//------------------------------//
// New Era Interactcions Part 2 
// Story: Night Patrol 2: Awakening 
// by Foxgear 
//------------------------------//

Night Patrol chapter 21 
By Foxgear



The early morning sun peeks through his cabin window. How long it’s been since that’s happened. Rolling out of bed Trifecta was careful not to disturb his bunkmates, Shock, and Jockey. Sleuthing into the hallway of the Nightmare he shuts the door behind him with his tail and makes for the flight deck. Several others were milling in the hall, one of the cooks bellowing that breakfast was ready. Passing the stairs to the Commander’s quarters, he heard the angry yells of Commander Fierce Fury and the snobbish tone of a pony that clearly did not know what they were in for. Moments later a pocket watch and many loose papers come flying down the stairs followed next by a unicorn. Fierce Fury stood at the top, snorting fire form his nostrils. 
“Get the fuck off my ship!” Were the commander’s words before disappearing back upstairs.  
Ignoring the exchange Trifecta detours into the cafeteria, stealing an egg and green pepper burrito with cheese from the buffet. Snarking on his breakfast he gets back on track, climbing several stairs, greeting other sleepy ponies before finally reaching the flight deck. Standing next to one of the massive turret guns he takes a bite of his burrito admiring the sun shining over Canterlot. 
“Are you going to the city too?” A Powderly soft voice asks him, with the sound of heavy hoof steps dinging against the metal flight deck. Turning around Trifecta found Night Patrols odd couple behind him, Platinum De Belle, and Bulwark Bulldrake. The soft white/silver unicorn barely reaching the mini giant’s shoulder.  Bulwark wasn’t as big as P-Rex, but he was bigger than all but the largest of ponies. Until he stands up on his hind legs. Then no pony was taller than him. Must be nice being part minotaur. 
“Yeah, met some foals that begged me to come visit as soon as I could. Figured now was a good time since Celestia basically put us on inactive duty.” He replies finishing of his burrito. “What are you two doing?”
“Going on a date,” Platinum sugary says, rubbing her muzzle against Bulwark’s arm/leg. “Try on some dresses, eat at a café, sitting in the park, oh it’s going to be lovely. Especially latter tonight, hmm?” She swoons wrapping her non-metal leg around Bulwarks, or what she could wrap around the beefy bull dragon. Bulwark was supposed to be part dragon, part minotaur, with some pony mixed in. Trifecta wasn’t sure which part was supposed to be a pony, though. What he and everypony else knew is the Bulldrake was well endowed downstairs and his one-legged mare friend was a fourth his size. It was some crazy math how he fits her, but they somehow get by, they’re not really quiet when they engage in… as Platinum calls it, the Prance passion. 
“Just be mindful of how… engaged you two get. Remember last time?” 
The white/silver mare’s coat turns completely red with blush, “Oh yes, but Bulwark had been so romantic, I lost myself and I…”
“Don’t want to hear it. I’ll see you two around later.”
“You’re not taking the brothers along?” Platinum quickly asks before he could take off. He shakes his head. 
“Not today. I want to explore by myself for a little bit.”
“Well make sure to bring them back a present then,” Platinum says trotting down the ramp. “Now what to get Le pere? What do you think Bulwark?” 
Trifecta shakes his head, “You know Sixes doesn’t like it when you call him that.” He tells her, but she simply smiles back continuing her descent. 
Five years after Luna’s banishment while on a mission to Prance Sixes saved Platinum from the rubble of what had once been her home. Her family killed in the cross shelling that had taken place. She had been sixteen at the time when he found her bloody and missing three of her legs. When he brought her back home it had taken everypony by surprise. Under Gadget’s study, she had made the metal legs she now walks on and become an engineer. At some point, before she learned to speak Avalon Equestrian she referred to Sixes as Le Pere or Papa. 
A smirk crosses his lip as he remembers Sixes' expression when Platinum had boldly declared him her new papa in front of everypony one spring day, lovingly nuzzling the ashen Rinin, about one year after she was brought to Equestria. They had been her first words spoken in Equestrian to him. It had left Sixes speechless. 
“Only second to the time Bulwark asked Sixes' permission to marry Platinum,” Trifecta snickers. He loved it when Sixes was put into those awkward moments. Spreading his wings Trifecta flies off towards the city, waving to Bulwark and Platinum as he flew over them. 
He veers over the city, taking in the sight of the white marble that was Canterlot. The city really hasn’t changed much. Really disappointing really. Seems Gadget’s self-driving carts didn’t catch on. One would think something like that would have caught on like wildfire. 
Of course, Celestia hadn’t wanted tanks either. He never quite figured out what her deal was about that. Ah well, it was above his pay grade. He was only a sub commander. It wasn’t really his place to question what his superiors do and don’t do. 
As Trifecta flies towards the section of the city that Thrice’s family lived in. His mind inedibility when to his brothers, Thrice and Trinity. They had chosen to stay behind, choosing a life outside of Night Patrol. Breaking the bonds, they once held as the Triplets of Night Patrol. Looking back now it was clear to him. They were Triplets sure, but they still were individuals. Thrice and Trinity wanted to go out and have families, he wanted to keep fighting in Night Patrol. It was as simple as that, their path diverged. He supposed Trinity leaving to live in Nippon had been the beginning of their separation. 
“I got new brothers now,” He smiles thinking of the Thunder Brothers. They could be annoying, but they grew on him. 
Flying down Trifecta lands in the middle of a park, foals and their parents gasping upon his arrival. Some clutch their newborns and scurry away. Right, he muses, ponies of this time weren’t used to ponies like him. Even saving the city didn’t seem to elevate their instinctual fears. 
“Uncle Tri!” Scurrying across the grass was Little Thrice, his… times ten great nephew? He probably would have to go to Nippon to see Trinity’s descendants too. Behind the little blue and gray colt was his sister, Trina, a pink little filly who looked equally excited to see him. He smiles softly at the two, scooping them up in his claw. “Little Thrice, Trina, nice to see you two.” The two laughs excitedly, their draconic features coming to the forefront as their hooves morph into claws and tiny little scaly wings pop out of their back. 
“You certainly came a lot earlier than expected,” A deeper tone voice said, it was the two’s father, Thrice the fourth. Looking like an older version of his son or his son looks like him. They both look like Thrice, so they both technically look like him. That identical gene was strong in their family. “Those two have been restless waiting for you to come around again.” Thrice the Fourth chuckles at his children’s antics. “Sorry to just drop them on you like this Uncle, I’m sure your busy.”
Trifecta waves off his worries. “Don’t worry, we’ll be on leave for a bit here. Nothing wrong with spending time with the tikes. And speaking of family. Do you happen to know any of your Nippon relatives? They would be Trinity’s kids.”
“Can’t really say I do, we don’t really talk to our Nippon relatives. We know each the other exist, but we don’t really get together all that often.”
That made Trifecta feel kind of sad for some reason. “Well, thanks, I’ll have to go visit them myself someday here. Till then I suppose you two want to get going?” 
“Yeah!” The two foals cry out. He places them on his back and takes off into the sky. The two squealing in delight as he does some fancy flying, such as loops and the like to give them a little thrill. Their wings weren’t developed enough yet to truly fly, so this was just a taste of what was to come when they get older. He saw Pegasi do this for their young a couple times in the past.
“Hey, Uncle Tri?” Trina meekly asks crawling onto his head. “Can we get some ice cream?” 
He follows her pointing claw, spotting an ice cream establishment down below. Checking the position of the sun he found it to be close to noon. How long have they been flying around? He lost track of time. 
“Sure, why not,” He descends, causing a bit of a fuss by the ponies walking on the street. Once Little Thrice and Trina leap off his back it seems to calm everypony down. They walk up to the vendor. The large variety of favors overwhelming him. There were hundreds! “Um… what do you want kids?” 
“Mint!”
“Strawberry!”
“Here you go, and for you, sir?” The vendor asks, the two foals already running off to a nearby bench. Trifecta reaches back, suddenly realizing he forgot his saddlebags! He didn’t have any bits!
“No, you wouldn’t by chance be able to charge the bill to Night Patrol? I’ve forgotten my bits I’m afraid.” Trifecta says shamefully. Course he realized he didn’t have any bits at the ship either. Part of their contract with Celestia in the past was they didn’t have to pay for anything. Everything was charged to the crown. “Sorry about this, could you let the foals have their treats? I’ll pay you back before the end of the day.”
The vender looks a bit flustered before sighing, giving Trifecta a soft smile and dishing out a cup of vanilla ice cream. “You look like basic sort of pony, have this one on the house, along with the two foals. It’s not much but think of it as my thanks for saving the city. I was one of the ponies you all brought up to the flying ship of yours. You saved mine and my families lives. I would give you free ice cream every day if it was feasible.”
Trifecta smiles, “No need to put yourself out like that. This favor is enough. Next time I will pay you properly. I’ll let my comrades know of you, Mr…”
“Swirl, Swirl Cone, and thank you…”
“Trifecta.” Swirl extends his hoof and Trifecta shakes it with his claw. “I’ll see you around.”
“You too.”
Trotting over to the bench where Thrice and Trina sat Trifecta took notice of all the stares they were attracting. As a Rinin he was used to ponies staring, but he notices that some were staring at the two siblings too. He could guess why. They weren’t hiding their Rinin features. 
“Maybe you two should put your wings and claws away for the time being.” The siblings give a sour look, retracting their wings which blended into the scales that line their spines and all but the claws holding their ice cream cones changed back into hoofs. Their excited licking of ice cream slows. “What’s wrong?”
“Dad says we can’t show ponies what we really are either, he hides his wings and claws too. He says it helps us blend in more, but you don’t have to hide.” Little Thrice says looking down, his sister matching his mood. 
“I couldn’t blend in even if I wanted to. My wings don’t do what yours can and I have too many scales. At best I could look like a bat pony. But…” Trifecta raises his wings, they were much too wide to be a bat ponies. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I would let you show what you really are, but I must honor your parent's wishes. When you grow up you can decide what to do.”
“Aww, but that’s so far away.” Thrice whines. 
He chuckles ruffling the little colt's mane, “it’s not as far as you might think. Now let’s be off, is there a place you two want to go?”
“Celestia’s park!” Trina says excitedly. “It’s a really cool park with hills, trees, and flowers like the one in Celestia’s castle! Sometimes she teaches classes there!”
“That hardly happens,” Thrice says, causing Trina to flume. 
“So, I still want to go!”
“But you already chose ice cream! It’s my turn!” Thrice argues. 
“You wanted it too!” Counters Trina. 
He shakes his head, “Alright, both of you settle down.” The two shrivel a Trifecta’s tone. “Sorry, I’m not used to dealing with kids. Now, Thrice, what do you want to do?”
“I want to hear stories about you and Grandpa Thrice!” The little colt excitedly demands. 
“Alright, while I can do that, and we can go to the park, right?” 
Thrice digs his hoof into the bench, “Yeah, I guess, but it’s not as cool if were surrounded by flowers.” What a boyish thing to say, muses Trifecta dropping the two back onto this back with his tail. At Trina’s direction, he flies towards the park. 
“Hey isn’t that one of your friends?” Thrice points towards the ground. He glances in the direction of his claw, spotting Sixes in his officer’s uniform. He wasn’t looking happy. 
“He’s something like that.” He answers neutrally. He really didn’t want to talk to Sixes right now. 
“Do you think he’d hang out with us?” 
“I doubt he would be in the mood.” Trifecta replies veering towards the park. “Let’s just leave him be. He looks busy.”
Touching down in the park Trina instantly hops off his back racing towards the flowers. While, Thrice jumps off and stands beside him, looking embarrassed. They walk towards one of the trees planted at the top of the hill and sit down. Trifecta was about to begin the tale of how he and his brothers helped Princess Luna assault Rainbow Factory when a high pitched terrified scream pierced the peaceful silence. 
“Stay here!” He barks at Thrice, his eyes turning to narrow slits as he storms down the hill. The scream had been Trina! He let his guard down! “Trina! Trina, where are you?” He demands his voice gravely and thick with worry and rage. The little pink filly came barreling out of the flower patch, her body trembling as she clings to his leg. 
“Scary monster! A pony with no legs!” She screams in terror. 
He sighs, picking the filly up and placing her on his back. She hides in his mane as he trots up the hill across from the one he had left Thrice at. Sure, enough he saw the long horns of Bulwark and Platinum cuddled beside him, her metal legs detached and laid next to the tree. She smiles awkwardly, waving a silver/white stub at them. 
“Um… Hi… Trifecta,” Platinum says with flush cheeks. “Did we scare the little filly?” 
“Rather obvious,” Trifecta answers pulling Trina from his back, she instantly hugs his leg, burying her muzzle in his leg. He sighs, waving for Thrice to come over. The little colt’s reaction was very different. 
“Wow… you're so big!” 
“Yes, he is,” Platinum replies with a blush. “Oh… you mean… yes, he’s big.”
“Platinum!”
“What?” 
“You know what! Also, why did you take your legs off? Not to be rude, but… well… Bulwark looks… and then with your like that…”
“I know don’t we look so cute?” She swoons. “Shame we didn’t hire a painter. This is a nice setting for a romantic portrait.”
Trifecta shakes his head, “Sorry Bulwark, but Platinum, it looks like Bull ripped off your legs and ate them.” She scoffs turning up her nose.
“That’s ridiculous! If that was the case there'd be blood everywhere! Look at my stubs! They’ve long since healed!” She waves the light pink nubs Thrice looks fascinated by them, while Trina presses closers against Trifecta’s leg. “Also, those metal things get tiresome after long walks. I’ll have to make a lighter set for off time.”
He double takes. “Wait, those are your combat legs!”
“Yeah, I only have the one set of legs currently! We only had some much room for storage, I didn’t want to take up any more space than needed, so I left my casual legs in the castle! They’re probably rust and dust by now.”
“Your combat legs,” Trifecta reiterates. “The ones with the gem cannons, rockets, and blades built in?”
“Yes, those.”
“Why in Luna’s name would you just casually throw those behind a damn TREE!” 
“Umm…” Trina spoke up, finally coming out from behind Trifecta’s leg. “Are these… ponies your friends, Uncle Tri?”
Platinum blinks, “Uncle Tri… are these…”
“Thrice’s descendants, Trina and Thrice the fifth,” He answers. “And yes, Trina these are my friends. This is Patroller 2000, Bulwark Bulldrake and his wife, Platinum De Belle. You might remember them during the battle when I dropped you off with your father.”
Trina’s eyes light up! “You’re that nice pony that gave me candy on the ship!” Her fear gone the little filly runs up to Platinum giving her a big hug. The unicorn mare chuckles patting the filly with her stub, her last leg occupied with keeping her body balanced upright. 
“Yes, I suppose I am. It’s nice to see you again. And look how cute you are! Thrice sure did a good job breeding, you are absolutely adorable! Oh, I wish I could hug you properly, but,” Platinum looks sadly to her remaining leg and then to her metal ones. “I doubt the feel of cold steel is very pleasant for hugging.” Platinum suddenly found herself rising off the ground, Bulwarks massive claw/hand lifting her off the ground, freeing her leg for use. “Thank you, dear.” She lifts Trina up with her remaining leg and hugging the little filly to near death! Her eyes welling with tears. 
“I’m sorry, seems I’ve gotten rather emotional. Um… Bulwark could you help me with my legs. I think it’s time we’ve returned to the ship.”
“Aww,” Go the two foals, “But we wanted to hear your stories with Uncle Tri!”
“You’re not… repulsed by me?” Platinum says wiping away her tears, suddenly Bulwark lifts Platinum onto his lap, setting her so her missing legs were hidden by his crossed hindlegs. 
“Your beautiful, Luv,” Bulwark speaks for the first time. “I think we have some time to tell a few tales to the children. Right, Commander Trifecta?” 
“I got a good hour before they have to get home, besides it’s more fun with more ponies,” Trifecta says sitting down beside the couple, the two foals flanking him. “Now, how about I start with the tale of me and my brothers and our daring assault with Princess Luna on Rainbow Factory, where Bulwark and many others were being held by…”
The two foals were engrossed by the tale, their eyes wide with excitement and suspense as Trifecta relays his exploits. To add to the emersion, he performed stunts and breathed fire. When he finished the story of Rainbow Factory he told them of his time in the second griffon war with the thunder brothers, and Sixes' daring charge to make it back to the castle. The two foals’ eyes were shining as the sun sinks towards the horizon. Trifecta was figuring it was probably time to bring them home when some voices called out to them.
“Goody! Look! Look! It’s them!” A mare bat pony said excitedly, tugging along a bat stallion, happily approaching their little group with no fear of him or Bulwark. “Wow… you look as big out of your armor as you do in it!” 
“I remember you two,” Platinum spoke up, “You’re those bat ponies we ran into when we dropped into the city!”
“That’s us!” The mare exclaimed excitedly. “I’m Sweet Dreams and this here is Goodnight! Goody for short. We’re night guards at the castle.” 
“Night guards? Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your shift? It’s what, six o’clock?” Time sure flew by, Trifecta mused, noticing the yawls of the two foals. “You two need to be getting home.”
“Aw, but we want to hang out with you, Uncle Tri. Please Goodnight, tell him we can stay out longer.”
Goodnight took a good step back shaking his head, “That’s not my call Little Thrice.” 
Trifecta looks between the two, “Are you related?” He asks the bat pony. Goody quickly shakes his head. 
“No, no, I was friends with Little Thrice’s cousin growing up. I guess you could say I’m a friend of the family.” 
“Interesting,” Platinum comments, “So are you two dating?” She asks further adding more questions that weren’t getting answers to the conversation. Both bat ponies look flush as they eye each other and then look away. Platinum smirking at the pair. “Well, that’s a good enough answer for me. But moving onto less personal topics, Trifecta does raise a point, shouldn’t you two get ready for your shifts?”
His blush cooling, Goodnight nods, “Normally yes, but Celestia has put all the surviving royal guards from the attack on leave, while the forces from the other cities run our shift. It honestly makes me feel bad, just casually strolling around when I should be at my post.” 
“Same here,” Sweet Dreams agrees, hanging her head. Trifecta snorts. 
“Celestia made the right choice. You two are tired from running a double shift for the wedding for the past few days and then partaking in the defense of the city. To push you any more would be a waste of time, so enjoy these moments of peace.” 
“I guess your right,” Goody replies, looking a bit relieved. “But honestly we didn’t do much to defend the city. We were just running for our lives. We took out a few changelings, but nothing like you guys.” 
Trifecta lays his head on the grass suddenly feeling tired himself, “The fact you survived means you have some potential. If you ever feel up to it come and over and see if you got what it takes to be in Night Patrol.” He looks between the pair of bat ponies. “Both of you.”
“Really?” Sweet Dreams gasps her eyes shining with hope and wonder.
“Why not,” Trifecta shrugs, rising back off the ground, he’d fall asleep he doesn’t get his blood moving. “We’ll talk about it another day, I got to get these two back home. You and Bulwark want to go find a bar or something, Platinum?”
The pinkish unicorn stifles a yawn, “No, not tonight. I’m feeling rather exhausted. Would you mind carrying me back to the ship Bulwark? I don’t feel like putting on my legs yet.” 
“Of course not, love,” Bulwark replies standing up on his hind legs towering over all of them. Setting Platinum on his shoulder he gathers up her prosthetic legs and shopping bags and stomps towards the air harbor. 
“If you want, we know a good place to drink,” Goodnight says, as Thrice and Trina hop on Trifecta’s back. “It’s called the Rusty Horseshoe, it’s a bar for the military, though it’s mostly for Fliers, you have wings so you should fit right in.” 
Trifecta hums thinking on the offer, “Sounds like a good time. I’ll drop these two off and meet you there.”
“We can fly with you, it’s no trouble, besides you’ll probably need an escort, it’s kind of tucked away.” Said Goodnight. 
“Alright, if you two don’t mind detouring with me.” With a flap of his mighty wings, Trifecta lifts into the sky, the two bat ponies following after him. 



Trifecta looks at the glowing lights of Canterlot from above. The city was so bright at night now, it was amazing any pony actually slept. Well, he thought looking towards the south distract where Thrice’s family lives. The inner city certainly didn’t sleep. The party scene didn’t seem to suffer much in the attack as most ponies weren’t here in the daytime. 
Swooping down he follows Goodnight and Sweet Dreams down the bustling street into a dimly lit alley. There in the back of the building was the sign for the Rusty Horseshoe. It was certainly out of the way, but then again it wasn’t for the general public. They enter the rebuilt door; the inside was bustling with fliers of all shapes, sizes, and colors. A lot of them wore flight blue and gold flight suits and officer uniforms. Everypony seems to be having a good time. Then he spots him, sitting in the corner with not one, not two, but three mares surrounding him. 
Commander Fierce Fury. Strange enough he was laughing heartily, his red cheeks flush with alcohol. Trifecta trots up to the red Commander, Goodnight and Sweet Dreams following his lead. 
“I’ve known you for twelve years, and I’ve never seen you smile this much, Commander.” He says to Fury, stealing a bottle of what they were drinking. It was Applejack’s hard-hitting Cider. How were any of them still conscious? He takes a sip from the bottle. It was a little weak compared to a thousand years ago.
“Trifecta!” Fury laughs drunkenly. “Come on and sit down! I see you made some new friends today! These are mine, um… Spit, and um… Fleet something and Misty.” 
The yellow mare beside him wobbles not looking much better then the commander, “I’m Spitfire, that’s Fleetfoot and Misty Fly.” She giggles falling against Fury. 
Trifecta looks between the two, his gaze darting between Fury’s gold streaks and Spitfire’s coat as he squeezes into the booth with the two bat ponies. They were the exact same shade of gold. Also, the mare looked like a yellow and orange dyed Nightingale. 
“Yeah,” He replies awkwardly. He better make sure those two don’t go home together tonight. “This is Goodnight and Sweet Dreams.” 
“Nice to meet you two,” Fury loudly says extending his claw across the table. “I’m Commander Fierce Fury, second no…let’s see The Princess, then the Admiral, and then Sixes… Fourth, I’m fourth in command, second if you don’t count Luna and McGather.” 
“McGather?” Goodnight questioned puzzledly. 
“Admiral Jaguar McGather,” Trifecta clarifies. “We hired him after Luna’s banishment. You might know him from the history books.”
Sweet Dreams wings suddenly sprang up, “Holy Celestia’s teats! That McGather! The one that wrote the book on Airship to Airship combat and dogfighting!” 
“Yeah, we just call him old Coot,” Fury says nonchalantly. “Hey, bartender! Another bottle!” A bottle of Applejack come flying at them, landing perfectly on the table. “Now that’s a talent.” Fury says popping the top, three more glasses come flying in landing in front of Trifecta, Goodnight, and Sweet Dreams. Fury pours them all a half glass before refilling his own. The red commander looks at his reflection before looking intently at Trifecta. 
“Hey, Tri.”
“Yeah,” He replies taking a sip from his glass.”
“Have you seen Sixes today at all?”
“Yeah, he looked pissed. I had my great nephew and niece with me, so I didn’t want them to meet him like that.”
Fury laughs, “Good call, he was looking for munition suppliers. I kind of doubted his chances, but he still went out and looked.” The red rinin sighs. “I’m kind of worried about him.” The mood sobers as Fury leans back. “I don’t think he’s sleeping again.”
“It’s only been two days since we woke up.” Trifecta counters, taking a sip, but he was worried too. “You think he’ll go AWOL again?”
“Not with Luna around again, no.” 
“But you're still worried.”
Fury grumbles, “He’s my brother, I’ve been by his side since we were in the cave.”
“I remember, you two beat me and my brothers for leadership. Course that was because you got Kira, Emerald and Overheat on your side. That kind of tipped the scales.” 
“It wasn’t just you that we needed to beat.” 
Trifecta looks at his reflection in the glass, remembering the battle for leadership. Only one of them had died, killed by Sixes' claws. Not that it matters now. The rinin Sixes’s killed… he would have led them down a bad path. The guy didn’t have a name, none of them did at the time, but he thinks his number had been… 024? He might have had the lowest number among them at the time.
“So, what did you do today Tri?” 
He looks up from his glass, “I visited Thrice’s descendants. Took the two youngest, Thrice the Fifth and his sister Trina out for a bit to explore the city. Ran into Bulwark and Platinum on their date and ran into these two here. What’d you do?”
“He fucked me up!” Spitfire said drunkenly. Trifecta’s eyes widening at her… um… bluntness? 
“I see… did you get her checked out?” He asks as Fury fumes. 
“That’s out of context. She and I raced and she figured out how to do a thunder gale on her own, but she ended up over straining herself to the point she couldn’t walk.”
“My wings and thighs are sore.”
“She’s also been saying incenting things like that all night.” Fury grumbles. “Mare’s certainly are different nowadays.” 
Trifecta chuckles, “I think you might want to meet a few more mares. She might be the special case… um, why is this one rubbing against me?” He asks keeping Fleetfoot at bay with his claw. She was being grabby. 
“Aww… come one, let’s go back to my place and fun!” Fleetfoot says drunkenly. Trifecta looks confusingly at Fury. 
“Um… did we come back in the middle of mating season? Can’t say I’m feeling the urge right now.”
“Mating season? We dropped that old tradition a long time ago, now we just…HICCUP… do it whenever now.” Spitfire states. She falls over spilling her beer on a slumbering Misty Flies head. Fleetfoot laughs loudly, pounding the table, while the two rinin look at the two somewhat sober bat ponies. 
“What?” Sweet Dreams asks looking between the two rinin. 
“You guys dropped mating season?” Trifecta questions. “How is that even possible? Also, how do you get anything done? I mean, if there’s no schedule for rutting, then how is it that everypony isn’t rutting all the time? It’s like every pony is Overheat now.”
Fury bursts out laughing, “Right? He had mares hanging off him every day of the week!” The red rinin sobers up, smiling grimly. “Too bad he never got to meet his daughter. The one the cook had. What was her name again?”
He smirks, “Hot Chocolate.”
“Yeah,” Fury chuckles, “I remember, she had her mothers brown coat and Overheats flaming hair. She… she was fun to watch run around the castle.” The red rinin leans back looking sad. “I wonder what happened to her. She was only ten when we sealed ourselves away. Must have been hard on her.” 
“I’m sure she got by, it’s not like we all froze ourselves in stone. My brothers didn’t and many others didn’t either. She probably set her roots down somewhere.” They settle into a confrontable silence. Their two bat pony companions seeming content to talk against themselves. Though if the blush on the mare’s cheeks was any indication, the two probably wouldn’t be here much longer. 
“Um…” Goodnight began, Sweet Dreams hanging off his shoulder, drunkenly hiccupping and giggling. “I’m going to take her home. I’ll see you guys around.”
“Yeah, you have a good night… um… Goodnight, remember what I said about coming by the ship.”
“I will, it was nice meeting you Trifecta, Fierce Fury.”
They wave goodbye to the two bat ponies. They drink a couple more rounds, talking about the old days. Trifecta looks at the clock above the bar, his vision a little blurry. He lost track of how many glasses he’s had tonight. Or what time he even got here tonight. He sways in his seat. Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Misty Fly were all knocked out, snoring on the table. Fury wasn’t looking much better.
“Probably time to call it a night, huh, commander?” He slurs. “We should get these mares home. Where do they live?”
Fury sways, his head dropping on the table. “No idea.”
He lightly cusses. “Well, should we just bring them back to the ship? We can put them in one of the mare’s rooms.”
“Jazz is out of the city, they can go in her room,” Fury agrees. Jazz had her own room, not quite the size of an officers, but it should fit the three mare’s just fine. There should be enough room for all three drunk mares. “I’ll carry Spitfire if you want to get the other two.”
He huffs, tossing Fleetfoot and Misty Fly on his back. “Don’t get too attached, you might end up being related.”
Fury scoffs, “The only mare I was ever with for more than one night was Nightingale and we didn’t have any foals.”
“That you know off,” Trifecta whispers as they leave the bar, Fury paying off the tab. The trip back to the ship was quick, both of them eager to settle down and rest. He was especially tired from running around with Thrice and Trina. The two little foals really wore him out. Their parents had his sympathy. Maybe tomorrow he would go over and talk to Thrice the Fourth or maybe try and find Trinity’s descendants in Nippon. It’d be nice to go there while he had the time. 
He and Fury land on the Nightmare, their talons clicking against the metal flight deck. Quietly they make for Jazz’s room, which was located below the Commander’s quarters. After stealing some extra sheets and pillows from the linens he and Fury set the mare’s in bed and shut the door. 
Fury yawns Trifecta helping him up to his room on the officer’s floor and heads for his own quarters. The officers’ quarters consist of four rooms. One for each of the Commanders and one for Admiral McGather. A small stairway at the end of the hall led up to the Grand Admiral’s, AKA the Princess’s quarters, for when Luna was aboard. Celestia didn’t have a room, but there was a spare bed in Luna’s room in case her sister was aboard. Sixes had been the one behind that decision when the ship was being built. Granted Celestia had occupied Luna’s room during their ten years under her command. 
Stopping at the top of the stairs he notices a wrapped present outside of Sixes' room. Obviously, it was Platinum’s gift to Sixes. Judging from the form, it was a pillow. Knowing Platinum’s tastes, it was probably a really good pillow too. It was honestly kind of sad how hard she tries with Sixes. He would have thought she’d taken a hint from how Sixes treated Crusader on how he treats ponies that see him as a parental figure. 
“He’s not back yet either,” He notes picking up the pillow. It would be a shame to leave it here. So, he picks it up and places it inside Sixes' door. No pony locks their door on this ship, there wasn’t a reason too. He looks around, seeing no sign of Sixes inside. “Guess he’s not coming back tonight.” He mumbles about to shut the door when his eye catches something strange. He opens the door wide again his eye fixed on the corner that held Sixes' armor stand. His armor was gone! “Shit.”
Running out onto deck Trifecta fires a flare into the night sky. He waits, searching for a response. A fireball flies up from the other side of Canterlot. Taking out his gem com he raises Sixes. 
“What are you doing?” 
“I’m on Patrol,” Sixes’s voice growls over the com. 
“You’re on leave, you can’t go on Patrol, Sixes. Come back to the ship, I bet you haven’t slept yet.” Trifecta says worriedly. Remembering the last time this happened. Come morning somepony was going to find something hanging from golden hooks and chains. 
“I slept last night.” Sixes growls over the coms.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t call what you did last night sleeping. Everypony knows you have nightmares.” 
“I don’t have Nightmare’s Trifecta, just bad memories!” The com screams as Sixes' angry voice overloads the communication device. 
“Well, you have a lot of bad memories then. Look just come back to the ship or I’ll…”
“You’ll go to bed, NOW, that’s an order!” Sixes barks, the com going dead. He must have turned it off Trifecta concludes, unable to reconnect. 
The last living Triplet shakes his head, but none the less begins making his way back to his room. He had to follow orders after all.