To Befriend the Night

by LucidTech


Chapter Three

        Luna took another sip of her tea, looking across the table toward Hendrick as she did so. The stallion seemed to be trying to figure out the tea cup in front of him. Occasionally, he would look toward the handle of the cup with particular intensity before returning to scanning the remainder of the mug, as if looking for something that might be hidden on the plain white cup.

        As he went about doing... whatever it was he was doing, Luna’s mind went back to the events of the previous few days. After a second article by Front Page, the citizens of Canterlot had started trickling into the night court, intrigued by the idea of asking the pariah princess any questions they deemed important. A few of which were not unlike those that Celestia dealt with during the day.

        She had also started to host events, small parties and the like, at which a few ponies would arrive to talk to her and to socialize. Whenever she planned such an event, she invited Hendrick, only to have him decline the offer, stating that he wasn’t good with social events. She could always have ordered him to attend, but she didn’t want to force something on the jittery stallion. With that in mind, she had finally managed to hook him into having a calming tea with her in the afternoon. Though, now, she wasn’t sure if that had been such a good idea, given the distrust he showed as he looked at the tea in front of him.

        The lunar princess let this continue for a moment longer before smiling, “Can I help you with anything?” The sound of her voice caused Hendrick to stiffen in his seat, directing all his attention to Luna now that she had spoken up. “You seem to have been stumped by your tea cup.” She nodded toward the offending porcelain and sipped some more of her tea.

        “Ah, no, yes, I just....” He looked toward the cup once again, then faced Luna, his expression displaying frustration. “How am I supposed to pick it up?”

        It took all of Luna’s restraint to not spit tea in response. After a swallow to make sure her mouth was liquid free, she looked at Hendrick to see if he had been joking. Seeing no sign of joviality in his face, she smiled politely once again. “You put your hooves on either side of the cup and pick it up, of course.”

“Ah, I see...” His gaze went to the handle again. “But then, why is there a spot for me to pick it up from?”

“That is for griffins and any other visiting foreigners who may visit.”

“Griffins. Of course, how silly of me to forget.” He seemed distracted once again and his voice had taken on a tone that made the princess suspect he had just learned of the existence of the winged carnivores.

 “Well, here goes nothing then.” Hesitantly, he reached out for the cup with both forelimbs and pressed his hooves against either side. Lifting it shakily off the table, Hendrick brought the cup to his lips. Just as he was about to sip from it however, his right hoof twitched, sending the scalding tea all over his chest.

Instead of jumping from his seat as Luna expected the fidgety stallion to do, he sat perfectly still, inhaling sharply through his teeth and giving off a hissing noise. “Are you alright, Hendrick? Here let me wipe that off for you.” A nearby napkin was surrounded in blue magic and it had started approaching him when he flinched away.

“N-no thanks, I’m fine.” Hendrick reached across the table and grabbed a napkin of his own in his teeth, then pressed it against his soaked fur with a hoof. After letting the fabric soak up the majority of the hot tea, he looked towards Luna once again.“Do you have a straw?”


        Luna watched from the balcony as Hendrick left the castle grounds, his unsteady steps making him easy to differentiate from all the other ponies. He was indeed different, like a newborn foal pretty much. Yet, he seemed much more mature than he was letting on. More mature than even the princesses, though neither Luna nor her sister would admit it.

        This was where her thoughts led her as she watched the odd stallion walk slowly toward Canterlot. What must his life have been like where he was from? According to Front Page, he had said that everyone was made fun of a lot more than they were around Canterlot, but Luna found that hard to believe.

        As far as the princess was aware, no such place existed anywhere within Equestria, and she doubted that he had come from any of the other regions. He was most definitely a pony, on the surface at least, but beneath that, he seemed like some odd animal she had never seen before. Every situation seemed to not only change him for the moment, but he seemed to absorb his hardships and evolve from them.

        Her mind danced across the topic for a moment before she let loose a heavy sigh. Maybe she would never know. Hendrick seemed quite keen on giving away as little information as possible and it was not in her place to pry. Still... a little research couldn’t hurt.

        As she turned away from the view, she looked once more to the table and smiled softly to herself. Sitting upon the piece of furniture were the two teacups as well as the kettle, still giving off steam as the heat enchanted steel kept the liquid warm. However, one of the cups had a blue straw drooping lazily out of the side.

As she magicked away all the dishes to the kitchen, her mind couldn’t help but replay a line that the stallion said when asked about the specifics of the straw.

“Do you have one in blue? It’s such a calming color.”


        Shining Armor laughed amongst his guards as they made their way toward Steers, a bar that had become a regular place for the entire castle staff. It was his and his contingent’s day off, having left the night guard in charge of palace security in their absence, and they planned on having one heck of a drinking night.

It had, of course, taken some extra persuasion on the captain’s part to get away from his wife. He loved her as he always had, but they had come to a mutual understanding that he appreciated some ‘guy time’ with the guards. The only thing they had left to ‘discuss’ was when it was okay for him to take it.

Excitement buzzed through the air as they all made light hearted jokes, preparing for a night of joviality as they made their way across the streets to the bar. A few were old enough to remember when the building had been built, and it was on the brink of bankruptcy when the guards made it their designated hang out. The reason for its declining state prior to that had been due to the snooty nobles that, even now, viewed the building as an eye sore.

Picking up his pace slightly, Shining Armor took the lead and opened the doors to the bar first, entering ahead of the rest of the stallions. The barkeep turned with a smile and nodded to the captain, who returned the greeting. As each of the guards made their way to open seats, Shining spotted a familiar pony he would never have expected to find here.

        “Hey, Hendrick! Didn’t think I would see you here!” The stallion in question turned to see the approaching captain and smiled softly.

        “Hello.”

        “I never would’ve pegged you for a drinking fellow,” the captain said before ordering a drink from the barkeep.

        “I’m not here for drinks, I’m here for the atmosphere,” Hendrick said, the smile still on his face as he looked around the bar.

        “What do you mean, ‘here for the atmosphere’?”

        “Well...” At the mere tone of the word, Shining Armor was sorry he had asked. “The bar in and of itself is probably the most common in regards to where I come from. Of course, there are bars where you go just to get drunk, and to rabble rouse, but occasionally, you find a bar, like this one, that turns all the rules of social interaction on its head. Any two ponies can become friends in a matter of moments, no precursors required. Just bumping into another being can net you a friend for life. It’s not the bar itself that does it. It’s the general feeling of camaraderie in the air, and that’s something that I haven’t seen magic able to replicate.”

        The stallion looked into his clear drink, which Shining Armor now realized was water. “Sometimes, I get a little homesick, Captain, and just the feeling in the air of this bar is enough to put those fears to rest. It’s just such a unique place...” The smile still on his face, he looked towards the white unicorn. “I’m sorry Captain, I seem to be blathering on. Go ahead and join your guards for some drinks. I think I’ll just stay a little while and breath in this comfort.”

        “If you say so,” the captain said, completely lost as to what had just been said. “I’ll see ya later then, Hendrick.” After a nod, Shining Armor stood from his seat and started walking towards the stallions who had all seated themselves, finding that a drinking fight had broken out to the cheers of ‘chug, chug, chug!’

        Hendrick turned the barstool to face the greater portion of the bar. After a moment, he began to hum a tune before building into a soft song. “...where everybody knows your name.”

        The events of the bar were familiar to the tightly knit stallions of the guard. Drinks, jokes, and laughter filled the air as they each took part in this moment while they had it. But time was limited and, before long, they had to get back to their jobs.

        As the slightly tipsy guards prepared to head back to the castle to take up their duties once again, the captain glanced over to where Hendrick had been at the start of the night, only to find the seat empty. He smiled softly to himself and walked out of the bar, the last of his group to do so.  “Wonder what he does during the day...”


        Vinyl Scratch slowly walked the streets, carefully, so as to avoid tripping. Next to her was her dearest friend, Octavia, the one pony the DJ knew who didn’t treat her like a handicap. They had set up a lunch date, and Vinyl couldn’t help but smile as she felt her body wrapped in the comforting energy Octavia gave off wherever she went.

        The DJ had tried to explain the intricacies of her magic senses to the earth pony, but in the end, it ended up the same way it did when Octavia tried to explain what she could see. Despite that, the conversation still came up occasionally. 

“Oh.” Octavia’s voice cut the chat short though, filled with worry as it was. “A beggar, poor soul. You don’t see many of those.” She approached the pony, but Vinyl was trying to find the pony with her own sense. There was someone there, but they seemed... blurred.

        The sound of metal hitting metal reached the DJ’s ears as she heard Octavia give some money to the bit-less stallion. Then, they walked on.

Just before the suppressed magical signature faded away completely, it sparked, and the blind unicorn felt the all too familiar energy of the pony who had revitalized Front Page those few days ago.

        Vinyl spun around, trying in vain to find the energy again. She felt a hoof touch her side and she became aware of Octavia standing near her, worried from her sudden action. “Do you see that beggar anywhere?” the DJ asked, turning her head to the cellist to indicate who she was talking to.

        Octavia squinted her eyes, looking into the distance where she had seen the poor pony a few minutes prior, only to find him no longer there. “No, I guess he moved on. Why? Is something the matter, Vinyl?”

        “N-no, I don’t think so. Just thought I knew him for a second.” The DJ turned back around, losing her balance as she stumbled into another stone. Octavia quickly balanced her out and smiled, though the unicorn couldn’t see it.

        “We should get to lunch, then. I hear that they came up with a new sandwich that I think you’re going to love.”

        Vinyl returned a smile of her own and nodded. “Lead the way.”