I woke up with a pounding headache as the rays from the late afternoon sun shone in through the bedroom window. Rolling over, I groaned and snuggled into Fang’s chest as I took notice of his foreleg draped over me. “Fang, make the sun go away,” I whined as I hugged him. He groaned as he woke up and I could feel him resting his chin on top of my head.
“What?” Fang questioned as he hugged me and pulled me close to him.
“Make the sun go away,” I replied as I nuzzled into his chest fluff. He giggled as he stroked my mane with his hoof and draped a wing over me.
“I can’t my little honeysuckle, but if I do this—” Fang grabbed the blanket and pulled it up over our heads, plunging us into near darkness “—it’s close enough. Is that better?” I nodded my head as I hugged and squeezed him.
“Your chest is so fluffy,” I told him as I pressed my face against his chest again.
“Nah, that’s you my little marshmallow,” he said with a grin as he scratched behind my ear with his hoof. “You’re my little fluff ball. I love it. But not as much as I love you.”
“So do you and Fang have any plans for Hearts and Hooves Day?” Luna asked as she attempted to stealthily open my desk drawer where I kept the snack cakes. I reached a hoof over and shut the drawer without looking up from the papers on my desk.
“Not that I know of. I mean, unless he’s planning on surprising me with something,” I replied as she stuck out her upper lip in a pouting look. “Lu, you and I both know that you need to fit into that one dress for the ball on Saturday. You won’t be able to do that if you keep eating snack cakes,” I said as I set a stack of paperwork aside. A glance up at the clock showed that it was almost five in the morning. With a yawn, I stood up from my desk. Thankfully, Luna had taken the many months I was on her staff to slowly adjust me to a reverse sleep schedule where I was up all night and asleep all day.
“But they’re sooooo good. Can’t we have just one?” I sighed and shook my head as I rolled my eyes. Opening up the drawer, I grabbed a Moonpie and tossed it over to her. She smiled with glee and tore the package open, quickly shoving the entire snack into her mouth.
“Be careful not to eat too many or you’ll get fat. And I don’t exactly feel like making you exercise. Mostly cause I don’t want to exercise too.” I locked the snack drawer and slipped the key into my shirt pocket. Fang appeared in the doorway with a tired smile as I stood up to leave.
“I finished delivering those papers for you, hun,” he said as I trotted over. Giving him a small peck on the cheek, I smiled as I looked into his amber eyes.
“Thank you, buttercup. You ready to go home?” He yawned and I giggled as he did so. “I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll see you tonight Luna.” Fang and I slowly trotted into the hallway and over towards the main staircase. I waited patiently by the doors as he went into the locker room for the night guards where he put his armor away. One thing Fang always made sure to do was to leave his armor at work and not bring it home. Once he was finished, we slowly trotted out into the dim light from the predawn sky. While the sun had yet to rise, I could see a faint hint of light in the eastern horizon that provided some illumination. I leaned my head on his shoulder as our hooves clopped on the cobblestones but quickly straightened up as I saw a police sergeant ahead of us.
“Swing, maybe you should go ahead of me,” Fang whispered just loud enough for me to hear, a slight hint of worry in his voice. Just as I was about to ask why, I heard the police stallion speak up.
“Can I see your ID, boy?” the gruff sounding cop asked as he looked over at Fang. I felt my stomach tie itself in knots as Fang nervously reached into his jacket pocket to get his ID. He cautiously gave it to the stallion who looked it over while glancing up at him. “Your kind ain’t welcome in this part of town. Take the back roads and don’t let me catch you around here again.” The cop gave Fang his ID back and Fang was quick to turn around and start to head off.
“Now hold on just one cotton-pickin’ second,” I said and both stallions stopped and looked at me. “Just why in Tartarus isn’t he welcomed in this part of Canterlot?”
“Cause he’s a bat pony and everypony knows that they ain’t nothing but trouble,” the police stallion replied. I could feel myself getting hot behind the ears and Fang gently tugged at my jacket.
“Swing, just leave it. It’s not worth the trouble,” he whispered which only made my anger boil over.
“Yes it is! This is a load of bullshit! Just because you’re a bat pony doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to go into certain neighborhoods! This is nothing but plain and simple racism!” I trotted over and looked the stallion in the eyes as he started to reach a hoof back for his nightstick. “And may Faust have mercy on you when my boss hears about this.” The cop’s hoof began to rise up and I saw he was holding his nightstick, ready to bring it down against my head. Raising a hoof, I blocked his and smiled. “I’ve faced a lot tougher and meaner things than you so you’d better have something better than that little twig of yours.”
“Swing, stop!” Fang shouted as he desperately pulled at my jacket.
“Listen to your friend there before I place you under arrest for assaulting a police stallion.” I laughed as I looked at the brown earth pony before me.
“This isn’t assaulting a cop. This is assaulting a cop.” I drew my one free forehoof back and punched him in the snout, making him take a couple steps back. He recovered quickly and tackled me to the ground. I felt him putting hoof cuffs on me and I smirked. “Oh goody, I always wanted to go to jail. Cuff me harder officer, I like it rough!”
“Swing, you monumental jackass!” a voice roared down the hall of the Canterlot City Jail and I immediately recognized who it was.
“Lulu! How ya doing moonbutt?” I jested as she trotted up to the cell I was in. Fang was right beside her and was looking at me worriedly.
“I wouldn’t do that. I had to wake her up to bring her down here. She’s pretty grumpy, to say the least.” I nodded and pursed my lips as I glanced at the seething alicorn. “Thankfully, she was able to scare the living crap out of the chief and your charges have been dropped.” The door opened with a clunk and I cautiously stepped out. Immediately my one ear was seized in Luna’s magic and I began to express my discomfort of it.
“Oh shut up. You’re in serious trouble, mister.” Luna stated as she dragged me out of the police station, Fang following closely behind us. “We are going to give you a good, stern talking to about this kind of behavior.”
“Yes mom.” I groaned as I rolled my eyes.
“So Raven, here’s some papers I need back with Sunbutt’s signature,” I said as I set the paper’s on the white unicorn mare’s desk. She sighed and brushed aside her bangs with a hoof as she looked at me.
“Her majesty’s name is Celestia. Not ‘Sunbutt’,” Raven replied with annoyance as she adjusted her glasses.
“Right, sorry. Say, has anypony told you how cute you are with those new glasses of yours.” This made her pause and I saw her start twirling her hoof a little. Now, I know what some of you are thinking already. I’m a loyal stallion but I needed papers signed and Raven was known for being a tough cookie about passing papers on to Celestia. They didn’t call her ‘Celestia’s Guard Dog’ for no reason. One can have the key to the gate but sometimes you still need to kiss the gatekeeper’s ass to get by them. And flirting was always a near surefire way to get on somepony’s good side.
“C-cute?” She asked as her cheeks and ears began to take on a pinkish tint. I nodded and gave her a small smile as she looked over at the papers. “I…I guess I can pass them onto the princess for you.”
“Thanks Raven.” I turned and trotted out of the room and into the corridor on Celestia’s side of the palace. I looked rather out of place in my Lunar Guard uniform but it was important business after all. Luna was due to be on a state visit to Vanhoover to christen a new ocean liner, her first big event of the year and her first visit to the city in over a millennia. Of course, the city had originally wanted Celestia because, as we all know, while they co-rule Equestria, Celestia holds more power. It certainly wasn’t a secret to anypony except maybe Luna, who we all made sure to convince that she was equal to her sister. We all knew how that went the last time she thought on the contrary.
As I walked through the corridor, I saw several of the daytime workers beginning to leave for the night. If there was one thing I loved about working at night, it was that the palace was always so quiet. Although that night, for all I knew, could’ve been very different. It was Luna’s last Night Court before her trip to Vanhoover. Thankfully it went by quickly with only about two dozen ponies bringing forth something they wished to draw Luna’s attention to. After Night Court, I followed Luna back towards our offices.
“Okay, so tomorrow we’ll be leaving for Vanhoover on your personal train at exactly midnight. It’ll be about a day’s journey so we should arrive at around one in the morning accounting for stops along the way,” I told Luna as I looked over the agenda I held in front of me. We turned into the offices and I stopped by my desk.
“You probably ought to go home and relax then since we’ll be stuck on our train all night and day,” Luna said as I set the agenda down. I raised an eyebrow at her as she stepped into her office and slowly followed her in. She turned to see me looking at her skeptically and smirked. “Before you ask, yes, we are certain that it is alright. You may go. In fact, when you see Fang, tell him he is relieved.” I nodded to her and said a quick goodnight before trotting out of the office, quickly finding Fang in the corridor.
“Luna said we’re both done for the night so let’s head home.” He smiled and we did the usual routine of him leaving his armor there and then walking home together. One thing I’d enjoyed about Fang moving in with me was that now I could forget the old memories of the house. The memories of him. We’d even got rid of the large bed that had been provided with the house; instead opting to use Fang’s more modest bed. Trotting home under the moonlight, Fang hummed a song quietly and I smiled as I listened to him. “That’s a nice song you’re humming. What is it?”
“Just one from a movie soundtrack I heard on the way to work earlier,” he replied with a small smile before continuing to hum the song.
“Oh, from that record store you go past?” Fang nodded as we turned onto our street and I could hear him chuckle a little. “What?”
“Nothing. I just think you’re going to like what I got for you on my lunch break earlier.” We trotted up the front walk to the door of the house and stepped inside. “Do you still have that tailcoat of yours?” He asked as he shut the door.
“Yeah, why?” I questioned as I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Thanks in part because Luna is such a nice mare and told me in advance that we were getting off early tonight, I was able to talk her into getting us a couple of tickets for the symphony tonight. I know how much you’ve wanted to go see it.” I felt my breath catch in my throat and I lunged forward to wrap my forelegs around Fang. “Oh my. Hun, I’m glad you like it. Now come on, let’s go get dressed or else we’ll be late.” I trotted to the bedroom and quickly put on my shirt with arrow collars, studs, cufflinks, tailcoat; but when I got to the bow tie, I had an issue.
“Um, Fang?” He looked over at me from where he was tying his own white bow tie with a raised eyebrow. “Could you maybe tie this for me?”
“I thought you knew how to tie a tie?” he asked as he trotted over to me.
“I do. Just…not a bow tie. Usually I have to wear the ones that hook together,” I admitted with a blush as he began tying my tie. I looked up at him where I saw him smirking. “What’s so funny?”
“You. You’re too damn cute, you know that?” I immediately felt my chest fur ruffle up a bit under my shirt as my face burned red in embarrassment.
“I most certainly am not! I am darkness. I am the night! Ponies fear me and will cower at the very mention of my name!” I replied which only made him smile more as he finished with my tie. He wrapped his legs around me in a hug as he chuckled slightly.
“Sure you are hun,” Fang said with an obvious smile. “Now let’s get going. We don’t want to be late do we?”
I slowly walked alongside Fang as we looked for our seats. The nice thing about Luna helping get the tickets meant that the tickets were for the royal theatre box. “My grandmother brought me here as a colt. It all still seems so big.” I said as I looked through a set of open doors to a theatre box at the large hall below us.
“I didn’t know your grandmother was into this sort of thing. You hardly ever talk about them it seems.” Fang replied and I noticed his fluffy ears seemed to droop a little.
“Sorry. Yeah, grandma was originally from Canterlot. Her family was high society and, as such, it meant that she still had to keep up occasional appearances here.” We turned into the royal theatre box and gently shut the doors behind us. “I haven’t been here in years. Not since I was about twelve. I hated it at the time but now, I honestly kind of wish I’d gone more.” I leaned over and adjusted Fang’s bow tie without thinking much of it but the action caused Fang to smile. Ignoring his grin, I leaned forward and looked out over the crowd. In the crowd I could make out several prominent ponies in Canterlot, as well as a few non ponies. Taking their seats in a box close to the stage was the ambassador to Zebrica and one of his many mistresses; none of which his wife knew of. Yet.
Another was Fancy Pants with Fleur Dis Lee, though, most in high society knew that Fancy was a ‘confirmed bachelor’. In fact, in the few times that Test and I had been to clubs for ponies like us, I’d seen him almost every time. Though, it was almost common knowledge to everypony that Fleur often acted as a beard for gay stallions who had a reputation to maintain. And it certainly wouldn’t help Fancy’s reputation if ponies knew what he was into in the bedroom; but let’s just say, there’s a reason that Fancy only adopts male dogs. But enough about him. Moving on to the next one in the crowd, I watched as the director for Equestria’s Bureau of Investigation sat down in his theatre box with his deputy director. Most would look at it and consider it just a nice gesture of him being the boss and rewarding his deputy for his hard work with a night at the symphony. But oh no. This was far more than that. It was a date. And another thing about Silent Informer was his supposedly ‘secret’ hobby of crossdressing. But what dirt that I had on ponies very easily kept them around my hoof and more importantly under Luna’s. As far as Fang knew though, I was just a sweet, ugly, scared stallion who worked as a secretary. Nothing more and nothing less. The lights in the symphony hall dimmed and the talking throughout ceased in a moment. As we all watched, the red, velvet curtain opened, revealing the orchestra. The conductor raised his baton and began leading the orchestra through their first song.
Fang and I slowly trotted down the streets of Canterlot, the night air smelling like rain as pegasi pushed clouds together ahead of a scheduled storm. I nuzzled into Fang’s neck as we walked along, letting him lead me along as I closed my eyes in bliss. Soon we arrived at the house and stepped inside. I looked up at Fang and saw him smiling. “What’re you grinning for?” I asked as I gently poked his chest with a hoof.
“It’s a gift that I got you. But it’s a surprise so I want you to close your eyes and stay right here until I come back.” I nodded and closed my eyes as I sat down in the front foyer of the house, patiently awaiting Fang’s return. As I sat, I could hear hoofsteps coming back towards me and a moment later a tongue was lapping at my face.
“Fang, really? What if the neighbors see us again?” I asked as the tongue continued to lick me, making me giggle a bit. I slowly opened my eyes and I noticed brown eyes in front of mine, making me pause for a moment in confusion until I noticed that the eyes belonged to a King Shepard puppy. I looked around the puppy at Fang who was holding the pup up with a huge smile on his face. “Is…is this my gift?” I asked. To which Fang nodded happily. Sitting there for a moment in shock, I quickly snatched the puppy away and began hugging it. “Oh my gosh! I’m gonna hug you and squeeze you and never let you go, and name you Orion!” Orion began licking my face which made me giggle more as I held him. “Oh Fang this is the best gift ever! Kinda makes my gift for you seem pathetic,” I said with a sigh at the end.
“Well what is it?” Fang asked as I looked down at the floor in slight shame.
“It’s in the refrigerator.” I told him and he trotted over to the fridge. He opened the door and gasped a moment later before returning with a huge smile and a pie tin.
“I love mango pie! It’s my favorite!” Fang took a bite of it and immediately made a sound of satisfaction. “It tastes just like the pies my mom makes!” I smiled as he continued to compliment my gift.
“That’s because I wrote to your mom asking for her recipe. I know how much you like it and I thought that it would make a good gift. It’s not much, I know…but I’m glad you like it.” I was suddenly being squeezed in a hug as Fang wrapped his forelegs around me, making Orion happily lick at our faces.
“I love it, Swing. It’s so amazingly sweet. I love you.” Fang planted a kiss on my cheek and gently nipped at my ear, making me giggle. “Come on, let’s go to bed.” We both trotted towards the bedroom, Orion happily following us. When we entered the bedroom though, we were greeted by the sight of a small box on the bed and a note. I stepped forward carefully and grabbed the note, reading it aloud for Fang to hear.
“Dearest Swing Rhythm and White Fang, it hath been over a millennia since our banishment, a time that brought much sadness into our heart. But we are most grateful to you, for you both have helped to bring joy and laughter back into our life. Before our banishment, there was a group of ponies that were my children of the night. They have long since been forgotten by much of Equestria but they are still fresh in our memories. The last of them was lost hundreds of years ago, patiently awaiting our return. It is with great affection and caring that we call you both our children of the night. Signed, Lulu.” I looked over at Fang who was standing there, stunned. His mouth was agape but he quickly closed it and stepped forward to open the box. There, inside, sat two silver pins made to look like a shining star. In the center of each star was an engraving of our cutie marks that gleamed as it caught the light. “Fang, you must know more about it than I do. Who are the children of the night?”
“After they defeated Discord, Canterlot was still pretty slow to recover from it. Despair was all around. Specifically for poor ponies with families. Luna believed that expanding Equestria and starting a new colony elsewhere would solve the problem. A colony for the poor, needy, unwanted, unloved, and any other fillies and colts that were looked at as a burden by their families or society. She called to them in the night, almost like a siren of sorts, and they came to her. She took them away to a place where they would live their lives in peace and happiness; without having to worry about money or anything like that. She gave them the love they so needed. She became their mother. And by her doing this…” He trailed off as a small smile appeared on his face and his eyes began to water. “Luna is declaring us her children. She is letting us into her family, one that hasn’t existed for hundreds of years. And we are now the sole children of the night.”