//------------------------------// // The Night What? // Story: Night Day Harmony // by Bass Blitz //------------------------------// Chapter 2 //:The Night What? The guard was sleeping peacefully in his cot before he was awoken by the voice of a calm mare. “Shine time to wake up!” Shining Steel slowly opened one eye to find out who was trying to get him out of bed and out of the corner of his eye he saw a lone grey figure beside his bed. “Derpy! What do you want I’m trying to sle-” Shine stopped mid-sentence when he noticed something unusual with his commander. Her eyes were no longer the regular gold colour, but a deep crimson red instead. Another thing that Shine noticed was that Derpy was smiling, but not a friendly smile he was used to seeing, but an evil, even sadistic kind, showing off a very menacing set of fangs which seemed very realistic. “Derpy do you mind taking your Nightmare Night costume off? This really isn’t funny.” He asked her, but Derpy didn’t listen to him, her smile growing bigger. “You broke your Pinkie Promise and now you’re going to pay the price,” she said, licking her lips. Shine was now wide awake and breaking into a nervous sweat after hearing what Derpy said. “W-what b-b-but I haven’t t-told anypony what happened last night,” he stammered nervously. Derpy started leaning closer to Shining Steel, who was trying to escape, but felt that he was pinned down by some invisible force. Derpy was now face to face with Shining Steel, who was trembling in fear. “Calm down Shine, you will only feel a tiny prick then it will be all over.” Shine closed his eyes and prepared for the worst when Derpy opened her mouth to bite down on his neck. Also to provoke more fear into Shine, all of the lights went out, leaving only the glowing red eyes of the vampony Derpy. *Oh sweet Celestia help me! I’m too young to die!* Shining thought to himself, suddenly feeling the fangs pierces into his neck. “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Shining Steel sat up in his bed, instinctively touching his neck with his hoof, feeling for any sign of the bite, sighing when he found nothing. “Just a dream, it’s just a dream.” As soon as he finished the sentence, he noticed a flash of grey moving next to him, sending a cold shiver down his spine. “AHHHH PLEASE DON”T EAT ME!” He panicked, throwing his arms up in self-defence. Derpy raised an eyebrow, confused at Shine’s reaction to her. “What? What do you mean EAT YOU?” Shine froze for a second, Taking the time to get a better look at Derpy, realising that the eyes were no longer the menacing crimson red and that Derpy no longer had any fangs protruding from her mouth. Shine immediately felt a little heat rise in his cheeks. “Umm n-nothing” Derpy laughed at Shine, who was blushing even deeper than before. “Uh huh… Anyway, I came into your room to ask if you wanted to join me for breakfast.” “Umm sure, I will join you,” Shine replied with a smile. Walking towards the door, Derpy glanced back at Shine. “Great! I will wait outside your room for you because there are two things I want you to do first.” “And what will those two things be?” Shine asked, curious as to what Derpy would want him to do. Derpy just laughed. “Well first I want you to change your covers. Then you should go have a shower,” said Derpy, covering her nose with her hoof before leaving the private to his thoughts. After Shine changed his rather sweaty covers from last night ad taking a rather lengthy shower, he donned his armour and rushed out the door, looking for where his commander could be. He spotted his commander, sitting against the fountain just outside the barracks and trotted towards her. Shine took a quick glance at Celestia’s Sun, which was rising just above the mountains to signify how early it was in the morning. “HEY SHINE, IF YOU DON’T HURRY UP I’M LEAVING YOU BEHIND!” Yelled Derpy as she began to walk towards the palace. Shine started to gallop in order to catch up with his commander. “H-hey wait up!” Halfway to the bakery, Shine began to lag a bit behind Derpy, who in turn slowed down to allow him to catch up. “What’s wrong Shine?” She asked, making sure he knew she cared. Shine hung his head in embarrassment, deciding to hide his nightmare from Derpy. “Nothing is wrong, just please promise me that you won’t tell anypony what happened this morning” Derpy, trying very hard to suppress the urge to laugh, nodded her head. “Sure! I can Pinkie Promise you I won’t tell anypony if….” *Oh boy* Shine thought. “…If you buy me breakfast,” Derpy finished with a cheeky grin on her face. When the two had been visiting Sugar Bliss to buy some muffins again, Derpy decided that it would be much nicer to eat in the Royal Canterlot Gardens instead of the busy ruckus of the mess hall. Finding a good spot to sit was easy due to being so early in the morning. Sitting down in silence, the two munched on their muffins, but something was bugging Shining Steel, or rather a couple of things. “Derpy…” Breaking the silence, Shine decided that he should consult Derpy about the things that were worrying him. Derpy took another bite of her muffin, not bothering to look up. “Yes Shine?” “Can I ask you a few things?” Shine asked. Derpy swallowed her mouthful of muffin and looked up at Shine, confused at what he would want. “Umm, sure, what do you want to ask me?” “Well first things first, what is a Pinkie Promise and what does it mean?” Derpy thought for a minute wondering how to answer. “Well, a Pinkie Promise is a very special kind of promise, one that is very well known. Pinkie Pie, a mare from Ponyville, made it up a while ago. Now some ponies think that if you break the promise that you would have to shove a cupcake into your eye, but some others believe that if you break it, an evil form of Pinkie Pie called Pinkamena Diane Pie, will come and get you when you least expect it. ” “Alright then… Quick question though, who is Pinkie Pie?” Shine asked to her, raising an eyebrow in the process. Derpy looked at him in shock “Your joking right?” “Do I look like I’m joking?” Shine asked rhetorically, putting on a serious face to emphasise his point. “Have you ever been to Ponyville before?” “If the Everfree Forest counts then yes, I have,” said Shine, lowering his head. “Wait, you used to live in the Everfree Forest?” Derpy asked, her eyes widening at the topic. “NO, I WAS BORN THERE. NOW COULD YOU PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION?” Shine snapped, which caused Derpy to jump backwards and instinctively start flying on the spot. “S-sorry” Shine said with a low voice, trying not to let the tears escape his eyes. Derpy landed and slowly trotted up to Shining Steel. The mare pulled him into a long hug and whispered into his ear. “It’s ok. Anyway, it’s quite hard to explain Pinkie Pie, so how about tomorrow I take you to Ponyville to meet my old friends?” This caused a small smile to appear on Shine’s face. As Derpy continued to hug Shining Steel, their little quiet time was interrupted by a voice above them. “Derpy and Shine sitting on the grass, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” The two instantly split apart from each other and looked up to see who it was, sitting there in the tree above them was the bluish-green Pegasus from the bakery the other day. He started to grin as he said “Oh sorry, don’t mind me continue what you two were doing” Derpy and Shine both looked at each, both of them turning red in the face. Shine looked at him with a very pissed off expression, then proceeded to question the intruder. “How did you know my name?” The Pegasus just rolled his eyes. “Umm, I don’t know. Maybe I saw your name on your saddle bag.” Before Shine could retaliate, Derpy took over. “Who are you and what the buck is your name?” She demanded him. “Who am I? Well, I’m a weather pony and as for my name, it is--” “WING BLAZE! THERE YOU ARE. I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO CLEAR THE CLOUDS AROUND CANTERLOT, NOT SLEEP IN THE GARDEN!” The voice, high-pitched and loud, startled Wing Blaze, causing him to fall out of the tree he was sitting on. “Yeah I know, you told me to do that but I thought that I would have a nap first,” Wing Blaze exclaimed, grunting in pain as he got back up to his hooves. While the two were busy arguing Shine whispered to Derpy, “Hey Derpy, does it ever make you wonder if there is going to be a day that Wing Blaze isn’t getting yelled at by somepony? ....Derpy?” Hearing that his question didn’t get any response, Shine looked over to Derpy and found that she was too focused on the new arrival. “Rainbow Dash is that you?” Rainbow Dash looked up at the two (or in this case down.) “Derpy?! Is that you? OH MY GOSH DERPY! IT IS YOU! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN? I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU FOR QUIET AGES!” “Yeah it has been a while Dashie, how have you been?” asked Derpy, with a huge grin on her face. Rainbow Dash flew over to Derpy, and the confused Shine, landing right in front of the two and smiled back. “I’ve been just awesome, though I have been getting stressed out lately, you know, having to fly here from Ponyville just to get this colt…” She gestured towards Wing Blaze, who was rubbing his flank from after falling from the tree, “…to do his job properly.” “Are you sure you’re not just coming over here because you can’t resist my good looks Dashie?” Wing Blaze joked, buffing his chest, causing Dash to grow a shade of red in her checks. “In your dreams Blaze. Now go do your job before my hoof decides to say hello to your face,” jeered Rainbow Dash, pretending to hold her own hoof down. Derpy and Shine couldn’t help but laugh when they saw Wing Blaze’s smile turn into a worried face as he took off to clear the skies. With a sigh, Rainbow Dash then turned to look at Derpy and then took noticed of Shining Steel. “So Derpy, is this handsome stallion your coltfriend?” Dash asked with small grin spread across her face. The two instantly stopped laughing and looked at each other, both quickly becoming a bright shade of crimson, they then turned to Rainbow Dash. Shine was completely speechless and Derpy, who was lost for words, started to stammer, “Y-Yes, I-I-I mean n-no. He is j-just a c-close f-f-friend” Although Shine couldn’t find anything to say, he did notice that Derpy was starting to go wall-eyed. Luckily for them both, before the situation became more awkward than it already was, the scene was quickly interrupted by the sudden appearance of Wing Blaze as he landed right next to Dash. As he touched down, he noticed how embarrassed Derpy and Shine looked, in addition to the fact that Derpy’s eyes were crossed and he just couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. He then looked at Rainbow Dash who was laughing hysterically, almost as if she was choking on something. He wrapped his forehoof around Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, causing her to stop laughing instantly, all the while starting to blush a really deep red, almost complimenting her cyan blue fur. Wing Blaze instantly burst out into uncontrollable fits of laughter. “Aawwww, you’re so adorable when you’re embarrassed Dashie!” “Yeah, yeah, very funny wise guy. Now do you mind getting your hoof off me before…” But Dash never got to finish because they were interrupted by a sudden impact from right in front of them. However they couldn’t see what on Equestria it was because dust was blown everywhere. As the dust cloud started to clear, the small group saw that the impact had created a small crater and in the middle there was somepony in there. When the four realized who it was, Derpy’s eyes quickly straightened, Rainbow Dash just rolled her eyes while Shining Steel and Wing Blaze’s mouths just hung open in shock, because standing right there in the middle of the crater, brushing the dirt off of his coat, was an Alicorn. However, this one was much unlike other Alicorns like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, this Alicorn was a Colt. He had a grey coat, very similar to Derpy’s with green eyes and a rainbow mane and tail “You always like to make an entrance don’t you Rainbow Breeze,” sighed Rainbow Dash. As Rainbow Breeze climbed out of the hole he made, he started to talk, the effects of alcohol clearly showing in his voice. “You know me *hic* to well Dash. Umm, just excu *hic* excuse me for a sec.” Rainbow Breeze then turned around away from everypony, his horn starting to glow. “Umm, I don’t think it’s safe for you to perform magic whilst drunk, even for an Alicorn,” Dash mentioned to Breeze. “Don’t *hic* worry Dassie, I know what I *hic* am doing. You ponies might *hic want to turn around. This might get a bit *hic* disturbing,” Breeze exclaimed. Rainbow Dash and Derpy both turned around at his request whilst Wing Blaze and Shining Steel continued to watch, both standing there unmoving. What Rainbow Breeze did next is what a spell that only he knows. Using his Alicorn magic, Rainbow Breeze purged all of the alcohol out of his system, forcing him to throw it all up. Wing Blaze and Shine both span around due to the disgusting sight and blocked their noses to stop the smell. For the final part of his trick, Rainbow Breeze then made all of the greenish liquid soak into the ground and thought about fixing the crater he made, but then decided to ‘stuff it.’ Then he turned to the others “Alright it’s over, you can turn around now,” he told them, showing that he was no longer under the effects of alcohol. Derpy and Rainbow dash turned to face Rainbow Breeze as well as Wing Blaze and Shining Steel, but rather slowly as they felt like they too were going to expel their last meal. A minute went by in total silence, everypony just staring at each other, that is until Derpy took the initiative to speak up. “So Rainbow Breeze, what brings you out here this morning?” Rainbow Breeze who had just been staring at Rainbow Dash and Wing Blaze turned to face Derpy, replying, “Well I did come down here to tell you something, but right now it seems I have another thing that I have to take care of.” Saying that, he then turned back to the other two eyeing Wing Blaze “Is there something wrong Breeze?” Asked Wing Blaze, taking notice that Rainbow Breeze was staring at him yet again. “Why yes there is something wrong. Do you mind moving away from Rainbow Dash, like now,” he demanded in a serious tone “Why you her coltfriend or something?” With that reply, smoke started to rise from Rainbow Breeze’s body and a tone of rage started to seep into his voice. “No I’m not and it’s none of your business. Now do as I asked and move away from her before I get really mad.” “How about…… no.” But before Rainbow Breeze could get the chance to launch Wing Blaze to the other end of the rainbow and back, Rainbow Dash quickly stepped in between the two, looking rather annoyed. “Oh, for Celestia’s sake! Rainbow Breeze, shut up! And Wing Blaze, stop trying to piss off my Brother!” Dash demanded the two. *Pause for dramatic effect…* She thought to herself. “WHAT!” Yelled the Blaze, Derpy and Shine together, whilst Rainbow Breeze just glared Rainbow Dash. “Was it necessary to tell them that Dash?” Asked Breeze in a very annoyed tone. “Why yes. It was and for a number of reasons.” replied Rainbow Dash “Oh really?! Do tell.” “Ok first, I really wanted Wing Blaze and you to shut up and stop arguing. Second they would have figured it out eventually and third, I just wanted to see the looks on their faces and it was totally worth it!” replied Rainbow Dash trying desperately not to burst out into laughter. “So, um, Rainbow Breeze, you mentioned that you had another reason on coming down here. What was it?” Shining Steel asked, trying desperately to change the topic. The realisation hit Rainbow Breeze like a brick, eyes widening in shock. “Oh buck that’s right! Commander, Luna asked me to get you to gather your troops and head to the throne room for a meeting ASAP” “A meeting? At this time of day! Do you know what the meeting is about?” Derpy ask in a concerned tone. The Alicorn shook his head “Sorry but Luna didn’t tell me specifically about it, but I do think it might have something to do with not completing the repairs yesterday. Anyways, I best be off before Luna starts wondering what is taking me so long.” Just before he took off, he turned to face Wing Blaze one last time and gave him a glare that would rival Fluttershys, warning Wing blaze that he was watching him closely. Then, with a few flaps of his powerful wings he was gone. When the Alicorn had disappeared, Derpy let out a sigh. “Well it appears I have a job to do. Come on Shine.” Shine look at her in confusion “Why do I have to come?” Derpy rolled her eyes. “Were you listening at all about what Rainbow Breeze said? ‘Commander, Luna asked me to get you to gather your troops…’” But before She could finish, a certain somepony interrupted her. “Because she is in love with you.” Wing Blaze called out, laughing hysterically. At that point, Derpy looked like she was going to explode out of embarrassment and rage. “Wing Blaze, could you come here for a second?” Derpy asked in a mock sweet and innocence voice. Wing Blaze stopped laughing and stared at her in confusion, but Derpy was only smiling at him so he slowly walked up to her. Shine, having known Derpy for a little while know, instantly realised that some bad was going to happen. *Oh no.* When Wing blaze was in front of Derpy, he started to get a little nervous. “Y-yes? Do you want to te- --- CRACK! --- But he was suddenly cut short as a hoof smashed into the bottom of his jaw, forcing him land heavily on the ground, knocking him unconscious in the process. After a moment of shock and silence, Derpy turned to look at Shine to finish what she was going to say “Anyway, long story short, you need to come along because Breeze and I said so. Now get to it!” Derpy barked the last few words at Shine to get him moving as she stormed off in the direction of the castle. Shine looked at Rainbow Dash, who was standing there with her mouth wide open at what she had just witnessed. “Umm Rainbow Dash...” Shine called but received no answer. He walked up to her and waved his hoof in front of her face, grabbing her attention. She looked at Shine, but said nothing. “Rainbow Dash, you might want to take Wing Blaze to a hospital to get his mouth checked” Shine said in a soft voice. Rainbow Dash still said nothing, but nodded her head in agreement, then slowly walked over to the unconscious Pegasus. Shining Steel followed to help in lifting Wing Blaze onto her back but the voice of his commander stopped him in his tracks. “Private do not make me wait for you.” yelled Derpy with a sigh. Shine turned to Rainbow Dash who was looking at him “Will you be alright in getting to the hospital from here?” He asked Rainbow Dash who nodded her head. She then took off towards the nearest hospital, whilst Shining Steel quickly went over to Derpy’s side to follow her as she gathered the rest of her troops. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Celestia damn it. We’re late,” complained Derpy as she arrived at the throne room with her platoon. “Well it’s not my fault commander. Nopony told me about a meeting happening early in the morning,” explained a unicorn guard whilst rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Nopony was told about the meeting until this morning now shut it Corporal.” Derpy hissed as they entered the throne. “You’re late, Commander” said a really annoyed Captain. Derpy lowered her head. “Sorry Shining Armour but some of us refused to get out of bed,” she replied, whilst glaring at two of the earth ponies in the group. Shining Armour rolled his eyes. “That’s fine Commander and the matter of fact you’re in luck. The princess is just about to begin,” he replied with a grin, earning a sigh of relief from Derpy and her platoon as they all entered the throne room. As everypony took their places, Shining Steel stood next to Commander Derpy. However, Shine’s eyes widened with surprise when he saw the Princess of the Night standing alongside her fellow princess and sister. He had heard of Luna before, but has never seen anything but a glimpse of her during his wedding dance, mainly because she had been known to be only active when it was time for the night to replace to sun in the sky. He turned to Derpy but she showed no emotion at the sight of the Princess. He figured it was because she somehow had already met her. Celestia’s horn emitted a bright flash to get everyponies attention so she could begin. “My loyal subjects, I thank you for coming to this meeting, especially at this time of morning and I apologise to some of you who were still asleep after the repairs the other day. But as some don’t yet know what the meeting is about, then I’m here to tell you that half of those repairs have not yet been completed. Now this could be dues for a number of reasons, like some ponies were still recovering from the recent Changeling attack, whilst some were complaining about the work that had to be done….” Shining Steel felt blood rising to his cheeks, for he had a feeling that the last comment was directed towards him, especially after he felt the numerous pairs of eyes locking onto him. He ingnoring them as best he could and concentrated on Celestia’s speech again. “…but for whatever reason this is now does not matter as the final repairs were completed overnight.” Everyone in the room involuntarily gave a sigh, but a few then began to question how it had been done in one night, and more importantly, by whom? “I can hear some of you questioning who did the final repairs, and for that I will let Princess Luna explain. I will leave the details to Princess Luna.” Celestia took a step back to give Luna her space as she explained. “Thank you sister. What thy sister speaks of is the truth. Whilst all of thou were off duty, I had my personal guard to do the rest of the repairs for you.” Before she could continue she took notice of a hoof raising in the crowd “Is there something on your mind Corporal” “Who are the night guards and why haven’t we seen them in the barracks or anywhere else?” Asked the Earth Pony. Luna’s eye’s widened with confusion, facing to her sister whilst asking “Did thou not tell them about my guards or the reason for their secrecy?” Celestia looked at her younger sister with a sorry expression. “Sorry Luna. I would have told them but the nobles would not allow it.” Luna rolled her eye’s thinking how naïve the Nobles can be “It’s ok big sister. I forgive you, but it certainly does not make it any easier for me to explain,” she said, whilst turning her attention back to the crowd who were by now beginning to talk among themselves, none to quietly either. She started to overhear one of the conversions. “Well, what my farther has told me about them is that they are nothing more than abominations, blood thirsty monsters that should be sent down to the deepest pits of the Tartarus.” As he finished his sentence, his noticed that silence has once again fallen throughout the room and realised that the Princess of the Night was glaring directly at him. “We… um, I mean, I surely hope you don’t think that way about my subjects.” The guard, stopped caught off guard, started to stammer. “U-u-umm n-no. Of course not P-princess,” The guard replied with as much strength as he could muster, giving Luna the validation to her suspicions, but she decided that she would leave him alone for now. “Well as you all must know, my subjects are not abominations at all, they are just … different.” Luna had dropped the Royal Canterlot voice, almost as if she didn’t want anyone else outside to hear, or to make it easier to understand for everypony. “Just like there are earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi, well, you could almost say that they are very close to pegasi…” Before she could continue another hoof caught her attention. She nodded her head towards to guard, signalling for him to speak. “May I just ask what makes them different from us pegusi?” Shining Steel asked. Luna took a brief moment to think on how to explain it. “Well first off, their appearance is very different and some of the abilities that they contain are specific only to them, however I will not tell you any details about these said abilities as it is rude to reveal secrets.” With that she noticed a few disappointed looks in the crowd, but then saw another hoof rise from the crowd. “Is there something you wish to ask me Commander Derpy?” Derpy took a deep breath before asking the Alicorn, “Instead of explaining what they look like, wouldn’t it be easier to just show us?” Luna nodded her head in agreement. “You make a very good point Commander.” With that last comment, she closed her eyes in order to concentrate, her horn glowing for a very dark blue, before the aura disappeared and a couple of seconds later her eyes reopened. “They should be here in a moment,” she exclaimed to the group and sure enough, the sound of beating wings filled the room. Everypony’s battle hardened instinct told them to look up and found what had caused this meeting. Hovering a few just under the roof was a Night Guard. Shine couldn’t believe his eyes. Sure, the Princess said that they were a little different, but he didn’t expect anything like what he was seeing now. Once the Night Guard had landed in front of the Princess of the Night, Shine was able to get a better look at it and what he saw surprized him. It was covered dark and light purple armour. It’s eyes, or rather eye, was a dark blue, it also wore an eye patch over its left eye and its mane and tail were a blueish-black colour. But what makes it entirely different from pegasi were its bat like wings, the cold eyes of a predator and its slightly longer ears. But then Shining Steel took notice that something was slightly off. *I’m sure that Luna said there were two guards still awake,* he thought to himself and when he saw the look Luna was giving to her guard, it confirmed his suspicions. “Shadow, do you know where your comrade is?” asked Luna. The guard named Shadow looked at her, then began to look in all directions before returning his gaze to Luna. “Ummm, sorry Your Highness but she was with me a moment ago. Do you wish for me to go look for her?” He offered which in reply got a nod from Luna. “Yes please, it may help explains things a bit better. That is if you don’t mind.” “Not at all. Besides, I’m not really wanting to answer all of the questions that they have to ask by myself.” So with that he took off in search of his missing comrade. When Shine watched him exit the throne room, it wasn’t long till he started hearing voices coming from outside, and by judging by the silence of the group, they heard them too. One of the voices he recognised to be Shadow’s, even after only having a brief glimpse, but the other voice he heard sounded like a mare. Everypony in the throne room was in silence so they could all hear the conversation that was going on outside. “There you are ………… you’re meant to be in the throne room with the Princess and me.” Shine was sure that Shadow mentioned the mare’s name but couldn’t hear it dues to somepony sneezing beside him. He continued to listen to the conversation, hoping that the name would be mentioned again. “I know that, but you know how much I hate crowds. Beside you will do a lot better without me being in there,” The mare said. Shine thought to himself that the voice reminded him of Rainbow Dash’s voice, just not quite there. “Oh for crying out loud! You really need to get over your fears of crowds, let’s get you started right now,” Shadow said in an annoyed tone. “H-hey let me go you asshole, I won’t warn you again,” replied the mare, the threat to Shadow’s safety sounded genuine to Shine. “Oh for luna’s sake stop acting like a filly and grow up besides I know that you won’t hit me Ni….” *SMACK* The doors of the throne room burst open with Shadow sliding across the floor, stopping right in front of Derpy and Shining Steel. Everypony then looked back to the open doors and saw the owner of the other voice. Shine only caught a brief look at the mare, noticing her beautiful golden eye, almost like Derpy’s own eyes. But was all he got before the mare shot off into the morning sky, leaving everypony stunned. This also made Shine annoyed for he only got a hint on the mare’s name. He just shook his head in disappointment for he wanted to see the kind of names the Night Guard use. So he looked back to the dazed Night Guard in front of him and helped him get on his hooves. When Shadow finally got back to his senses, he took his place back at Luna’s side whilst sighing in defeat. “Well I guess that’s all we’re going to get from her. So now I have to put up with these questions myself” Luna then thought for a moment and smiled, then looked down to Shadow “Don’t worry I will be sure to give her a bit of a talk to and give her a suitable punishment for having to make you answer the questions” Luna said while still grinning. Shadow looked up at her and nodded his head in approval. “Fair enough, now who has got a question about our race?” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Well that was incredibly lame,” Shining Steel complained as he stormed out of the throne room. “He didn’t really answer any of the interesting questions, the only ones he did answer were the ones how long they have been around and that they guard all night and most sleep all day. That dude was such an ass. ” ‘Hee-haw!’ “Huh how did a Donkey get in here? Oh wait, sorry, anyway what do you think Derpy?.... Derpy?” When Shine looked back towards the throne room, he saw Derpy talking to Princess Celestia about something. He waited for a moment until his commander had finished talking to the Princess and started to approach him looking very happy about something. “What was that all about?” Shine asked. Derpy just looked at him, still smiling. “I will tell you soon, first just walk with me for a bit.” Replied the commander. After a full 10 minutes of walking, Shining Steel was starting to get impatient. “Derpy could you please enlighten me what has made you so happy?” He asked. “Ok fine, Princess Celestia said it was alright for me to take you to Ponyville for a few days.” She replied with a squeal. Shine smiled at her reaction. “Well that’s good so whe…” But before he could finish he was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Did I just hear that you two are going to Ponyville?” Called out a certain mare. The two looked to the left and saw Sugar Bliss approaching them. “Oh, hi Sugar Bliss and yes you heard right. Shining Steel and I will be heading off to Ponyville tomorrow,” Derpy said as she greeted the baker. Sugar Bliss’ eye’s widened at the news. “Oh my gosh! Really!? Is it alright if I join you guys?” She asked the two. Derpy thought for a moment before answering. “Well I don’t really mind. What about you Shine?” The two mares turned to shine waiting for an answer from Shine. “I don’t mind either, but why do you want to come with us?” He asked Sugar Bliss, who reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a note. “Because a friend of mine sent me this letter from Ponyville,” she said whilst allowing the two to read it letter: To my dear good Friend Sugar Bliss, today I was in the market when I just found out that DJ PON-3 is in Ponyville and she brought you know whom with her. I believe that they are staying till the end of Nightmare Night so hurry up and get your flank down here. Also Wing Blaze is in hospital and Rainbow Dash said there was an incident with him in Canterlot. So I just have to ask, did you buck him into the wall again? If so, you did a good job. Anyway, I hope to see you in Ponyville soon and please send me a reply letting me know when you arriving ok? From you good old friend, BB. After the two handed the letter back to Sugar Bliss, Derpy had to ask her about something. “Umm Sugar Bliss what about the bakery you work at? Don’t ponies need some bread and other things?” Sugar Bliss started to giggle while saying “Silly, I am not the only baker they have. There are 10 others in Canterlot so it will be fine if one of the bakeries are closed for a while, oh and what time will we be leaving?” “We will be leaving early in the morning so we should at least get to Ponyville at lunch time,” Derpy replied .Sugar Bliss wrote something down on a piece of paper before calling over a mail pony, giving him the piece of paper who then took off into the sky with it. Sugar then turned back to the two. “Well then, if it’s early in the morning then I guess I better start packing see you two then.” After saying goodbye to Sugar Bliss, Derpy turned to Shine. “Well that’s that. Come on Shine we’ve got patrolling to do, then we have to go and pack for the trip tomorrow. I’ll be right back.” She said before heading off to the barracks. “Hurry back.” Shining Steel sarcastically said, rolling his eyes for he knew it was going to be a long day.