//------------------------------//
// The Trip West 
// Story: The Veins Run Deeper 
// by Thunderblast 
//------------------------------//

A gentle knock on the door of his office later, Captain Fallen Star asked the pony outside of his office to enter. Night opened the door and stepped inside, stopping in the doorway to salute, the brown pegasus saluting back from behind his desk. "Good afternoon, Captain. What can I do for you?"

Night, dropping his salute, walked up to the foot of Fallen's desk. "Afternoon, sir. I was hoping to speak to you about possibly taking some time of leave?"

The stallion nodded, swiveling his chair around and opening a filing cabinet beside a Lunar Guard poster on the wall that read 'Join Today for the Honor of Her Highness!'. He pulled out a leave of absence file and took out a blank paper, setting it down on the desk and putting the file back in the cabinet. "Of course. How long do you wish to be on leave?"

"Ten days, sir," Night replied.

Fallen glanced up from the piece of paper on his desk, tilting his head whilst staring Night in the eye. "What's the occasion might I ask? You never take this much time off. Not after a long period of not taking any at all except for one sick day that is, and even that was over two months ago."

"I plan on going home for that time. It'll be my father's birthday in a few days and I don't want to miss it. Not like it's a milestone he's reaching, but still, you get my point. I haven't seen him or the rest of my family in a while either. And... another reason is to check up on how the colony is holding up. I understand even after the trade agreement, there's still some minor conflict between the Governor and Princess Celestia?"

The captain nodded. "Afraid so, but that's to be expected. She did do something that could have eliminated your race completely off the face of the earth over a few centuries back. Between them and Princess Luna, however, is a much different story. They all love her. They love us. Might be because way back when, the bat ponies were supposedly a huge part of her highness' guard, and here you are over a thousand years after her banishment and already second-in-command of the princess' personal escort, even if you look nothing like one of your own."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Night tilted his head, eyeing Fallen closely.

"Nothing in particular. I'm just saying, for somepony who came from a bat pony family, you highly resemble the foal of somepony else. I think the only way that would be possible is if you were cross-bred—" the brown pegasus stopped himself. "Sorry, getting off topic here. So, ten days?"

Night, ears having very slightly fallen backwards, nodded. "Yes," he replied with a rather stern tone. He didn't like the idea of other ponies assuming where he truly came from when he knew their theories were incorrect from the beginning.

A couple of minutes of waiting passed before Fallen Star finished the paperwork of Night's leave and put it away in his file, then dismissed him after an exchange of salutes. Night turned and walked out of his office, shutting the door politely behind him and stopping just outside of it. He sighed and stared down at the white and black tiled floor, the thought remaining fresh in his mind as he turned to go down the hallway.

"Why can't some ponies just mind their own business?" he muttered to himself, gradually walking faster. "Of course I came from bat ponies. My mom wouldn't lie to me if somepony else is my father. That, or she's just that good at hiding things—no, none of that is true. They're my family—oof!" He grunted, running face-first into a unicorn guard walking his patrols down that same hallway.

The guard, having just barely budged, looked down at Night with a smile, offering a hoof to pull him up. "Talking to yourself again, pal?"

Night shook his head, regaining his surroundings, then standing back up with the help of the unicorn's hoof. "How did you know, Sharp? And uh... how did we bump into each other like this?" His ear flicked.

"Well for one, you usually don't run down the hallway unless there's something chasing you, say a changeling, or you're talking to yourself about something that bothers you. It seems to be a habit with you. What's wrong?" The unicorn, Sharpblade, asked.

"Nothing too serious. Just the problem with somepony questioning where I came from," Night answered honestly.

"Ah, I see. Who was it this time?"

"Fallen Star."

"Captain of the Lunar Guard, correct?" Night nodded in response. "Why was he asking that question?"

"No clue," Night sighed. "I went there to request leave and left with... this."

"Oh? Something happen where you need time off?"

"Visiting family for a little while. My father's birthday is coming up."

"Oh, well that's nice," Sharp smiled. "Tell him I said happy birthday. How old will he be?"

"Forty-seven."

"Aaaah. Wow. Younger than I expected to be quite honest with you. From how you've described him in the past, I assumed he would be in his sixties or something, don't know why," Sharp shrugged. "Then again, I don't know if the lifespans of bat ponies are different from ours."

"Not by much. Then again, before all of this, life expectancy was much lower than it had been before the rebellion. It's going back up now that the fear of war is gone."

"Well, that's good at least," Sharp smiled again. "One of these times, you'll have to convince your family to come here so I can meet 'em."

"Sure thing!" Night gave a toothy grin, fangs showing clearly. "Why, are you interested in hooking up with my sister, Sharp?"

The unicorn's cheeks turned a dark shade of red. "N-no, that's not what I meant at all! I-I just... I just—"

Night burst into a short cackle, hoof resting on Sharp's shoulder as he tensed up, embarrassed as ever. "I'm messing with you. Not that I have a problem with you two getting together. It'll just be a long distance relationship for a while."

"I-I mean," Sharp gently brushed his hoof against the floor, looking down at it. "I've never seen a bat pony mare, and even then, I'm not good with mares."

"You don't know until you try," Night winked and patted his shoulder. "Besides, I think she would like you, even if it's just for a friendship. She's a bit shy sometimes however," he then rolled his eyes. "And I remember she was hitting on Thunderblast when he was a bat pony."

Sharp's eyes opened wide when Night finished, he tilted his head with confusion and eyed Night carefully. "Did you just say... Thunder was a bat pony?"


***


That evening was spent mainly working ahead of time to finish leftover paperwork Night had sitting on his desk, leaving it in the mail outbox sitting outside his quarters where a courier guard came to collect the papers. Afterwards, he relaxed on his king-sized bed, reading a magazine that specialized in military-grade weaponry, such as power spears and hoof guards with claws attached. 

Power spears, from what he knew about them, were basic spears with energy crystals carefully dug out of mines near the Crystal Empire built into the head, giving them a distinctive glow that matched it's users personality and soul. To Night, it was a weapon he was interested in owning in the near future, though unfortunately even with the excessive amounts of money he saved over the months, making such a purchase would set him back financially in a severe way. Maybe another time, he thought.

As he flipped to another page, a polite knock on the door very slightly startled him, and he sat up, the magazine now beside him on the bed in one hoof, face-down. "Coming!" He said aloud, hopping off of his bed with a clop from his hooves meeting the cold cobble floor and a brief trot over to the door leading out into the hallway. 

He pulled the small lock out of it's slot and opened the door, awe striking him when he saw a dark blue alicorn mare standing at the foot of his door, her sparkly, starry dark blue mane waving in a nonexistent breeze. His pupils expanded with astonishment, then out of respect and discipline, Night bowed to her hooves. "Your highness."

Princess Luna glanced down at him, a brow furrowing as the stallion knelt before her. "Night, have we not been over this more than one hundred times in the past? Thou is not required to be formal when I am visiting."

Blushing profusely out of embarrassment of himself, Night stood back up straight and smiled innocently with a chuckle. "Right, right. But, do come in."

"Thank you," the princess smiled and entered the room, Night closing the door behind her. "Captain Fallen Star has informed us of your temporary departure. Thou is returning home for some time, yes?"

"Correct," Night nodded in response, walking over to where Princess Luna had stopped. "My father's birthday is right around the corner. He's turning forty-seven and I don't want to miss it this time."

"Ah, yes. We understand that. We do hope the party goes well. When is thou leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning," Night replied. "By train it's a pretty long journey, especially with stops along the way," he continued, then paused again and looked back towards his wings. "And I don't exactly have the motivation to fly super fast for an extended period of time, unless you have something in mind."

The Lunar princess lifted a hoof to her chin and pondered how she could help Night out. "Maybe if we—"

"Just joking," Night chuckled again and waved a hoof. "I only said that because I got from home to here in just a few hours. I wanted away that badly. But now I'm happy things worked out... for the most part," he muttered the last bit, eyes focused off to the side and head lowering.

Princess Luna took a minor step closer and lifted Night's chin up with a curled hoof, smiling as his eyes met hers. "Thou does not have to fret anything. We predict a complete resolution with your ponies will be made soon, in fact. That, and we are still searching for other possible colonies populating our land. It has not been easy so far as no trail of... breadcrumbs as they call it... have been discovered. It will still be some time before we fully learn if your colony is truly the last of it's kind, although we wish the opposite."

"I... would hope so too," Night's ears fell slightly. "It's weirder too, nopony in my colony or Equestria have heard of such a thing as me."

"Define such a thing as you?" Princess Luna tilted her head, bewildered at Night's statement.

"I meant myself. Take a look at me," he pulled back from her and opened his mouth, pointing to his razor-sharp fangs. "Fangsh..." then to his very moderately tufted ears. "Crisper hearing than most ponies," next, pointing to his eyes. "Able to see clearly at night," and finally to his wings. "But these do not belong to a bat pony."

"And why does that concern thou? That simply means thou is unique within thou's entire race. That is, if there isn't another one of thou that exists elsewhere."

"Hey, I thought we were stopping with the formal talk?" Night mentioned.

"Sorry," Princess Luna nodded once. "I am much too used to formal talk."

"Join the club," Night grinned softly. "But if there is somepony else like me—a hybrid—then that means bat ponies are slowly evolving, right?"

"Not necessarily. It would have to be a drastic change for bat ponies of the next generation to begin having the wings of a pegasus. It is likely that your mother had a cross breed to have you, if your sister is a bat pony as well."

Night's ears once again drooped. "Until I see proof of it, I'll still continue to doubt that my mother had me with somepony other than my father. If she did, my father would know the minute after and things would be far different."

Princess Luna sat up, a bit more stiffer this time. "Then perhaps it is a good idea to schedule an ethnicity test? To have you, your father and your mother tested?"

"I'll consider it," Night shrugged. "But please do not bring this topic up any more. It leaves bad vibes in me. I could have hurt somepony earlier because the captain brought it up, and thankfully Sharp was there to stand in my way."

"Was he hurt? I know how fast you can run sometimes."

"Please, he's harder than a rock. I'd have to be twice his size, and yet he'd probably still stand perfectly in place. What, is there some sort of super glue that Celestia puts on her guards' hooves to hold them in place when they stop moving so nopony can tackle them?"

Princess Luna laughed at that. "Don't be so silly, Night. If she put super glue on all of their hooves, I can tell you right now that they wouldn't be happy."

"And how do you know that?" Night grinned.

"I watched her do it once. She put down a couple of transparent sticky pads in place of where her throne guards stand. My, was it hilarious hearing her laugh at them trying to pull themselves free. Of course, they could have just slipped out of their hoof guards, but that would have ruined the fun," Princess Luna giggled. 

"Wow," Night chuckled more. "I take it those guards asked for a change in posts? Well, whenever they got unstuck?"

"You bet," Princess Luna winked, then laughed a bit more. "Ah, the things we princesses do for fun, even during serious matters. I am surprised you guards don't do the same."

"Why are you surprised?" Night cocked his head sideways gently. "We all take our jobs seriously, not saying that you or your sister don't, and when we do think of pulling pranks like that, it's typically off duty, such as within the barracks or elsewhere, you know?"

The princess nodded. "Then that makes perfect sense. Of course, it wouldn't settle well with their commanding officers if they did something while on duty."

"For sure," Night bobbed his head in a nod. "But since you're here, how about I order us some food and we play a game of Monopony?"

Princess Luna smiled and agreed.


***


A long evening of playing board games, minor arguments on the rules of the game, laughter, and a half-night of sleep later, Night Shadow woke early that following morning, his eyelids bagging beneath his bloodshot golden eyes. He blinked slowly, staring ahead of him at the wall beside the kitchen and allowing for his sight to become less blurry. 

After a long, deep yawn, he pushed the Lunar bed sheets off of his lower half and hopped rather lazily off of the bed, the force of his tired body getting the better of him and making the poor stallion stumble a bit prior to finally rolling over onto his back with a grunt, followed by a long, quiet groan. The day before left Night drained, the night he had with Princess Luna and a fellow guard who joined them only adding to it, but to him it was worth the lack of sleep. He just hoped he would be able to get some rest on the train.

He checked the moon clock he had hanging up on the wall above his desk, reading it as just a few minutes past eight in the morning. There was still plenty time before he needed to be at the train station and stood he back up on his hooves, where he sauntered drowsily into the bathroom for a quick shower that he also wished would at least wake him up further.

Initially, cold water flowed freely out through the shower head in which Night avoided by waiting outside of the shower, holding his left hoof inside until it was warm enough to comfortably bathe in. He stepped inside once it reached a suitable temperature and soaked his mane and coat beneath it, wings spreading from his sides to allow them to be drenched as well, following the same routine of washing himself thoroughly as he did every day and drying off once he finished his four-minute shower.

Once out of the bathroom and rid of any remaining water but left with a dampened mane and coat, Night made his way out the door of his quarters and into the hallway and once again was on his way out of the palace, yet this time focused on getting to the train station in hopes of catching a train on time.

Outside on the streets, ponies were out and about, either heading to work or school, or just out frolicking around the elegant capital city. The spires of the palace, made of pure gold, shimmered and reflected the warm sunlight, whilst the colorful tilted rooftops of shops and other buildings glowed slightly in their glittering, lavish colors under the light of the day. Princess Celestia sure did her job better than anypony in her place ever could, especially when it came to positioning of the sun to make the city appear as beautiful as it always did.

From the palace to the train depot, the walk was fairly short for Night. He nodded once to the armored stallions standing guard either side of the doors and upon entering the station, he joined the short line of ponies waiting at the ticket counter. It was no inconvenience, knowing Canterlot was always a rather busy metropolis and all times of the year attracted tourists from all across Equestria and beyond, and it was no surprise to him that there were some ponies who wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle and head elsewhere to a smaller town, namely Ponyville or Whitetail Woods.

Night stepped up to the counter, looking over the schedule prior to realizing his very home town was situated on it as a stop and being somewhat caught off guard, but yet happy that he did not have to travel to Vanhoover and fly the rest of the way home. He purchased his ticket, though now having to wait a short while before the train was set to arrive, an hour or more tops.  He then took a seat in the waiting area, remaining silent as ever the whole time while he stuck around patiently, anticipating his train's arrival within the hour. 

Some time into the wait, he abruptly remembered not having eaten anything when he woke out of bed the moment his stomach growled and rumbled. He peered around the station hall, eyes catching a cafe that sat on the other side of a small gift shop which was situated between the cafe and the ticket counter. With another growl of his stomach, he stood on all fours and trotted to the small cafe. 

The place was not too busy, but had more ponies in it than the rest of the station it seemed. The line was just a couple of ponies behind a stallion complaining to the cafe's manager and causing a ruckus that a couple of younger stallions, presumably college students, laughed at and made fun of without attracting his attention. Eventually, the manager took the stallion away from the counter to allow the ponies waiting, including Night, to move forward with their orders.

"Egg-and-cheese omelet and a small cup of coffee, please," Night gave his order to the cashier, handing some bits to pay over.

"Black coffee, sir?" The cashier asked, putting the payment in the register.

"Two sugar cubes as well, please," Night added, leaving a couple more bits in a near-empty tip jar beside the register while the cashier trotted off to fulfill his order, coming back less than a minute later with his sealed cup of coffee and a small brown paper bag with his omelet. Night thanked the worker and took the bag and cup to an empty table to sit and eat.

Following a gentle sip of coffee to avoid burning his tongue, Night proceeded to remove the paper wrapper from his omelet and happily nibble on it. From past experiences, he was well aware of how good the cafe made their breakfast foods as well as the sandwiches they served for lunch, and taking time to eat helped pass the time faster than if he waited to get something to eat on the train.

Night later finished his omelet and tossed the wrapper and bag it came in into a trash can, taking his cup of still-steaming coffee out into the main hall to continue waiting, only having to for a few short minutes when the train to Batsburg arrived and the passengers began disembarking. Another very short couple of minutes later, the conductor began punching holes in tickets for ponies heading to Vanhoover where the train's final destination would be, before making it's way back across Equestria to somewhere on the east coast. He handed his ticket to the conductor, who punched it in and gave it back to Night, allowing him on board. Night thanked the conductor and stepped onto the train, taking a seat and another sip of his coffee, ready for the long trip west.


***


Over eight hours after departing Canterlot, the train raced through the northwestern Equestrian countryside, passing through many tunnels and crossing rocky ravines along the way. In one of the cars, Night napped peacefully in his seat, head leaning onto one of his shoulders while he rested himself against the window.  About halfway into the ride, Night determined to sleep a little bit extra to make up for what he didn't get that night, though it was difficult for him as minor jolts of the train striking bumps continued to wake him up every so often before he would doze off again. 

The region of the country where Batsburg was located was extremely mountainous compared to the rest of Equestria. Much of the surrounding valleys were completely flooded green with tall, thick pine trees that reached up to astounding heights of up to seventy feet, trees of such height and type not indigenous in other regions. 

Passing through one final tunnel, the train began to slow as it approached it's stop at the newly constructed Batsburg station. The gentle jolt of the train coming to a complete stop woke Night in an instant. He yawned and glanced outside of the window, seeing outside a fairly new sight—a dirt field where many rows of trees had been cut down and uprooted, and fresh seeds coated the ground where grass was now meant to grow while a stone path was being built opposite of the side of the tracks from the station.

Night stood up, rubbing his eye with a hoof and walked over to the door of the car as it slid open, the conductor stepping off of the train to welcome those getting off. Aside from Night, only two others disembarked and made their way off of the platform, and as his hoof laid down on the wooden platform, a joyful screech made him wince slightly, followed by a pair of hooves looping around him in a lung-crushing embrace. The force of the figure clinging to him moved him backwards a couple of steps before he could fully realize what was going on, and in turn, smiled and wrapped his hooves back around what attacked him.

"Eeee, Night!" Screeched Dawn Blossom, a big toothy grin crossing her muzzle while she squeezed the poor stallion's neck.

Night grunted as Dawn further squeezed him and did what he could to hold the embrace as well as not pass out from the brief lack of oxygen. He let out a soft chuckle and nuzzled into the thestral mare's purple mane. "I missed you too, little sis. But, if I might ask, how did you know I was coming today?"

"I didn't!" Dawn giggled, pulling back out of the hug. "I've just been coming back every day hoping you would come."

"I take it my letter didn't get here yet?" Night tilted his head but kept a light grin.

"I suppose not," Dawn shrugged. "But still, I'm happy you're here! Come on, there's a lot I still have to show you!" she added, turning to walk off of the platform. "You do want a tour right?"

"Of course I do!" Night smiled. "I can't imagine this station is the only new thing around here."

"Oh, no. Not at all. A lot has changed in the last few months. Come on!" Dawn laughed and levitated up with a few flaps of her wings, floating off of the platform with Night following close behind, then to her side as they walked down a small cobble path leading to a larger one in front of the station with multiple small buildings, some under construction, on either side.

"Wow..." Night murmured as they walked down the path, some other bat ponies trotting from building to building while construction ponies of other origin, mainly earth pony workers, hammered and sawed away at wooden planks while they constructed the frames of the buildings and the fresh smell of wood being cut the only scent in the air, replacing the former thick smell of fresh alpine air.

"I know, right? The Governor is using much of the money the princesses granted to the town to build an area for ponies that can't stand on clouds," Dawn explained, looking around. "The full plan will take a couple of years, but great progress has been made in just the last five months. Heck, the plans might be finished earlier than expected at this rate. But that's not everything I have to show you. Come on, let's head up!" she continued, flying upwards.

Night unfolded his wings, and with one flap, he was airborne and flying after Dawn as they soared up towards the cloud city. Once above it, they flew back down, landing in a small plaza before an all-stone building with a clock and spire to top it off. All around, the poorly-constructed, dull shops were now remodeled with new rooftops, outer constructs and materials, bigger windows, and even had actual lighting inside.

"Whoa.." Night's eyes opened with surprise as he looked around the rebuilt town, walking towards the residential area of the town and seeing the homes were significantly larger and had an architectural style similar to that of Canterlot and Vanhoover combined.

Dawn smiled, walking alongside her brother while he peered around in awe. "Princess Luna's last visit was to approve the transport of building materials and produce to... 'spruce up the town', as she put it. It's really helped us as a community out and now all of us have decent places to live."

"They're so much bigger... and what about the sunlight?" Night tilted his head, peering down slightly at Dawn.

"Hey, we're out walking in it right now. Besides, we have window shades. They came with the renovations," she winked. "What do you think, big brother?"

"It's amazing. Different than what I'm used to seeing, but amazing," Night smiled, scanning around at the different houses while the sun shone brilliantly down on the town. "Where's our—I mean, your house?"

Dawn gently punched Night's shoulder and laughed. "It's your house still too, silly. It's still in the same spot as it has been, for you it might be harder to spot since you just got back in town," she smirked. "I'll take you there. Hopefully mom and dad are home, they'll be more than excited to see you."