Little "Nurse" Redheart falls for a clumsy bat pony
When a family of thestrals move to Ponyville, a filly named Redheart becomes best friends with a clumsy, but kind bat pony colt called Shaggy. Fluff ensues.
NOTE: Crimson Star/"Shaggy" is my OC from The Human Pet, but this is not canon to that story.
During the evening, when the very last golden sliver of sunlight shone across Ponyville, ready to wink out and give way to the moon, a white filly called Redheart dashed across the fields next to Sweet Apple Acres, with a wide smile on her face.
As she reached a grove of pine trees, she slowed down, counting them in her head until she reached a particular one. "Shaggy!" She hissed quietly. Unable to see through the branches, she had to contend with waiting until she heard the telltale flapping of leathery wings.
A small, fluffy bat colt with a rusty red mane gracefully glided around the tree until circling around directly into the filly and knocking them both to the ground. "Oops!" he mumbled worriedly and crawled off of her. "I didn't mean to do that!" The filly was unharmed though, and simply snorted as she brushed leaves out of her pink mane. "I think you need to work on your landing."
Looking despondent, Shaggy tried to salvage what he could by nudging the filly up with his snout. "Thanks." Redheart said gratefully and patted her fur with a hoof. Seeing the crestfallen expression on the batpony's face, she felt compelled to add: "It was really cool when you came down, though! You didn't tell me you could fly already!"
Shaggy scratched the back of his head, blushing a little. "Well, I can't. Not properly, I mean. I've been trying, but that glide's the best I got."
"It's cool." Redheart repeated in a finalizing tone, before glancing up at the tree again. "We should probably go... don't wanna wake up your parents."
The thestrals had arrived to Ponyville a month ago, and took up residence near the Everfree Forest. Since they were notoriously solitary and ill-tempered towards daytimers, most ponies soon forgot about them. Redheart hadn't even found out about their arrival until she stumbled across Shaggy.
Ponyville was usually a quiet place, but during a cider festival, it became something of a skittering anthill. The Apples' product had become so famous over the years that tourists from all over the place stormed in just for the chance of tasting the famed liquid.
For little Redheart, however, it was the worst day of the year, because it meant lots of tiresome running around, and then standing in line with her parents for hours on end for something that she couldn't even have herself! Irritated beyond belief, she spent most of the day nagging at her own parents and wishing she could've been at home playing with her medical kit, maybe perform a life-changing operation on her teddy. But no, she was lying on her mother's back and watching all the stupid adults run around as if the Mane-iac was in town.
As her tired gaze spread across the town, they focused on something she'd not seen in any previous festival - a wild-looking colt with slitted eyes and two sharp little teeth peeking out of his mouth, hunched up next to a fountain. "Mommy, mommy, look at that colt!" Redheart shouted to her mother, who merely hushed her as she was busy haggling.
Harrumphing, Redheart hopped off of the mare's back and carefully navigated the crowd to get to the fountain where the monster colt was. To her surprise, the colt's face was streaked with tears and he looked absolutely miserable. The filly's trot came to a halt as she became nervous. "Um..." she said, getting his attention.
The look of his blood-red eyes was so scary that she had to take a step back and began worrying whether she should've waited for her mommy. But she didn't dare run either. The colt rubbed his eyes clean. "Uh..." he mumbled.
"W-what seems to be the problem?" Redheart stammered, spurting out the typical nurse catchphrase usually reserved for her teddy. She shook her head. "I mean..."
"I don't know where I am." Shaggy admitted. Though she didn't know it, he was as taken aback by her as she was of him. He'd only recently learned that ponies came in all kinds of colours after his family moved away from the mountains. But even so, the filly's crystal blue eyes, vibrant pink mane and snow white fur were astonishing to him. She was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen and he was crying in front of her! Idiot! Fool! And every other word his parents could come up with!
Redheart nodded slowly. "I think my mom can help. I mean, when she gets over here... what are you?" She walked all around him, examining his unique look.
"I'm a bat pony."
"... a bad pony?" She took another step back.
Shaggy shook his head repeatedly. "No, I'm not bad! I'm really nice. I'm just a *bat* pony. Like a pony, but also like a bat! I'm not going to hurt you!"
"... oh. Well in that case, I'm Nurse Redheart!" She held out her white hoof, all fear forgotten, and the bat pony shook it awkwardly. "I'm Crimson Star, but my friends call me Shaggy. Are you really a nurse?"
"Yup! I even treated a turtle once!"
...
Of course, just as the conversation between the youngsters got good, Redheart's parents found her and helped Shaggy find his way back to his thestral family. That didn't stop the two from regularly playing whenever they could and learning more about one another.
As he himself had claimed, Shaggy really wasn't a bad pony at all. He was polite to a fault, and would play hospital with her every time without fail, though admittedly he was the worst patient ever with how ticklish he got when she ran her toy scalpel over him. It made surgery really difficult, to say the least. But even though it drove her up a wall, she still preferred to have him over any dumb loudmouth from class. The more she matured, the more she began to feel possessive and protective of him somehow. Her schoolmates were just colts - but Shaggy was the one she'd found and saved.
On the other hoof, Shaggy's impression of Redheart remained pretty much constant. He found her to be the prettiest and smartest filly in the world. That was pretty much it. Shaggy wasn't a huge thinker.
"Come on, Shaggy! I'm staaaaaaarving. Chop-chop! A little exercise does the body good!" Redheart sang and deliberately caressed the bat pony's jaw with her tail playfully to egg him on. The two had only agreed to hang out in Sugarcube Corner with milkshakes and maybe a cake, but evidently the mischievous filly had something bigger in mind.
"Yes, Nurse." Shaggy rolled his eyes and galloped after her into the town and to the candy store. By the time they made it to the door, they were both panting and sweaty. Despite this, Redheart smirked at him. "We should do this more often."
Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "We should?"
"Mmmhmm." Redheart hummed as she looked over the bat pony's glistening form. "Very healthy."
When they entered, thus ringing the bell, mrs Cake looked up and smiled. "Ahh, Redheart! You two are just on time. Come, I've got a lovelytable for you two!"
The bat pony wasn't sure when reservations became a thing in the candy store, but it wasn't really important either. He was going to have a good time with his best friend, and that's all that mattered. "You know, after all that running, I am sort of starving." He confessed, after they sat down.
"Yeah." Redheart chuckled. "Here... check out this menu mrs Cake left!" She hoofed him a pink, handwritten card with a number of random dishes, from simple hay to some that were either from Stalliongrad or just plain made-up. It was nothing like the ordinary menu of pies and other delectibles that the bat pony had seen many times. A big circle surrounded 'red velvet cake' with several arrows pointed at it.
Shaggy glanced over the menu to see Redheart leaning on her elbows and observing him with interest. "Soooo... see anything interesting at all?" She asked innocently.
"... I suppose I'm in the mood for something sweet. Like a... red velvet cake?"
Redheart clapped her hooves together. "Wonderful idea! I'll go tell mrs Cake right now!"
And then, before Shaggy could even blink, the filly had dashed off and run through the doors into Sugarcube Corner's kitchen. "O... kay?"
Fortunately, the bat pony didn't have to wait too long, as Redheart returned about five minutes later, carrying not just two slices, but an entire cake on her back. He gulped. "Errr, whatever happened to being healthy?"
"We were healthy. Now we feast." said Redheart. "Little help... please?" The final word came out as a bit of a squeak for some reason and as Shaggy picked up the cake from the white filly's back, it became evident why.
The top of the cake was white, with a red streak in the shape of a heart circling a bright red dot in the middle of the cake. It was nice and symbolic, but Redheart had evidently planned for her bat pony's slow wit and had written BE above the dot and MINE below it.
As Shaggy stared at it without blinking, Redheart's tail began wagging nervously. "I... I just, I really appreciate... you... and..." she mumbled, her chest tightening up so much that she found it difficult to say anything at all. She swallowed, her necessity for the bat pony to understand just how she felt about him somewhat overriding her nervous breakdown. "... and I think you're a good pony. I think you're the best pony and I want you to be, I'd like you to be my... my... colt... friend..." she choked up.
"I..." Shaggy's mental faculties completely failed him at the absolute lack of logic of Redheart choosing him of all ponies to be special someponies with. "You... you made this for me?"
Holding back tears, Redheart nodded. "M-mrs Cake... helped. I wan-wanted you to... l-like it... do you?"
"... ye-yeah..." Shaggy whispered, still expressionless.
Hearing something affirmative, Redheart's white ears perked up. "A-and will you...?"
Shaggy looked directly into Nurse Redheart's bright blue, caring eyes and realised he didn't need courage to love her as she already loved him. Somehow. The whys and hows could be worked out later. With no more hesitation, he stepped off the chair to close the distance and finally kiss her...
but he tripped over the table leg, flipping it and splashing the cake right over his head in front of everyone.
A few painful seconds passed in absolute silence as the customers, mr and mrs Cake and Redheart all stared at the mess Shaggy had made.
Suddenly, the bat pony sprung to life and fled for his life, still covered in glaze. He could hear the filly shouting his name in the distance behind him, but it only made him run faster, even using his wings to push him further.
His eyes burned from the mixture of rushing air and foul humiliation. So close, he was so tantalisingly close to real happiness and he mucked it all up by being himself. At the moment, Shaggy's very existence felt like a cruel joke to him. Though Redheart hadn't been wrong in assuming he genuinely loved her, he had never asked for her. Since he was little, he'd been raised to believe that he'd eventually find a proper thestral to carry on the family line and that was that. Everything between then and now would be him idling and enjoying whatever life would throw at him.
Yeah, enjoying...
Eventually coming across a stream right outside of town, Shaggy threw himself in without hesitation and viciously scrubbed the cake out of his mane, whilst endlessly muttering to himself like a senile old coot. "Idiot, imbecile, cretin, fool, laughing stock of the family as always, stupid, dumb, slow-witted little..."
"Sha-!"
Redheart's voice was a scratchy whisper by this point, but the bat pony's ears caught it just as well. Instinctively, he simply dunked himself underwater and hoped she'd go away. It didn't work.
Shaggy was dragged out of the water flailing and snarling as Redheart held an iron grip around his barrel until he finally went limp in her hooves. "I-I'm sorry." Was all he could get out.
"Shhhh..." Redheart cooed and nuzzled the back of the batpony's head as the latter struggled not to start crying again. "It's okay. I've got you. I've got you." Her nurse mode kicking in, she quickly spotted several scrapes he'd gotten during his mad dash and memorised them.
"I mucked it all up..."
Redheart rubbed her cheek against his. "No. You tripped. It was an accident." "Once is an accident. Twice is a disappointment. Three times is a loser." Shaggy replied, and the words sounded awfully quoted to the white filly. "If I... if I became your coltfriend, you'd just be looking after me all the time."
"Shaggy, no one who has to be babysat would be tearing his mane out in a mucky cold stream. And even if you were, I'd make money off of it, so..."
Finally the bat pony cracked a grin as he looked at the white filly upside down. "Yeah, you would, wouldn't you?"
"Mh-mh. Now then!" She jumped to her hooves. "Up! I know we're a bit big for it now, but I feel like playing hospital. Back to my house? That is... if you want to..." her voice slightly wavered.
Shaggy responded by finally pressing his lips against hers, drawing out a whimper from Redheart. It wasn't anything spectacular, they didn't Prench kiss, but they knew there would be time for all that. Right now, all they needed was absolute confirmation that they had one another. And they did. "I'd like to- no, scratch that. I want to be your coltfriend. And I promise I'll try to do a better job than today."
The white filly squealed in glee and hugged him. "That'll be really hard to beat!"
Feeling something nag at his mind, Shaggy the bat pony slowly and painfully opened his eyes. He had spent a long and busy night performing his duties as a Lunar Guard and had been looking forward to spending the day in bed, but... but what? He was so sleepy, he didn't even know.
Oh, somebody was tapping on the door. Shaggy snarled slightly. I should be allowed to sue guests after 5 AM, he thought. But rather than voice that rather grumpy and unfashionable opinion, he called out "COMING!" and dragged his worn body out of bed.
Still yawning, the bat pony pulled the door open to reveal three mares: yellow, pink and green. All three had their manes tied up in a similar bun at the back of their heads and wore a nurse's cap with the iconic red cross. Shaggy recognised them immediately as Redheart's colleagues.
"Hello, Nurse Tenderheart, nurse Braveheart..." his voice tapered off slightly as the name of the last pony slipped his mind and he conceded by simply nodding. "Um..." The bat pony's head cocked to the side, his ears twitching. "What's up?" The three of them looked distinctly uncomfortable, already putting him on edge.
The green mare spoke up in a whispery, contained voice: "We're here about Redheart. There's no easy way of saying this so I'll just say it - she lost a patient, a young colt at that." Shaggy gasped involuntarily. Thanks to the magic of harmony, Equestria wasn't like most lands, where disesase and death were rampant. It was usually a given that if one had the strength to make it to the hospital, one could be cured. Usually.
"What happened??" Shaggy asked, shocked to the core. Nurse Braveheart lowered her head in sadness: "A stupid accident during surgery - but Redheart bonded with the little one quite a bit and..." she fell silent.
Shaggy pushed on. "... and?"
"... well, ever since we all got the bad news, she's been cooped up in one of the unused wards. She won't talk to anyone and she won't work or even go home. We thought... you might be able to help her."
Shaggy had visited his marefriend in the hospital countless times, so he knew his way around. All he needed the other nurses for was finding the ward where Redheart had shut herself in. The bat pony took a deep breath, bracing himself for what's to come and quietly slipped in.
The room had been converted into a break room for the nurses - the three beds inside were a bit messy, there was a bowl of candy on a nearby table and the window had dark plastic over it to cover up the sunlight. It was a place to take a quick nap and right now, it was pitch black. Fortunately, that was not a problem for a thestral. Shaggy scanned the room with his superior vision and immediately located the curled up white mare that he loved on the bed furthest from the door. He cleared his throat to announce his presence. "It's me."
Redheart stirred, but only a little. When she didn't say anything, Shaggy trotted to her bed and poked the back of her fuzzy neck with his nose. "Hello." She sighed and craned her neck in an instinctive reaction. "Can you hold me?" she whispered.
Shaggy nodded before remembering she was turned the other way and couldn't see him. "Yes." he said and climbed onto the bed. Redheart made room for him, letting the bat pony take the spot she'd just warmed up. Shaggy took his place as the big spoon and weaved his furry hooves around the petite mare's form, draping his left wing over her just the way she liked. Discovering her fondness for sleeping under his wing had been Shaggy's highlight of the month.
"There's home..." Redheart had hummed peacefully, her light voice muffled underneath Shaggy. "... and then there's your wing." Shaggy giggled in romantic delirium. "If y-y-y-ou keep-p-p complimenting m-me, I won't be able to get any work done at all!" he stammered. "You're too comfy to work."
Shaggy had to force himself not to beam proudly at the memory and instead focus on Redheart at the present. Having wrapped her up within himself, he could sense tremors passing through the mare. Something about his presence had unsettled her even more, and he didn't like that. "Redheart?" Suddenly, without warning, Redheart wiggled around under the makeshift cocoon of his wing and buried her muzzle into his chest fluff. She didn't sob or make a sound, but he could feel the icy wetness from her eyes reach his skin underneath. Shaggy nuzzled into her stringy, tired pink mane lovingly, just another reminder of his presence.
Finally, a voice gasped out: "I told him he was going to be okay..." "Yeah... well, you thought he was. Not your fault he isn't." Shaggy said clumsily. He was completely out of his depth, and the words floated around awkwardly like unwanted chunks of ice rather than the healing balm he'd wanted them to be.
For a moment, there was another period of silence, and then Redheart whispered: "C-Crimson..." She'd never called him by his real name before. "... I don't think I can be a nurse." Shaggy's eyes widened. "What?!"
Her voice hitched. "I just... I..." as the lump in her throat silenced her, Redheart's hoof snaked out from under Shaggy's wing to grab the nurse's cap discarded on a nearby pillow and toss it to the floor. "I want to get out of here."
Shaggy was devastated as he escorted Redheart out. She seemed a different mare to the one who'd gone to work today just like any other day, with a smile and a sandwich. The new Redheart kept her eyes firmly on the floor and seemed dependent on the bat pony to function at all, sticking close enough for their sides to touch at all times, even though they stumbled several times as a a result.
When they finally got back to their shared house, the two headed to bed wordlessly, both worn out. Just as the two began to snuggle, Redheart chuckled mirthlessly. "So much for me taking care of you." "What do you mean?" Shaggy asked. The mare waved her hoof around vaguely. "Well, look at me. You got so worried over being good enough... and I'm the one who winds up useless and unemployed." This sent a wave of red-hot anger coursing through the bat pony's body. How dare she say something bad about herself?!? How blind could a pony be?! "You're not unemployed." Shaggy growled. "You just need a break. And then you're going back to the hospital."
"No." Redheart said sternly. "I can't. Shaggy..." she moved closer to burrow under his neck, but the bat pony pushed her off and gave her a pissed look. And with burning red eyes like his, it was pretty pissed. "We are settling this right now." He said, biting his lower lip. "You are gonna rest up and then you're going back to the hospital."
The white mare snarled: "I'm not. This isn't a debate, I don't want to go back there. I can't go back there. I can't lose another patient like that..." Her ears drooped and flattened against her head. "I am no nurse..."
Shaggy pulled her up into a sitting position with his hooves as if she was a foal and sat her down on his lap. "You are a nurse. Now you tell me - what sort of nurse wouldn't care about losing a patient? Besides..." he patted her thigh victoriously. "... it's your cutie mark!"
Redheart sunk into the bat pony, mumbling: "Your cutie mark's a star. Shouldn't you be an astronomer or something?" She felt Shaggy stiffen a little around her, but only for a moment.
"I just... want you... to be happy." Shaggy said slowly, getting to the bottom of things. "If you really want to stop being a nurse, then I won't bother you about it after today. But..." he kissed the back of her right ear. "... you're not gonna stop me from thinking what a brilliant nurse you are." Using his strong, but fluffy hooves, he began to knead Redheart's taut, stressed back. "Caring about all those hundreds of ponies who go into that hospital. You might make a new record for most amount of friends ever!"
The white mare smiled faintly, a little bit of her old enthusiasm glinting through the wall of grief. "... okay. I'll try and go back next week. If we can snuggle now." She held out her hooves in opposite directions and pulled Shaggy's wings around her. Together, the two collapsed onto the bed, neither needing a blanket.
Shaggy kissed her ear again, making it twitch. "I'm proud of you." he whispered. A moment passed. "I love you." Redheart declared, making the bat pony's heart leap. A quick joyful shiver went through his body. "I l-love you too!" he stuttered. "Thank you." The nurse closed her eyes, safe in her cocoon and drifted to sleep.
At 2 o'clock, when Celestia's sun shone bright in the sky and most self-respecting ponies were skittering at work or seeing the sights in town, one house at the end of the street had all of its windows covered, filling the place with dark shadows. The occupants of the building, worn out by their duties during the night, had chosen to block out all the terrible busy bees and their unforgivingly bright sun, allowing only one light to shine in the entire building - a projector, displaying a monochrome adaptation of a Daring Doo adventure, the eponymous mare currently fleeing for her life from nails being spat out from the walls of a temple.
Redheart sat on the couch, her hooves wrapped around the woolly tummy of Shaggy the bat pony, who had dozed off, the back of his head resting against Redheart's chest. The mare smiled, listening to his deep, calm breaths. Peaceful. Safe. Carefree. Just the way she liked him. She couldn't begrudge the bat pony for slipping during their movie ni- erm, day. A nurse at heart, Redheart discovered that knowing he was getting the rest he needed in her hooves made the experience better, even if she couldn't talk to him.
As the film reel rolled on and on, her attention gradually drifted from Daring's remarkable feats to the bat pony, and to the relationship the two now shared. After confessing their love for another, the two had simply slided into place, supporting one another as if made to be there for one another. Her colleagues would universally refer to Shaggy as her "coltfriend", which was technically the correct term, but not in practice. There was something too... brittle... about it. Too temporary. She'd mentioned this to him at one point, and Shaggy had laughed warmly. "Ponies have all sorts of fancy words. I think I'm just your pony. Are you my pony?" Brightly beaming, she'd kissed him and asked: "Does that answer your question, my little pony?" Shaggy wagged his tail and booped his nose against hers. "Mhmh! That's good!"
Feeling affectionate, Redheart pulled the bat pony's snoring form closer and nuzzled into the crook of his neck, which turned the soft snorts into subconscious hums of pleasure. "You're such a cute bat." She whispered into his ear. Shaggy had nailed that answer. He was her pony - she felt an odd sense of entitlement thinking of him, and an almost malevolent glee that was most unlike her. Redheart knew that when she was in the room, Shaggy's attention would be on her no matter what else was happening. And she imagined that everyone else could tell that as well. And she felt like flaunting it, as if she were a rich prima-donna with the biggest diamond ring. "Look at me, I have him! Just me and nobody else!"
Nobody else would make Shaggy's sharp-toothed grin quite as wide, or see his watery, trusting eyes when she held his hoof in the hospital during an injection. Nobody else had him waiting at the door for when she came home, or had him lick their cheek as if they were the tastiest treat in the whole of Equestria. She held Shaggy's heart, and it was her most treasured possession by far.
The reverse was naturally also true. Redheart was his pony. As she played with his rusty red mane, she just knew that she could never trust a pony the way she trusted Shaggy, and she made sure he knew it. She treated every one of his ailments personally, left notes in his things to cheer him up in her absence, complimented him on a regular basis to boost his confidence and always, always listened. In short, she was there for him, as best as she could be. The mare adored him.
Shaggy smacked his lips. "Red...?" he mumbled, blinking his eyes free of sleep dust.
"Hey there." Redheart giggled softly, and kissed the back of his neck. "Did you sleep well?" "Yeah, I..." Shaggy paused, his memories slowly returning to him. "What about the movie??" he asked worriedly, looking upwards at his mare. "What time is it?"
Redheart rolled her eyes. "Probably time we were in bed. I couldn't resist letting you nap right here though, you are just..." she booped his snout. "Too..." Again. "Adorable!" She rubbed his nose playfully.
"You know what this means, don't you?" The bat pony asked, giving her as close to a stern look as he could manage at the moment, though it was more pouty than anything. Redheart blinked innocently. "What?"
Without warning, the bat pony hopped off and pulled her onto his back with the accuracy and speed of a trained guard. "We're off to bed, that's what!" Redheart burst into hysterical laughter as Shaggy ran up the stairs with her flailing on his backside and desperately holding on until they reached the bedroom, at which point the bat pony unceremoniously dumped her onto the pillows. He sighed melodramatically. "It's true what they say - doctors and nurses make the worst patients. You, miss Redheart, have been a very naughty filly, staying up this long on my account!"
The mare brushed her frazzled pink mane. "I have no regrets. I guess you'll just have to stay and make sure I don't do it again..." Shaggy snorted, breaking the roleplay. "Well, duh!" He bounced onto the bed and delicately pulled Redheart into his embrace, wrapping his wings around the two to form a sleeping bag once again. "Try and not have a beauty sleep with this level of comfort. I dare you." He kissed the beautiful white mare on the temple. "I don't want you to be tired at work." "I won't be." Redheart promised, her voice slightly muffled below his jaw.
The bat pony smiled. "I know. That's why you're the best nurse in the world." He nipped at her ear, which flicked back and forth, enjoying the attention. "... you know, I'm not gonna fall asleep if you keep playing with my ear." "Oh. Oops." Shaggy left it alone and instead rested his jaw on Redheart's pink mane before drifting off to sleep again. A minute or two passed, and one of the mare's light blue eyes peeked open and focused on the bat pony above her, squinting a little out of joy from seeing Shaggy slumber with a smile on his muzzle, and then closing once again, feeling at peace, safe in his wings and without a care in the world.
Shaggy winced instinctually on the sound of his last name. Though he was not yet awake, his brain had been trained to know what it meant by experience. Maybe he'll go away if I sleep. His drowsy brain thought.
"Star!" The voice whispered more urgently, and he felt a hoof roughly nudging him. "Patrol!"
Bollocks!
Hissing loudly, Shaggy threw his covers off and smacked his lips, forcing himself in a sitting position on his bunk bed. Using his teeth, he pulled his set of armor out of a small alcove behind his pillow - the heavy, tight stuff since it was winter and the bitter cold on the towers of Canterlot Castle cut through even the thick fur of a creature of the night. And of course the spear. Can't forget about that stupid thing.
In the light of his colleague Sapphire Glint's impassive blue eyes, Shaggy wrapped his armor around his bristling fur. As usual, he pulled out a few hairs trying to attach it. "Horse-apples!" He mumbled to himself, before finally getting it right and plopping the helmet on his head. Resting his weight on the heavy spear, Shaggy gave Glint a humorless smile. "Nighty-night." Satisfied that Shaggy was ready, Glint merely waved him off, not even bothering to respond. Shaggy gave one last wistful look at the rest of his unit, all bundled up like happy foals, and clambered out of the door.
Despite the restoration of Princess Luna and a renewed respect for the night, Canterlot Castle was mostly deserted at this hour. Even if ponies had a complaint to bring to their leaders at this late hour, they'd rather wait for the snowy weather to be slightly tolerable under Celestia's sun. As such, the bat pony didn't encounter a soul as he trotted out of the barracks and made his way up the stairs(flying was out of the question in the mountains with this cold) to the observatory tower. It had a variety of purposes - to allow Luna to directly observe the stars as she worked on the constellations, to allow powerful unicorns to learn more about astronomy and, at times, to help the Lunar Guards keep a direct eye on the surrounding terrain with the telescope.
With a bitterly slow gait accentuated by the occasional thump of his heavy spear, Shaggy made his way through the warm glass dome library, heading towards the exposed stone-walled battlement where they were stationed. His partner was already there, and even through the foggy glass, he could recognise her piercing yellow eyes glaring out into the night. Someone tolerable, at least. Shaggy thought with a modicum of optimism. Her name was Lustre Dawn, a batmare with an inky dark blue mane and blazing yellow eyes. Not particularly friendly from his perspective, but not unbearably dutiful either.
The library and the battlement were separated by a stone door, a small corridor and finally a spiral staircase leading up to the latter. To her credit, Lustre pulled the hatch open and pulled his spear out of the way for him to get through. Shaggy shivered as he felt the frosty air nip at his ears. Snow was drifting slowly from the clouds above, leaving the wooden floor under their hooves irritatingly slick and cold.
Shoving the hatch shut, Lustre gave him his spear back and the two took up positions side by side. "Hi." Shaggy said. "Hi." She nodded. Shaggy bit his lip, staring out across the seemingly desolate capital city. Using his teeth, he unlatched a small pouch attached to his belt, and used his tongue to pick out a mint to suck on.
Lustre raised an eyebrow and humphed. "It isn't cold enough up here for you?" "It helps." Shaggy shrugged and pulled the pouch open again with his snout. "Want one?"
The batmare rolled her eyes, but relented. "Well, since you're offering..." she stuffed her face into the pouch and pulled out another mint for herself. To Shaggy's slight irritation, he could hear Lustre grind the candy down into powder rather than savor it. After half a minute, she spat the remains over the crenels and wiped her mouth. "Pah! There goes the last memory of heat. Thanks, dude."
"Anytime." Shaggy muttered. Lustre grinned for some reason. "You're a silly colt. Don't take it personally." That caught him offguard. "I wasn't..." he began to say, but Lustre nudged him. "Anytime." she mimicked in a cartoonishly deep, standoffish tone. "You sound like I nicked your Power Ponies."
Shaggy gulped. He had a lingering affection for the series, and still bought the monthly issues, but it was one of those things you were supposed to outgrow years back. Not wanting to appear weak, he sounded as stern as he could and said: "I don't read them." The mare just snickered. "Lying doesn't suit your pretty freckles. I saw you reading a copy in the park when I went to visit Ponyville for a weekend! Would've said hello too, but I was awfully busy that day."
Lustre Dawn was almost truthful - she had indeed gone to see the famed home of the Elements of Harmony on her free time and just by sheer coincidence, run into the happy-go-lucky stallion from her garrison. But on that particular day, Crimson Star had been relaxing with his pretty white marefriend's head on his lap. Lustre had no intention of bringing her to the bat stallion's mind. Not when she was freezing her plot off on a high tower, guarding an empty castle from nonexistent threats night after night. The least I can get in return is that cutie to warm me up when no one's looking. Lustre thought with a smirk creeping on her face. The thrill of it! Already, she could feel the blood rushing through her veins from the anticipation alone.
Meanwhile, Shaggy was reeling - not from what Lustre had revealed, but the compliment she'd casually thrown in his direction. "Pretty freckles?" Redheart of course pointed out the things she liked about him all the time, and it was truly lovely of her, but being noticed as attractive by someone else, someone he barely knew had a different effect on the small bat stallion, filling him with confidence. Instinctively, Crimson Star straightened himself.
Lustre laughed out loud now, her voice filling the silence like the sound of icicles cracking up. "Yes, colt..." she said slowly and mirthfully, as if talking to an errant foal. "You have good looks. Come here!" In the guise of a friendly gesture, she snuggled up to the stallion and draped a hoof over his neck. "It's getting colder..."
"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. The proximity of Lustre and the feel of her furry cheek rubbing against his made him tense and uncertain, but her kind words had essentially melted the ice between them. She's a friend. I trust her.
Gotcha. Lustre thought and turned slightly so her lips touched against the stallion's neck. Daringly, she took a quick lick. "W-what are you doing?" Shaggy asked, his eyes darting around. Suddenly, he felt the batmare's teeth pulling down his ear. Every pony knew the gesture. Foreplay. Lustre hummed. "It's cold as the Nightmare's heart, everypony's asleep and we're up here for the next three hours. If you've got a reason not to get cozy with me... it better be a reaaaally good one. I'm not one for second chances."
No second chances. Her words rung in Shaggy's brain as he watched Lustre pull the helmet off of her head, releasing her beautiful dark blue bangs. A slight wind blew it around her face. Next, she unclipped her set of armor, letting it drop to the floor with a loud metallic clunk. No second chances. I can have this. I can have her. For me.
The faint glow Luna's moon accentuated her beautiful, mesmerising features. She was a guard before, but now... a potential mate? Shaggy almost salivated at the thought. Redheart was his love, but thestrals had an innate connection that couldn't be duplicated. Lustre could read him, and he could read Lustre.
The batmare latched onto the handle of the hatch with her teeth and pulled it open. "Nobody'll find us down here. Come on!" She kissed Shaggy, the second mare he'd ever been that close with. It was a very different experience from the kisses he shared with Redheart. The white nurse was slow and delicate in showing love, like the instrument of a surgeon. Lustre Dawn was everywhere in his mouth at once, flicking at his teeth, making her mark like a wild thing.
And then suddenly, she pulled away. Dazed, Shaggy could only watch as she pulled off the helmet from his own head and used her teeth to unclip his set of armor. "So tell me, Crimson, what does a proper stallion say when a mare asks... what do you want?" She turned around and whipped her tail against his muzzle before disappearing down the hatch.
Shaggy snarled, pawing at the icy floor with his metal shoe instinctively, the sound of a stallion ready to mount. The frosty wind still prevented total loss of faculties though. What about Redheart? She was so dear to him, he couldn't possibly let her down like that. Could he? "Are you coming or what?!" Lustre grumbled from below, and Shaggy could see her disgruntled expression as she tapped her hoof impatiently against the stairs. "I ain't staying wet forever, colt! You want this!"
He did, that much was true. He wanted to give himself over, to let Lustre decide what to make of him and at the same time, to bend the wicked batmare to his will, to punish her for making him feel so conflicted...
She's angry at me, for keeping her waiting. Redheart wouldn't be angry at me. She loves me. Shaggy thought. If I do this and keep it a secret, it'll eat me up. And if I tell her, we're done. Logic dictated only one choice.
"I'm not coming." Shaggy finally said, and released a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. Lustre looked up at him disbelievingly. "What???" She growled, so furiously that Shaggy took several steps away from the hatch and grabbed one of the spears they'd dropped. He didn't even know if it was his own or not. "I'm not... c-c-coming." he stuttered.
With a gust from her wings, Lustre Dawn emerged from the hole, glowering. "I practically raised my tail for you, you stupid idiot! What do you mean, you're not coming?!?"
Shaggy didn't like being accused. Even though he was almost certain he'd made the right call, he felt like crying a little. "I... I just d-don't want to hurt Red..." he mumbled quietly. "I just don't want to hurt Red." Lustre mimicked in a mocking baby voice. "Cretin." She grabbed her helmet and put it back on, along with her armor set. "How they pick losers like you to join the Lunar Guard, I've no idea. I don't want to hurt Red. You're no stallion, you know that? You know what a herd is, right? Oh sweet Luna..." she shook her head.
"Thou called?"
Shaggy and Lustre Dawn, so caught up in their own affairs, both yelped as Princess Luna floated towards their battlement, her starry blue mane wafting around her crowned head. As her hooves touched down on the floor, she looked them both over. "Crimson Star, thou armor is discarded. Might we inquire why?"
The bat pony gulped. He didn't appreciate Lustre's behaviour, but he hardly wanted to get the Princess involved in something like this. What to say, what to say? Ultimately, however, his fear of directly lying to his monarch won out. "Um, I'm very, very sorry, your Grace, I didn't... didn't mean to, but err..." he looked up to see if Luna was about to snap at him, but the alicorn's expression was neutral and patient as always. Both sisters had a way of making everyone around them feel welcome and appreciated and that same kindness gave Shaggy the strength to continue. "... Lustre Dawn took it off of me, Princess."
The other guard looked aghast. "What?! No, no, I didn't! Why would I do that?!" "She wanted me, to, um, to, to, m-mate with her... your Grace. I swear I'm telling the truth." Shaggy admitted, his ears drooping in embarrassment.
Equally red-faced, Lustre backed away. "I did not!" she shouted petulantly, and cowered as Luna looked at her. "Then what dost thou suggest?" Lustre looked at Shaggy, and then back towards the Princess. "H-he wanted to mate with me! Yeah, that's why his armor's off! He told me I'd... that I'd become his broodmare!" She hid her face under a wing. "I was so scared..."
The explanation made Princess Luna scowl. "Then why art thou the only one of the two aroused? We smell it on thee, Lustre Dawn, and sense it in thou mind. Disregarding thou duty as Lunar Guard is one thing, but we do not tolerate deception under our command... particularly not an attempt as feeble as that. Crimson Star, thou art dismissed."
Shaggy blinked in confusion, not sure if he heard right. "W-what?"
"By our royal command, thou will return to the Lunar barracks and recuperate after this unsolicited ordeal. Lustre Dawn and us will manage in your absence. Off thou trot, my little pony." The alicorn's horn came to life, and reattached Shaggy's armor around his barrel as well as giving him his helmet and spear back.
Not wanting to argue with a kind offer like that, Shaggy bowed and walked down the spiral staircase, after which the hatch door sealed behind him.
