//------------------------------// // Morning - 1st Part: The Talk. // Story: The Gala's Night // by Bronie312 //------------------------------// Knock, Knock, Knock. The knocking on the door echoed in the silent room. This same silence dominated the place’s environment for quite a while, as a response, the knocking was heard once more, this time, a little louder. Then, a slight growl emanated from the room, although it was too low to be heard from the other side; again, the knocking appeared for the third time and, on this occasion, it was way louder than the first one… “Come in.” Growled a voice, from which a remarkable yawn emerged as well. The door opened and, from there, entered the room a very peculiar looking pony with a dark blue-tone armor; precisely, it was a female bat pony that several ponies knew very well by that moment. The equine walked to the side of the room’s bed and smiled as she looked at the figure that laid on the bed; however, at no moment did she forget her duty and spoke… “Good morning, your majesty.” Greeted the bat pony, though the only response she received was another growl coming from the man that seemed to not have any intention to wake up properly… “*Ahem* ...Your majesty, it’s 7 am.” She commented. “And we both know you have some duties to carry out, sir.” The man finally sighed and replied… “Good morning to you too, Corporal.” Another yawn came from him, though it didn’t seem to disturb the equine since she already had experience dealing with this kind of thing… “You know,” said the half-awake man. “I thought you were sleeping by now.” The Corporal denied with the head while still having a smile on her face… “Ironsight had an incident last night and he’s in the nursery now.” Reported the bat pony, then stepped back once to let the man, named Alfred, sit on the bed’s edge while looking at her with a slightly surprised expression on his face, he asked… “Is he okay?” His preoccupied voice tone reflected how he felt; fortunately, the Corporal reassured him… “Don’t worry, your highness. He’s okay.” She answered. “Though, I think he’s gonna be out of duty for a while.” “That means you’ll be waking me up for a while, huh?” He asked, to which the Corporal nodded and said… “Affirmative, your majesty.” Her tone of voice was a very confident one, which let Alfred know of her self-confidence; he smiled at this while letting a thought go through his mind for a moment before speaking… “I like your self-confidence,” He commented. “It makes me… remember a friend of mine I had some time ago.” The nostalgia on his voice was immediately noticed by the bat pony, who looked at him with some confusion, though she didn’t let him know about it thanks to having an ability to disguise her expressions. She witnessed a slight sad gaze on Alfred’s face while he looked at the floor for an instant before changing it by another one, this being fake. The human got up from the bed and walked towards the mini kitchen on the other side of the room… “I’ll prepare myself some hot chocolate.” He changed the topic, then turned to look at the bat pony and asked her. “Would you like some, Corporal?” His offer definitely took the Corporal by surprise, even her ability to hide her real expressions didn’t help, so she could do nothing but answer honestly… “If… it’s not such a problem-” She then blushed of embarrassment while looking somewhere else to not let him notice that; it worked, and Alfred replied… “Nonsense, Corporal.” He interrupted her. “It would be a pleasure.” The man’s walk continued for a couple of seconds, passing by the armchairs, in which he always spent the coldest nights near a pleasant warmth from the fireplace's fire. Then, when he reached the mini kitchen, he stopped and bent down to pick up a saucepan, then stood up again and placed it on the small stove. He started cooking the drink with such absolute and silent tranquility, which had already become a habit of his, that it also came to worry others at times. The bat pony stood still, staring at the human, for a short time as she realized the significant lack of lighting in the room; this, despite being predominant, was not instantly noticed by her because of her habit of being in the dark. A curious fact about the bat ponies is that, after being in the dark for so long, and with the lack of interaction in the day, they weren't able to distinguish day from night. Their eyes were used to night and day, for them, was not different at all. Then, and without anything else to do, she went to one of the windows and opened its blinds, letting in the light of the young morning with Celestia's sun illuminating everything in its path. After that, the bat pony gave a small smile of satisfaction, she liked to help as much as possible and always cared more to help in exchange for nothing, instead of doing favors only for recognition. She stared at the landscape that the window allowed to see for several minutes, in which, from time to time, a murmur came out of her mouth, though she wasn't able to articulate any words. She just... enjoyed the view and smiled. Definitely one of her favorite things to do, admire a landscape with as much detail as possible, and to watch it completely from the best possible place... And this was one of those moments. However, a somewhat strange sound interrupted her and she turned to look in the direction of where it came from. She looked towards there, but Alfred was the only one present, still preparing the hot chocolate; puzzled, the Corporal approached Alfred to find out if there was a problem. She trotted quickly, albeit with some caution, as she wasn't entirely sure what was going on. When she got next to Alfred, another sniff was heard coming from him; it was then that the bat pony realized that Prince Alfred, co-ruler of Equestria, was on the edge of crying, shedding a few tears as he kept his eyes focused on the hot chocolate, in an attempt to avoid the crying. He may not have realized it, but there was a tear capable of falling on the hot chocolate that was still being cooked. She had never seen this facet from the Prince. Furthermore, never in her life did she think that she would see a member of Equestrian royalty show, even if it is, an expression of pain and/or sorrow on her face; however, there she was, witnessing the outbursts of a man whose feelings and emotions were clear for anypony who was there to see him… Hurt, afflicted, broken… His teary eyes showed nothing but sorrow and the desire to cry uncontrollably. His hands trembled as more time passed and his breathing became more agitated after one last thought passed through his mind, causing him to cry uncontrollably at last… “Feeling any better, sir?” Asked the bat pony as she handed the cup full of hot chocolate to Alfred, who didn’t respond immediately, but instead, he grabbed the cup and stared at it for a moment… “No.” He finally answered. That was the worst possible response the Corporal could have thought, but what she least wanted, ended up happening. Her efforts to calm him seemed to have worked, but it ended up not being that way. Instead, the co-ruler of Equestria from whom so many wonders are talked about was simply sitting on the ground, in tears as his thoughts invaded him at every moment. She knew that this problem was not hers, but she could not help worrying about this human, who was supposed to be some of the best that had existed in Equestria. Then, after finally realizing she had no other option, spoke… “Is there anything I can do for you, your majesty?” The bat pony asked, hoping he could give her an answer she needed to try and help him… Instead of receiving one, what was heard from Alfred’s mouth impressed her… “I need to know one thing… Hook.” He replied, finally talking to her by her name. Corporal Hook looked at him, directly at his eyes, seeing in them desperation, sadness, and need for answers; realizing this, she sighed and nodded while saying… “Anything, sir.” “...How?” The question was… odd. She was not prepared for a question as simple, but at the same time, as complex as that. The confusion was notorious on her; after all, those kinds of questions, without a more explicit explanation, were some of the things he hated about every creature… “Your majesty,” She began saying. “please, I need a more specific question. I can’t help with only a word.” She ended up explaining… “...I mean, how are you able to… go forward?” “My apologies, your highness. But… I don’t understand.” Hook expressed, to which Alfred turned to look at her, only for a moment, before gazing back at the now-cold fireplace… “If you lose all those for who you cared the most and they cared for you… How would it be possible for you... to go forward?” He asked in a cold, but also, broken voice. It took a long time to think of an answer. It's clear that the dilemma Alfred faced was also dependent on her and the answer she would give; she had to admit it, never before was she felt so needed by someone until that moment... She reflected, pondered, and finally had an answer to give… “It’s complicated. I won’t lie to you, your highness.” She said. “Usually, we all think there’s an easy answer to everything, but… it isn’t like that… We all have to go through a lot before achieving anything.” A predominant silence began to emerge in the environment, though Hook wasn’t willing to let that silence dominate her and kept talking… “However,” She added. “There will be always a time in which peace can be reached by ourselves… And, with patience, you may reach that peace very soon. There’ll be suffering, pain… we all go through that, but… that doesn’t mean you have to go through it alone. Maybe, Celestia can help you.” Her conclusion made Alfred barely smile, though it was enough to make her know she had done her job correctly. At some point, Alfred closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, took a deep breath before opening them again, and got up from the floor, being followed by Hook. Then, he looked at her one more time before saying… “Thank you.” The bat pony nodded in response while walking towards the door; she had no intention of disturbing the Prince for more time, instead, she understood that she had done everything on her possibilities and remained satisfied with the result. Right before opening the door and exiting the room, the bat pony turned around to see Alfred staring at her; then, at this, the human said… “Thanks for the talk… it means a lot to me.” He thanked her. “It really does.” “Always an honor, your highness.” Replied the Corporal as she bowed. “And thank you for the hot chocolate, sir.” Alfred smiled one last time and responded. “Always a pleasure, Corporal Hook.” Both of them nodded at each other for the last time. Then, at that moment, Hook opened the door and exited the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Alfred alone, once more… with his thoughts... Always… TO BE CONTINUED...