail you naught and thy sight must remain averted.”

I grinned, then bowed low, “Very well your majesty, I thank you for your wisdom and assistance in my recovery.”

The mare reared momentarily in shock, stomping a hoof angrily, “How…how did you know it was us ? This is not acceptable at all !”.

“Your majesty”, I began, “When I joined the Equestrian Watch, I gave an oath to protect and serve both the citizens and princesses of our great country. Your majesty has my utmost respect and gratitude, I beg you not to have any fear I would divulge your identity.”

The robed figure laughed quietly, lifting a hoof to her mouth and then, in a glow of magic from her horn, lifted the robe and veil away to reveal the beautiful figure of the princess of the night.

“May we ask Captain”, she chuckled, “how did you know it was us ?”. I smiled, “Forgive me your majesty, it wasn’t hard. The silver shoes, the colouring of your coat and the way you speak. There is only one who I know of that meets such a description.”

Luna smiled and waved me to a chair, “Our coat ?”. I settled into the comfortable settee and nodded to her, “I saw your leg.”

She smiled cheekily, “Eyeing your princesses leg subject ? An offence that could land you in the dungeon we’d wager !”.

I laughed, “It would be worth it your majesty, your beauty is worthy of legend.”

Luna’s eyes opened wide, “Why Captain ! Whatever can you mean !?”, she covered her mouth with her hooves in mock indignation and laughed, her sides shaking. I smiled and waited until she was ready to continue. She levitated a bowl of cherries over to me and a pitcher of water. “Here, you will need these. We believe you are well acquainted with them ?” Luna asked me raising an eyebrow.

The cherries were red with a silvery crystalline structure, the last time I had seen these was when I was with….”Shadow”.

“Pardon ?” She replied.

“Forgive me princess, can you tell me where I can find my partner, the Lady Shadow ?”.

Luna sat there watching me quietly, before taking a mouthful of what I presumed was wine, from the colour. “We know of this…Lady Shadow, Captain. She is a thestral is she not ?”

I nodded, “Yes, your majesty, we travelled together in the Wither world. She was to follow me through the portal from the city. Star Beard was to help her, I thought she would be here. I beg you, I must find her.”

Luna shook out her flowing mane, it was like nothing I had ever seen. The pictures in the books were like nothing compared to the reality. Stars, comets, planets, all glinting and alive, flowing in her mane and tail, like a window into the infinity of the universe.

“My dear Captain, if we knew where you friend was, we would have her here with you now. We regret that we cannot do more for you in this matter, however we will tell you this. Star Beard, the self styled ‘apprentice’ of Star Swirl the Bearded, is an accomplished thestral mage. If anyone can send your Lady Shadow to you, it would be him. Of that, we are certain. Remember this, time is different between here and the Wither world, even we cannot predict its passing. What seems like a day here may be a year there, or more.

I hung my head as I felt my heart sink, a year ? Goddesses, what had I done…I should have stayed there with her. Luna held a hoof up, “Do not despair Captain, have faith that you will be together again and it shall be. There are powers in the world which even Celestia and us cannot change. Destiny is a powerful force and one that is not so easily changed.”

The world, destiny…great Goddesses, this was a nightmare. I just wanted to find Shadow and try to get some semblance of a normal life back. From what Luna was saying, she didn’t know what had happened to Shadow and I had no way I knew of to contact her.

Luna seemed to have read my mind and laid a comforting hoof on my shoulder, “Captain, we assure you, we will do our best to try and find your friend. There are….’channels’, we can go through that you could not. We will do our best for you, as your princess, we promise you this.”

I took a mouthful of the water, “Thank you princess Luna, this means more to me than I could say”. She smiled at me and motioned towards the berries. I took one and savoured its sweet taste, a slight background feeling of ‘something’ running down my spine. She nodded as she watched me eat and readjusted herself in the chair.

“Your Majesty, this is…all very confusing for me, I don’t know where to start, I have so many questions I’d like to ask but…”

“We understand Captain, we know what it was like when we…I…came back. So much had changed…”, the princess trailed off, her eyes distant, in another world, another time. She blinked, “Captain, my ponies found you too late to save your wife. We are sorry, there was nothing we could do, she was already with the eternal herd. The cabin was nought but a burnt out ruin when we arrived, you on the other hoof.…”

She paused, taking a drink of her wine and sat down on her haunches, letting out a sigh before continuing. “You were alive, barely. My ponies pulled you out of the wreckage and brought you here before the watch arrived. You have been in our facility ever since, whilst we tried to rejoin your soul to your body.”

“Rejoin my soul ?”, I asked in surprise. I knew Meadow had said that I was still ‘tied’ to the mortal world and Star Beard had said I couldn’t exist in both. Was this what she meant ?

Luna nodded, “Yes, an old friend helped us to find you in the Wither world, and find you we did. We only have limited influence there Captain, it is not as it once was. You understand ?”

I shook my head, this was confusing me to no end, “I’m sorry princess, I’m still a little surprised by what’s happened. I thought I was dead, then it turns out I wasn’t ‘really’ and now, I’m back and…changed somehow. My eyes, my cutie mark, Its all so much so fast.”

Luna smiled kindly to me, those large aquamarine eyes melting my worries away, “The Wither world was a place no pony was ever meant to return from. It has left its mark upon you, Captain, your cutie mark is the mark of that place. I have not seen its like in a long, long time. Now, listen well, this is important…”, Luna’s face was suddenly grave, “…you must never allow any pony to see that mark outside of our facility, it is unlikely any pony alive now will recognise it, but still…”

I looked back at my flank, it didn’t look like much to be honest. Just a simple white lightning bolt, I’m sure many ponies had one similar, perhaps the Wonder Bolts ? Wouldn’t get much flying done without wings though ! Ah, hang on…I did have wings didn’t I ?

Luna’s horn glowed, the wine bottle floating over to refill her glass before she continued, “Your wife, Meadow, is a truly remarkable pony Captain, her spirit is strong. Stronger than many I have met since I came home, and I know she will be overjoyed to know you have returned to us safely.”

“Is there some way I can speak to her ?”, I asked, a lump coming to my throat. “I’d like her to know I’m back safely at least”.

Luna shook her head, “Its not that easy Captain. I fear that contacting the herd is frowned upon and I have stretched things as it is to help you this far. We will try to speak to her for you, however we cannot promise you anything you understand. We are sorry.

“I, I see…”, I didn’t see at all.

“Captain, forgive us, we are tired from our ‘exertions’, so we will cut to the chase. When we were approached by, lets say a ‘mutual acquaintance’; we discovered that you had some unique abilities which we feel may be able to help us in the coming months. You have investigative experience from your service with the watch do you not ?”

I nodded, “Yes, your majesty”.

“Good. Now Captain, from your experience in the Wither world, you may understand better than most that Equestria, the Wither world and the land of the Eternal Herd are all parts of a whole. They form the order of things, a type of ‘balance’ if you will. Those who die in our world, pass through the Wither world to the Eternal Herd. The Wither world acts as a ‘sieve’ of sorts, to filter out any damaging emotions, thoughts, feelings and so forth, from the soul of the departed, before they are allowed to enter the herd.”

In ages past, wars and suffering in our world, the mortal plain, created a surge of negative emotions, energy, in the Wither world, giving birth to creatures which had minds and emotions of their own.”

I nodded, “Thestrals”.

“And others”, she sighed. “Eventually, it lead to war between the mortal world and the Wither world, the Eternal Herd remaining neutral. As usual.”

I noted the emphasis she put on ‘as usual’. I suspected she’d met other members of the eternal herd, like the one I had, Aethel, the pompous clerk.

“The war….it was…terrible, a horror beyond imagining. Towns, even whole cities turned to ash, the skies black with smoke and the stench of the dead. The herd ultimately intervened to ensure the balance between the worlds was restored. To this end, my sister, Celestia, was charged with keeping order and balance

This was over one thousand years ago Captain, and peace has been maintained ever since.”

“Until now”, I interjected. “Until now”, Luna confirmed nodding.

I popped another of the crystal cherries in my mouth, I noted Luna watched me very closely when I did so…it was a bit disconcerting and I felt myself blush a little. Considering I’d been poisoned not so long ago by some pony I trusted, and, it had to be said, with all best intentions, I was still surprisingly trusting to accept food items from any pony.

“Captain”, Luna said rising from the chair and shaking her mane, “You are aware of the smuggling of weapons, the…’drugs’ and…other things. Ponies are dying, killing each other and the balance that has been maintained for so long is being lost. We have tried to combat this but our people are not warriors, they cannot stand against the unbridled greed and hate of those seeking to exploit our world. Before long, the balance could tip, the armies rebuild, the second great war could be upon us and this time, this time I do not know if I could…..”

Luna was breathing hard, her chest heaving.

“Princess ?” I asked in concern. She had a frightened, far away look, an innocence, which made me want to rush to her side to protect her, shelter her from any harm. Being in Luna’s presence was, intoxicating. I checked and...yes, I was just water I was drinking.

She shook herself and lifted a hoof, “Captain. I need you to…fix things. I will give you carte blanch to do what must be done. You will have the best equipment and magics that Equestria can offer, however, there are certain conditions.”

“Very well you majesty”, I nodded.

“No pony must know your mission, other that those you meet here at this facility. Warlock will introduce you to them later. Further, the agency cannot be trusted Captain.”

I sat up in shock, “The agency ? but their ponies are here ! I had two of them walk me here with the orange one”

Luna walked to the large wooden desk and poured herself another drink, “Captain, the agency is run by Celestia. Some of the agency ponies loyalties are, however, to me. We work together mostly, however my sisters values and viewpoints are, how should we say, ‘different’ ? to mine on occasion. She thinks that every pony can be changed by the power of friendship and love. This is true to a degree, but we are seeing more and more non-equestrian ponies entering our land through the transdimensional portals. They look like us, sound like us, but be assured Captain, they are not ponies. They rape, steal and kill without any hesitation. Be assured, Equestria is being invaded, the enemy is amongst us and I need some pony who can match them, we…I need you Captain.”

I was amazed. I knew about these ‘non-equestrian’ ponies, or whatever the hell they were, but I’d no idea that things were this bad. A second war with the Wither world ? Invasions, drugs, guns, great goddesses, surely this was an exaggeration?

When I looked into Luna’s aquamarine eyes, I knew she was telling the truth.

I finished the last of the berries and stood before my princess. I bowed low, taking her hoof and planting a kiss upon it. “Your majesty I pledge to you that I will give my all to protect you, our people and Equestria.”

When I stood…wait, was that a blush ? it was ! Luna took a quick mouthful of wine, “I….I thank you Captain. I wish we had more ponies like you and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours. As I said, in return for your service, I will do all I can to return your ‘friend’ to you.”

The royal ‘we’ had disappeared, thank goodness ! It was really difficult to keep up with the conversation with Luna as it was without trying to work out who ‘we’ were talking about all the time.

“Thank you your majesty”, I said bowing once more. A thought suddenly popped into my head, “Princess ?”. She looked at me expectantly, “I don’t know if you are aware, but there is a reason why I couldn’t enter the herd and was trapped in the Withers. There is…”

“Yes, Captain.” She said suddenly catching me off guard, “You have the spirit of the wendigo within you. I am aware of this and it is something that you must keep hidden as much as possible, like your cutie mark.”

Luna’s wings spread out, her voice booming across the room. Eyes glowing as white as the centre of the sun, the room darkened around the princess as she spoke, “The creature within you, must be controlled Captain, its power is terrible, its wrath legendary. Channel its power with your will, dominate its spirit with your own. Once they were a terrible sight to behold on the battlefield, warriors threw down their spears and fled before them, mares made widows, towns turned to frozen blocks of ice. Songs were sung of their deeds ! Bring their ancient might down to crush our enemies ONCE AND FOR ALL !”

Luna’s voice echoed around the room and I felt a tingling up my spine and horn. This was the true princess of the night, exotic, terrifying, beautiful, ruthless, yet so exquisitely feminine. I could imagine warriors joyfully throwing themselves on the spears of their enemies for a mere glimpse of her smile. My heart answered her call, I would protect her, protect Equestria and I would have Shadow returned to me. It was all going to work out the way it should.