Chapter Nine - An Unexpected Singer
Morning dawned on Las Pegasus, the city that barely slept. If ever. And usually complained of a hangover when it woke up. Sunlight peeked into various homes across the city, causing the dwellers thereof to get up and go ambling for their coffee pots.
In one apartment in the city, however, a certain changeling merely brought the thestral mare next to him even closer and tried to drift back off to sleep. Screw what Celestia thought, he had a Midnight to cuddle.
Midnight’s ear flicked as a small smile crossed her muzzle. He hadn’t flinched when he woke up next to her this time, yay for progress.
Unfortunately, it also meant that she’d have to be the first one to get up. After yesterday’s raid, there was a lot of things to sort out and a ton of loose ends to tie up. She sighed and hugged his leg for a moment, before starting to get up.
“Nooo...want Midnight,” Ledger muttered as he felt the mare start to leave the bed. “Why is my cuddle-buddy leaving me?”
“Because we have a lot to do today,” she whispered into his ear. “And if we don’t get up soon, Narrow might send her troops to retrieve us.”
“Fiiiiine,” Ledger said as he began stretching, his disguise slowly flickering into place. “I’ll make coffee, you shower, we switch after?” he asked. Midnight hummed and tapped her chin thoughtfully.
“I would suggest we shower together to save time, but you and I both know that we will do everything but that~”
“I was unaware of just how dirty one could get in the shower,” Level admitted as his unicorn guise settled over his form. “It’d actually save us more time if we took them separately...plus, you know how I like my coffee, so it all works out.”
“Hmm, I suppose,” Midnight sighed. She grabbed a towel with her wing and headed for the shower. “Make my coffee black today, I need a pick-me-up...”
“Already on it,” Ledger said with a nod. A thought crossed his mind as he looked at the bed and he smirked before heading into the kitchen. A quick and dirty application of power saw everything he needed floating out of their respective cabinets. A thought and a bit more power saw a pot of coffee being brewed, two cups being pulled out, and most everything else being put back. The ‘ling looked at another cabinet and frowned before poking his head in and moaning. “Aww...well this sucks,” he said aloud. No wonder none had come out: he barely had any sugar cubes left. Devoid of any caffeine, the changeling just sighed and sat there, staring forlornly at his once-great sugar pile, thinking of how best to remedy this problem.
The slight squeak of the shower and the sudden cease of running water told the changeling that Midnight had already finished and he could hear her humming an unknown tune. She eventually trotted back into the room, a towel wrapped around her mane and sniffing the air.
“Mmm, I smell coffeeeeee~” she purred. Ledger’s ear twitched at the sound of her voice, but the rest of him merely let out a sigh. He had a lot to do today, and by the time he might get off, there was no promise of the place he normally visited to remedy a sugar crisis still being open... He was so lost in thought, it wasn’t until the Thestral wrapped her hooves around him, her belly laying on his back, that he even noticed that she was in the kitchen.
“So... what’s bugging you?” she giggled, proud of her horrible pun. Ledger cringed slightly, but answered her nonetheless.
“Y’see this cabinet?” he gestured, indicating the mostly-empty space in front of them with only a dozen sugar cubes scattered around. “It used to be full. I haven’t stocked up in a while. Guess it just slipped my mind.”
“So, you want some for your coffee?” she asked, her tail twitching as a smirk crept onto her face. “Hmm, why don’t you go have a shower and let me take care of this?”
“I…” Ledger raised a hoof before shrugging. “Fine. But the fact remains I’m gonna need more in the near future. For a ‘ling, food helps us metabolize love and other emotions into actual energy, but nothing helps more than sugar.” With that, Level gave Midnight a quick kiss before standing and heading to his own shower.
“Okay, now let’s see if this works,” Midnight muttered to herself as she begun to pour his drink. She added what little sugar they had left, and she only now realized just how much sugar he used. Sweet Celestia, this could give that Pinkie mare a cavity.
Once she was done, she added her own secret ingredient. As soon as she figured out exactly how she was supposed to do that, or even if it would work. She closed her eyes and thought about her little cuddle-bug as she held the cup, before kissing the ceramic object and placing it gently on the table.
She sat on the opposite side and giggled. “Pft, yeah, like that actually worked...”
Ledger’s unicorn form walked out of his bedroom and made a beeline for his coffee, holding it close and sighing. For some reason it just felt good to hold...and when he finally took the first sip?
Love and sugar and caffeine combined. It was a wonder he didn’t explode due to over-stimulation right there. He was certain his eyes had bulged though. He could feel his jaw dropping as he just sat and stared at the cup.
“Um, Lev?” Midnight was a bit concerned now as she waved a hoof in front of his face. “Are you messing with me again?” She got her answer when she was the victim of a very fast hug and kiss.
“Ohmygoodness whydidn’tI thinkofdoingthis SOONER!” Ledger babbled. “Loveandsugarandcaffeine! Thebestcombination!”
Wait? It actually worked... and now she’d sent him on the most intensive sugar rush she’d ever seen. And she’d taken Celestia to Donut Joe’s ‘All you can eat’ once.
“Um, glad I could help?” she blinked.
“Yes,shameit won’tlasttoo long,” Ledger admitted, already feeling himself starting to normalize. “OtherwiseI couldjust carry around a thermos of this and be perky all day. As it stands, I probably won’t be needing much in the way of emotional energy until lunch, with that quick burst.”
“Given how quickly that took effect...” Midnight crunched some numbers in her head and looked at him. “3...2...1...”
Ledger blinked and sagged, suddenly very tired. “Correction,” he said, looking at the rest of the fluid in his cup. “Won’t need much...after I finish the cup.”
“Aw, I hadn’t meant for it to do that. I honestly didn’t know that would even work at all,” Midnight pointed out. “But admittedly, you are hilarious when hyped on sugar.”
Level had already taken another sip, this time he was braced for it. “Well,” he said only slightly quickly, “When you know that you’re around a ‘ling and actually try to manipulate Love, ponies are actually quite adept at it. Your mother put love into her cooking, after all, and you both put your hearts into singing.”
“Huh, I never knew that,” Midnight nodded. “Especially since I’m not really a pony...”
“Pony enough to count, and pony enough for me,” Ledger said, giving her a quick smooch before looking around. “Think we have enough time for breakfast, or should we wing it?”
“Let’s hit up Fredrick’s,” she replied. “I still gotta let him know that I live and all that.”
“Fair enough,” Level said as he drained his cup. “I’m good, you?”
Midnight zipped into her room, donning her armour and regular swords before returning. “Hah... yup, all good now.”
Level snickered and held the door open for both of them, locking it once they were both on their way.
Fredrick perked from behind his podium. For some reason, something seemed...off this morning. As though some great balance had been upset. And now it felt like that imbalance was coming closer. The griffon shook his head just in time to see Ledger and that beautiful ba- Thestral mare walking in. He gave the pair of them a winning smile and prepared his best lines. Watching her blush was always a treat. Plus, maybe she’d actually respond in the positive this time!
“Well hello there Level and his most beautiful friend,” Fredrick purred. “I am most glad to see the pair of you again. I will admit, when Ledger came by without you, I was quite worried, dear beauty. I am ever so happy to see that you both are alright.”
“Yeah, sorry about that Fred,” Midnight smiled chipperly. “Some things went down and I had to lay low for a while. But...” she looked at Level and smiled. “I believe it all worked out for the best. Oh! And I’m staying in Las Pegasus for the foreseeable future.”
“Ah, all the better to tease you,” Fredrick smirked. “So, table for two? Or would the lady prefer her own private table?”
“Fredrick,” Level said with only a slight hint of irritation. “Stop hitting on my marefriend.”
There was a sound of silence that seemed world-encompassing. That feeling of wrongness returned a hundredfold. Fredrick looked at the unicorn, then at the Thestral, then back at the unicorn.
“Your…” Fredrick managed to get out. “Your marefriend?”
Midnight giggled as she leaned in and kissed her lover. “Aw, don’t get all jealous, as cute as it is,” she smiled. “You know I love you and Fredrick is just being Fredrick... though, I guess now I’ll never get to sample that private menu of his~” She sighed a little, thinking of what could have been.
“Back up, back up,” Fredrick said, waving one claw as he tried to process the situation. “How did you get him to accept this arrangement? Last I knew, he snorted a bit every time a mare came down those stairs and hit on him.”
Midnight smiled and Level saw that familiar wicked glint in her eyes. She leaned forward, her lips almost touching his beak as that smile widened.
“Oh my dear Fredrick.” She said in a low, husky tone. “Everyone is Songsexual~ No exceptions!”
Fredrick blinked before grinning in turn. “I may just have to steal that from you for use on some of the mares I’ve had difficulty bedding,” he said, a spark of mischief in his eyes.
Midnight sat back and huffed. “My line, get your own,” she pouted. Well, technically it had been Level’s line…
“Anyway,” Level spoke up. “We’re here for a quick breakfast, Fredrick. Think you can whip us up an after-morning special?”
“But of course, but usually I reserve that for the morning after I have be-” the griffon’s mind ground to another halt as he looked at Midnight, then at Level. “No,” he uttered aloud. “You didn’t.”
That gleam returned with a vengeance as she leaned closer again, looking at Level with a mischievous grin before whispering in the Griffon’s ear.
“As big as my leg~”
Fredrick said something in Gryphic that caused Level to flinch. “How?!” he shrieked in Equestrian. “How do you hold yourself back when you have such a gift?!” he demanded of the stallion.
Midnight sighed and sat back with a smile on her face, her vengeance complete. Today was a good day to be her.
Eventually they’d calmed the poor half-avian down and were now sitting at a table, Fredrick’s famous after-morning breakfast in front of them...and one eye from the griffon on one of them more often than not.
“So, I’m thinking of going in and doing mostly damage assessment today,” Level said, swallowing his latest bite of waffle before continuing. “See what all is left and what all I can whip back into being a proper shipping company.”
“You still have to come to the station and file a report,” Midnight added as she inhaled her waffles. “Plus Pegasus Air is under government control right now. You can’t just walk in and claim it for yourself. Likely, it would normally be put into liquidation and dissolved completely, but maybe I can pull a few strings...”
“It’d be nice,” Level said with a nod as he sipped his orange juice. “I mean, at it’s core, it’s still a shipping company. She just stopped caring about what she was shipping to who. And I still know how it’s supposed to work better than anypony not behind bars.”
“Well, we’ll see Captain Narrow, then focus on what we can and can’t do. Worst case? I doubt it’d be too hard to find a new job for you.”
Ledger shrugged and polished off his plate of food. “Meh, even if it turns out I can’t do anything there today, I still have savings...and chores to do. Need to buy some more sugar, and I should probably update the others-” oh crud had he said that last one out loud?
Midning leaned forward, her eyes gazing into his. “Oh Level Ledger~” she cooed, using his full name for the first time in a while. “What do you mean by... others?”
Making sure that Fredrick couldn’t see, Level did his eye-shifting trick for a moment to explain. “Those others,” he said, shifting them right back afterwards. “We have a few places we meet up, and for something like yesterday, I think they deserve to know I came out of it all right.”
“Oooh~ I wanna meet ‘em!” Midnight smiled. “I still haven’t met a Changeling that hasn’t tried to kill me besides you... well, wait. Even you were told to kill me at one point... dammit!”
“But I didn’t,” Level said with a smirk. “And I think I can put a hole in your argument with one name. Just one.” He waited for her to ask...
“I’ve met other Changeling’s and not realized it, haven’t I?” she deadpanned.
“Estate,” Ledger said as he began draining his juice. Midnight blinked and Level started to think that telling her that was a bad idea.
“Really now?” she smiled. “Oh, I do hope I have a short day today... I can’t wait to go home~”
“If he starts to really freak out, just tell him you know about me, and that I told you about him,” Level said, already predicting the future disaster and heading it off. “But that’s later. For now, we have a Guard station to get to.”
“Fine,” Midnight pouted. “Let’s go see how stressed Captain Narrow is today.” She glanced back at the counter and waved a hoof. “Oh Fredrick~ Can I get one coffee to go please~”
“Coming right up,” he said aloud, muttering a few things as he rummaged in the kitchen. After not even a minute, the owner of the restaurant presented the batpony with a cup of coffee. “And the bill,” he said, flourishing the strip of paper.
Level looked at it and lit his horn up, his saddlebags opening just enough to let his bit-bag loose. But Midnight beat him to the punch, dropping the coins onto the counter.
“I got it this time sweetie~” she smiled happily. “Now, shall we get going?”
“Of course,” Level said as he stood next to her seat, waiting for her to stand so he could walk side-by-side with her out of Fredrick’s. She gladly took his offer and the two left the slack-jawed griffin to the rest of his day, though he probably wouldn’t be able to focus on it.
Once they were outside and a good distance away, Midnight burst out laughing.
“Oh. My. Celestia! Did you see his face!?’ she cackled. “I thought he was gonna lay an egg or something!”
“It is rather nice to be able to get one over on him for a change,” Level agreed, chuckling along with her. “Sadly, I think if we keep Narrow too much longer, she’ll start looking for us herself.”
“Feh! Yessir, Captain Buzzkill!” Midnight saluted. Level sighed and put a hoof to his face.
“What am I going to do with you, Miss Pun?” he asked aloud.
“Well as long as I drive you batty, I guess I’ll just have to keep bugging you Lev~” she giggled and flew off for the station, letting the changeling give chase. After a moment to shake his head and groan at the terrible puns she seemed to spit out on a regular basis, the supposed unicorn followed as best he could to the station.
“Well, so the lovebirds grace us with their presence huh?” Captain Narrow sat behind a stack of paperwork, having some piled up on the floor, just so she’d have desk space. “As you can see, our little venture yesterday has left me with quite the headache... and since our gracious Princess saw fit to promote somepony, I now no longer have anypony I can foist this off on to.”
“Aw, I’m really feeling the love Captain,” Midnight gigged, glad to have dodged that particular bullet. “Is it really all that bad?”
“This stuff is just a small sample of what I have to do,” Narrow groaned. “And I think you broke Toll.”
“Broke?” Song tilted her head. “Um... how?”
“Well,” Narrow said as Ledger finally caught up, staggering up to the desk. “She has an odd... tick I guess I could call it. She starts to say something about our Unicorn friend here, then trails off on some random tangent. Apparently Level Ledger’s greatest secret is that he loves pasta and taking long walks on the beach...”
“Not arguing with that,” the unicorn said as he looked at the mound of paperwork. “Mother of...hmm. Y’know...this is still not as bad as I’ve seen paperwork get.”
“As I said, this is just the beginning,” Narrow sighed, slumping onto the desk. “And I still have to figure out what to do with Pegasus Air. We arrested a good deal of their employees, but there are a significant portion of those that had no idea, nor any hoof in the illegal activities. If we shut the whole thing down... a lot of ponies will have no job, no support.”
Level picked up one of the pieces of paper and scanned it rapidly. “These all similar?” he asked after a moment. “Incident reports, property damage claims, so on and so forth? Things that are very boring and time consuming to do because you have to look up all the numbers?”
“Yeah,” Narrow nodded. “The insurance companies won’t lift a hoof, they claim that ‘Police Interference’ isn’t a valid claim. So we’re left with this sort of nonsense. What can be covered by the Crown, what their insurance could cover and what will have to come out of their own pockets.”
“All rather academic if you’ve seized all of Toll’s accounts in the name of the Crown,” Ledger said with a smirk. “She nearly had enough to rebuild Las Pegasus. Reimbursing all her former establishments should be foal’s play if we use her funds.”
“We’ve thought of that,” Narrow groaned. “The problem? Toll was smart. All her money is tied up in property, material belongings, stocks, etc. While we can do that. It’ll take time and a good deal of effort converting all that into usable bits. And it will mean deconstructing the company as well... and I already mentioned the problem regarding that.”
“Well golly Miss Midnight,” Ledger said, giving his marefriend a shit-eating grin. “It sure sounds like your former Captain here is in a lot of trouble.”
“Gee willikers Level Ledger, it sure does!” she smiled very widely.
“If only she had a unicorn who knew systems and numbers and where Toll’s easily accessible slush fund was that he could use to get at the rest of her money,” Level said with a sigh as he put his head on the Captain’s desk, right in front of her.
Narrow blinked, before grabbing Level’s head and kissing him. Midnight just blinked as Narrow grinned like a madmare.
“I have the greatest idea!” she laughed.
“If it’s ‘make me do your paperwork,’ I already thought of using that to bargain for taking control of what Pegasus Air should have been,” Level groused, wiping away the kiss.
“You must be a mind reader,” Narrow continued her grin. “Yes! You will take over Pegasus Air. You know that company inside and out, plus I can trust you to run it legitimately.”
“Plus you get to foist this load of dead trees onto me,” the unicorn said, indicating the morass of paperwork her desk had become.
“I know!” Narrow smiled with glee. “You are the best little scapegoat ever!”
“I feel like I should take offense to this,” Midnight wondered in confusion. “But, on the other hoof, I’m finding all this too damned funny to care.”
“Really feeling the love, you two,” Ledger deadpanned as he picked himself up and glanced at the mass of paper. “Well, if I must, I must,” he sighed, though he did smile afterwards. “Still, it’ll be nice, seeing that place returning to being a shipping company.”
Midnight leaned in close and winked. “Cause you like shipping so much, don’t you~” she giggled.
“Pfft, I merely know exactly what that company is capable of, if someone with a competent mind got to work on it.” Ledger gave the pile of paper another glance and quirked an eyebrow. “Is there...a form I have to sign or something?...”
Narrow’s eyes shone with a wicked gleam as she whistled. Straight entered the room a moment later, a stack of papers as high as a pony was perched on his back.
“Just a few~” she grinned. Ledger smirked and fired up his horn in return. First one ink pot came out of his saddle bags. Then two. Three. From the other side, quills started to float out as well.
“Now that’s cheating,” Narrow mumbled, heavily considering foisting all her paperwork on him. “Well, whatever. At least I know I can count on you, and I can count on Song to keep you out of trouble.”
“Most of the time,” Midnight replied as she gave the hidden changeling a fond smile. “I can only do so much though.”
“If you think this trick is impressive, just remember: this is all with TK,” Ledger pointed out as papers started to join the ranks of floating objects. “And now for the tricky pa-” Here the stallion cut out mid-word as his eyes glossed over. Meanwhile, all the quills blurred into motion, filling out sheet after sheet of paperwork before each one was whisked away, replaced by the next.
“He’s not a normal pony huh?” Narrow mushed, eliciting another giggle from the Thestral.
“No, no he is certainly not.”
“Also,” Narrow asked, turning her attention to the batpony. “Can you explain your position a little to me? The Princess’s letter wasn’t too detailed in that regard.”
Midnight nodded and took a seat. “Well, I’m a Specialist. I am under the direct command of Princess Celestia and can refuse any orders from anypony besides her. My current assignment is to remain here in Las Pegasus, giving protection to Level Ledger and providing assistance to the police and guard should they request it of me. Basically, I can do pretty much whatever I want, as long as it remains within the law and I don’t bring dishonor to the Princesses.”
“I see, that makes much more sense,” Narrow nodded. She shot a glance at Ledger and blinked. “Is-is he going to be like that for a while?”
“Beats me,” Midnight shrugged as she got up from her chair. “This is the first time I’ve seen it.”
“Well, let’s leave him be and take a walk. We still have a bit to talk about,” the guardmare said, leaving a note for Ledger on the whiteboard and they left him to his job.
“So Toll Taker is just one of the issues?” Midnight sighed as they walked over to Fredrick’s. Narrow wanted coffee and her favourite barista was waist deep in paperwork.
“There are dozens of smaller gangs and criminal families, and now that the big fish is gone, they’re all going to want a bigger piece of pie.”
“I... fish don’t eat pie,” Midnight blinked and Narrow frowned.
“I want your help, and not to pick apart my analogies,” she grumped as they walked inside the restaurant. “Can I count on you? Lady Midnight?”
“Of course you can,” the Thestral smiled and winked as she walked past Fredrick. “A table for two please.”
“Of course Madam Midnight, and Lady Narrow, how delightful to see you again,” the griffon greeted as he grabbed two menus from under the podium. “It is always my pleasure to serve the fine mares of Las Pegasus, especially the ones in charge of keeping us all safe.”
“I’m sure it is,” Midnight smiled. “But I’m no longer available for that kind of service my dear griffin~”
“True, but you are not the only one in your party today,” Fredrick said with a wink as he led both mares to a table.
“I have picked up quite a few new party members recently,” Midnight hummed. “But I guess I am the main character, so it’s only natural.”
“You sure your head fits through most doors?” Narrow chuckled dryly. “And what makes you a main character? If anything, aren’t you the ditzy love interest?”
“Better than a supporting role like yourself,” Midnight replied. “But at least we’re both better off than Fred here. He’s just an NPC.”
“I rather think I do serve the highly important role of keeping the Guard and police mares of Las Pegasus fed...along with sating any desires the mares of Las Pegasus have, should they choose to come to me for that,” the half-bird returned before indicating their table. “Ladies,” he said with a slight bow as he placed the menus at their places and stood to one side to take their drink order.
“Aw, you know we love you,” Song giggled.
“And a lot of mares do as well it seems,” Narrow joined in. “But my dear Fredrick, do tell me. Is boasting about your prowess in bed the only trick you have? A mare likes a little variety every now and then.”
Midnight blinked and sighed. Yup, she knew what was coming.
“I boast about my skill because I can deliver,” Fredrick riposted. “Yet not every date of mine ends with myself and a mare between the sheets. Sometimes all they desire is a fine night on the town, a fine meal, some nice company...and I provide.” Fredrick then let off a sigh. “Granted, I do prefer to go to bed holding someone warm, but I am a gentle-bird first and foremost.”
Much to, well most likely to Midnight’s surprise at least, Narrow leaned forward and gazed into the bird’s eyes. “Is that so? Well I have had a very stressful couple of days. Perhaps you know a few ways or tricks a mare like me might use to... unwind~”
“I know of more than a few massage techniques that are said to relieve quite a lot of stress,” Fredrick said with a grin. “Really helps with the removal of latent pains and weariness. Perhaps you would like to come by after-hours? I live just upstairs.”
“My dear Fredrick, are you inviting this old mare on a date?” she asked coyly. Midnight just watched, having procured some popcorn from somewhere. This was getting interesting.
“I am inviting the Captain of the Las Pegasus Guard up to my place for a night of relaxing massage therapy,” the griffon said with a wink. “What happens from there is up to said beautiful mare.”
Narrow sighed, “And again, it never fails...” She was so tired of the only stallions taking interest were the ones interested in her title and position. Rather than just Narrow Gaze, the mare.
“Something up Narrow?” Midnight blinked as the Unicorn mare turned back to her menu.
“Nothing,” she muttered irritably. Fredrick, however, hadn’t missed the cues, and put one of his talons on one of her hooves.
“I’m sorry if I said anything to offend,” he said softly. “I merely sought to reinforce that to me, all mares are visions of beauty. It does not matter who you are or what you do to me: if you are a mare and take pride in that, then I take pride in it as well.”
Narrow put down the menu, “Yeah... I’m sorry Fredrick. I just like to separate my work from my personal life... or at least what little I have of one.” Being Captain meant long hours, and a lot of the job was a thankless task. Everypony wanted your help, and then complained about the way you handled things. And this latest adventure was the most stressful by far.
“Let’s start over, and I’ll begin,” she said with a soft smile. “Dear Fredrick, would you like to accompany this fine mare to dinner?”
“Dear Narrow, I would like nothing more,” Fredrick returned, before gently lifting one of her hooves and giving it a soft peck. “Does the lady desire something from my menu this eve, or does she trust my judgement on what other restaurant we shall be visiting?”
“A nice homecooked meal sounds wonderful,” she nodded. “Why eat anywhere else, when nowhere else can compare yes?”
“Well then, with dinner plans set, perhaps the fine mares would care for brunch?” Fredrick offered as he stood up again.
“Some coffee and daffodil sandwiches please,” Midnight said, feeling a little full from her impromptu snack. “Hmm, and maybe something for Level, he’s working at the moment.”
“Hmm, he typically does not come in here for breakfast,” the griffon mused. “Besides today, of course...I think I have an idea of what to get for him,” the owner of the restaurant eventually said. “So coffee, daffodil sandwiches, and the surprise for Level. Will that be all for right now?”
“Until later at least~” Narrow winked and gave him a ‘come hither’ stare. The griffon chuckled and decided to be a bit cheeky, giving Narrow a peck on the cheek before bounding into his kitchen.
The mare blinked and blushed, leaving Song to giggle at the response. This was just too perfect.
“Sooo, you like Fred huh?” she asked once he was out of earshot. “I don’t think he noticed, but you were giving him looks that said you wanted more than just a date~”
“Maybe,” Narrow mumbled. “I... guess he’s pretty cute. And his food is good too.”
“Hmm, I thought good food was to hook stallions,” Midnight hummed. “Well, good for you. Maybe you can reign him in a little hmm?”
“I doubt that, and I’d never try to change someone for my benefit alone anyways,” Narrow responded. “Still, it’d be nice to have somepony to come home to at the end of the day... I guess, I’m a little envious of you in that regard Midnight.”
Midnight’s eyes widened ever-so-slightly, before she looked down at her menu.
Lo and behold, who else should drag themselves into the restaurant at that moment other than Level, barely moving and quite drained of all his get-up-and-go from earlier. Sorting and filing and filling all that paperwork so quickly had been exhausting...but worth it.
Still, he now needed food. “Fooooood,” he moaned out from near the entryway, before adding, “Coffffeeeee.”
“And on the third day, the dead shall rise and throw the land into chaos and ruin,” Midnight quoted from a book she once read. “Sorry Lev, pretty sure Fredrick has a strict ‘No Zamby’ policy.”
“Need. Coffee,” the unicorn said before he wobbled a little due to how much magic he’d just thrown around in the office a minute ago.
“Well, as long as they’re cute zambies, I guess he can make an exception,” Midnight giggled, huggling her stallion. “FRED!” She hollered, causing several patrons to glare at her. “We need coffee, STAT!”
As if to respond to her, a serving-colt came out from the kitchen with a pot of coffee atop a tray, along with three cups.
“Well, now that’s service!” she giggled and Narrow couldn’t help herself.
“I hope he isn’t this fast in all aspects~” she giggled, loud enough for the griffon to possibly hear. The colt put the tray on the table, gave the three a short nod, and ducked back into the kitchen.
“Heh! More like colts that want to be like him than proper waiters I’m guessing,” Midnight giggled as she sipped her coffee, and then placed Level’s in front of him. Then she remembered and poured a few tablespoons of sugar into it.
“Dear Luna, would you like a little coffee with your sugar?” Narrow gasped at the sheer amount she poured in, then quirked an eyebrow when Song planted a little kiss on the mug. “Really? I didn’t think you could be so sappy Song.”
Level sniffed a few times before blearily opening his eyes and putting one hoof on the cup in front of him. With a little effort, he downed the cup of caffeine, sugar, and love, slowly perking up as more vanished into his maw. Once it had all been drunk, the stallion shook himself a few times before returning Midnight’s kiss.
“Oh, get a room,” Narrow pretended to gag. “Celestia above, the sweetness could choke a kitten.”
“Well there’s a macabre mental image,” Song groaned, being quite fond of cats herself. And dragons! Dragons kicked ass! “Lev? I need more hugs to make it go away!”
“My flank’s free,” Level said as he prepared another cup for himself before looking at Narrow. “In case you were wondering, your paperwork’s been filed.”
“Well that was fast,” Narrow whistled. “Maybe I should hire you instead?”
“Mine!” Song growled, hugging her bug. “Get your own.”
“All your paperwork,” Level said as he sipped at his new drink. “I, ah...may have gone a bit overboard when I was in OCD mode…”
Narrow nearly dropped her mug when he said that, as Song held him tighter.
“All of my... uh, there were confidential files amongst those.” Narrow groaned, realising that she couldn’t care. That damned stallion probably already knew about most of it anyway. “Just, keep it to yourself hmm?”
“Already planning to,” Level said with a nod. “Also, all of Toll’s more liquid assets have been used to free up her less-than-movable ones, what little funds were needed to reorganize Pegasus Air on paper have been used, and the rest has mysteriously vanished. Coincidentally, there’s been a sizable donation made to the officer’s retirement fund from an anonymous source.”
“Un-freaking-believable!” Narrow sighed. “You were there for an hour. An hour!” she now saw why Toll Taker cherished him so much. “Well, I guess any lingering doubts I had about you being able to handle Pegasus Air have been alleviated.”
“Whaddya think Toll had me do before I became the accountant?” Ledger said with a smirk. “You either learned to cheat, or flunked out on your first day. I cheated massively.”
“You have magic like that, and your skills lie in accounting?” Narrow shook her head at the oddities that Cutie Marks often divulged. “Well, whatever. Thanks for that Level. You’ve saved me a good deal of time. But sorting Pegasus Air won’t be a walk in the park. You think you’re up for it?”
“Assuming you’ve pruned out all the rotten wood, I think I can deal with the rest,” Level said as Fredrick made his reappearance.
“For the ladies, some daffodil sandwiches,” he said, placing the large plate of simple treats between them. “And for my friend Level, a fried-egg sandwich.”
“Oooh,” Level said, perking up and looking at the plate the griffon had set before him. “This smells really nice. Thanks for that.”
“Thank your marefriend,” the griffon returned, before giving Narrow his own ‘come hither’ look, even as he picked up one of her forehooves and gently kissed it. “Until tonight then, my Lady?” he purred.
“Indeed, my good Sir~” Narrow replied, causing Midnight to giggle once more. At least she was no longer a target of his rose-scented words. The griffon gave her another peck on the cheek before vanishing into his kitchen again, barking out orders to the chefs within.
“Huh,” Level said as he sipped at his coffee. “Y’know, of all the mares to sleep with him, I never thought you’d be added to that list.”
“Can it Level,” Narrow snapped. “I’m a mare and I like to be romanced every now and then. And besides,” she chuckled and winked. “After tonight, I think I’ll be more than just a notch on some wood. Trust me.”
“If you say so,” Ledger said with a shrug, sniffing at his sandwich. “While he professes to love all mares, the closer you come to matching him, the more loudly he’ll sing your praises tomorrow morn.” With that, Ledger bit into his brunch and moaned into the food. Oh, Fredrick was good at this.
Narrow said nothing more as she ate her sandwich, how that bird made something so simple, so utterly delicious, was truly beyond her. Midnight followed suit, while thinking of what to do after.
“Level? Do you want some help at Pegasus Air?” she asked.
After swallowing his food, Ledger shook his head. “I filed all the papers, but it’s gonna take the stallions and mares who deal with red tape the rest of the day to make my scribblings reflect reality. Maybe even tomorrow if they drag their hooves. No point going in until all the checks clear. I was just gonna shop for supplies, then look into that other thing we talked about.”
“Fair enough,” Midnight nodded. Well it seems she wouldn’t be completely bored this afternoon. “Do we have enough to do shopping with?”
“We ought to,” Level said as he thought about the situation. “My savings aren’t insubstantial, and the things we need aren’t monumental.”
“Fair enough, I’m still waiting on my next paycheck,” Midnight grumbled, knowing that her promotion would have stalled the process a little. “Well, should I need anything, I’ll pay you back.”
“I trust you,” Level said with a small smile. He bit into his sandwich again, bringing it down to half of itself. Once his mouth was clear again, he quirked an eyebrow at the pair of mares he was eating with. “Any other questions, ladies?”
“None here,” Narrow nodded. “I still have a mountain of things to go through. Arrests to process, statements to fill and whatnot.” She got up from her seat and gave her tail a flick. “I’ll see you two later sometime.”
“Take care,” Ledger said with a nod as the mare got up to leave. Before she got too far, she found herself suddenly pressed muzzle-to-beak with a familiar face.
“Until next time?” Fredrick asked his date.
“Well, aren’t you a sneaky one,” she replied, denying the griffin his kiss. “You already got a few free ones. The rest will cost you~”
“I will prepare my finest recipes,” he returned with a spark of mischief before pecking her cheek anyways. “To pay for what I have taken and what may yet come.”
“Hmm, well I don’t come cheap,” she smiled. “And yes, I shall see you tonight dear Fredrick.” With that parting line, she left the restaurant, leaving him to ponder on what he could prepare for her.
“Oh Fredrick~” Song sang out. “I hear she’s quite fond of chocolate.”
“That is a dessert,” he said with a wave of one claw. “I need to come up with some...thing...and there we are, a plan for dinner has just coalesced.” With a nod and a flourish, the griffon presented Level and Midnight with the bill. This time, Level was faster on the draw, letting his bits clink down on the table.
“Oh, somepony’s faster than I thought,” Midnight replied. It seemed Fredrick had a lot to do, so the two ponies left him in peace. “Okay, let’s go shopping, then meet these friends of yours.”
Thankfully, all the pair really needed were a list of ordinary groceries, to restock what they had consumed over the past few days. Though the Thestral did make several silent observations...and not so silent ones, about things she thought the apartment needed.
“But why can’t we have a heated table?” she pouted. “They’re so comfy and warm~”
“We don’t need one at the moment,” Level said for the twentieth time with an eye-roll. “Nor does that seem particularly practical.” Fifteenth. “Now were it a heated sofa or bed, I might agree with you,” he observed. “But then we’d run the risk of you never leaving either.”
“Fine,” Midnight huffed. “But we’re still getting these ‘His and Hers’ coffee mugs!”
“If it’ll stop others from drinking my sugar and caffeine in the morning, I can find myself agreeing with that,” Ledger agreed.
“Fine, I’ll cut down on my sugar intake so you can live to see another morning,” she sighed. “Just don’t expect a miracle bugboy.”
“I really only need a little, like one cube, in the morning and evening to be healthy,” Ledger pointed out. “It’s just...real easy to get addicted to the stuff. Especially for me and those like me.”
“And so says the guy that has his own body weight in sugar every morning,” Midnight added. She passed a few little knick-knacks and wondered if they’d look good on the mantle place... once they got a mantle place.
Then she paused. She suddenly realized what track her train of thought was chuffing along and she shuddered.
“Oh Sweet Celestia, I’m turning into a housewife!”
“Not bloody likely,” Ledger retorted as he passed the knick-knacks without sparing them a second glance. “Remind me, which one of us cooks, and which one of us is a kick-flank Guard?”
“Well, I guess so,” Midnight replied, as a wicked grin crossed her face. “Well I guess we should start picking out a nice dress for you when the wedding comes around. I wonder what will work with chitinous black...?”
“While I am flattered you’re thinking along those sorts of lines already, I’ll let you put me in a dress when Tartarus hosts a snowball fight and not a moment sooner,” Ledger deadpanned as he looked at some nice dining chairs. “Think we should look into getting a bigger table as well?” he asked.
“Well, we do seem to get a lot of unexpected guests,” Midnight pointed out. “Hmm, maybe one of those extendable tables? That way, we just make it bigger for when we actually need it.”
“I’ll put it on the to-buy list when we both get a stable income again,” Ledger nodded, casting a glance over at the section where such tables were most likely to be found. “Still, I think we can afford a few good chairs...if we keep it to two.” He gestured with one hoof for Midnight to choose which ones she thought would be a good investment.
“Well we already have chairs,” Midnight replied. “Perhaps a slightly larger couch might be in order?”
“Hmm...if we don’t get one that’s too large, we might be able to fit both of them in the living room at the same time,” Ledger hummed. “Very well, we can look.”
Midnight cheered and raced off to the store’s selection of couches, determined to give every single one the test of true comfortability. Ledger sighed, but smiled and followed after his marefriend. The thought gave him pause for a moment.
His. Marefriend.
A year ago he would have never even thought of those two words together. Midnight...had done him a world of good, and he wouldn’t trade her for anything.
He was yanked out of his idle, blissful thoughts by the one that brought them about in the first place, now that he’d caught up to her. She was currently sprawled across one luxurious couch, one with a price tag well beyond either of their budgets, but a very nice one all the same.
But what was more distracting was the position she was in, combined with a sultry come-hither stare that gave a nearby employee a nose bleed.
“Oh Ledger~” she cooed in a seductive tone. “Draw me like one of your Prench mares~”
Level blinked a few times before he resorted to shaking his head, trying to keep his mind clear so he wouldn’t be making a public scene. “You do realize that’s far out of our budget, yes?” he asked. “And please stop torturing the poor shopkeepers.”
“Bah! You’re no fun,” she pouted, getting up and brushing her foreleg with the other. “Well let’s go find a more suitable one and give it the cuddle test!”
“Cuddle tes-” Ledger managed to get out before he found himself experiencing said cuddle test first-hoof.
“Cuddle test!” Song nodded, snuggling her cuddle bug on the super comfy couch. “I believe that I will have to test every couch here. For science!”
“...I find myself strangely okay with this situation,” Level said, before returning the cuddle for the briefest of moments. “Still, keep in mind there’s that thing I want to do later. We can’t spend all day here.”
“Aww,” Song pouted. “Fine, I guess we should do this when we have more time on our hooves...” Then she spotted it. A work of perfectly perfect perfection. She grabbed Level’s hoof and flew across the room.
At first, it looked like most of the other couches on the floor. Slightly interesting pattern in the weave, what looked to be just the right amount of cushioning. Perhaps it was a bit larger, true...And then Level lay down in it, and realized just how comfy it was. Some small part of his brain, not taken in by the coziness of the couch, did a quick mental calculation and realized that it was the perfect size for his other form and Midnight to snuggle in, and it could still fit in the living room.
In short, it was the piece of furniture they’d been looking for. He barely even noticed that the Thestral mare had joined him on the couch already.
“Isn’t it just perfect for all our snuggling needs?” she asked. “The design is alright, the price is acceptable and it’s comfy as all get out. Plus...” She leaned over and whispered a few other ways she knew of for breaking the piece of furniture in.
“You are just determined to drive up all my cleaning bills, aren’t you?” Ledger mock-groused, giving Midnight a peck on the cheek afterwards to make sure she knew he wasn’t being serious.
“You’re the one that makes most of the mess~” she shot back, poking him lightly in the chest. That reminded her, she had to do some research on certain things. “So... can we get it~?”
“Barely,” Ledger answered, looking around for a clerk, not wanting to get up at the moment. “Assuming, of course, that anypony comes around to help us with this.”
As if waiting for that cue, a young stallion appeared with a rather bright smile on his face. “Hello, my name is Ottoman. What maaay I help you two cuties with today~”
“We’d like to purchase this couch,” Level said as he held Midnight close, her very presence soothing to him. As such, he was loathe to let her go for the time being. She started this, after all.
“A wonderful choice!” he exclaimed in his chipper tone. “This particular model is about to be discontinued, as such, the floor display you are seated on is our only one. Would you still like to make the purchase?”
“If I understand how things like this work,” Level said, a gleam showing in his eyes, “The store is anxious to get this last model out and typically cuts the price in order to hurry it out the door. After all, the next big thing could be along any moment, and they want the floor space back, yes? I mean, don’t get me wrong,” the unicorn hurriedly said as he indicated the couch itself, “it’s a fine couch! We like this couch! Right Midnight?”
“We love this couch~” she purred.
“I am glad to hear that!” the stallion beamed. “We will reduce the price by 25% and will also deliver it as well. Is this acceptable?”
Ledger thought for a moment before nodding. “That sounds like a fine deal to me...if you’re certain you can cut the price by that much, then I will gladly take this couch off of your hooves.”
“Wonderful darlings!” he beamed even brighter if that was possible. “Let’s fill out a form for delivery purposes and I will see to it that you get your new snugglecouch post haste!”
“Hee, I like this stallion,” Midnight giggled. “He understands!”
Ledger sighed before firing up his horn and drawing out a quill and half-full inkpot from his saddlebags. Rule one of being the accountant: Never travel without writing implements. Hopefully he didn’t become too sick of paperwork after today...
He gasped slightly when he felt Midnight’s hooves in his magical aura, grabbing the quill and ink. “Hm, lemme handle this. You’ve done enough writing for today.”
“I…” Her words and the coziness of the couch could not be fought against at the same time. “Fine,” he relented as he slumped back into the couch.
Midnight followed the flamboyant stallion to fill out the form, leaving Level alone with his thoughts for a bit.
His life had changed so much in the course of one week. From being under Toll’s hoof because she knew his secret, to being in her place once all the red tape was sorted out. From being asexual by choice, to finding a mare he could trust and share his life with.
In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he owed his new, better life, to that mare. He owed her so much of his happiness, and she truly loved him...With a smile and a nod, Ledger made up his own mind on the matter.
And it was then that the object of his thoughts returned with a bright smile on her face. “Well this lovely couch is all ours now. They said it’d be delivered sometime this afternoon.” With a quick burst of magic, Level drew in Midnight for as affectionate a kiss as he felt the public setting would allow, before breaking it and hugging her close.
“I love you,” he whispered softly, just for her to hear.
Midnight wasn’t expecting the sudden show of public affection and the admission of love? She just lay in his embrace, blushing and stammering.
“I-ah-well... pwaaa~” her face growing brighter and brighter, until she just gave up and hugged him back, the emotion coming from her told him everything he needed to know however.
She loved him too.
After their shopping trip, the pair returned to the apartment to both await the couch, and to put away their purchases that weren’t overly large pieces of furniture.
“So I was thinking,” Level said as he began putting the sugar away in the cabinet.
“I’ve known you just long enough to know that that’s a dangerous thing for you to do,” Song chuckled as she piled another sack of sugarcubes in the cupboard. “Oh, I’m only kidding. I can feel your pout from here. What’s up?”
“Yes, well, I was considering turning your room back into a guest room...and having you come to bed with me, sharing my room with you,” Ledger said. “Honestly, waking up next to you? Never before have I been more relaxed. The nightmares didn’t even touch me last night.”
“Ah!?” she almost dropped the sack of sugar and looked at him. “A-Are you sure? You don’t have to rush things you know.”
“I’m not saying ‘Midnight, let’s do each other every night,’” Level deadpanned as he put the last of the sugar away and began putting the other food into the refrigerator. “But I am saying ‘let’s go to sleep in each other’s grasp and wake up looking at the pony we love most.’”
Midnight paused. This... this would be the first time she had ever gone into a real committed relationship with someone. Question is, could she actually do this?
Well duh? She was Midnight Song! She could do anything and do it perfectly.
“That sounds like a pretty good idea,” she smiled. “I can’t have you getting nightmares again now can I?”
“And something tells me even if you did go back to your own room tonight, I’d wake up in the middle of the night because a Thestral was trying to sneak in for some cuddling time with her favorite bug-pony,” Ledger said with a wink.
“Probably, if I felt like I could deal with your snoring,” she laughed.
“Meh, we can’t all be perfect,” Ledger said with a shrug as the last of the groceries were put away. “So, they said this afternoon for couch delivery, right?”
“Yeah, I mentioned that we have a doorman, and that they could leave it in the lobby if we weren't home,” Midnight said. She glanced at the armour she was still wearing and then back to Level. “Should I be wearing this for our little outing?”
“Probably not, and we don’t have to go right away,” Ledger said. “I’d actually rather wait for the couch to get here before we go looking for them.”
“Fair enough,” Midnight nodded and got up from the floor, licking her lips. “Now, I feel like we should give our current couch a fond farewell, before we replace it.”
“Replace?” Ledger said, before shoving the couch to one side of the living room with both an application of magic and physical force. “We can get some mileage out of it yet. We don’t have to send it anywhere before we want to.” With one hoof, he indicated the new space he’d helped create. “We can still fit them both in here.”
“Ah,” she shrugged and sighed. “Oh well, don’t worry about it then.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be plenty of that sort of activity in the days to come,” Level said, chuckling slightly. “But considering how long it takes for you to clean up afterwards, I’d say we should put it on hold if we want to visit the others in any sort of reasonable timeframe.”
“Well again, I blame you for that!” Midnight scoffed. “Maybe if I didn’t need to take a shower after you give me a bath...”
She finished putting the groceries away and put the kettle on for some tea. She’d had enough coffee for one day and wanted to relax a little. “Do you want one as well?” she asked Level.
“It’d be nice, but do me a favor? Try and help me cut back on my sugar intake?” Upon receiving the Thestral’s questioning glance, Level elaborated. “It’s not the cheapest thing to keep up with, and anyone who knows what to look for would point out my current rate of consumption and make some very loud assumptions. Like I said, I can get by on two cubes a day.”
“Hmm, well I guess I can do that,” she replied with a thoughtful hum. “But you aren’t allowed to get grumpy at me for it. Or you may find your morning coffee lacking kisses.”
“Fair enough,” Ledger chuckled. “I’ll try to keep any grumpy thoughts reigned in as long as you don’t immediately cut me down to two cubes a day.”
“I wouldn’t do that to my cute little addict,” she giggled as gave him a peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry, the process will be slow and painless.” She was about to kiss him deeper when there was a knock at the door.
“It’s always something...” she muttered. Trotting over to the offending object. Upon opening it, she was granted with the rather confused visage of Narrow Gaze.
“We... have a slight problem,” the Guard said.
Level slowly got up from his position of rest on the current couch and double-checked to make sure his disguise was still in place before ambling over. “Oh?” he asked. “Something the matter?”
“Oh, hello Ledger,” Narrow greeted him. “And yes, you could say that.” She looked at the Thestral as she was let in. “Do you remember that female Changeling you defeated yesterday? The one that was with Toll?”
“Vaguely,” Midnight replied. “My battlestate leaves me feeling a little fuzzy on details sometimes.”
“Well, we have a small problem regarding her...”
Midnight gasped, jumping to a conclusion. “I-I didn’t kill her did I?! I didn’t mean to, I swear-” she was cut off as Narrow put a hoof to her muzzle.
“No, she ‘s fine. Missing quite a bit of her chitin, but fine.” The mare sat down at the table and sighed. “What do either of you know about Changeling hierarchy and laws?”
“You mean matriarchy, and typically, if the females aren’t fighting over the latest drone they consider worthy, they’re fighting over land, other property, titles…” Ledger trailed off as he noticed both mares looking at him. “Well-read? Mind, books on the Lands aren’t easy to find…”
“Well, whatever.” Narrow shook her head. Nothing surprised her at this point. “She’s, well... she’s saying... odd things about you Midnight.”
“Odd?” Midnight tilted her head. “You know, I’m all for being vague and crap sometimes. But we skip that and get to the point please?”
“She says you bested her in combat and now she must serve you until you see fit for her release.”
“....” Midnight just went quiet, as she slowly turned her head to look at Level Ledger.
“...Did she invoke some Celestia-forsaken name that sounded hard for even her to pronounce by way of explaining herself?” Level asked.
“If you mean that nonsensical babbling of chirps, hisses and squeaks, then yes.” Narrow nodded. “I thought she was trying to swallow her tongue.”
“That...would be the name of the first nymph to fall victim to this sort of situation,” Ledger said, before shrugging. “Maybe. Nopony can actually speak Changeish. So Midnight, would you like the bad, worse, or slight glimmer of good news?”
“Give it to me straight doc.” Midnight gulped. “What’s the diagnosis?”
“Bad news is, she won’t listen to anyone but Midnight now,” Ledger said with a sigh. “Worse news is, she’ll probably insist upon moving in with us.”
“Like hell!” Midnight growled, and not that playful one she usually did, this one was more feral, more animalistic. Even Narrow backed away slightly at the display of her sharp fangs. “I finally have someplace to settle down. And nopony is going to ruin that!”
“Love, remember when Narrow said the nymph thinks that she must serve you until you see fit to release her?” Ledger pressed. “That’s the glimmer of good. Her slighted honor won’t let her leave until you say she can.”
“Good, then I’ll tell her buck the hell off and be done with it,” she snapped. Midnight Song still wasn’t an avid fan of Changeling’s. Level Ledger was just a really sexy exception to that rule. “Was that all Captain Narrow?”
“Uh, I guess so?” she was still taken aback by the Thestral’s sudden change in demeanor. “Toll Taker is still babbling nonsense about Level Ledger and the rest of her crew we arrested aren’t being too helpful. But that’ll change soon enough. Once one cracks, the rest will follow suit.”
“Fair enough,” Level said with a nod and a sigh as the Captain saluted the pair, well, technically saluted Midnight, before she started to head back to the station. “Still,” he said to Midnight. “The chance to re-educate a nymph in how not to be a total...well, nymph. That would have been something.”
“They hurt you, and I hurt them. That was all,” Midnight replied, her eyes becoming narrow slits as the Captain chose this moment to make her exit. She didn’t feel like turning up to her date in pieces.
Ledger closed the door and locked it before drawing Midnight in for a hug, dropping his disguise in the progress. “And I would do the same for you,” he told her. “...Still think you shoulda taken the chance to have a nymph maid-servant for however long it took your lessons in how not to be a total nymph to sink into her head.”
“You are the last being in Equestria I would have expected to hear that from,” Midnight replied, not returning the hug. “Why? Why would you ever want one of those things in our home!?”
“A bit of revenge? Every drone dreams of it,” Level said with a shrug. “Plus, the chance of turning an unreasonable nymph into something that would in fact actually respect drones? That’s a pretty great prize as well. Probably woulda saved a lot of drones back in the Lands.”
Midnight thought about that, what Level Ledger had gone through and what it might mean if she could teach one of those things some respect. And then there was Princess Celestia’s teachings on friendship and harmony and whatnot.
“Luna Dammit!” Midnight swore. “Great, now I look like a jerk.”
“How fast can you fly?” Level asked as he turned Midnight around and opened a window with his magic. “Cause if you can get to the station before Narrow, you can still take your decision back.” He had felt her turmoil and hoped it meant what he thought it did.
“If something goes wrong about this...” Midnight muttered as she spread her wings. “You’d best pray that Changeling blood doesn’t leave any stains...” She walked over to the window and fell out, freefalling for a second to gain some speed and then soared off.
“...Let’s just hope it’s not my blood she’s talking about,” Ledger observed. “And while she’s out, now would be an excellent time to move her things from her rooms to mine, so that neither of us have to share our beds with another ‘ling.”
Midnight had caught up with Narrow and explained a few things to her. And after a few moments thought, she now stood in front of the cell that held the nymph. She was in worse shape than she imagined, and Midnight winced a little at it.
“So you come,” the nymph buzzed. “I’ve been waiting for you Mistress.”
“One, you will not call me that.” Midnight stated in a serious tone. “And two, what in the ever-loving buck are you talking about? I have no desire for a friggen pet!”
“If that is not what you desire, Ma’am, then I shall not be as such,” the nymph said. “How do you desire for me to serve you until my sentence is complete?”
“I want to tell you to buzz off and never come back!” Song replied with that feral growl again. “But somepony wants to see if I can make a mare out of you. So you will be serving me as my assistant and student. I will... teach you.”
“If this is not what you want, Ma’am, then why are you doing it?” the nymph asked with as much of a head-tilt as she could muster without aggravating her injuries. “You are clearly the Alpha Nymph of this city.”
“Alpha...?” Now it was Midnight’s turn to be confused. “What makes you say that?”
“Toll Taker herself, the one who was nearly in complete control of this city, has been bested by your hooves. Therefor, you must be the new Alpha, yes?” There was a...simple logic to the nymph’s line of thought.
“Well, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it,” Midnight replied. “It seems this is going to take longer than I thought. However, before you leave this cell. You must make a few promises, ones that if broken, will end in more pain than you can imagine.”
“As you command me, I shall obey, Ma’am,” the nymph replied, bowing her head.
“One, you will not disrespect the Changeling I live with. Until I say otherwise, you will not even speak to him unless I say so. Understand?”
“...Understood,” the nymph said, grinding her teeth all the while.
“Two, you will remain in your true form while in my home, but you will take a disguise should we go outside. A consistent, original one of my design. You are forbidden from disguising yourself as anyone else! Pony, Griffin or Changeling.”
“Understood, Ma’am,” the nymph replied after Midnight had finished.
“And three. You will not steal the emotions of anyone. I will... provide you with enough to live and remain healthy. This one is very important. Should you break any of these rules. I will break you and ship you back to the Changeling Lands in a casket. Am I clear?”
“Perfectly, Ma’am,” the nymph stated with a nod.
“Good,” Midnight replied, calming herself slightly. The aura of hostility she was emanating also dissipated. She looked at the nearby Guard and waved a hoof. “Let her out. This Changeling is now under my custody.”
“Ma’am?” the Guard blinked.
“By order of Princess Celestia!” Song growled. “Now Private!”
“Y-Yes Ma’am!” she stuttered and opened the cell. Slowly, achingly, the changeling got up and hobbled to the open door, before dropping into a bow before Midnight.
“Ma’am,” the bug-pony said, not looking up and waiting for further orders...or to be allowed to drop. Dropping would be good.
“Are you able to walk?” Midnight asked. “Is your condition well enough to travel for a few minutes? Oh, and do you possess enough power to transform?”
“Travel, yes. Walk, no. I can be moved, but if I move myself, my chitin protests, Ma’am. And while I cannot transform myself with these dregs, I can still weave a simple illusion over myself, Ma’am. What would you like me to appear as?”
“Forget it, save what strength you have. Focus on healing,” Midnight replied before turning back to the Guard. “Fetch a wheelchair and a private carriage if you would?”
The Guard saluted, glad she could get out of the room. Right now? She wasn’t sure which female terrified him more.
“You will be allowed rest and recuperation until your strength returns,” Midnight said to the nymph as they waited. “Be ready to work once you have though.”
“My chitin should only take a week to heal, Ma’am,” the nymph informed her new Mistress. “Less if I am fed a steady diet.”
“What do you take me for?” Midnight huffed as a Unicorn returned, and slowly levitated the Changeling into the chair. “I’ll not starve you and my goal is to make you a better ‘ling.” She pushed the chair out to the lobby, almost everypony’s eyes were on the pair. “Now let’s go home. And pray my lover doesn't kill you.”
In deference to rule one, the nymph did nothing more than set her jaw so as to avoid talking about the drone for as long as possible.
“Let the journey begin,” Midnight said dryly as she stepped into the carriage.
Even though it was his prodding and his idea that Midnight might be able to actually re-educate a nymph, the first thing Ledger did upon seeing the nymph being wheeled into their apartment?
He locked up in fear and never took his eyes off her.
“Don’t worry,” Midnight said when she saw his reaction. “She’s under orders not to interact with you in any way until I say so. But in the meantime...” She looked down at the nymph and nodded. “Do you have a name? A pronounceable one?”
“I have a name in Changeish but not in Pony,” the nymph said, pointedly not looking at Level. “Part of our arrangement with Toll was for her to provide identities.”
“An illegal one, I’m sure...” Midnight muttered, then a thought occured. “Ah, we also haven’t discussed on what would happen if you are successful and I deem you fit to leave my service have we?”
“No, you have not, Ma’am,” the nymph carefully observed. “Have you decided?”
“I have,” Midnight nodded. “I can arrange a legal visa for you. You will be absolved of your known crimes and be allowed to live in Equestria as a free citizen. While you will be bound by the same laws as all of us, you will be a free mare. How does that sound?”
“That…” The nymph nearly brought herself to look directly at Midnight, before catching herself and bowing her head again. “You are too kind, Ma’am.”
Midnight placed a hoof on the nymphs chin and brought her head up, looking into her blue eyes. “Then promise me. Promise you will try and try hard for this.”
“I will try, Ma’am,” the changeling said. “I am uncertain if I will succeed, since you are demanding I change so much about myself, about what it means to be a nymph...but I will try.”
“Good to hear,” Midnight smiled for the first time since she met the female. “Now, I’ll fetch you something to drink. Level Ledger will assist you should you need it. Speak only if you are spoken to. Okay?”
“Yes Ma’am,” the nymph said, giving Level a quick glance before looking away.
“Good girl. I’ll be back in a moment with your drink and your name.” Midnight trotted from the room. Mostly, she wanted to see if the nymph could follow Rule One.
Ledger slowly drew close before sitting himself out of hoof’s reach and shedding his disguise. “I should hate you. I should loathe you,” he said aloud. “But my time with that mare that I convinced you were worth saving has taught me a few very important things. Do you know what they are?”
The nymph was silent for a moment. Two. And then she spoke up. “No. You are going to tell me anyway, aren’t you?”
“That’s right,” Ledger said with a nod. “The first is that, except for a few very rare cases, nobody is incapable of being saved. The second, is that the only female who deserves my hate, is the one that ruined me. All the others are merely beings I don’t know yet.” With those two facts delivered, Ledger stood up and walked into his and Midnight’s room.
When Midnight returned, she saw that Level was no longer in the room and sighed inwardly.
“Well, that went better than I expected.” Midnight replied tersely. She placed a mug of tea on the table with plenty of sugar and a small kiss while she was thinking very intently about Level. The sooner this nymph could recover, the better. “Here, drink this.”
The nymph absently picked the mug of tea up, then returned to looking at where Level had disappeared. “Ma’am, I do not think I will ever understand drones.”
“Understanding somepony can be difficult,” Midnight replied. “Everypony is different, unique. And from what I’ve seen, Changelings are no different. I don’t expect you two to become best friends... tolerance is what I’m currently aiming for. But maybe...” she trailed off, leaving the end of her sentence open for interpretation. The nymph seemed to think about it for all of a second before sticking her tongue out.
“Bleh!” she proclaimed. “A nymph and a drone, friends like that? It would be easier to ask your Sun Princess to let you sleep in an hour and set the sun back down!”
“I tried... multiple times,” Midnight sighed. “Stupid internal alarm clock...”
The nymph sipped at the tea, before humming at the taste. “Yes, this will do to help speed along my recovery,” she observed. “A few more days of this, and I should be able to move on my own power again.”
“It takes a good deal of willpower to make that drink, and Level is the only one that gets its full benefits,” Midnight retorted. “Perhaps you will as well... one day.” She wondered if second-hoof love tasted differently. “Ah, I believe I promised you a name as well.”
“Far be it from me to think my opinion is worthwhile, Ma’am, but perhaps that should wait until I am well enough to move about and transform again?” The changeling quirked a non-existent eyebrow. “Then you could make the name fit the form, or vice-versa.”
“I wonder if being a smart-flank is a Special Talent?” she wondered aloud. “Okay, what skills do you have? Fighting isn’t apparently one of them.”
“I was meant to be an infiltrator because I failed to pass some of the more advanced combat lessons,” the nymph said. “But when my temper got the better of me even then, I was shunted from the programs altogether. I still have quite the repertoire of skills regarding information gathering and blending in. Stealth and espionage.”
“Hmm,” Midnight hummed as her mind went to work. She already had a few ideas, ones that might help her new position. “I think I have something, but you’ll need to recover first.” She begun to head towards the hallway. “Follow me.”
“How?” the nymph all but deadpanned, indicating the wheelchair she was in. Midnight groaned and turned around.
“Right, forgot about that.” She reared up and placed her forehooves on the chair, pushing it towards her room. “You’ll be sleeping with me until we can arrange something more permanent. Is that a problem?”
“I was unaware you swung both ways, Ma’am,” the nymph said plainly.
“Oh I do, and that was cute,” Midnight replied. “But don’t flatter yourself, I don’t find you that cute.” She nudged open her door to see an empty room, save for a plainly dressed bed.
“W-Where the HELL IS MY STUFF!?”
Within the next two seconds, she found herself wrapped up in a Ledger-hug as he whispered in her ear. “Remember what we talked about? I moved it from ‘oh we could totally do this’ to ‘I’m doing this’ because of our recent addition. I wasn’t having her waking up next to anyone if I could avoid it.”
“Ohhh, I totally spaced about that,” Midnight blushed. She looked down at the nymph, “Well, lucky you, you get your own room already it seems.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” the changeling said. “I will try not to make a mess of it when I can move freely again.”
“Good girl,” Midnight nodded. “Also, Lev? Do you know any sealing spells? Ones we might place on the windows?”
“A few come to mind,” Level said with a nod. “Why do you ask?”
“A nymph is here. Do you want her flying around at night unescorted?”
“Fair enough,” he agreed. “I’ll look up a few spells and brush up on my technique before she gets wing mobility back.”
“I am beginning to think you don’t trust me, Ma’am,” the nymph said with more than a bit of snark.
“In order,” Midnight replied, looking at Ledger first. “I am going to help you work on your ‘technique’ a little later~ And you...” Here she looked at the other Changeling. “You would be most correct in that assumption. Trust is difficult to earn and easy to lose. Consider that your first lesson.”
“...Very well, Ma’am,” the nymph said, before looking at the bed and the chair she was in. With a bit of work and a lot of wobbling back and forth, the female ‘ling managed to extract herself from one to sprawl atop the other, wiggling about to get comfortable.
“These sheets are surprisingly comfortable,” the nymph observed.
“A thousand count Zebrican cotton,” Midnight said idly. “Now you rest here and I will bring you some dinner later... but first...” she trotted over and placed a rather ornate-looking silver band on the ‘ling’s hoof. A line of runes glowed a pale blue for a moment before Midnight nodded.
“What...was that, Ma’am?” The ‘ling on the bed asked, looking at her newest accessory.
“A special little accessory,” Midnight replied. “As long as you wear it, I will always know where you are, and with a simple word, I can also seal your magic. Prove that you can be trusted, and I’ll remove it. Simple no?”
After a minute to think about it, the nymph nodded her head. “Considering the circumstances, it could be far worse. So thank you, Ma’am.”
“Considering the circumstances, you are lucky I held myself back during that fight,” Midnight replied dryly. “Or we would not be having this conversation... But you are welcome. Now Level and I need to go out for a bit. Will you be fine here by yourself?”
“I shall be fine, Ma’am,” the ‘ling replied. “Until my chitin heals, I shall be very low-maintenance.”
Midnight nodded and left the room for a moment, before returning with a few things perched on her out stretched wings. A pitcher of water and a cup. Some bread and sweet jam and a couple of books.
“This should be enough until we return,” Midnight nodded. “Also, could you touch that bracelet with your horn Level?”
Ledger drew close enough to touch the bracelet with the barest tip of his horn, not wanting to get closer than he absolutely had to. The bracelet glowed a pale blue again and Level’s horn took the same shine.
“Now that bracelet is linked to Level’s magic. Should anything happen, tap the bracelet three times and Level’s horn will glow like that.” Midnight explained. “He can also adjust the settings like I can. So should you require our aid, do so, but only if the situation truly demands it.”
“Understood, Ma’am,” the nymph nodded as she drew a book close to herself.
“Very good. Once you are well, we will decide on a name and appearance.” There was a knock at the door and Midnight called out that she’d be there in a moment.
“That must be our new couch,” Midnight said to her coltfriend. Level fired up his disguise and went to answer the door. It was indeed a delivery pony, one with a clipboard and a neat uniform and everything.
“Hello sir, I assume you are the...” He glanced at the clipboard and blinked twice. “Uh, Smexy Cuddlebug?”
“...I am going to have to talk with Midnight one of these days,” Level groused. “I am the original renter of the apartment, and I believe you have our couch?”
“That I do,” he replied chipperly. “And be glad man, at least your marefriend seems to have a sense of humor... wanna trade?”
“Not only would Midnight not approve of the idea, I’m getting the feeling that most other stallions would wind up broken if they tried to keep up with her,” Level responded, before standing to one side. “Well, ready and waiting for the couch.”
The stallion nodded and whistled, as two burly Earth Ponies moved the new piece of furniture inside. Once the job was done and signed for, the three stallions left, leaving Level alone on their newest addition. He sighed softly as he wiggled about a bit. It was every bit as comfortable as it had been in the shop...
He should have seen it coming, he should have expected it really. But he was still caught by surprise when the amazingly quiet bat pounced on him, giggling when she tackled him and gave her bug a hug.
“And hello to you too,” he said with surprisingly little snark. “Comfy?”
“My cushion is a little on the tough side, but it’s cute, so that can be forgiven.” Midnight sighed as she snuggled closer. “Our new guest is reading... and I’m still wondering how this is now a thing. Why is this a thing Level?”
“Because the potential reward outweighs the risk?” he commented. For both her...and me, he silently added. “Seriously, this is something a lot of nymphs could really use. This is just one of the few ways you’ll ever get them to sit down and take it without much complaint.”
“Sooo, should I beat the crap out of every nymph in the city then?” Midnight asked in a tone that sounded serious. It was difficult to tell.
“The other nymphs in the city have at least learned that the best way to deal with me is to not look like that,” Level said with a small wave of his hoof. “It’s the ones back in the Lands that need a good talking-to, and if I thought you could, I would totally point you at them and let you beat every single nymph up.”
“If you thought...? You do realize who you're talking to, right? Are you saying I couldn’t handle it?” Midnight put on a hurt look and pouted. “You have no faith in me, do you?”
“There’s simply quite a lot of them,” Level shook his head. “And I mean a lot of them.”
“Well I didn’t say I’d fight them all at once... hmm, maybe if I just take down Chrysalis, then the rest would just fall in line...” Was she actually giving this serious thought!?
“While it is a nice thought, finding and beating sense into unreasonable Queens,” Level said, wrapping a hoof around her form and giving her a quick hug, “I would be a poor coltfriend if I let you run off in search of my home. Instead, let’s cuddle for a bit, then I can introduce you to the other ‘lings in the city.”
“Fine, I’ll just dream of defending your honor then,” she smiled and closed her eyes. A thought occurred that made her smile switch to a wicked grin. “Well now we have a foal to take care of, when do we get married dear Level?”
“Once your father returns to register who and what I am with the government, not a moment sooner, if that is your desire,” Level returned, giving Midnight a peck on her head. Midnight just blushed and turned her head away from him.
“Stupid, sexy bug...”
“While I wouldn’t mind letting you use me to work out that arousal you seem incapable of losing anytime you think about me,” Ledger observed, “I do still have a place to be, and you have professed an interest in joining me. While there is no real set time on this, sooner is always better.”
“Fiiiiine,” Midnight whined in a low drone that would impress most insects. “Let’s go meet your buggy-buddies.” Once again, Ledger chuckled and gave her a kiss atop her head.
“As you command, m’dear,” he jested.
The nymph sat on her bed, her attention barely focused on the book in front of her. Why was she here? Because of some stupid ancient law? Because this was still better than a Guard cell?
Well, once she had her strength back, she could just kill them both... no problem. Or, even better. Replace the mare and drag the drone back to the lands with her. He seemed easy enough to cow from their first meeting...plus, his form marked him as something potentially worthwhile. Assuming any of those rumors regarding noble drones were true.
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Ummm... Could someone explain this?
Well, the nymph might be bad news, hope she becomes sort of rehabilitated, and doesn't try to kill them, again.
Frederick and Narrow's date, along with Midnight and Level's interaction was pretty sweet. The bit of the nymph joining as Midnight and Level's housemate was an interesting part. Great job on the chapter.
For some reason I can't get the thought of Midnight buying their new little changeling 'friend' a maid outfit out of my head... Let it happen I guess
Midnight's new position reminds me a lot of a specter from Mass Effect.
6208539 I feel sorry for you in that case, not because I don't like your train of thought, but because unless Thadius0 is Shyamalan with the plot twists-- Except better at writing it'll be pretty hard to make that storyline interesting. :/
I thought the story was pretty much done.
I'm glad I was wrong.
6208911 Yes, but I mean, it'd be kind of just lame if she went for it. It just seems like an unlikely thing to happen. She's being assisted in her healing by Midnight, and if she won't be able to walk around for about a week, at that point she'll start to see the lives of Midnight and Level. I feel as though she'll probably start to change attitude.
Though with deep rooted matriarchal societal beliefs it may be tough, yet she's already shown some disdain towards their traditions, especially about the being beaten in combat, then serving the person.
*Probably doesn't flow too well.
6208911 It wouldn't even be a plot twist if she tried to kill them just a lack of character development and bad writing.
6208996 Umm... As someone who's actually lived with someone who grew up with a different cultural background it's gonna take a lot more than a few days and a few orders... It's like asking you to read Latin fluently when you only speak English. It's just not conceivable and makes no sense.
I wanna see some progression here, and 'Lings seem to be quick learners, but it's gonna be tough to reform an aggressive female from a matriarchal society. It's all that the 'Ling knows and it's a huge effort to try and adapt to something so vastly different than what you perceive as normal, field anthropologists attempt it and more often than not aren't successful in getting accurate information from the cultures they were studying... But that has to do with bias rather than adapting.
I'd like to think that as long as the nymph sees males as 'inferior' there won't be any notable progress, but there are several ways to go about this. Oh, by the way, don't get a Social Sciences degree, absolutely useless if you're applying for any sort of job outside of social working/human resources that have multi-cultural employees.... Not many job opportunities basically. xD
6209040 I don't think you know what I meant by plot twist, she's clearly less than happy about her current situation, Thad would really need to throw a wrench in there somewhere if he were to convince me she legitimately wanted to change. :s
Got a question for you. Is the guard here a she?
or a he?
Or were there two guards.
6209138 She clearly wasn't happy with her situation at home if she wanted to move to Equestria. If midnight can convince her that the only way to make it in equestrian is to take her up on her offer. We also know very little about her situation feel like if you're going to get any sort of wrench thrown in it'll be why she wanted to leave the changing lands in the first place.
Yes!maor! Moarrr!!!!!!yay!!!!!!!!
6208535 - The joke started because Ledger works for a 'shipping' company. And he's a Changeling, who consumes love.
Geddit now?
I just had a huge facepalm moment. I was looking at something else and saw a comment you made on their work. Then I asked myself, upon recognizing the avatar picture, "I wonder what this author is up to?" I then clicked stories and saw you were writing this which is one of the stories I'm following avidly and I didn't even pay close enough attention to realize. *face meet palm*
Wait, who thought this was over? We're merely transitioning into the next Arc!
I love the idea of the changeling under house arrest. Too bad we probably won't get any Stockholm syndrome here.
Keep going! ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnzz-eFmKaw
:)
“For the ladies, some daffodil sandwiches,” he said, placing the large plate of simple treats between them. “And for my friend Level, a fried-egg sandwich.”
“Oooh,” Level said, perking up and looking at the plate the griffon had set before him. “This smells really nice. Thanks for that"
"You're welcome, I laid it myself"
*pfftftftftft*
I don't know what these two are into other than each other, but I missed the "in" at the end of this sentence at first.
And this made me rethink my thoughts on the first quote's misreading.
I had to refrain from busting out laughing during Fredrick's rant!
All in all, a hilarious and cute chapter.
Another great and cute chapter.
I hope the nymph is eventually rehabilitated. Call me naive, but I love happy endings for all.
so meta..
ooooooh burrrrn
This chapter kinda weirder me out, even more than the one where Level was spontaneously okay with makin' the lovin's after supposedly being asexual. It might just be the lust-'lings making things murky, but it kinda sorta reads like you're saying that all ladies really want is big wang, and that sexually active men/women just need to meet the right man/woman before they'll happily renounce their ways and settle down into marital bliss 'n' makin' babies.
Again, it could just be me, but it still weirded me right the fuck out.
>i have been reading for 3 days only stopping for a few hours if sleep a day... i think i have an addiction to reading...
tho im at a point that this is the last story i have not read thats about changelings. reading 17 words per second is a curse. no story will last. nd my memory makes it so i can recall any point in a story iv read in perfect detale
Uh, I'm a bit confused; Midnight Song IS a pony, a Thestral. Why is she claiming to not be a pony? I think maybe you've got the dialogue messed up or something here...
7237887 threstrals are not technical on of the five pony races therefore not a pony
I REALLY want to see bitch-bug get smeared worse than the first time.
You require a page break here.
Most stories run into problems when the immediate hook/arc has come to a close. But this transition seems to be going pretty smoothly so far. Fingers crossed that things don't end up devolving somewhere down the line.
Also: The whole main/side/NPC meta-discussion was freaking brilliant. xD
6208535
To this day, nobody has ever gotten the joke. Or maybe someone did get it and just decided that they want people to suffer.
how did i miss that? Ottoman is a popular furniture brand!
This entire story exists just so that one line had an excuse to be written dosen't it
7064604at this point he is not asexual, he is likely Demisexual.
I only recently found out that how I feel actually has a label, and the fact that I am not alone in my lack of physical attraction has made a big impact on my mental well being. I have been married three times, each time to someone who I had made an emotional connection to before physical intimacy was initiated (by them), and each relationship has degraded due to lack of understanding about intimacy needs (there were other factors, of course, but nothing relevant here).
I can appreciate the aesthetics of people, but there is no real attraction based upon their appearance. In other words, as someone who prides themselves as being more honest than Applejack, while having the lack of social obliviousness of Twilight, I can't really tell people that they are physically beautiful and attractive to me. And for some reason a lot of people take being told that you really like their personality somewhat poorly.
It made high school really confusing for me with everyone running around drooling over 'hotties', while I am like, "Ok, they have well maintained complexion, symmetrical features, and are on the high side of secondary sex characteristic development for their age. . . But what's the big deal?"
TLDR: I personally identity with Level (while happily not having gone through his trama), and I wish I could find more stories with his POV.
10123126
Well, this times are the appearance era, since some 100 years ago or so. People values more physical appearance than personality and their morals. I can apreciate the "good looks" but certainly i focus more on personality. So, no, you are not crazy or something like that. Take care
That must have been interesting to see
And it can be near impossible to reearn
This story starts to become one of the top Changeling story on Fimfiction
Well if love it if you could help me reclaim your empire. Always had a soft spot for it. I guess the name just sounds pretty cool to me
1 million words, yeah it’s gonna happen at some point. Makes sense
Got beaten in combat by midnight
Thinks she can kill midnight as long as she utilizes maximum sneaky this time
Yeah its big brain time
Logic 100
The beginning of redeeming a Nymph into a badass character.
...which later became one of Level's wives...
Careful what you're thinking, Scope...
Holy shit was the chapter huge...
So mutch happend. Magnificent story and one hell of a Toll Taker epilog.