The Rhythm of Love

by lockheed

18: Amore

I stepped down onto the platform for the station near The Hollow Shades. White Fang inhaled deeply and sighed. I took a small sniff of the air and didn’t smell anything besides the usual smells of a train station. “What in Equestria could you possibly smell?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow.

“Fruit. You probably can’t smell it like I can. I’ll explain it on the way.” He began to trot away and I quickly followed after him. As we left the train station, I noticed the lack of a town.

“So, how far of a walk is it?” I asked as we headed down a trail towards some nearby woods. Growing up around the Everfree, I was slightly hesitant to enter any large, dense concentration of trees. But if Fang thought that it was safe, then it must have been. He did grow up there after all.

“Only about a half hour.” He replied with another smile. We continued down the path and into the dense forest; the smallest sounds making me jerk my head in just about every direction. “Moon above, you’re jumpy aren’t you?” I blushed and nodded as he removed his sunglasses, the treetops becoming so dense that the lighting was comparable to that of dusk. “No wonder you’re not a regular Guard.” Fang joked with a small poke to my side. My cheeks and ears slowly turned red but thankfully the low light kept my blush hidden from him. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something and I don’t want to seem rude about it.”

“No. Please, ask away,” I told him with a smile.

“Okay. I was wondering why you look more fluffy lately,” He stated and I blushed at his inquiry.

“Earth ponies typically get a winter coat. With us being on the ground and working outdoors more than unicorns and pegasi, we had to adapt to the cold. So we usually get fluffier during winter.” I looked down at the ground as snow began to slowly float down through the treetops. “I personally hate it. It makes me look like a freaking marshmallow.” Fang laughed at my comment and placed a reassuring wing on my back.

“Don’t worry. If it makes you feel better, I love marshmallows. They’re so sweet and amazing on s’mores. And the best part is that they get all hot and sticky and then they drip on your chin.” My face was beet red now and any snow that landed on it instantly melted away. He had to be saying that on purpose. Right? I mean, there was no way he wasn’t. I snuck a quick glance over at him and I saw him watching me as we walked. “You’re not cold are you?” Fang asked as we followed a curve in the path, the snow beginning to come down a bit harder now.

“Nah. Winter coat, remember?” I chuckled as I pointed at myself. “I’m a marshmallow after all.”

“Oh, right.” He blushed a bit as he rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. “I forgot. Oh, I also sorta forgot to mention something.” I raised an eyebrow as he continued. “Because of all my siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins being there for the holiday; we need to share my old bedroom.” I resisted the urge to stop where I stood as my cheeks turned beet red again.

“S-share a room?” I looked down at the path as it slowly began to turn white with snow.

“Share a bed actually.” Fang admitted and I looked over to see a blush on his cheeks. “I…I hope that’s alright. I kinda waited on telling you because I didn’t want you backing out. I know how much you needed to get away from Canterlot and all the stuff that happened there. And I knew that if I told you we were going to have to share a bed, you would’ve shot it down in a heartbeat. You’re not mad are you?” He lowered his head and pinned his ears back to his head; showing regret about keeping it from me.

“No, I’m not mad. A bit surprised though. Just…don’t be surprised if I start snuggling in my sleep. First time I’ve shared a bed with a pony since, well, you know.” I leaned on him and gave him a cheeky smile. As I did so, he looked at me and a grin to rival any of Pinkie Pie’s split his face.

“Sweet Luna! You are fluffy!”

---

We finally reached the small village of The Hollow Shades after about a half hour of walking, just as Fang had said. I looked around at all the little homes which were dimly lit on the inside. The few ponies who were outside looked at me with curious glances but didn’t seem to have an issue with me as I was walking with a bat pony like them. Fang led me to a two story home on the southern side of the village, where the smell of food was especially strong. “Now, I have to warn you, my family can be really overbearing at times. You might want to be prepared for some very personal questions. Oh, and are you familiar with how most bat ponies are about—“

“Homosexuality?” I asked and he nodded his head. “I am. I won’t mention anything about it. Honestly hadn’t planned to anyways. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t tried to like mares. Believe me, I’ve tried my damnedest to try and like them and it just didn’t happen.” He gave a small nod of his head and mumbled something under his breath but it was too quiet for me to hear. We trotted up the small path across the front yard and Fang knocked on the door. Standing there for a moment, the door finally opened and a large, grey bat pony stallion with a midnight blue mane opened the door.

“White! About time you got here!” He turned and I peeked past him and into the house. “Kids! Your brother is here!” I felt myself pale a bit at the sight that greeted me as he moved out of the way. I saw ten colts and fillies all jump up and gallop at the doorway. I stepped aside just in time as they all launched themselves out the door and tackled Fang to the ground. Amongst the sounds of laughter, I could hear greetings being exchanged between Fang and his younger siblings. They slowly began to quiet down and I could hear Fang speak up.

“Guys, this is my friend Swing.” Their little amber eyes all turned on me and I felt myself take an instinctive step back. Before I would’ve even had the chance to turn tail and run, I found myself pinned down by all of Fang’s siblings who I suddenly noticed were all feeling my fur.

“He’s so fluffy!” One of them shouted as she wrapped herself around my leg and nuzzled into it. I couldn’t help but stay motionless, frozen by the fear of being tackled by so many kids. Maybe it was like with certain animals. If I didn’t move, they’d go away. I breathed a sigh of relief as Fang came into my vision with a smile.

“Alright, everybat off of him. Don’t want to scare him off now.” Fang began shooing his siblings off of me. They all climbed off me and lined up in what I presumed to be the oldest to the youngest. One thing I quickly noticed was the similarities between many of them. “Swing, these are my siblings. First are the quintuplets New Moon, Half Moon, Crescent Moon, and Full Moon.” Four early-teenage colts gave me a polite wave and smiles. I noticed that, much as expected, they were identical except for their cutie marks. Even down to their shaggy purple manes, they were pretty much identical. “Next are the twins Phobos and Phoebe.” I smiled at the two fillies who, much like their older brothers, were identical except for their cutie marks. “Then we have the other twins Charon and Demios.” A colt and filly smiled at me as Fang then pointed down to the last and youngest looking of the kids. “And last but not least is my youngest brother, Little Dipper.” The young colt, who looked to be about seven or so, waved to me with a large smile on his face.

“All of you get in here before you catch a cold!” A mare’s voice called from inside and all the siblings quickly complied, Fang included. I followed them inside and gently closed the front door behind me.

“No, mister. You gotta do it like this,” Charon said as she walked over and slammed the door closed. “Otherwise it won’t latch and it’ll blow open.” Sheepishly, I followed the filly further into the house and into the dining room where even more ponies sat around the table.

“Swing, this is my family.” Fang said as he popped up beside me. “Let me introduce you to everybat. First we have my uncle Moonlight Eclipse and my aunt Nightshade.” A couple towards the far end of the table smiled and waved at me as he then directed my attention to two teenage colts. “And these are their sons and my cousins Callisto and Oberon.” The two looked up at me with little interest before going back to their Walkmans and the music that could be heard blasting through their headphones. “Next is my aunts Europa and Moon Pearl. Then my cousins White Comet, Proteus, and Triton.” I noticed something interesting about one of them this time. The one, who I could safely assume to be White Comet, was white with pink wings and eyes. It was very rare to see an albino bat pony as they were typically shunned by their kind and even exiled in some cases. So to be standing only a couple meters away from one, it was incredible. “Now, you’re our guest so you get the end seat.” I looked over and saw a cushion at the end of the table. Taking a seat on it, I found it to be far more comfortable than the regular cushions one would buy in a store.

“So, this is our guest?” A mare asked as Fang sat down beside me on the seat by the corner. “You certainly didn’t lie, White. He is fluffy.” I blushed, earning a snicker from a couple ponies at the table.

“Yep. Mom, this is Swing. Swing, this is my mom Silver Fang.” I turned around to see a lavender mare with a light grey mane. She smiled at me and revealed the mare had exactly what her name implied. One of her fangs had been replaced by a false, silver one that shined in the dim light of the house.

“It’s nice to meet you Swing. It’s been years since we’ve had an outsider visit our little village. So White said you work with Her Majesty Luna?” Everypony at the table froze and turned to look at me, making me tense up under the watchful eyes of the entire table.

“Th-that’s correct.” I said quietly. “She’s a rather nice mare, if I do say so.”

“Do tell us, what is Her Majesty like?” Europa asked as she leaned forward.

“Oh. Um, well she’s a very generous pony. She also doesn’t like it when ponies on her staff treat her as royalty. Sometimes she will use it to her advantage, but typically she simply wants to be seen as a normal pony just like you and I.” This got some surprised looks from those around the table. “She also really loves snack cakes. I have to keep them hidden so she doesn’t sneak any when I’m not looking.” I told them with a small giggle as I remembered a few different times that I had caught Luna stuffing a MoonPie into her mouth. “She’ll kill me if she finds out I said this too; but she’s also about to be engaged to be wed.” This got gasps from several ponies at the table and surprised looks from all besides White Fang.

“Really? To whom?” Nightshade asked. I bit my lip before looking over at Fang who gave me a nod, telling me it was alright to mention.

“It’s a Guard on her detail. Corporal Drum Cadence. She’s a very nice mare.” This made everypony freeze as they looked at me. Then, as I looked around the table, I saw a smile spread across Moon Pearl’s face.

“You owe me twenty bits Europa!”

---

“Sorry if my family was a bit overbearing at any point tonight.” Fang said as we slowly trotted up the stairs towards his room. We were both a bit wobbly as we ascended the steps, the alcohol served at dinner taking a major toll as it hit our blood stream.

“It’s fine, they seem nice. Like, super-duper ultra-nice.” I said as we stumbled down the hallway. Fang pushed open a door to reveal a dimly lit bedroom. Stumbling inside, we both kicked the door closed behind us and I looked around. What I saw made me laugh quietly.

“What?” Fang asked as he looked at me.

“The posters in here.” I said as I looked at the posters of attractive stallion musicians on the walls. “They’re pretty gay. And that’s coming from me.” I snickered as he smacked me in the shoulder.

“Dude, shut up!” He exclaimed with a smirk.

“In all seriousness though, I’m surprised that your family is so chill about gays. I thought bat ponies were supposed to be, like, super against that.” I said as I sat down on the wood floor.

“Most are. My family actually doesn’t care. I mean, we have an albino and my aunt is married to another mare so clearly we’re pretty accepting.” Fang replied making my eyes go wide.

“Wait, so Europa and Moon Pearl are married?” He nodded his head that they were indeed married. “I just figured they were sisters or something.” It was then that another thought ran through my drunken, spinning mind. “Wait, your family doesn’t think we’re dating, do they?”

“Nah. At least I don’t think they do. I don’t know.” He looked at the floor and muttered something.

“What was that?” I asked as I leaned over. “This side is my bad one.” I joked as I flicked the little stump of an ear I had left.

“I said it would make sense if they did.” He said a little louder this time so that I could hear him.

“And why is that?” Now he had my attention. There was no way he was saying what I thought he was…was he?

“Just…it’s nothing. Do you like music?” He asked as he looked at me before facehoofing. “Of course you do. You’re a musician.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was cute.” I replied with a giggle as I playfully pushed at his shoulder with my hoof. “And yes, I do like music.” That seemed to reassure him but in the moonlight, I thought I saw something on his cheeks. He was blushing. Most definitely blushing. Fang was adorable when he blushed. The way the red mixed with the lavender of his coat, it made my heart skip a beat. As much as I hated to say it, I had started to notice how cute the stallion was. The way he held his spear; the way he sipped tea, the way he combed his mane; it was all so cute to me. He stood up and trotted over to a record player and looked through the short stack of records. He hardly had any. Maybe twenty at the most.

“I forgot I had this record.” He said as he looked it over, the black vinyl shining in the moonlight. “It’s a slow song. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, go ahead. Please do.” I told him with a smile. Fang slowly set the record on the turntable and lowered the needle onto the edge. With the twist of a knob, the record began to spin. As music filled the room, I realized what song it was, making my eyes begin to water.

“Swing, what’s wrong?” Fang asked as he turned the music off. He’d clearly seen me about to cry.

“It’s just…that was our song. His and mine.” His eyes widened and he quickly came over to wrap his forelegs and wings around me to try and provide some comfort.

“Oh, Swing. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—“

“You didn’t know, Fang,” I said, cutting him off. “It’s alright.” As he embraced me, I could feel my heart flutter in my chest. The feeling of his legs and wings wrapping me up, holding me close to him; it made me feel safe. But it also made me feel something I’d dreaded feeling for anypony. I felt love. Looking up at him, I saw his eyes looking down, watching me for any change. “Fang, do you ever get scared? And not of things like timberwolves, but things like whether or not somepony will love you back?”

“All the time.” He whispered as he gave me a small, comforting squeeze. “Is there somepony you like?” I nodded as I buried my face into his shoulder. “Can you tell me who it is?” I shook my head, knowing that I couldn’t tell him. “That’s alright if you can’t or don’t want to tell me. Just know that I’m here for you. And know that I go through the same fears. It can be hard sometimes. Especially if that pony is around you all day. But even if they might not love you back, you still need to try and be their friend. Which, it can be hard, just staying a friend. Especially when you love everything that they do. The way they smile and share dirty jokes. How they hardly ever let life get them down. When they swear in Istallion despite you not knowing one word of the language but they make it sound so cute.” My breath caught in my throat and I slowly raised my head up from his shoulder. I saw his amber eyes looking at me, staring deep into my own eyes. He was so handsome. In the haze of the moment, I hardly noticed my head moving forward until my lips were pressed against his. My mind went crazy as I could feel his fangs gently scraping my bottom lip and the warmth of his breath against my snout. After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few wonderful seconds, Fang gently pulled away. Then, as I watched him, he lunged back forward and slammed his lips against mine, pulling me as close as he could with his legs and wing. As we kissed, neither of us noticed as we lost our balance and fell over onto the floor. It was certainly a wonderful beginning to a wonderful night.

Author's Note:

Proofread and edited by my amazing boyfriend Glacier Wind. Go give him a watch.

Comments

[Selena Quintanilla]

Oh my god, I'm staying up reading this late at night and I'm bawling my eyes out, why you do this to me!?

[BroBpony]

kinda bummed out that Test was having an affair but I'm interested to see where this goes.