Night and Day

by Tom Ink


A place to stay

Deep in the Everfree forest, Midnight storm and Golden Sun took shelter in a cave. Lightning provided their only light. Soaked but safe, they settled down against the back wall of the cave, waiting for Luna’s moonlight to pierce the clouds.

Forced together, Midnight and Golden exchanged no words for a long time. Golden beat on his armor while the batpony rested her injured wing. Annoyed by her companion’s noise, she shouted, “What the buck are you doing?! Just let me suffer in silence!” she spat, finally turning her head toward the source of the noise.

“Wait… Just… a… second… Okay, it’s done,” Golden said. The metal plate was flattened, and the Pegasus used some lianas he found during their run to finish his work. When he was done, he approached Midnight, who couldn’t see what he was carrying in his teeth. She wasn’t able to understand what he’d made, but whatever it was, it seemed to be for her.

“What’s that thing?” she finally asked.

Golden sat next to her and put down the ‘thing’ before answering. “It’s a splint,” he explained. “Your wing may be broken, and we really need to keep it still so the injury won’t get worse. I made that thing,” he continued, pointing to the flattened metal. He had attached vines from outside to keep it in place. “...so your wing can rest and you won’t slow me down tomorrow. OUCH!”

Midnight had punched him with her hoof. “Ha! Even with two hooves broken, I could take you down,” she laughed, a strand of her wet hair falling gracefully on her eyes. She nodded slightly to force it back into place, which unsettled the pegasus just a little bit.

“Well, if you don’t want my help and would rather wake up wingless tomorrow…” he replied, rolling away.

Midnight understood. “Okay, pegasus–”

“Golden,” he interrupted.

“Golden, you’ve won. Come on, put your... thing on me,” she said, spreading her wing with great difficulty, “but I’m keeping an eye on you, so hooves off,” she warned him.

Golden laughed slightly and went to her right wing, losing no time. Gently, he did his job, taking extra care not to hurt the batpony, who occasionally moaned from pain. After a few minutes, Golden took a step back to admire his work. “Voilà! That’ll work. Not too bad, eh, Miss Chicken?” Golden snickered.

Midnight turned her head to see the splint and noticed that her level of pain was acceptable. The metal plate was fixed on her wing, and the weight forced her to rest it.

“Hey, remind me who was afraid to have his blood sucked earlier?” she asked, before bursting out laughing with Golden. “Nice work. Not so bad for one of Celestia’s guards.” Saying that raised a lot of questions in her mind, and she hesitated just a second before asking, “Why did you help me? I mean, I’m a batpony, and you, you’re a Sunbutt-“

“Celestia. Show us some respect, Moonbutt-lover.” Golden sneered.

Midnight laughed, but it was a bit forced. “Yeah, so, like I was saying, you’re with Celestia, and I’m with Luna,” she continued, playing with her hoof on the floor. “You weren’t supposed to help me… Err, I mean… isn’t forbidden on your side to help the enemy?”

Golden raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised and a bit puzzled, but he answered nonetheless after a few seconds of deep thought. “Well…” He tilted his head. “Yeah, that’s kind of… an unwritten rule, but well, I couldn’t let you drown in that muddy lake. Frankly, that would have been lame, going out like a loser.”

“The loser says thanks,” Midnight cut him off again.

“You’re welcome,” Golden said with a shabby smile. “Even if we’re kind of… enemies,” he said, making quotation marks with his hooves, “I wouldn’t be a very good guard if I didn’t keep the promise I made when I took this job.” He cleared his throat and said with his most beautiful voice, mane flowing and chest puffed out. “To protect and to serve, all the citizens, from the smallest to the most powerful, whatever danger they may face,” he finished, smiling and saluting.

Midnight smiled, too, and answered simply. “Thanks. And this time, it’s sincere, Pegasus,” she teased him.

“Hey, you want to have a second broken wing, batpony?” Golden joked, lying down next to her. Midnight laughed, too, and took a look to the stallion’s wings.

“You should take care of yours. You see how gross they are?” the mare asked, pointing to his disheveled white wings with her head. Between the lake and the humidity, they hadn’t dried correctly, and he desperately needed to preen them.

Golden unfolded his wings and noticed it too. “Aw shucks, really?” he questioned, as if the question was obvious.

“What?”

“Uh, duh? Preen myself? Right now?” he answered, rolling his eyes. “You don’t know what that is, don’t you, batpony? Preen your-“

“Feathers? Hey, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve got bat wings, feather-brain,” she explained, unfolding her only available wing. “Go on, do your stuff. After all, it’s not like I have anything else to watch,” she said, lowering her head onto her crossed hooves.

Golden didn’t wait any longer. Right wing, feather after feather, taking extra care to lick every piece of dirt on them. Meanwhile, Midnight cracked an eye open to watch the show. Seeing a pegasus preening himself in front of her was… fascinating, at least as somepony with bat wings. She surprised herself by staring longer than she would have admitted.

After a few moments, Golden moved to his left wing, but he felt a sharp pain on his neck, preventing him from reaching some of the more distant feathers. They started to scratch him, a sensation that would quickly become unbearable.

Golden had an idea. A really embarrassing idea, but an idea that became more and more unavoidable each minute. He couldn’t take care of this feathers, and the itching got worse and worse. Golden thought about it for a few moments, but his instinct got the better of him, and he spoke. “Hey, Midnight?”

“Mm?” She raised her head.

“Can you… err… lend me a hoof to, err… you see…,” he said, spreading his left wing. “I can’t reach them. I must have hurt my neck earlier…”

“Err… I… err… aren’t you worried that, you know, my fangs… I’m not really…,” she mumbled, uneasy, even if she was quite curious to know what she would feel touching them.

Golden blushed a bit, and his eyes shifted around the cave.

“Yeah, I know… but… I don’t really have a choice. They’ll scratch me all night and…,” he cleared his throat and spoke clearly. “Listen. I made a splint for your wing, so you can help me preen mine. Don’t worry, it’s just me and you here. It’s not like you need to do it in front of all of Equestria.”

Midnight thought about it for a few seconds, staring. She finally shrugged. “Okay, show me how you do it,” the batpony answered, standing up and walking to the pegasus. He unfolded his wing in front of her face and explained step-by-step how to do it safely.

“You pass your tongue under the dirty feathers, then do it again, you spit, and you put them back to the right position. Okay?” he asked.

“Okay.” The batpony started working instantly, passing her tongue gently on his white feathers while minding her fangs.

Until that moment, Golden hadn’t noticed how awkward the scene was, and the little moans of delight he let out reminded him how much he missed this feeling. Letting somepony else preen his wings was really amazing for every pegasus.

Midnight heard his low moans, and she took the opportunity to tease him. “You like that, huh?”

Ooohh yeeeessss. Err, I mean, no! I…” he mumbled, “that’s a pegasi thing! We have sensitive wings, and we can’t help ourselves! What would you do if I licked yours?”

“That an offer?” she smiled teasingly.

It was clear that Golden was mortified and wanted to get buried six hooves under. “This is an extremely embarrassing situation,” the Pegasus sighed.

“No argument here,” Midnight replied, finishing a first set of feathers. “We just have to… I dunno… talk. It’ll be less… awkward,” the batpony explained. While searching a topic, her eyes fell on Golden’s flank which, even in the darkness, shined with a beautiful sun depicted on a shield. She hadn’t noticed it before, since it had been covered by his armor.

“…Maybe about our flanks,” she said, without noticing what she had just said.

“What?” Golden asked, turning his head to her, believing he hadn’t heard correctly, half-lost in the blissful state brought on by the mare’s tongue. “Of our what?”

“Of our cutie marks! Yeah, that’s it! Cutie marks!” Midnight corrected, blushing a bit. Golden didn’t miss it, even in the darkness. “How did you get it?” she asked, resuming her work on his feathers.

Golden joyfully recalled the special moment from his childhood. “Oh, that was in my school in Fillydelphia. One day, some big guys were bullying the little ones at school, and one of my friends was having a hard time, too. I came to defend him and… we fought,” he explained.

“Oh, you can fight? That’s not what I saw with the changelings,” Midnight made fun of him as she took the opportunity to spit some dirt out of her mouth.

Golden groaned and continued. “Yeah, laugh as much as you want, but that day, I stood up for a friend, and when those bullies left, I got my cutie mark. And my friend too!” Golden recalled with a broad smile. “We promised to defend each other, whatever the dangers we faced. And since that day, we’ve been like brothers.”

Midnight stopped her work and raised her head, lifting an eyebrow. “Wait, your friend: is he the other royal guard?” she asked.

Golden turned his head and smiled widely. “Yeah, White Spear. We went to the school for royal guards together, we’re roomies, and we work together to protect Celestia. Crazy story, huh?”

“Yeah, that was cool. And how is it to working with the Princess?” Midnight inquired, before resuming her work.

“It’s nice,” Golden started. “Sure, there’s Discord, the changelings, the evil guys who wants to take over Equestria, but except that, it’s– aaahhhhhhh!!” Golden’s tongue flopped out of his mouth, and he tilted his head back, panting.

“What, what did I do?” Midnight panicked, worrying she’d hurt the Pegasus.

“No, no, you… touched… a sensitive feather…” Golden moaned.

Midnight laughed. “I guess I’m doing a great job. I make you feel so gooood, huh?” she said, winking at the Pegasus, who couldn’t see it from where he was.

Golden didn’t answer and instead blushed more.

“Hey, you and your buddy, you seem very close. Are you…?” Golden didn’t miss her wink this time, which made him wince and blush even more.

“N-No! We’re just friends, nothing more! Super-friends, that’s all!” Golden stuttered, turning his head to her flank. “And you, how did you get your cutie mark?” he said quickly to change the subject and avoid further embarrassment.

Midnight stopped her work on his feathers, taking her time to tell her story. “That was the best and worst day of my life. I was fifteen-“

“Fifteen?” Golden questioned. “Isn’t that a bit old to get a cutie mark?”

“Us batponies aren’t known to be very civilized and friendly, as you might guess,” Midnight explained. “We rarely mix with the other ponies and we need time to learn what our special talent is. So, as I said, I was fifteen and there was a big storm on Canterlot. We lived at the end of the town and batponies were ordered to stop the storm clouds.”

“Why batponies? Isn’t that usually a job for pegasi?” Golden asked.

“Yes, but the storm came to where we lived, and… well, our reputation doesn’t make us the kinds of ponies that get saved when there’s an emergency. I think you already know that,” the batpony sighed.

Golden tilted his head slightly, looking gloomy. “Yeah, I… The exile, Nightmare Moon…” A heavy silence fell between the two, Midnight resuming her work on his wings, and Golden thinking back of the past. “And?” he continued, not wanting to stop the conversation at this point.

“My parents went to the clouds and tried to break them. But breaking a storm cloud… That’s kind of a suicide mission.” The word felt heavy in her mouth, and she felt her throat starting to tighten, but she did her best to keep her voice strong. “I don’t know what I was thinking, but I took off and we managed to stop the storm before it destroyed anything. I flew to the ground and…. The rest is on my flank.” She turned her head to the Moon accompanied by a bolt on her flank. “I was happy and all, but I discovered soon after that my parents… I… The storm took them…” Golden heard Midnight sniffle a bit, but she continued nonetheless. “I went to the school for batponies a few days after, and I swore to protect my people and Luna. You can guess the rest,” she concluded.

“Wow. That’s… that’s…,” Golden was a loss for words.

“Depressing? Yeah, I know,” Midnight laughed. “But us, batponies, we don’t have many beautiful stories full of rainbows and kisses. We aren’t chickens like… like…”

“Like Celestia’s guards?” Golden finished. “Remind me who was afraid that I’d hurt her wing earlier?” he snickered.

Mindight didn’t answer. Instead, she used a deadly weapon: a lick to the sensitive parts of the pegasus’ wings.

“What? You don’t know… AAAAHHHHH… Oooh yeeeeeesssss… Please, stop! I will, HAHAHAHAH!!!” The Pegasus couldn’t restrain himself, and he laughed, and his sides were starting to hurt him. “Midnight, stop!”

Hearing the Pegasus saying her name had a strange effect on the batpony. A warm sensation penetrated the freezing cave before a smile came on her face. She stopped her licking and couldn’t help but add, “Chicken.

Golden folded his wings, thinking that this show had gone on for too long. “Well, that’s enough. Thanks for the help, though. You’re pretty cool for a batpony,” he thanked her. “You’re not like Starry Eyes. What an asshole. Nothing personal, I know you’re working with him,” he added quickly, facing her again.

Midnight raised a hoof dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry, I think the same. He’s always on our backs, wanting us to strictly follow the rules,” Midnight recalled.

“Yeah, he’s the kind of pony that’d report you for taking too long to get dressed. What a looney,” Golden laughed.

“Oh, you don’t have to work with him for twelve hours straight, six days a week,” Midnight complained. She started to rub her hooves on her body to warm it.

Hearing her raised a question in the stallion’s mind. “By the way, how do you sleep? I mean, you sleep during the day, right?” Golden inquired.

Midnight laughed and explained the lifestyle of batponies. “No, we sleep for a few hours during the day, and that’s all. Somedays we’ll go days without sleeping, or we’ll just take small naps. And no, we don’t sleep upside down,” she explained, guessing his next question. “And we have a day off per week. And you?”

Golden detailed what a usual day was for him. Celestia’s audiences, the trips, the enemies… And the working conditions, gained after a long struggle. “…and we have four days off per month, housed and fed,” he ended, stifling a yawn.

His yawn was contagious, and she started to open her mouth wider too. Golden admired her shiny fangs on the moonlight, so much that he hadn’t noticed it had stopped raining. They didn’t seem like a threat now, and think they had been close to his feathers a few minutes ago… which made his imagination run wild.

At the same time, a freezing gust of wind passed through the cave, brushing their bodies as they tried to keep their hooves warm. More adapted to the cold than his companion, Golden stood still, but he noticed that Midnight was shuddering, rubbing her hooves faster and faster on her body and curling up on the floor.

Brrrr!!!” she shuddered. “I hope the wind slows down before we become ice cubes,” she declared, turning to the Pegasus, who seemed unbothered by the wind. “You don’t think it’s cold here?”

“Huh? Oh, yes…” Golden came back to his senses, a bit lost after an moment of observing the batpony’s shivering body. “But us, pegasi, we’re used to the cold, living in the clouds where the air is colder,” he explained.

“You’re lucky,” Midnight replied, sighing slightly.

“You want to stay close to me for the night?” Golden had asked it without thinking.

The batpony raised her head and widely opened her yellow eyes.

Seeing her puzzled look, Golden quickly added, “Err, I mean… for the warmth and all. That’s what we learn in survival training!”

Midnight thought for a few seconds and felt an even colder wind passed through her, which helped her make her decision. After some hesitation, she stood up and approached Golden, then sat next to him, flank against flank, immediately feeling some of his warmth spread through her body to her hooves. Her red cheeks warmed, too. After a few seconds of silence, she added, “And don’t try anything. You’re cool, but everypony has their limits, Golden.” She sent her head on her hooves in front of her and closed her eyes. “And if you talk about this to anypoy, I will know where to put my fangs.”

Golden said nothing and watched her for a few minutes, feeling his breath cool down as Midnight shivered slightly. After a few seconds of deep thinking, he unfolded his wings and gently covered Midnight’s body, waiting for a reaction. She smiled, eyes still closed, and Golden thought she was okay.

The pegasus’ eyelids started to get heavy, and he fell asleep shortly after, still imagining the cute batpony during his trip to Luna’s land.

He woke up with a jolt. “Wait, cute?”