Lemon Zest, the Crystal Prep girl who is never normally seen without her headphones on, is seen walking towards a school field.
Said field belonged to the rival school.
On that field, was someone Lemon Zest was there to spy on for her gains.
That someone.
Fire Step.
She had blended in with the crowd around her as she watched her boyfriend train with the team and put in some crunching tackles against the slackers.
Once she got into a spare seat near the touchline, she watched intently as the team was hard at work before the game against the New Zebraland All Blacks tonight.
This was to decide who goes to the School’s World Cup in first place out of the two qualification spots in Qualification Group C.
“THAT’S IT FIRE STEP, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!”
Night Fang shouts to his star defender before turning to his assistants, Rainbow Dash and Soarin and says.
“OK guys, looking at this team of players, who can we rely on for tonight’s game against the All Blacks?”
With a look at her clipboard and reports, Rainbow relayed her notes to the head coach.
“We need to bench Midnight for this game, we can’t risk injury to one of our midfield players in a qualifier.
Plus with the physicality that the opposition is known for in all areas, Fire Step is gonna have a hell of a task to keep out Rakiti, their star No. 7.
We need to toughen the team up coach, otherwise, we might as well kiss our world cup hopes goodbye.”
Night Fang nods before turning to Soarin.
“Suggested team sheet Soarin?”
Soarin hands Night Fang the team sheet but ends up shouting when he sees what is written on it.
“WHAT!”
Rainbow and Soarin cringe before Night looks at Soarin.
“I can’t play this formation Soarin, it’s not how I do things.”
The whole team looked at Night Fang with weirded out looks before he shouted at them to get their asses back in gear.
Once he’d done that, he looked back at his coaching staff before looking at the sheets again and sighing.
“I’ll consider it you guys, thanks.”
With that Night Fang called a halt to the training session and gathered the team around him and his coaching staff before saying.
“OK guys and girls, good session today, now, onto the main focus at hand.”
Night Fang looks at his team before grabbing the team sheet from Soarin and getting in the middle of his players and discussing tactics.
With Lemon Zest
After watching her boyfriend for a good few minutes before the session was brought to a close, she made her way over to him as he and his teammates were ready to hit the showers.
By that, I mean, she jumps on her boyfriends back and holds on while he tries to get her off.
She couldn’t help but laugh as the two tumbled onto the grass below them and Fire Step had Lemon Zest pinned beneath him.
“That’s a pin.”
Fire Step says victoriously until Lemon licks his cheek, making him lose his grip on the girl before she switched the positions on Step, now he was the one pinned.
The spectacle caused everyone to laugh at Fire Step, including Lemon Zest.
It was all broken up when Midnight walked over and tapped Lemon lightly on the back with his studded boot.
“Hello there Zest, what brings you to our training session when it’s finished?”
Lemon looks up at the other male before saying.
“Hey, dude, it’s mine and Fire’s date night tonight and maybe he’ll attempt to be romantic this time instead of some snooze fest in eastern Fillydelphia.”
The minute Fire Step was reminded it was his date night tonight, his face paled.
It was the final qualification game tonight against the All Blacks, but then again it wasn’t the first time he’d bailed on a date to play soccer.
Remember Road Block, he did just that to her while playing for the Rangers in the Super League.
“Right, that, I’m sure I’ll see you tonight baby, it’s just with tonight’s game, I nearly forgot.”
Lemon nods at her boyfriend's words before saying herself.
“Hey it’s cool, had I known myself, I’d have made coming to your game against the all blacks then hitting a burger joint our date night tonight.”
Fire Step couldn’t help but chuckle at his girlfriend's carefree nature.
The same couldn’t be said for Night Fang.
Night Fang’s Office
Going over the suggested team sheet by his staff then going over his notes from the time he played against the All Blacks.
One thing still haunted Night Fang to this day.
That damn penalty which got him kicked from the team after the School’s World Cup semi-finals, the same year the All Blacks won the competition against Crystal Prep.
“I don’t want my team to buckle under the same pressure I did back then.”
Despite his best attempts to stay calm, his desk was soon tipped over and he screamed so much profanity, he wouldn’t be surprised if the whole school heard him.
Night Fang and Sunset’s Home, That Afternoon
Sat at the kitchen table, scrunched up paper at the side of him from all the ideas he deemed stupid.
Night Fang was in a bind.
“Can Midnight even play left midfield if I move Scootaloo into the strike position?”
Night couldn’t help but ruffle his hair in frustration at the frustrating tactics he had to pick out against an opponent Canterlot High has never beaten.
Not even coach Spitfire could come up with something against this formidable opponent.
His frustration eased when a voice spoke.
“Daddy?”
Night looked up from where his head was laying and saw his five-year-old daughter, Crescent Rain looking at him curiously before he acknowledged her.
“Hey sweetheart, can I get you anything?”
Crescent took a seat next to her frustrated father before pulling over the sheet towards her.
“No daddy, momma sent me in here to check on you, she was worried you were losing your marbles, as she put it, over this whole thing with the soccer team.”
Night Fang couldn’t help but chuckle at his wife’s assessment over the predicament he was in before he noticed his daughter take the pen from him before she began doodling on his tactics sheet.
He was about to take the sheet from his daughter until he saw what she was doing.
She was marking certain spots on the sheet with neatly drawn lines, he’d have to thank her aunt Twilight for teaching her.
She had her mother’s brains.
“OK daddy, here is your sheet back, I'm going to go read with momma now, hope you win tonight.”
Crescent kissed her dad on the cheek before she left the room with her teddy in her arms.
Looking at the sheet, Night couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Crescent, you are a little genius!”
On the sheet, his daughter had made a 5-3-2 formation with attacking full-backs, she even noted that Scootaloo could play strike with another striker instead of Light Speed since he was out for the world cup.
She had placed Fire Step on his preferred right-hand side of the field since he is left-footed at the right wing-back position, meaning he can get up and support the midfield or strikers if needed or get in amongst the goals as he had done before.
Crescent had placed the back five as the following:
His daughter had even named Midnight as the captain, which surprised him, he never thought Midnight could lead a team, let alone against the All Blacks.
But he couldn’t let his daughter down, she had drawn this sheet up for him and he planned on using it.
Canterlot Stadium, Later That Night
Once the team were getting changed into their home kit for tonight’s game, Night Fang walked in, the smile never leaving his face before his assistant Soarin called for the team's attention.
Once Night was sure he had the teams attention, he spoke.
“With Light Speed out now until after the world cup and my little girl getting a hold of my team sheet.
I am running a 5-3-2 formation, meaning, Spring Clean and Fire Step, you are on the left and right wing-back positions respectively, you will be flanking the four centre backs which are, Cloud Chaser, Spring Clean, Blackheart and Applebloom who I am removing from second-choice goalkeeper to play at centre back.”
Applebloom looked on pleasantly surprised by the fact that she was being moved outfield for a change instead of waiting on Emerald to get injured just to get game time.
“The three central midfielders are, Coal Dust, Sunny Rays and Midnight Fang.”
Scrap nodded in approval at the three chosen over him, he didn’t mind being an impact substitution for the guys and girls as long as it wasn’t for an injury.
“Of course, my two strikers are Scootaloo and Crystal Shield with Tail Wind and Light Patch being the substitute strikers.”
Scootaloo and Shield high fived before Night Fang brought out the captains armband.
“Normally, I know who I would normally pick for this, but, my daughter had other ideas when she drew up this game plan.”
Everyone got a shock when, instead of walking over to Fire Step with the armband, he walked over to Midnight with it and nearly gave the male a heart attack.
“You are my daughters choice for captain Midnight, do you accept?”
Midnight gulped before looking over at Fire Step who couldn’t help but smirk and give him the thumbs up, genuinely happy for his best friend before Midnight nods and says.
“I accept coach.”
A small cheer goes up in the changing rooms while Midnight places the armband on his right arm before standing upfront with his vice-captain Fire Step and Coach Night Fang before clearing his throat of any nervousness and saying.
“Tonight, we face one of our greatest challenges before we enter the world cup in two months, the All Blacks have run riot on the Wondercolts for far too long and I say it’s time we went out there and showed them we aren’t here to lose, BUT WE ARE HERE TO FIGHT!”
The changing room erupts into cheers before the announcement for the teams to make their way to the tunnels sounds before Midnight leads the team out to the tunnel.
Tunnel
Once the team are standing in a straight line and ready to exit the tunnel out onto the field.
Coach Night Fang makes his way to the bench with his assistants and the subs for tonight’s game, much to the applause of the home crowd and the derision of the away crowd who remembered him from the World Cup semifinal.
He didn’t let it get to him as he took his seat with Soarin and Rainbow before the home team made their way out first to ‘The Touch’ by Stan Bush, much to the home crowds adulation.
Night Fang noticed the nervousness on his new captains face but decided that his human counterpart would rise tonight against a much tougher opponent.
The Field
Midnight hated the fact that all eyes were on him to lead the team tonight over a huge hill called the All Blacks.
Led by Rakiti, the all-female team was a fearsome sight to behold.
The ten-time School’s World Cup Champions had fielded a slightly weaker team which was to compete with the inferior team.
But Rakiti would still lead this secondary team.
Once the referee had the two All Blacks players in the centre circle with the ball, she blew the whistle and the game began.
First Half
6th Minute
The game had only just reached the six-minute mark before we get the first foul of the game.
It involved All Blacks Number 12, Cakuta, wiping out Coal Dust when he had the ball with an almost leg-breaking tackle,
leading to a straight red card for the midfielder, leaving the female team with just ten women.
19th Minute
First blood to the All Blacks, scored by Rakiti after a superb one-woman effort to get around the five defenders before chipping it over Emerald with ease.
Her celebration included doing the cut-throat motion to Night Fang in the dugout before joining her team for the restart.
Canterlot Wondercolts: 0 – 1: New Zebraland All Blacks
23rd Minute
No sooner had Canterlot tried to get some momentum going, the All Blacks snuffed them out again, this time Wakata, All Blacks number 3, nearly snapped Scootaloo’s legs when she was clear on the All Black’s goalkeeper, Logati.
Scootaloo punched the ground in frustration when the ball was booted up the field.
28th Minute
A second goal for the All Blacks.
This time scored by All Blacks Number 8, Kintoni, with an assist from a Rakiti volleyed pass from the side of the box before the awaiting player sent the ball almost through the net with a powerful header.
Night Fang was growing increasingly frustrated by his team's lack of commitment to wanting to win as the other team was just embarrassing them now.
Canterlot Wondercolts: 0-2: New Zebraland All Blacks
39th Minute
Night Fang couldn’t help but hide his face behind his clipboard when the All Blacks number 7, Sikula, nutmegged the goalkeeper to put her team three up.
Night wanted this half to end so he could give his players a kick up the ass.
But for now, he just hoped his wife wasn’t in the stands watching this disaster play out.
Canterlot Wondercolts: 0-3: New Zebraland All Blacks
40th Minute
Night Fang was thanking his lucky stars that some of his players knew how to play when Midnight scored to salvage the game from the brink of humiliation for CHS.
With the help of Fire Step’s powerful long pass, Midnight dodged Sikula before doing a roulette nutmeg to the other two midfielders and leapfrogging the defender before hitting a venomous shot into the middle of the net just above the keepers head.
It was like those three unanswered goals had awoken something in Midnight as he slid on his knees towards the home fans and saluted them.
Canterlot Wondercolts: 1-3: New Zebraland All Blacks
45th +1 minute Injury time
Something had changed in the Wondercolts thanks to their captain's goal and it showed when they started using their wing-backs more as Fire Step nearly took Rakiti’s head off with a high kick straight to her face in the penalty area.
Leading to a mass brawl between all the players on the field.
When it eventually calmed down, Fire Step himself was red-carded and Rakiti was walked off the field with a concussion and a gash on the side of her head.
The confidence in the All Blacks faces soon vanished when they noticed that the Wondercolts had found their weakness now.
Setting up the penalty, Kolata, All Blacks number 65, notices Emerald preparing to send this game to the end of the first half by possibly saving this penalty.
With a deep breath before the referee’s whistle, Kolata hits it in the sweet spot, only for Emerald to use his height and tip it over the bar before the referee called an end to the first half.
END OF THE FIRST HALF
“Now I don’t normally approve of such tactics guys but just to see the cockiness wiped off their faces, that was just pure bliss.”
Night Fang was saying to his ten players who were all holding their respective aching body parts.
The first half had been tough on Night Fang’s team and it showed.
It was only Midnight who was bouncing about on his seat, ready to inflict more damage to the All Blacks.
Night Fang couldn’t help but smirk at his captain before speaking again.
“Now since we are down to ten men, I think it’s time we ran the 4-4-2 where wing-backs are no longer needed, instead, Spring Clean you are moving to right midfield while Scrap will partner his usual 3 in midfield on the right-hand side of midfield.”
Spring Clean nods before Night turns to Crystal Shield.
“Crystal Shield, you will be partnering one of the newbies, make sure she gets comfortable up top as you partner Tail Winds instead of Scootaloo.”
Crystal nods before giving Tail Winds a soft punch to the arm in encouragement before Night Fang continues.
“Now that the selection nightmare is over, go out there and give them hell guys, even though it doesn’t matter if we win this game or not, we need to make a statement and keep second place.”
The team let out noises of agreement before they rose out of their seats to head to the tunnel for the second half.
The Stands
Making his way to the stands after his first-half red card, Fire’s first thought was to try and find his girlfriend while holding two hot dogs and two cups of cola and lemonade.
Finding the green and yellow-haired girl wasn’t too hard, she was sat with Baton, Lily, Wallflower and Equestria Sunset who had her son and daughter with her to watch the game.
Lily was the first to spot him.
“Here comes the psycho now, did you enjoy nearly taking the oppositions captain head off?”
Fire Step chuckles at Lily before sitting in the empty seat next to Lemon and besides Wallflower before he answers the female.
“Let’s just say, Rakiti wasn’t expecting someone to bring the fight to her.”
He says this while handing his girlfriend her drink and food before he bites into his food ready to watch the second half.
Second Half
46th Minute
As though a light switch had been turned on, The All Blacks were facing a different Canterlot than in the first half.
No one had ever seen Tail Winds play in the Wondercolts colours but the teen was tearing apart the All Blacks defence until an All Blacks defender upended her, only for the ball to fall to Sunny Rays forty yards out as the midfielder flicked it over Kokoda before he hit a stunning left-footed half volley which nestled into the top corner of the net.
Night Fang couldn’t believe his eyes, neither could his wife in the stands, the last time someone did that against the All Blacks was Loki in the final of the Inter-Nations Shield eight years ago.
Canterlot Wondercolts: 2-3: New Zebraland All Blacks
48th Minute
The All Blacks had the ball, only to run into a tackle from Applebloom, which freed the ball, only for it to drop to an All Blacks striker who struck it with some power, only for Blackheart to volley the ball away towards Sunny Rays who did a one-two pass with Scrap Shot before Sunny does a lobbed through ball pass to Tail Winds who smashes her shot against the post and out for an All Blacks throw.
55th Minute
Night Fang was thanking his lucky stars for the good start his team was on for the second half and his relief showed when Blackheart dispossessed the All Blacks midfielder before she even got close to the box before going on a blistering run upfield.
“RUN FOREST, RUN!”
Fire shouts from the stands as Blackheart takes on the All Blacks before laying the ball off to Crystal Shield to smash the ball home into the net, sending the home crowd into ballistics while Crystal Shield saluted his coach and teammates before running back into position.
Game on.
Canterlot Wondercolts: 3-3: New Zebraland All Blacks
65th Minute
The close calls kept piling up for the Wondercolts.
Not only was Emerald set upon eighteen times by the All Blacks strikers, but by the midfield too.
When it looked like the All Blacks had gone back into the lead, it was ruled offside by the lineswoman, making the All Blacks coach, Zecora, go mad down on the touchline.
Night Fang, however, was the opposite, he nearly had a heart attack on the touchline, resulting in Light Patch trying to revive her coach.
78th Minute
Opportunity knocked again for Tail Winds, this time with help from a lobbed pass from Scrap Shot before she attempted a rabona shot only for the keeper to catch it, leading to the seventeen-year-old growing increasingly frustrated until Crystal calmed her down and told her to think straight.
85th Minute
Foul against the Wondercolts.
Blackheart had brought down Lakota outside the penalty area with an elbow to the face.
He was lucky to get a warning, he wasn’t so lucky that it was so close to the end of the game and Rakiti had returned to the field after telling the doctors she was OK to continue, plus, the kick was placed in her speciality area as well.
With the wall stood firm, Rakiti looked at the row of stoic faces who now showed no fear by her presence compared to earlier, she smirked.
When the referee’s whistle blew, Rakiti struck it true and it should have been a goal.
Except, she had shot the ball in the path of Emerald, who had caught the ball with one hand in front of him, making the Canterlot crowd sigh in relief as the man from the Emerald Isles smirked.
90th + 3 Minutes Injury Time
With one long throw from Emerald and the game nearly ready to be over, the ball fell kindly to Scrap, who roulette turned two midfielders before lobbing it to Spring Clean who nutmegged his opposite number before through balling it into the path of Crystal Shield who was clear on goal.
Only for Logati to wipe out Crystal with a straight clothesline.
The Canterlot crowd went ballistic at what had happened before Crystal nipped up and looked at the injured goalkeeper who had broken her arm trying to take him out.
Penalty awarded to Canterlot.
Midnight Fang to take the final kick of the game.
Night Fang with his head in his hands and hoping for the best.
This was it.
Midnight placed the ball on the spot and walked back five paces before standing with his hands on his hips and looking at the hurt Logati right in the eyes.
“Come on Midnight.”
Baton says to herself as she is nearly biting her fingernails at the tense moment playing out before her.
The girls beside her didn’t dare look away.
Fire Step was at the edge of his seat.
Midnight looked at the crowds who had gone silent just for this penalty before he looked at the referee about to blow her whistle.
Once the whistle blows, Midnight makes his move.
With the bated breath from his girlfriend, teammates and coaches, the ball left Midnight’s weak left foot.
And buried itself into the middle of the net after Logati dived the wrong way.
Once the whistle blew to end the game, Midnight looked around at the silent arena before realisation sunk in when he looked at the scoreboard.
FULL TIME
Final Score:
Canterlot Wondercolts: 4-3: New Zebraland All Blacks
The crowd went into ballistics before the whole crowd rushed the pitch and swamped Midnight.
Midnight had broken the curse of never beating the All Blacks and Night Fang couldn’t believe the noise coming from the sidelines.
The celebrations on the pitch would live on in the minds of all the Canterlot Wondercolts in attendance.
But now, an even bigger fate awaits with the draw for the 2019 School’s World Cup in Africa.
Night Fang’s House
“Man, what a night to remember, huh Midnight?”
Baton says to her boyfriend who nods at his girlfriend while he is seen eating popcorn while his Equestria counterpart is sat on the other couch with his wife and kids getting ready for the draw.
Fire Step is stood behind the couch with Lemon Zest while Scrap is by himself since Wallflower wanted to stay at her parent's house tonight.
“I wonder who we’ll get in the group stage since there are sixty-four teams and us, Crystal Prep and The All Blacks are three teams out of the sixty-four.”
Sunset nods before she turns the television over to the sports channel that is covering the World Cup draw as a voice speaks up from the TV.
“Welcome everyone, to the 2019 School’s World Cup Draw for the group stage.”
The silence was deafening as the announcer began explaining the format.
“Now for first-time viewers or to the teams making their debut in this edition of the cup, here is how the School’s World Cup works:
Now to make the draw for groups A through to F, first we have a five-time cup winner with the Trottingham High Red Devils and their current coach, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, Pitch Fork!”
Night Fang couldn’t believe how badly time had aged a School’s World Cup icon from Granny Smiths time at CHS in the fifty's.
Sunset couldn’t believe the guy was still alive at seventy-four years old.
“And to make the draw for Groups G to L, she is the all-time leading goalscorer with sixteen goals in a single competition in the same year as of when she led the All Blacks to their recent tenth world title over Crystal Prep four years ago, ladies and gentlemen, Rakiti!”
Night Fang knew Rakiti was tough but to go on stage with a bandage over the side of her head, man, he had to show some respect for the All Blacks captain for not caring about whether she was injured or not.
“Now, Pitch Fork, if you’d like to get the tumbler going, we are ready to begin the draw for Group A of the 2019 School’s World Cup”
The two ladies at the side of the tumbler began to spin the container five times before Pitch Fork reached in and pulled the first ball out of the tumbler.
Unscrewing the ball and pulling out the paper, he unfolds it before showing it to the camera and saying.
“New Zebraland All Blacks.”
The woman speaks while Pitch Fork is choosing the next team.
“New Zebraland qualified after topping group C almost convincingly, only suffering defeat once all through qualification to the Canterlot Wondercolts.”
The next ball is drawn and the paper is pulled from the container as Pitch announces the name of…
“Trottingham Red Devils.”
“The Red Devil’s qualify after Canterlot High won the Regional school’s cup in the final against Crystal Prep, they were the third-placed team in Qualification group C and only qualify due to Canterlot electing to qualify again instead of automatic qualification to the finals in Africa.”
When the next team is chosen, Night Fang and Sunset are pleasantly surprised by who is announced.
“The third team in Group A is the Tokyo Lightnings, they qualified after beating Chineighese side, the Beijing Raptors in a best of 7 series to decide who qualified out of the four Asian countries.”
“The Lightning, this should be a good challenge for New Zebraland, Tokyo is unbeaten twenty years running in their school league.”
Night Fang states to everyone in the room who looks at him pleasantly surprised, except for Sunset, she just rolls her eyes at her husband having a, what she calls a ‘Twilight Moment’ by stating facts about stuff he cares about.
The last draw was made for group A as they heard…
“Melbourne Razorbacks.”
“Australian School League Champions in 2018, beating North Sydney Mariners in the play-off final in the 2018/19 Outback league. With that draw, here is the full group A table.”
Group A
Hours Later
“And that rounds up the group D draw as we see Everfree Timberwolves take on Mareami Sunshine from western Amarerica, South Africa High School All-Stars and the Jamaica Rasta men.”
Once the screen changes to the next group which is Group E before the presenter speaks.
“Next up is the draw for Group E, still to be drawn are the Regional School Cup champions, the Canterlot Wondercolts and Crystal Prep Academy.”
“With a long rivalry between the two schools main teams, the Wondercolts and the Shadowbolts, will this rivalry be put to the test at the world cup this summer?”
The draw begins with Pitch Fork reaching into the tumbler and pulling the first ball out of the container for group E.
The first name announced, well…
“Starting off Group E, the Canterlot Wondercolts.”
Night Fang’s house was rocking at the announcement, they were just glad they’d avoided drawing the All Blacks in the group stage.
Rakiti on screen looked like she’d just tasted a lemon for the first time at the fact her team was denied a rematch against Canterlot.
Midnight couldn’t help but laugh at Rakiti’s face.
“Canterlot Wondercolts, the only team to beat New Maresland All Blacks in 2019 and despite being regional cup champions in the 2018/19 season, opted to qualify again so Trottingham took the regional spot instead of Canterlot.”
Now that the Wondercolts had been announced, everyone in Night Fang’s house held their collective breathes on who would join them in the group before News Reader announced the next team Pitch Fork had picked.
“The next team to join the Wondercolts in Group E is the Vanhoover Wildcats, a team making their World Cup debut after qualifying third in their group behind the Mareami Sunshine and the Chicago Windies, who are in World Cup Group B.”
With that, Pitch Fork made the next selection and pulled at a name Sunset wasn’t expecting to hear.
“Next up, we have the Emerald Isle Centurions, led by captain Emerald Glimmer, The Emeralds qualified for the cup by finishing top of the 18/19 Jewel League by twenty clear points of the Ruby Island Polecats.”
“Looks like I’ve got a selection nightmare for a goalkeeper again since Emerald is our number one shot-stopper between the sticks.”
Night Fang says before his wife pipes up.
“You’ve got plenty of goalkeeper options since Applebloom moved to centre back, I’m sure Misty Skies will be happy to be a second choice keeper for the team.”
Night Fang nods at the fair assessment before the last team is due to be announced.
“And to round out Group E, Pitch Fork has drawn...The Crystal Prep Shadowbolts.”
Group E
The silence was deafening in Night Fang and Sunset’s house that night.
They went from avoiding New Zebraland to getting their cross-town rivals in their group.
Let’s just say Lemon didn’t want to look her boyfriend or the others in the eyes once her school was announced.
Later That Night
Once the two members of his team and their girlfriends had gone home, Night Fang did his duty as a father and was reading his daughter a bedtime story before tucking her in and kissing her goodnight before heading to his room.
Night Fang and Sunset’s Bedroom
The sight that awaited the male was one of amusement.
Night Fang had found his wife fast asleep at her desk trying to do some late-night test marking, making the male chuckle quietly.
“You work too hard baby.”
Night says quietly before slowly taking Sunset’s reading glasses off before picking up his beloved from her chair bridle style and moving her over to the bed.
Once he made sure Sunset was comfy under the covers, Night Fang stripped down to his boxer shorts and quietly got into bed.
Once he set a sleep track going, he pulled the covers over him before getting comfortable.
Once he thought he was comfortable and his wife had her arms around him in her sleep, Night Fang drifted off to sleep.