The part where things get complicated
Midnight arrived at her camp a few minutes later, humming with joy, a dreamy look sparkling in her eyes. The night had been fantastic, and the morning too, when she’d woken up into the soft hooves of Golden, not caring about the future and simply enjoying the moment. She loved him, he loved her, and she had something with her to think about him until their next meeting. During her flight, she often stroked a hoof into her mane to feel the brooch. But even with that, she thought the week would feel quite long and that the suspense would only make their next meeting more expected, and fun. She made a mental note to herself to come with her armor next time.
Without suspecting anything, she quietly slipped into her room at the eastern side of the camp, the camp almost empty with all the guards who had already gone to sleep. She opened the window that she’d left slightly ajar during the night, and after checking that the brooch Golden gave her was hidden in her mane, she came in. In the darkness of the room, she didn’t see the welcoming committee at first.
She had just enough time to land a hoof on the floor before getting tackled by two guards, leaving her helpless. She squirmed, trying to escape this fortress of hooves, before noticing that she wouldn’t be able to escape this time. She groaned and tried one last time to escape their hold before sighing and saying, “What are you doing here, you two?”
“We are the ones asking the questions here, Midnight.”
Starry walked into the light, closely followed by Moon Dancer. Midnight’s heart dropped to her stomach, and her mind seemed paralyzed by the shock.
They knew. They’d discovered the truth. No more nights with Golden. No more Golden. No more night guards. Darker and darker thoughts entered her mind with the promise of never leaving. All she feared was becoming real now, and it couldn’t have been at a worse time. She had just spent the most marvelous night of her life with her lover, and they promised each other to leave to live their lives freely in the future. Together. The plan was being crushed before her very eyes, along with Midnight’s happiness. She felt like her head had just been struck by lightning.
Starry was the first to face her, a smirk never leaving his face. “You really thought you could trick us?” he asked, jerking his head towards the bed. “You really thought we would be so dumb?!” he shouted, hitting her on the head. She didn’t let out a cry, still shocked, and she kept her head low, a trickle of blood starting to flow out of her muzzle.
Moon Dancer approached too, slowly and with a dark stare. He raised Midnight’s head with his hoof and looked at her closely. “You see, Midnight, I order you to not leave the camp, except for work. It’s Sunday, you didn’t work yesterday, and you were supposed to spend the night here,” he started with a low voice, the one he used to scold his soldiers.
“This morning, Starry came here and noticed that you weren’t here. We weren’t sure that you were conspiring with the enemy, but we have proof now. Your absence, for starters. Furthermore, we quickly sent somepony to find you after we noticed you were missing.” He paused. “And this soldier saw you leaving the royal guard’s camp.”
Midnight didn’t have any way to escape now. Nothing to defend herself, nothing to plead her case, nothing more. Moon Dancer continued, and Starry smirked, relishing that moment more than anypony else.
“Your sentence will be decided soon. You will be an example for all the others guards. Do you want to add anything, soldier Midnight Storm?”
The batpony slowly shook her head, not wanting to implicate Golden and hoping he could still have a chance to leave safely, but in doing so, she unwittingly condemned him. A ray of sun entered in the room and reflected on the golden surface of the brooch. Starry saw something shine and moved closer to her, passing a hoof through her mane to find this shiny thing. Under the confused looks of the others guards and Moon, he took the brooch from her mane and studied it closely.
He stared at it before raising his head, furious. He turned to Moon, and announced, “It’s the brooch of a royal guard! She’s betrayed us!” He read aloud the name engraved on the back. “Golden Sun.” The name made something tingle in Starry’s mind. “It’s one of Celestia’s personal guards! It’s the one we see almost every day in the changing of the guard! She spent the night in that cave in Ponyville with him! I knew it! I BUCKING KNEW IT!”
He ran to Midnight, who, in the meantime, had raised her head at hearing the name of her lover. He faced her. “I had doubts since the very beginning! You really thought you could fool me, huh? You really thought I would be so blind to not see this?!” he shouted, fangs out and tempted to sink them into her. Moon got closer and took the brooch from the hooves of his lieutenant.
He stared long at it and raised his head, glaring at her. Her fate was now sealed. “You’ll be judged for high treason, Midnight. You know what you’re risking now.”
The batpony opened her eyes wide. She started sobbing quietly, the picture of Golden hanging desperately in her mind like a life preserver in the ocean, along with the crazy hope that he could save her in time, before…
The idea made her heart sink even deeper into her stomach, and her sobs kept getting louder.
No. She shouldn’t cry. She had to stay strong. For her and Golden. Keep the faith until the very end. Even when everything seemed to be hopeless. But now, the hope was hard to find in her mind.
The two guards dragged her into a cage located within the camp. The small jail wasn’t often used, but the dark rooms seemed to warn everypony that took a look at them. After they threw her into one of them, Moon stopped behind the gates and said, “It’s just the beginning of the trouble for you, soldier. Too bad you didn’t understand that before.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Knock knock knock
“Come in.”
“Soldier Golden Sun, captain! You asked for me?” Golden announced while entering into Sun Glow’s office. He seemed a bit lost in his thoughts, but not more than usual. The captain looked up and, without a word, reached out a hoof towards the chair in front of him.
Golden saluted and obeyed, expecting to receive an order for a mission. Silence fell for a few seconds, creating a heavy atmosphere in the room, and Sun never stopped watching Golden. Finally, he breathed deeply and started. “Golden, what can you tell me about batponies?”
The question took the stallion aback. He started to panic slightly, though he didn’t show it in his expression. His heart started to beat faster, and he tried to focus on not betraying something with his body language.
“They… they are our enemies, captain,” he started. “We are not allowed to talk to them, we are not allowed to meet them outside of work, we are not allowed to befriend them, we are only allowed to salute them at the end of the changing at 7 AM and 9 PM, and we otherwise won’t interact unless absolutely necessary.”
Sun nodded and left his chair, starting to approach Golden. “Exactly, soldier. You see, even if the massacre of batponies by our guard happened a millennium ago, we can’t forget what they’ve done and the pain they brought to all of Equestria, which lasted long after Nightmare’s Moon exile.” He paused, staring at a poster that sang the praises of the royal guard, allowing some time for Golden to think about his situation and making him panic even more. He gulped loudly, and sweat started to run below his helmet.
Sun turned back and continued. “There was a time where we were the only guards protecting Equestria. But after Luna’s return… I’m not saying it was a bad thing, but...” He was looking for the right words. “That day, something changed. I knew we would have to learn to share our responsibility of protecting Equestria with the batponies, the same people we killed centuries ago. And that wasn’t the best news of my career.” He slowly continued to walk around the room, and every step made Golden more and more anxious.
“Batponies are filled with hate, and they wait for only one thing: to get their revenge against us and become the first army of Equestria. That’s why we must be careful with them and not let any batpony befriend us. We all know that here, we teach that to every new guard in the school. But you know all of this, don’t you, Golden?” he asked, eyes locked on the pegasus.
Golden shifted his eyes everywhere and did his best to not lower his gaze in front of his captain. “Y-Yes, captain. I learned it during my training here.”
Sun raised an eyebrow and walked back to his desk. He opened a drawer, pulled out something, hid it in his hoof, and got closer to Golden.
“Really? It seems that you haven’t learned your lesson yet, soldier. Otherwise, you would not have lost this in the batpony’s camp.” He threw the brooch to Golden. The soldier caught it with his hooves. “I received a letter from Moon Dancer, the captain of the Lunar guard.” He paused and put a hoof under his chin. “ And it’s the kind of letter I wished I would never have to open. Because I knew what it was about.”
Golden was completely panicking now. He squirmed, uneasy on his chair, his mind thinking frantically of Midnight, of what she must be suffering at that moment, at what he could endure, thinking of never being able to see her again, thinking of never being able to stroke the mane of the one that had conquered his heart, thinking of never being able to kiss her again, thinking of never be able to leave Canterlot with her…
“Soldier Golden Sun,” the pegasus said as turned back, “This is where your career ends. Guards!”
Instantly, two guards entered the office with spears pointed towards Golden. “Take him to jail. We’ll take care of him later,” he ordered.
‘Don’t give in, not without a fight.’
He’d learned it in training once, and he launched himself into a big fight with the two guards. He disarmed them and threw one of them against one of the walls. He threw himself on the other stallion, but he received a heavy blow in the jaw that made him fall on the floor, allowing some time for the other guard to hoofcuff him. Sun put a hoof on his throat, preventing another attempt to escape. The other guard recovered, lips bleeding, and helped his colleague pick up the prisoner. When they get out of the room, Sun didn’t lift his gaze from the eyes of the ex-soldier before saying, while he passed in front of him, “Solider Golden Sun, I discharge you from your duties. We will deeply regret having you be a part of this guard.”
The two guards took Golden to the jail, he kept thinking of Midnight to put some extra force in his hooves. But the cuffs stopped any chance of escaping, and he traveled the hallway under the surprised gazes of the others soldiers, some shocked, some puzzled. Golden lowered his head, starting to loudly sob at the loss of his love. It couldn’t end like this, not today, not after their night together, not after what they had promised to each other. Hang on to a hope, even a fragile one. And think of Midnight, again and again, to prevent the darkness from taking control of his mind. Where there’s life, there’s hope, right?
Golden had never wished so much that this would be true. But all the words in the world didn’t prevent him from bursting in tears in his jail. They should have left, when there was still time. He hadn’t found the courage, and he cursed himself for his cowardice. He should have been strong for Midnight, but he had failed her. He’d betrayed his motto.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By the middle of the afternoon, a siren was heard in the batponies camp. It was only used in case of emergency, or for an impromptu meeting, like today. All the batponies, even the ones asleep, heard this sound and rushed to the meeting room in the middle of the camp. Around fifty guards, almost all of the Lunar guard, entered the room, where whispers were heard along with groans and rumors.
Some seemed sleepy, but they all stood straight when their chief, Moon Dancer, got up on stage, announced by a guard next to the front door of the room. Helmets tinged as they were met with saluting hooves , and all eyes faced straight in front of them in sign of respect for their captain.
“At ease,” Starry ordered, standing next to his captain on the stage. He looked from left to right and continued. “Captain Moon Dancer is here for a special announcement, soo open your ears and listen to your chief!” He nodded to Moon, who used his low and loud voice to start his speech.
“Soldiers, I’m here because there is a serious situation going on. We were informed of a breach of the batponies’ rules. A very serious crime.” He paused for suspense. “Within our own guard.”
The whispers grew louder in the ranks. Moon moved his head towards the two guards on his left, and they opened the doors of a cage. Midnight, head low and tightly held by two of her former colleagues, was dragged by the hooves onto the stage. The room shut down with a shocked silence. Some batponies recognized her instantly and widened their eyes. Questions popped into their minds. What had she done? Why did she look like that? Had she planned something against Luna? There were all hanging on Moon’s words, and they didn’t take their eyes from the batpony until the two guards stopped in front of the raised stage.
“Midnight Storm,” he said, turning his head towards her, even as she kept her eyes low., “...has broken one of our rules. That is to say, she befriended a royal guard.”
Some muffled gasps were heard. Midnight looked up and met stares filled with hate, but some were more neutral, more shocked than anything else. She also spotted some looks that seemed sympathetic, though they were few. The batpony’s eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and she barely stoodupright. Moon’s voice echoed again.
“This situation is serious. And Midnight will be judged for her crime with death as possible sentence. Before her trial, she will stay in the jail at the camp. Let it be a lesson to all of you: if you ever think of befriending the enemy, this could happen to you!” he roared, fear engulfing the ranks . “You want to add anything, soldier Storm?”
Midnight didn’t answer but turned her gaze to Moon, eyes frowned and filled with a ferocious hate. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the captain spoke again.
“We won’t take any risks, and you won’t escape from us. Lieutenant!” he ordered, turning to Starry. The batpony stepped closer to Midnight and, with all the guards as witnesses, put his hooves on one of the mare’s wings, before breaking it with a snap and a blood-freezing sound.
Midnight let out a huge cry of pain that echoed in the ears of the whole guard. Some even looked away, not wanting to see this horrible thing longer, including some of the bravest batponies. Starry did the same for her second wing, and Midnight fell on the floor, unable to hold the tears that flowed out of her eyes, paralyzed by pain, only wanting it to stop.
The sound of her cries echoed in the room for a long time, and some batponies felt a bit of compassion, many of them shivering at the simple thought of having one of their wings broken.
Starry spoke, and his voice cracked like a whip in the room. “Get it, everypony? The sentence will be the same for all batponies seen with one of Celestia’s guards! Guards! Take them to her jail cell!” he shouted. Quickly, two guards wrapped hooves around her neck and dragged her out the front door.
Meanwhile, Midnight had fainted, crushed by pain. At least she couldn’t suffer anymore where she was now.
In the royal guard’s jail, Golden never stopped thinking about his love, trying to erase the dark ideas that passed through his head and not giving himself one second to rest. He tried to get some sleep, but his mind was too busy thinking of all the possibilities for his future, and he was even unable to close one eye. Minutes seemed to pass like hours, and every second without her was like a knife wound.
His heart was beating slowly, torn, as if life itself was leaving him little by little. He wanted to fight, he wanted to struggle, but he had no hope to hang onto except thinking of Midnight and trying to remember the magic moments they’d shared just yesterday.
Towards the end of the day, a guard entered the jail and asked permission to speakto the prisoner. The pegasus assigned to Golden’s supervision acquiesced , and Golden heard two different voices from the hall that led to where he was confined.
Then he hear only the sound of hoofsteps getting closer. A shadow approached, too, and something stopped in front of the gates. Lying on a bed, he turned his head towards the visitor. He squinted his eyes and needed a few seconds to recognize this familiar face.
“Sunny?”
Sunny Shield, White’s temporary roomie from the previous day. The pegasus looked sad, sad to see one of his friends here, stuck between four walls. Golden slowly approached the gates. “What are you doing here?” he asked, suspicious.
Sunny breathed deeply. “Golden, I heard what happened. And… I don’t know what to think, but I want to believe that you meant no harm. White told me about this batpony.”
Golden sighed and face-hoofed. “He never could shut up…”
“That’s not the point,” Sunny cut him off. “I wasn’t far from Sun’s office, and I saw something fall from your hoof. And so, I thought I should…” He searched in his saddlebag and pulled out a tiny, shiny object. Golden’s eyes widened.
It was the brooch he’d gave to Midnight. Sunny held it out, and Golden took it very carefully, like the most precious and fragile thing in the world. He was at a loss for words for several seconds, and then he finally looked up to Sunny.
“Thanks, Sunny… I… I don’t know what to say… Thanks, thanks”, he thanked him and passed a hoof through the gates to shake his. Sunny accepted it, and they sahreda strong hoof-shake.
“You really care about her, White told me. I… I know you broke one of our rules, but… You’re a good pony, so you can count on me during the trial. I will tell everypony that you can be trusted. Plenty of guards support you, too. Not for what you did, but they know you’re trustworthy. We all make mistakes sometimes.”
Touched by his words, Golden wiped a tear from one of his eyes. He answered simply. “Thanks Sunny. Tell the boys that… I won’t let them down. Never. I never wanted to put the guard in danger.”
“Yeah, we know that, Golden. We all know that. After all, love is blind, right? Besides, White told me she was smoking hot,” he finished with a wink.
Golden laughed. “Don’t you dare. She’s mine.”
Sunny laughed too. “I need to go now. They only gave me five minutes. Hold on, Golden, for us, for the guard.” Sunny saluted him, and Golden did the same. “We won’t forget you.” On that, he disappeared from Golden’s eyesight, and his hoofsteps got quieter until they weren’t heard above the squeaking of a door.
Golden returned to the bed and lay down, looking at the brooch in front of him. He stared for a long time, and he even took a sniff from time to time. It still had the scent of Midnight’s mane. That lifted up his spirits. There was something to hang on to.
There was still hope.
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Does Celestia or luna know about this entire "enemy" thing?
This entire idea of the solar and lunar guard being enemies on account of an event that occured a millenium prior seems rediculous. Celestia and Luna certainly wouldn't approve.
If Tia can forgive her sister, why should the guards hold onto this petty-ass grudge?
Hia! I'm Midnight Storm! Do... do I know you? heh, just a coincidence but still now I have to read this.
Kiss her, Golden. Kiss her and propose to her.
You know...after you get out of jail, I mean...
Wait a minute...I've only just noticed this now but...
Is this story following a similar concept to Pocahontas? The secret meetings between two different tribes and stuff? The forbidden romance? This s MLP Pocahontas, isn't it?
I have absolutely no problem with it if it is. I love this.
8143307
Alas, my good sir; because conflict leaves many wounds. Some of those wounds lie below the surface of the flesh, and those wounds are the ones that often take the longest to heal, if ever.
Please tell me this is intentional and that this potential mistake hasn't been overlooked for 2+ years.
8143863 Well, i have an editor but i'm looking for someone who could take another look, would you like to be that man?
8143666 What is it? (English isn't my first language)
8143388
Are you telling me wounds are passed down to the children of the next generation?
8143307
The fact on how serious they are had me laughing. I'm pretty sure just how much they acted on emotions will be questioned. They're unfit to lead troops if they can't even keep their temper in check, in my opinion. I wouldn't even trust them to be armed because clearly they're just time-bombs.
8143991 Yes, when the wounds are those inflicted through war.
8144165
So even if a thousand years had passed, they remain? How?
Maybe I'm just different from normal people, but the very idea of hating someone for their ancestors is just plain dumb.
8144246
It all depends on upbringing, really. Look at Romeo and Juliet - two wealthy families at odds with each other, their children raised to despise the other family. Look at the Legend of Zelda - Ganon should just stop trying to conquer the world and make amends with Link for what his past incarnations had done to him, right?
It's never really all that easy. It should be, but some people hold on to their hate and anger more than they should have to. I guess to them it's all they have for the other side, maybe?
8144378
I can accept that some hold onto their hate. Obviously everyone didn't, they were shocked.
How this strong hate was passed down by generations is beyond me, how so many were mindless sheep that didn't question what they were told.
In the end, the sheep we see will get a slap on their wrist, probably. They'll make some progress finally and maybe they won't teach children to hate based on what happened a thousand years ago.
But this is just my opinion, I may be wrong, or not.
I think it's PAST time the Princesses hear about this. This is out of control. They broke her wings!!
8144757 They broke her wings! Oh SNAP!
Get it? I'm going to hell for this.
8144883 Maybe not hell, but you will have to have a lengthy discussion with Pinkie Pie on Chimicherry changas, proper party procedures, and how her powers work for a full 6 hours. Have fun!
8144952 I sat through sex education class...and watched two people have sex on the desk. I think I can manage Pinkie Pie, dude.
That is seriously cruel to break BOTH of her wings T___________T
I hope that the Princesses find out about this and punish those two leaders harshly! ~.~
8145036 That is disturbing... And in light of that, you also get 4 hours of Twilight lectures and 12 of Rarity's finest, most dramatic sobbing.
8145133 I think those two leaders are Changelings...
8145274 Sure. And I'll fantasize about setting Mandopony's house on fire as I dance around it singing "Firestarter", hmm?
8145309 "There's no wrong way to fantasize." -Celestia, 2017
You what??
By the way, you spelt opposite, enemies, soldier, and cheesy wrong!
Moar
8146221 Fixed! Though i might have been blinded for the past two years to not see it...
looking forward to the next chapter.
Broken wings. Ouch, that was pretty cruel. Well, at least the day guard is more sympathetic than the night guard.
I wonder if Midnight, when she gets eventually released, will chase after justice. Because seriously, that grudge between the day guard and the night guard is quite stupid.
A good driving force for this story, because prejudices aren't easy to get over (especially with crowd/herd mentality), but still.
At least there's a ray of hope for Golden. I wonder how he will react once he finds out what happened to Midnight though.
8147050 I think authors sometimes just don't bother to check. I don't
8145036 You need help.
8152994 I need another chapter of this story, is what I need.
If midnight and golden have no place amongst the solar or lunar guards, why not put the with the crystal gaurds or set up a new branch with twilight?
Will you continue this story? Because this the worst part to leave it
8581017
I will. I just kinda forgot to update it. Probably before the end of the year though. Thanks for reading!
8581160
Thank you for sharing this great fanfic!