Phoenix stepped out of Doctor Steady Pulse’s office in my Equestria dreamscape. With her appointment over the Mare-in-Waiting heading toward her next destination just a few hallways over.
 
Visiting hours hadn’t begun but the Head Nurse allowed Phoenix to see Last Thing. Not that the other was awake. While out of a magically induced coma the mare was still being heavily sedated. A couple of shuttered, lit oil lamps provided minimally illumination to the room. Although that was not a problem for the mare known by many as Celestia’s Sledgehammer. The wards on the swirling iridescent lens of the goggles she wore made it easy to navigate the dimly lit space.
 
Phoenix stopped at the foot of the bed and looked at the fellow Mare-in-Waiting. Last Thing was sleeping. Her condition according to the Head Nurse had been improving over the last few days, but effects of her ordeal were still clearly etched on her face. Her cheeks were sunken and her mane was dull and lifeless look. Positioned on each corner of the bed was an ornately carved metal staff with glowing crystals embedded in it.
 
Phoenix sighed and levitated the goggles from her icy carmine colored eyes. She’d seen too many ponies like this before. Last Thing had a long, hard road of recovery in front her, and her last mission might’ve been her final one. After a few seconds Phoenix spoke softly in her raspy voice.
 
“I know you’re not awake, but I want you to know that I’m rooting for you. You’re one of best ponies I’ve ever met. If you ever need some help from me you just have to ask. I’ll be there for you. Well. Goodbye.”
 
Phoenix left Last Thing’s room and started heading down the hallway toward the infirmary exit when suddenly she came to halt. The hairs on the back of her mane were tingling. She didn’t know what it was but for an instant she felt something. Something alien. For several seconds she stood still as she visually swept the immediate area. Her gaze settled on hallway to her left that she’d never been down. Slowly she proceeded that way.
 
Following her instincts she headed down the hall. It was still very early in the morning so only the infirmary staff were moving about taking care of the first tasks of the day. Turning the corner Phoenix found herself in a new hallway. About 20ft away a member of the Royal Guard sat in a chair. Obviously the mare was assigned to guard the entrance of a patient’s room. However as Phoenix turned the corner she found the private in the middle of a yawn. The mare blinked blearily twice and then her eyes settled on the Scale Bearer. In a flurry of limbs the young pegasus mare stumbled out of the chair and went to attention.
 
“Good morning m’am! Sorry! I didn’t know you’d be coming to visit!”
 
The unicorn stopped in front of the private and just stared at her silently for about 10 seconds. “Well Private. To be honest you didn’t look like you were fucking expecting anypony to be visiting.”
 
Ignoring the color slowly fading from the mare’s face Phoenix peered past her and into the room. “So.” Growled the scarred, bone-white mare. “What’s in that room?”
 
“Oh! Uh! A patient! m’am!” Exclaimed the private.
 
Phoenix suddenly felt all the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “Can you be more specific Private?!”
 
“Uh! Well! I don’t know if you’re authorized to know m’am? It’s classif–” The words died on the private’s lips as Phoenix glared at her. “The patient is a prisoner who had a heart attack during transfer m’am!” she blurted out.
 
Without saying a word Phoenix stepped into the room leaving the rather confused private standing in the hallway. “M’am! I don’t think…” The pegasus started to speak and then held her tongue. She remained standing in the doorway and watched as the unicorn marched up to the bed.
 
Phoenix noticed several standard Royal Guards wards erected in the room as she made a beeline to the only bed there. The room was more brightly lit than Last Thing’s was. The early morning sun was beginning rise. Its light spilled through an eastern facing window of the room casting long shadows across floor and walls of the room. Lying in the bed was a young, gaunt-looking, dark bay colored unicorn mare. The white blaze on her muzzle was a light cream color in the early morning light. Her disheveled mane covered her eyes. She was lying on her right side apparently asleep. Her breaths were shallow and frequent.
 
Reaching out with her levitation Phoenix grabbed the clipboard hanging from a hook at the foot of the bed. It took her a moment to parse the doctor’s scratchy horn writing. After a few seconds she muttered the patient’s name softly.
 
“Prophecy.” She returned the clipboard to its hook and stared at the sleeping mare again. “You’re the pony who went on that little unscheduled trip with Last Thing weren’t you?” She whispered.
 
She took a step toward the sleeping mare and suddenly froze. Phoenix felt a wave of hostility wash over her. Her instincts were screaming at her now. She was not alone in this room with the sleeping mare, and something very dangerous was close by. Reflexively she snapped the goggles over her eyes and began a 360 degree scan of the entire room. As she did this she began cycling through the various functions the goggles offered. The Mare-in-Waiting slowly stepped away from the bed. As she did she levitated 2 curved, double bladed combat knives from their sheathes on her harness and sent them in a slow, spinning orbit around herself.
 
“M’am! What are you doing?” Hissed the private from the doorway. Phoenix kept looking around the room. Constantly scanning the space around her.
 
“Private! Shut your trap and don’t enter this room!” She growled back.
 
The private stepped back out in the hallway but kept looking in the room. She hadn’t enjoyed being stationed here. The hours of boredom caused her mind to wander, and she and the other guards assigned here found themselves constantly imagining they could see things moving just out of the corner of their eyes. Also so the halls of he infirmary were so quiet at times that one could almost imagine hearing things whispering to you.
 
Phoenix ran through the regular spectrum of options for the goggles. Then she started modifying the settings seeing if they detected any irregularities. She got several very, very weak returns, but she was uncertain whether they were simply a result of the wards in the room or something else. Also she felt a change in her perception of the room. As if whatever she had been perceiving as the threat now realized she was aware of it. Now she felt as is if it was afraid of her finding it.
 
Still she couldn’t get a positive verification. Finally she came to a halt in the center of the room and lifted the goggles from her eyes. Slowly she scanned the room with her own eyes. Falling back on her natural senses as a fighter and a hunter. Her nostrils flared as she breathed deeply taking in the various odors and aromas in this room. Searching for anything out of the ordinary. After a couple of seconds she spoke.
 
“Private have you or any of the other guards or infirmary staff noticed or heard anything odd in this room since you’ve started doing watches on the prisoner?”
 
The pegasus nervously shrugged her shoulders causing her plate armor to clink.“Well, um, yes m’am. All of us have felt like we were being watched whenever we’re guarding this room. It’s kind of creepy, but we’ve all figured it was just because it was so quiet around here.”
 
The private stayed in the doorway as instructed, but her head was now quickly looking around the room a well. She’d heard stories told in the barracks and rumors muttered in the mess hall about the pony referred to as Celestia’s Sledgehammer. Anything that put her on edge was absolutely something the private wanted to avoid.
 
Phoenix gave the room one last look then she sheathed her knives. Exiting the room she glanced over at the very confused private. “I would recommend that nopony be left alone in that room with her. Understood?”
 
“Um, yes m’am. Understood. I’ll let my sergeant know you said that.”
 
The Mare-in-Waiting nodded her head and then trotted off for Celestia’s office. The private watched her leave then nervously returned to her seat by the door. Meanwhile inside infirmary room a mass of long tendrils of shadow emerged from beneath Prophecy’s bed. Like a giant octopus it quickly slithered across the floor and under the door of a supply closet.
 
To be continued.