Chapter One - I didn't sign up for this!
Solar Guard Report.
Case Number: 04012016 Date: ANN 1002
Reporting Officer: CG SPC Midnight Song Prepared By: CG SPC Midnight Song
Incident: Criminal Activity in Tall Tale
DETAIL OF INCIDENT:
A deep rooted circle of corruption involving officers, key political figures up to and including the mayor. Foreign spy activity on Equestrian soil, rampant maltreatment of Equestrian citizens and dozens of smaller incidents and charges.
I, 1st Class Celestial Guard Specialist, Midnight Song. On a recommended vacation by order of Princess Celestia, stumbled across an unprecedented level of government corruption. Starting with suspicious activity based on a conversation with Captain of the Tall Tale Guard, Former Commander Green Lead. Not soon after, upon hearing at the time unfounded claims by several members of the Guard and a local pickpocket, I instigated an investigation. Some of the claims I received were founded upon visiting the aptly named ‘slums’ A destitute section of housing home to hundreds of ponies, most ex-civil employees.
Upon confronting Former Mayor Grumble, the insinuations he made only furthered my suspicions. He at first denied that the slums even existed, that I was mistaken despite visiting the very area not an hour prior. When I mentioned this, he quickly retracted his statement and claimed that he would ‘clean up’ the area...
The claims that my life was under threat made by Captain Diamond Cloud were later confirmed. When I returned to her hotel room to retrieve personal effects, an attempt was made on my life, as well as the life of a citizen. Another citizen, a reporter named True Story {See affixed references for further details} It is my recommendation that the investigation into the whereabouts of this mare is given top priority.
I was able to safely retrieve my Dragonflame candle and I sent word to Princess Luna. {See affixed record of letter and response} However, i had been drugged by a local, under the orders of the Former Mayor. My life however, was saved by a griffon known simply as Sphinx. {See affixed report on Subject: Sphinx}
From there, a plan was formulated to undermine the Former Mayor’s attempts to ‘house’ hundreds of criminals. A ‘cleansing’ of the slum population and subsequent housing and sale of the land. Another attempt was then made on my life and the life of that same citizen. {See attached report: dead Drop}
The scratching of the quill stopped as Midnight paused in her report to take a breath. Even thinking about that night caused her fur on her back to rise. She swallowed the building flurry of emotions and picked up the quill once more.
ACTIONS TAKEN:
The incident quickly got out of hoof. A local gang of hoodlums was… enthusiastic in creating a disturbance. Some large scale property damage was occurred. Upon being confronted by the Guard force protecting the Former Mayor, almost all were talked down by a citizen. Most had been cooperating due to fear and coercion. A lengthy investigation will need to be done to see just how many will retain their positions.
After a physical confrontation, Former Mayor Grumble, Head of Tourism, Angel Wings and Mercenary for hire, Dead Drop were all apprehended by myself and a helpful citizen. Princess Luna and the Night Guard arrived on the scene moments later and the chaos was subsequently quelled within minutes.
SUMMARY:
The Tall Tale Incident was chaotic and the roots of corruption ran deep. Bringing the city back to full functioning order may take months, even years. Many questions are still unanswered and the investigation is ongoing...
Midnight put her quill down and rolled her head around until her neck gave a satisfying crack. She still had to make three more copies of this report and…
“Crap, is that the time!?” She glanced at a wall-mounted clock and pushed herself away from her desk.She had to go and pick her up from school.
“…And so, in order to protect ponykind from the evils of this world, to aid, serve, and protect the Princesses and their subjects, to allow ponies to sleep safely without fear or worry. It was due to these reasons that the Royal Guard of Equestria was created. And it is our responsibility to keep the legacy that our founders bestowed upon us. Isn’t that right Miss Midnight?”
They all glanced at the sleeping unicorn, who had fallen asleep around the time the teacher had introduced himself, meaning, almost an hour and half ago.
“Miss Midnight!”
Yet said unicorn responded with a simple, loud, unlady-like snore. A young pegasus colt sitting next to her poked her with a hoof, doing so again and again when she remained deeply asleep.
“For Celestia’s glorious sake... MISS MIDNIGHT!” The old historian earth pony who was giving the class shouted with a voice louder than thunder, startling everyone and causing the small-sized unicorn to tumble in her chair and fall on her back, finally awake.
“Ouch…” Pockets groaned from the pain, her mind finally coming back to the real world. She looked around at the multitude looking back at her, and at the very angry old stallion looking at her from below, the wall behind him showcasing the projected slideshow that read ‘The End’. This… told her everything, “Oh boy....”
“Miss Midnight!” The teacher, Ancient Tome, said. A pale brown earth pony with way-too-many years and the thickest pair of glasses Pockets had ever seen, and way too many wrinkles for someone standing as straight as he was.
“I was totally paying attention I swear!” The unicorn quickly said in her defense, hiding behind the fallen chair.
“If that's the case, then you wouldn’t mind answering some questions, now would you?” Ancient quirked an eyebrow.
Pockets was silent, everyone staring at her with a few giggles coming from behind her, “Uhm… maybe? I mean yes! Yes of course.”
“Good. Then tell me Miss Midnight, who was the first Captain of the Royal Guard?” The teacher questioned.
Pockets glanced around, having no idea what he was talking about. But she needed to say something, she couldn’t look like a fool. Using all her brain-power, she focused on the previous classes, recalling everything she was supposed to learn, “He was called… Captain… Fluffy Buns? No! Captain Firetruck! No wait… Captain… Fudgesicles!”
“Captain Firefly.” Ancient deadpanned.
“I was close! Ok sure I didn’t know that one, but come on ask me something else!” Pockets said excitedly, a simple mistake not bringing her down.
“In what battle did Captain Ironhoof lead the Royal Guard to defend Equestria against the Bug Bear swarms that came from the Everfree?” The stallion asked with a very unamused expression on his face.
Pockets blinked, “Bug Bears? Huh, didn’t know that was a th— I MEAN! Of course it is a thing, how else would have Ironhoof fought against them am I right?” She chuckled. No one else chuckled with her. She sighed, and went over her lessons… and there was nothing about Bug Bears inside her little head. Well now she was sure she was going to fail that test, so much for being a Royal Guard.
But… not everything was lost. From the front row, a crimson earth pony colt barely younger than herself raised a piece of paper which read in some quite big letters, ‘The Great Hive Battle’.
“The Great Hive Battle!” Pockets quickly answered, murmurs coming from the multitude, everypony was actually impressed she knew that.
“That is… correct.” The teacher said in disbelief, thinking that perhaps it was just a lucky shot, “Well then Miss Midnight, why don’t you tell me who was the Captain that lead the Royal Guard in an attempt to tame the beasts that came from the Celestial Sea three hundred years ago?”
Pockets panicked again, her right eye quickly glancing at the colt from the first row who was writing something down rapidly, before showing her another piece of paper that read ‘Captain Wild Seas.’
“Captain Wild Seas! And… she stopped when she realized that the creatures were sentient and were only protecting their newborns!” Pockets answered, this time actually remembering half of the story from the lesson two days ago.
Ancient Tome deadpanned, before turning around and closing his briefcase, “That’s it for today class. I expect you all to read the third chapter about the history of the Guard for this Monday. We’ll have our first minor quiz next week and I hope you all get excellent grades… well most of you at least.” She quickly glanced at Pockets, who just gave him a cocky grin in return.
The class was dismissed, and everyone went their way to the outside of the classroom, Pockets looked around to find her hero getting his bag ready and leaving without anyone to accompany him. The former thief grinned and teleported to him, appearing barely a feet away from him and causing him to jump back in shock with a loud “Gah!”
“Hey there!” Pockets said immediately, not noticing how frightened the colt was.
The colt panted and took in some much needed air, relaxing before sighing, “Please don’t do that again. I’m easily frightened.”
“Oh… uhm sorry about that.” Pockets rubbed the back of her head with her tongue poking out, “Just wanted to tell ya that I’m really grateful for saving my ass back there.”
“It… was nothing really.” The colt said softly, placing his saddlebag on and accommodating his glasses, “I don’t really like it when Mister Tome picks on a student, especially on new ones.”
“Well, I kinda was sleeping in class… so eh. Still thanks for the save uhm… what was your name again?” She quirked an eyebrow, still having a hard time remembering everyone’s names.
“Steel Lance,” he replied, “This is my second time taking the advanced course so I know most of the contents from the history class by heart now.”
“Well this is my first time and I joined a month late, so go me!” Pockets chuckled, looking at the clock, “Oh hey, we’re done for today would you look at that. So hey, quick question, do you mind helping me catch up with all the things I don’t know because I sleep way too late? I really, really need to pass this whole thing and so far I’m doing terribly.”
“Uhm, sure I guess. It’s not like I’m doing much anyways.” Lance nodded, “You’re the special case aren’t you? Pickett Midnight I think.”
“Special… gah. Please don’t call me like that. Just call me Pockets!” The unicorn said happily, “Well then new friendo, I gotta go now, I got a very special date with a very special somepony who’s waiting for me right now.”
“Oh okay then.” Steel nodded, “Uhm... see you on Monday I guess.”
“See ya nerdy! Buh-bai!” She gave a lazy salute before flashing away, leaving a still somewhat confused colt alone who really started to question whether or not helping the unicorn had been a good idea.
Midnight paced around the entrance to West Hoof Academy. While not an ‘official’ student, Pockets had been sent here when she wasn’t working to get some form of education and whatnot. The guards themselves didn’t have the time to teach her everything after all.
Plus it was an order from Luna when the Princess found out that Pockets had ignored her education as a filly. Pickett had drawn the lucky straw that it was Luna that heard that and not Princess Twilight…
“I swear if she’s goofing off again,” Midnight muttered under her breath as she checked a pocket watch. “Where is she?”
Then, she heard the faint sound of someone walking towards her, sneakily, silently, not wanting to be found.
Midnight’s ear flicked and she smiled. Oh this was adorable. But hell, she was in a good mood today, so the thestral would let her have this.
This time anyway.
“Rawr!” Came the shout from behind her as Pockets teleported above her, nibbling on the thestral’s ear while making some extremely cute nomming noises.
“Ahh!” Midnight let out a totally not at all forced yelp of surprise. “Oh no, I’m being eated!”
“I am an evil small monster! Blarg!” Pockets said in a ridiculously raspy voice, before smirking and licking Midnight’s neck very slowly. “Hmm, delicious~”
Midnight let out a soft sigh and then shook her head, tossing the mare off of her back. “Alright, what did you do this time? Prank the teacher? Forget your homework… Sleep in class?”
The unicorn let out a dramatic gasp, looking around with a mouth wide open before pointing at herself, “Me!? How dare you insinuate that I of all ponies could ever possibly fall asleep in class!”
At that point, Ancient Tome happened to be passing by. “Ah, Miss Midnight. I do hope you can actually stay awake in my next class,” He reprimanded the unicorn before trotting off.
“...Couch, for the rest of the week,’ Midnight said as she started walking.
“Oh, come on!” Pockets groaned, standing up and walking next to her, “It wasn’t that bad, and I did answer most of the questions that old coot shot at me! ‘Sides, I already have a way to catch up with everything I’ve missed, so it’s not going to affect me in the long run! And—” she bumped Midnight’s flank with her own, “—You can’t sleep without me for an entire week and you know that.”
Midnight paused and frowned. Well buck, she had her there. “...I hate you sometimes,” Midnight sighed and with a fluid motion, put Pockets back on her back. “Now hold on, we’re late for a meeting.”
“First, no you don’t, you totes love me.” She chuckled, before sighing, “And second, Is it going to be a boring meeting with some boring higher up that will have me bored to death?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow.
“Guess you’ll have to wait and see,” Midnight replied as she spread her wings. “Now are you holding on? I’d ever so hate to drop you~”
Pockets snorted and surrounded the thestral’s neck with her hooves, hugging her tight, “Aye aye captain, and you speak like if this would be the first time you’ve dropped me. And because of that exact same reason… please promise me you won’t go too fast again.”
“...I cannot make that promise,” Midnight said solemnly as she raced into the bright blue sky like a rocket, the wind whipping around them as the ground fell away at tremendous speeds.
Pockets’ screams were drowned by the speedy winds around them, holding unto Midnight for her dear life, “I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW!”
A few minutes later, Midnight landed close to Canterlot castle’s main entrance. She pulled Pockets from her back and kissed her. “No you don’t, you totes love me~”
“I… do… and I hate you for it.” Pockets said between quick pants, falling to her knees and sighing in relief, “Why… you do realize we don’t have to get everywhere in under a minute right? There is this thing called ‘Going slow’? You should try that.”
“Going slow is for old ponies,” Midnight replied and shrugged. “Besides, this is somepony you don’t wanna keep waiting. Now, let’s go love. You have a date with destiny!”
“Half of my dates with destiny either end extremely exciting or extremely dangerous. The other half is both at the same time, so let’s do this.” Pockets grinned and stood up, following her marefriend, “And you won’t tell me who we’re meeting until we’re there just so you can see my face when we do, right?”
“Pretty much yeah,” Midnight replied as she led Pockets down a series of hallways until they reached a large set of wooden doors. She placed both hooves on them and pushed, allowing them entrance into a massive room. A long table that could seat around forty ponies dominated the center of the room. The walls were decorated by either floor to ceiling windows, paintings or fancy tapestries. And on the table itself sat an elaborate silver tray laden with sweet-smelling tea and a few cakes.
“Well this is totally not the fanciest thing I’ve seen forever.” Pockets mused as she stepped in, “Batty, what kind of noble are we meeting? Because this room would put Grumble’s old office to shame.”
“Not quite a noble,” a voice said from behind her. It was a gentle, motherly tone as Princess Celestia stepped into Pocket’s view. “Good afternoon my little pony.”
The thief’s jaw dropped, her eyes shot open as she stared at the much larger pony in awe. She had seen Luna a couple times now, and at some point she had gotten used to dealing with the Moon Princess even to the point of befriending her. But this was the first time she had ever seen Celestia face to face, and... well to say she was shocked was an understatement, “P-p-p-p-princess Clestiah.” She said nervously, clumsily kneeling down in respect like she had seen others do when dealing with royalty on movies and such.
Midnight put a hoof to her mouth to stifle the giggles, but failed when Pockets horribly mispronounced the Princess' name.
“Please, rise little one,” Celestia smiled and lifted Pockets up with her magic. Oooh~ her aura was sooo warm and comforting. Pockets just wanted to be wrapped in it forever. “And don’t be so nervous. Would you perhaps like some tea or cake?”
“I know what I’d want~” Midnight smiled and winked at the princess, Celestia rolling her eyes as she was long since used to this from the bat.
“Sure but… I would rather like to know what’s going on if that’s cool with you?” Pockets giggled awkwardly, blushing in embarrassment.
“Of course,” Celestia nodded as she sat at the table, motioning for Pockets and Midnight to sit as well. Once they had, the Princess poured them all tea and took a delicate sip of her own. “Now, I do apologise for not speaking to you sooner. The mess that transpired in Tall Tale has kept me quite busy until now. So, I’d like to start with you Miss Pickett. I want to hear things from your perspective.’
Pockets blinked, still awestruck by the radiance Celestia seemed to emanate. “I… oh right, Tall Tale,” she got her thoughts together and sighed. “Let’s see. It all started with Grumble getting elected as mayor, promising progress and all that usual kind of craaa—” she stopped herself before she said anything stupid, “—azy shenanigans. Yeah… that. Well anyways, he placed a bunch of his closest friends in positions of power, from the local police force to the town’s treasure and even the Tourism Department which he used to attract rich ponies and wanted criminals apparently. He had this crazy idea that Tall Tale was too dirty and antiquated, and that it could become the next Canterlot if he would just get rid of all the poor ponies and bring classy ones.” She frowned in annoyance, “Of course, at the same time he screwed those who didn’t agree with him by getting them fired or accusing them of crimes they didn’t commit, getting their butts on the streets or in the worst cases, in jail. Luckily, I was there to steal from him and his friends and help those innocent ponies out!” She grinned, taking a generous gulp of the tea and almost spitting it out when she realized it was too hot, her tongue now burning like crazy.
“I see,” Celestia replied and took a delicate sip of her own. “So your answer to dealing with this criminal, was not to contact the guard, but perform criminal acts yourself?”
Pockets looked at her, and chuckled awkwardly, “When you put it that way… that doesn’t sound too good. But with all due respect your majesty.” She stood up and raised her flank, pointing at her Cutie Mark, “Stealing is kind of my deal, and when Grumble has control over all sorts of communication it’s kinda hard to contact anyone. I was a wanted criminal myself anyways, so talking to the law was… not something I wanted to do.”
“I can see your apprehension,” Celestia nodded as Midnight sat the unicorn back down. “And Cutie Marks are funny things are they not, but that topic is for another day. Now, tell me how you came across this plan in the first place.”
“Oh… well that’s kind of a long story.” The thief sighed, humming in thought, “Well I found out he was a terrible mayor when I started talking with the poor ponies in town, they told me everything and I confirmed it myself when I tried stealing from his mansion. I overheard a conversation he had with some of his friends about cleansing the town and becoming even more powerful. Now the idea to kick all those poor ponies from their homes and selling that land to criminals? That was thanks to Sphinx, the griffon who helped us.”
“Ah yes, the griffon spy,” Celestia nodded. Luna had expressed interest in seeing if she could… sway the griffoness to their side. But Celestia had her doubts. One did not keep a stable rule for a thousand years by being careless. “Alright, I’d like to ask something personal to finish up,” the alicorn said and stared into Pocket’s eyes. The unicorn felt like her very soul was on display for her, that the Princess was reading her like a foal’s story. “What was it that made you start a relationship with Midnight Song of all ponies?”
“I feel like I should be offended by that,” Midnight deadpanned.
Pockets chuckled, before sighing as she ordered her thoughts, “Well your sunny majesty, I guess the true question is… what didn't? She is awesome in every way. She is fun to hang around with, I can never see myself getting bored around her, she's the sexiest mare I've ever met…” Soon, a smile appeared on her muzzle, “She… is also kind, caring, worries about me, listens to me and my nonsensical rants and breakdowns, comforts me… she risked her life for me when I was kidnapped by Dead Drop… whenever I'm with her I feel happy, I feel safe, I feel like I can trust her without second thought, and I feel how all my problems disappear. With her, I feel like no matter what happens, what brings me down, I can stand up and keep going. With her... I feel truly loved.” The former thief realized how cheesy she sounded, and decided to switch back to her usual self, “And then there's this really amazing thing she does with her tongue that drives me crazy.” She smirked, using her hooves to try and simulate what she meant by that.
And to Pocket’s immense pleasure, she actually got a small blush from the normally infallible Princess of the Sun.
“Well,” Celestia coughed delicately. “I can see you two have found a wonderful connection with each other.”
“Oh, we like to connect alright, in various positions and various places~” Midnight giggled as the Princess sighed.
“You are perfect for one another,” she deadpanned. “Regardless, thank you for your insights into what occurred Miss Pickett.”
“Insights? Really?” Pockets smirked, “Your majesty with all due respect, you’re making teasing you too easy.” She chuckled, before shrugging and leaning on Midnight, nuzzling her lovingly, “And it’s no problem, thanks to your sister I can be with this sexy, amazing mare instead of sleeping in a jail cell with a roommate called Burp or something like that. So I owe you and her a big deal.”
“Oh no, we moved Burp to maximum security after she ate her last cellmate,” Celestia replied.
"Oh my gods… I totally guessed that! Maybe I have some super awesome guessing powers or something…” She tilted her head, now imagining a bulky earth pony with tattoos all over her body and a terrible tolerance to beans.
“She’s messing with you,” Midnight rolled her eyes. “Okay Princess, will that be all for today?”
“Yes, I have a lot to attend to,” the alicorn sighed and stood up. “Thank you for joining me for tea though.”
“Sure, it was fun.” Pockets grinned as she stood up, quickly turning and walking towards the door.
“Miss Pickett?” Celestia said calmly. “The teacup?”
Pockets stopped and turned to her with a quirked eyebrow, “The what now?” She looked down and… saw the teacup floating there, held by her magic. “Oh… uhm… old habits never die I guess. This… is embarrassing.” She bit her lip while placing the teacup in its place, “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Celestia smiled and looked at Midnight. “As her caretaker, it would have come out of your paycheck.”
“...What?” Midnight deadpanned as another Thestral flew up to them and saluted to Midnight before whispering something. “Huh? Right now!?” She sighed and looked at Pockets. “Sorry love, something’s come up and I gotta jet. Think you could handle yourself for a little while?”
Pockets pouted, “But can’t I go with you? You know I get bored without you around!”
“You need to go and see the Immigration Officer, to finalise your transfer to Canterlot,” Celestia commented. “I’ll escort you there.”
“To...WHAT?” Midnight exclaimed as the other Thestral dragged her off. “Nuuu, not him! Anypony but him! I hafta save Pockey! Noooooooo……..” her voice trailed off as she was hauled away.
The former thief quirked an eyebrow, “What was that about? And why do I feel scared all of the sudden?”
“She’s just being melodramatic,” Celestia replied as she led the mare down a hall. “Midnight personally knows the stallion we’re going to see. That’s all.”
“Huh… maybe. I mean, how bad can it really be?” The unicorn shrugged.
She would soon regret those words, oh she was going to regret saying that alright.
The princess had led her to an office, where a cute little unicorn mare was waiting behind a desk. She had a snow-white coat and light blue hair. A small pair of glasses here perched on the bridge of her nose and her Cutie mark was an open book.
“Hello Leaf,” Celestia nodded. “Is Gossamer in today?”
“O-Oh, yes your m-majesty,” she stuttered and smiled sweetly. “S-Shall I p-page you in?”
“Just this mare today,” Celestia nodded and nudged Pockets forward with a wing. “Her name is Pickett Midnight. Here to see Gossamer for citizen transfer forms.”
“O-Of course,” Leafy Pages nodded and pressed a buzzer. “H-H-He’ll s-see you s-soon.”
“Good luck,” Celestia whispered and turned, leaving Pockets alone in the room with the stuttering unicorn.
Pockets looked around the room, it was just your typical Canterlot reception. Nice yeah, but really not her style. “Huh… so, how’s it going?” She asked the unicorn secretary to try and break the extremely tense, stuttery ice.
“I-It’s nice,” she replied as she flicked through a ledger. “C-Canterlot is a n-nice p-p-place. A-And the P-Princess is sooo p-p-pretty.”
Pockets chuckled and walked closer to her, “Ohh, a fan of the sunny Princess huh? Yeah she is pretty damn impressive.” She nodded, giving Leafy Pages a warm smile, “Say, why are you stuttering so much? I don’t bite y’know? At least not those I still don’t know very well.”
“I-I’m s-s-sorry,” she murmured. She got this question a lot. “I-It’s a s-speech impediment…”
Pockets nodded in understanding and leaned on a wall, “Oh, I see. Yeah I had a friend who had something like that as well. He always said he sucked at making friends but, y’know? I think ponies like him and you are probably amazing friends. You seem like a really sweet gal and all. So cheer up and stop being so nervous, be more sure of yourself, it helps. Maybe with that you’ll even catch the attention of a certain sunny alicorn princess” She grinned to her.
Leafy Pages exploded into a blush at that thought. Herself… and the Princess!? “I-I-I-I-....” she just kind of kept going like that for a while.
Pockets covered her mouth with her hoof to not let the unicorn see her muffled laugh, taking a quick breath and going back into her smirking self, “Hey, they are not as mighty and divine as others think, they’re really just really chill mares and more down to earth than what you might think! And come on, I’m sure that after thousands and thousands of years alone, someone like her would like some cute company like you.” She winked.
It only served to break the poor mare harder as her glowing face hid behind her book, her head conjuring not at all unpleasant images.
“Are you quite done breaking my assistant?” a gravelly voice asked from behind her. She whirled around to see who had managed to sneak up on her. A male thestral, middle aged but still handsome. He had piercing golden eyes and a charcoal grey coat. His mane was a deep ebony black.
“Depends. Are ya ready to see me so we can get this whole citizen deal over with?” Pockets quirked an eyebrow with a smirk. He just snorted and headed back into his office.
“Follow me,” he replied.
As she did, waving good bye to Leafy, she stepped into his office and looked around.
That uh… that was a lot of bugs. Both alive and dead. Some were pinned to boards for display, while one wall had dozens of glass tanks, each holding different kinds of insects, arachnids and the like. One was a massive and fluffy white and red spider, which Pockets swore it waved at her when she entered.
“Uhm… well this is an interesting office.” Pockets gulped as she walked in, “I like the… theme? Anywho.” She saw a chair and immediately sat on it, not really caring for formalities, “So gramps, where do I have to sign and what do I have to pretend I’m reading?”
“I’d watch that tongue, thief!” he snapped as he sat down. “In the end, it is my decision that allows you to stay here in Canterlot, or have you shipped back to Tall Tale!”
Pockets blinked, grimacing at the thestral’s attitude, “Geez. Chill gramps I’m just messing around. Now I know why Middy didn’t want me to come here.”
His eye gave a small twitch as he opened a folder. “Let’s see here. Pickett Midnight. AKA Pockets AKA the Midnight Thief. You have… quite the colourful history don’t you? An orphan since birth and a street thief from a very early age.”
“Thaaat’s me. And I ain’t ashamed of it to be honest. Had to do what I had to do to survive. And hey, my thieving skills helped a lot of ponies so there’s that.” She nodded, “What about it? My record is now clean, and I am paying for my crimes by working with the Royal Guard. So you can’t use that against me.”
“I hadn’t planned on it,” the stallion replied as he looked over her record. “So, how great is your desire to stay here in Canterlot. I’m sure something could be arranged back in Tall Tale.”
“Well considering that I have so many friends back there, and that without Grumble it’d be really nice to see the town grow into a better place…” Pockets mused, “Naaah. I’m staying here without a doubt.”
“Oh? And why might that be?” the stallion raised an eyebrow, akin to a guillotine about to drop.
“Because this is where Middy lives, where she belongs.” Pockets smiled, “And no matter how much I miss home, nothing can possibly separate me from the mare I love.”
The stallion sighed and closed his folder. “Ahh, now there we have a slight problem. You see, I want you as far away from Midnight Song as possible.”
Pockets deadpanned, before jumping of the seat and snapping, “What… wait wait, what!? You can’t keep me away from her! I don’t care if you know her but you have no right to keep me away from her! Who the heck do you think you are!?”
“I am the one that decides if you stay here remember?” the stallion said. “Now, I can leave you in this city, in the comfort of the castle. As long as you agree to never see Midnight Song again.”
The thief slammed her hoof on his desk, “Listen pal. I don’t care what you say, I don’t care what you want or what you think. There is no way I’m leaving Midnight, you hear? I have lived my entire life running away from authorities, and believe me if I have to do that again just to stay with her, then so be bucking it, gramps!” She snarled, getting off the desk and walking towards the door, “Although, I doubt I really have to do that. I wonder if Princess Celestia will let me stay after I tell her just how well they’ve treated me here, hm?”
The stallion never got to reply, as the doors opened and Midnight Song strode in, placing herself between Pockets and the stallion, drawing back her upper lip and hissing like a feral cat at him. The stallion responded in kind, snarling at her as they started each other down like fighting Timberwolves.
Pockets went from angry, to very confused, “Ok… what is going on in here?”
“So…” Midnight growled as the two circled each other. “Has this guy been a complete ass to you yet?”
“I’m merely looking out for you,” the stallion replied. “Unless you want another Moondan—”
“DO NOT mention her name!” Midnight growled and tackled him, the two tussling around on the floor.
Pockets stared wide-eyed, not knowing what to do. “Uhm… guys.” No response, “Guys?” Still no response, “GUYS!” She stomped on the ground, her magic intensifying her voice and making the room itself shake.
They stopped and pulled themselves up.
“You… you have no right to meddle in my love life,” Midnight panted.
“Guh… haah…” the stallion… looked quite out of breath. “Just… gimme a sec here. Moon above…”
“You alright old man?” Midnight chuckled and rubbed his back. “You should no better than to mess with me at your age.”
“Buck you, I’m still young,” he muttered. “Don’t talk to your father like that.”
“Yes daddy,’ Midnight giggled and hugged him.
Pockets’ jaw dropped, “DAD!?”
“Yeah, this is Gossamer, my dad,” Midnight explained and punched his shoulder. “And he knows better than to mess with ponies I care about.”
“Most of those ponies were one night stands,” he replied. “I was making sure this mare wasn’t stalking you or taking advantage of you.”
The unicorn deadpanned, “Seriously? Do you have any idea of what we’ve been through? I would never freaking consider taking advantage of her! Come on, why can’t I just love a beautiful mare in peace dammit!” She groaned.
“Because my dad is a butt-headed idiot,” Midnight muttered and scowled at him.
“Well excuse me for looking out for you,” he replied. “And in any event, I approve of this mare… for now.”
“Woo!” Pockets smiled, “Wait, really? A few minutes ago you were threatening me with sending me back to Tall Tale unless I never saw Midnight again!”
“You… WHAT!?” Midnight roared and turned back to him. He blinked and then ushered the two out of the room.
“Oh look at the time, much work to do, have a good day Midnight, Pickett.’ And then quickly slammed the door closed.
“Tch! I’ll kill him later,” Midnight replied and then drew Pockets in for a heart melting kiss. The unicorn hummed and returned the kiss eagerly, her left eye opening to see Leafy who was still there, winking at the mare before focusing once more on the kiss.
Leafy blushed profusely and looked away as Midnight’s hoof wandered to a certain thief’s flank…
“Eep!” Pockets squeaked and broke the kiss, frowning cutely at the thestral, “No fair! I wasn’t expecting that you dirty butt!” She smacked her shoulder softly and playfully.
“Heehee, you should know by now that i don’t play fair,” Midnight giggled and saw Leafy. “Ohh, little Leafy, You look as ravishingly adorable as always~”
“S-Stop t-teasing,” Leafy blushed and Midnight smiled, trotting over to her.
“Oh come now, you know I love you too,” she giggled and blew her a kiss, making Leafy blush again. “Still, I’m no alicorn princess huh?”
“Y-You’re so mean,” Leafy pouted and pushed Midnight’s face away. The thestral just giggled and blew her another kiss.
“Midnight!” the door swung open and Gossamer poked his head back out. “Be sure to go home tonight. Your mother wishes to see you.”
“Huh? I thought Mom was in Neighpon?” Midnight blinked.
“She came home early and you know she’ll want to meet Pickett there. No use, you can’t run from her. She'll hunt you down otherwise.”
“Buck…” Midnight sighed. “No use Pockets. We’re going to have to fake our deaths.”
“As awesome as being a ghost sounds,” Pockets chuckled, “I’d rather not have a shit ton of ponies miss me y’know? Come on, how bad can it be? Your dad wasn’t that bad.”
Midnight just sighed and shook her head. This… might not end well.
Once they left the immigration offices, Midnight took Pockets out to the barracks, where the pair had been staying up until now.
“So, what’s the gameplan?” Pockets asked her as threw herself on the old sofa, thankful of finally getting some rest, “We just go to your parents’ house, I act like a normal pony to not screw things up, and hope for the best?”
Midnight leaned against a wall and sighed. “I… wanted to wait until later for you to meet them.” She brushed some of her mane out of her eyes, having been flying a lot lately, it had taken a natural windswept look. “And, we’ll need to go shopping.”
Pockets quirked an eyebrow, yet before asking anything, she did what she knew had to be done. Her horn flashed and she teleported in front of Midnight, before kissing her lovingly, calmly, in the most comforting of ways.
Once the kiss broke, Midnight smiled and booped her nose. “Well that was sudden, not that I’m complaining. Any particular reason for that though?”
“To show you there’s nothing to worry about. Even if your parents end up hating me, which I doubt because I’m awesome and cool, there is nothing that would ever, ever separate me from you.” The unicorn said softly.
“Nah, Mom’s going to love you,” Midnight replied. “Just… don’t freak out around her alright?”
“Freak out? I never freak out!” Pockets grinned, “I’m a perfectly collected unicorn who can handle any situation!”
Midnight raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to her. “Flying,” was the only word she uttered.
Pockets blinked, before sighing, “Why’d you gotta bring that up? Frigging fast crazy batty…” She muttered under her breath, looking away with a cute pout.
“You know you like it~” Midnight replied and kissed her forehead. “Anyway, we have a few hours at the very least. So we should-”
At that point, the barracks filled with thestrals, all back from morning training. Some even nodded to Pockets as they passed, already used to the unicorn being here.
“You were saying?” Pockets asked a bit loudly, trying to ignore the plethora of sounds around them.
“Huh?” Midnight squeezed past them and moved next to Pockets. “Oh, that my teacher is going to be in Canterlot tomorrow. So get prepared to be put through the wringer.”
“From one to a lot, how much am I going to suffer?” Pockets deadpanned.
“...I don’t want you to have nightmares, so I’ll say nothing,” Midnight replied. “Though…’ she looked at the other thestrals and smirked. “Aerial Ace!”
Several bats screeched and leapt to the rafters of the building, hiding in the shadows.
Pockets stared wide-eyed at the scene ahead, “Please don’t tell me that’s the name of your old teacher, please don’t tell me they are hiding because you said the name of your old teacher.” She looked at her in panic, “Please?”
“Okay, I won’t tell you,” Midnight nodded. “On the off chance, do you prefer open casket? Or cremation?”
Pockets deadpanned, “I prefer ‘life’ thank you very much.”
“Well… best of luck then,” Midnight nodded as the other thestrals started to come down from the ceiling, seeing that the teacher from Hell itself wasn’t here.
“Luna-dammit Midnight!” One yelled at her. “Don’t fucking scare us like that!”
“Heehee, my bad~” Midnight giggled and winked at them.
“Ok that just scares me even more.” Pockets gulped and began to shiver, “Can I bail out of this or is it too late?”
“Part of your parole remember?” Midnight chuckled and bumped her with her hip. “Don’t worry. Ace is a great guy, just… enthusiastic about his training is all.”
“Still not helping.” Pockets deadpanned, before remembering something, “Oh right! Before, you said we had to do some shopping. What for? Gonna buy some food for the dinner or something?”
“Something like that,” Midnight replied and moved behind her, pushing her towards the door.. “Now come on, you have afternoon drills to run through and I get to help~”
“Fineeee…” Pockets sighed, walking out, “But we gonna go eat some ice cream later. U’m kinda hungry and want something sweet and tasty, and today has been a stressful as heck day so yes, I want ice cream and won’t rest until I have some.”
“You’re such a foal,” Midnight shook her head and lead her out. “Now let’s go before the others get ideas.”
“Yes I am.” Pockets giggled, teleporting to Midnight’s back and enjoying the ride.
“COME ON!!” Midnight roared at the small unicorn as she ran. “MY GRANDMOTHER RUNS FASTER THAN YOU!! BACKWARDS!!!”
Pockets eeped and kept gasping and huffing for air, glancing at Midnight with an annoyed stare, “I’m trying my hardest dammit! This is not cool, not cool at all!”
“You wanted Guard training, you’re getting Guard training!” Midnight replied as she dropped another weighted pouch onto the pack that Pockets had to haul. “Now run faster or I up the level on you!” She patted the thundercloud next to her, which crackled ominously.
“Meep!” Pockets squeaked and picked up speed. She loved Midnight yes, yet she hated Drill Sergeant Middy with a burning passion. Her legs trembled, and her breath hitched, yet she knew she could only keep running, she had to.
Midnight had to admit, she was moving pretty quick despite carrying nearly her own body weight in sandbags. Still, with the right motivation, she knew ponies could do just about anything. She flew next to the running unicorn and smiled.
“Tell you what,” she said into her ear. “Do the next lap in under two minutes… and I’ll do—” Her voice dropped to a husky whisper. “—Whatever. You. Want~”
The unicorn didn’t need any other sort of motivation. Her eyes widened up, and a grin crawled up to her muzzle, before darting forwards at incredible speeds and trying her best to win her reward. She was exhausted, yes, she wanted to rest, yet. But more importantly, she wanted that mare.
“Wow…” Midnight whistled as she watched Pockets bolt like a bat outta Tartarus itself. “Well lookit that.”
And when she passed the finish line, Midnight looked at her stopwatch and nodded. “One minute, forty three seconds. Your new personal best love.”
“You...are… my personal best…” She said between pants, “Ok that was bad, body hurts, can’t think…. Jokes suck… ahhhh…” She let out a long sigh, dropping to the ground, “I hate you sometimes.”
“One, you love me,” Midnight said as she removed the pack, letting it fall to the ground with a heavy thud. “And this is my life every, single, day. What do you think so far love?”
“I’d much rather prefer being ran over by a stampede of buffaloes…” Pockets huffed, “The things I do for you batty.”
“I’m curious to see the things you’ll do to me,” she smirked as she reminded the unicorn of their bet. “Now, let’s get you in the showers and cleaned up before we go shopping.”
“Oh I will make you pay for this.” Pockets smirked, standing up and stretching her tired muscles, “Sweet Celestia, it hurts. You know… I doubt my legs are working properly, or that my magic can do much right now… maybe I’m going to need a little assistance in the shower.” She grinned.
“Of course you do,” Midnight replied as she picked the unicorn up and put her on her back. “Urgh, you’re all sweaty. Now I hafta shower as well.”
“Oh well, I guess we’ll have to shower together.” Pockets giggled, kissing Midnight’s head, “I love you. batty.”
Midnight rolled her eyes, but smiled fondly as the hook on her wing scratched behind Pocket’s ear. “I love you too, you smol thief.”
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Hmm interesting. I am enjoying this already. When Shiffting Melodies ended I was wanting more Middnight Song and was hoping that Tall Tail would get its sequel up and running. I was not disappointed. Can't wait for more. No really I need more. Give me more. iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/131190216856.gif
All joking aside please Keep up the good work.
Later-BFBL
Loving it. I miss those two.
Yeah, poor Moony... Ace is coming? *evil cackling ensues* you thought running was tiring!
Keep going! ;)
As someone who has read Shifting Melodies i have to say "Farewell Pockets, we never got to know you as well as we had hoped"
(Reading The Midnight Mares immediately after Shifting Melodies is a little... well not really confusing, but i keep expecting for Ledger, Scope and Cider to pop up or at least a reference about them)
8386805 - I almost did a BUNCH of times. Still tempted to bring in Scopey cause she's muh lil buggy babbu...
Also her and Secure can compete for 'Most Tsundere'.