Loyalty
"Tenebris watched the fire dance and spark against the gathered wood. His hoof slowly tracing the crescent moon medallion that hung from his neck. Two other bat ponies stood near him in red leather armor. Their design was a far cry from the lunar guard’s design, and offered less protection.
“That son of mine…he’s taking too long,” Tenebris grumbled.
“Perhaps we’ll hear from him soon,” an elderly bat pony spoke up, his voice hopeful.
“Perhaps…or my traitorous daughter has found him already and committed an act unforgivable,” the gruff stallion snorted as he started to pace.
“So quick to see the faults in others, here I thought I had taught you the value of mercy,” the other bat pony sighed.
“I do see the value of mercy,” Tenebris was quick to retort. “But I am not led blindly by sentiments and feelings of the heart.”
“So what is to become of your daughter then?” the elder asked with a chuckle.
“I will purge the light from her, if Wraith is successful, make her see the error of her ways-“ Tenebris said. “And if not, I will rob her of that which she believes connects her to the light.”
The elder bat pony nodded his head in satisfaction. “And what might that be?”
“I’ll pluck out her eyes, better Vesper go through life blind than tainted,” Tenebris said, turning as another bat pony rushed urgently into the meeting room.
The stallion was accompanied by three others, the third, quickly slamming the doors closed behind them without any warning. Tenebris snarled at this sudden action, his eyes glinting briefly in the fire, but he tried to remain calm for now. He knew the guards wouldn't bother him unless it was for a good reason, especially with the stench of a day walker.
"What is the meaning of this, you know our code," Tenebris words came low and harsh, like a whip.
"I know, but w-when you sent us out into the forest to try and find the tree, we captured her," The small squads leader spoke up, pulling a hood off of a somewhat aged unicorn, whose eyesight had clearly left her from a glance, yet her head danced from pony to pony as if she could see them clear as night.
Tenebris stepped forward and placed a hoof under her chin in disbelief, taking note of the null ring his tribe had managed to slip onto her horn. He could feel the feeble attempts of her resisting him, but it was of little use as he glared at her with red, content eyes that almost seemed to bore into her soul if he stared hard enough.
"So, you're the one who convinced my daughter to chase this foolish fantasy of light?" Tenebris asked coldly.
"I did nothing but help the child find happi-" Midnight's voice was choked from her before she could finish as Tenebris applied pressure to her neck.
"Spare me the lies of a fallen deity, I know who you are...Midnight. When the civil war was at its peak, they made you a fake goddess of the night, but it seems even your life has an expiration date at some point, even with the spell." Tenebris snapped, pushing the mare to the ground as he circled her.
"You're as hardhearted as her memories revealed, it is not I who set your daughter on this path, but you," Midnight said.
"If you value your life, the next words out of your mouth will be how to undo whatever Vesper has done to herself. No child of mine will be a day walker," Tenebris' voice rose over the mare's.
"You still don't understand...she didn't come to the forest for herself, which is why the shadows could not harm her, she came for another, she is a bridge between the day and night," Midnight explained.
Tenebris' ears flattened against his head as he took in an angry breath. He then opened his mouth as if he was shouting, making only the quietest of noises, causing his guards to shudder, but Midnight collapsed on the floor, screaming in agony. Blood poured from her ears as she writhed in pain.
"If what you say is true, then I'm not waiting for Wraith. My daughter died in that forest, now it falls upon me to correct our course yet again." Tenebris spat. "Take her away, we'll deal with her after this bridge of hers has been burnt."
"Tenebris, you'll need all seven's permission before you can make an open assault." the elder bat pony spoke up.
"Secure it then, get them whatever they want, a line has been crossed." Tenebris said.
---
Benjamin held his head in his hands as he tried to sink into his thoughts. Cheerilee and Vesper had been passively aggressively bickering again, he needed time to think. The more he thought about it though, he served as a living barrier of sorts, and any time he spent away from them was an excuse for one to take a swing at the other.
“So, the harem’s not going so well, huh?” Twig asked, distracting him.
“I thought we agreed not to refer to what I have with Cheerilee and Vesper as a “harem,” Ben air quoted the griffon sarcastically with his fingers.
“Well it’s more than what I'd get myself into, that much I can tell you," Twing chuckled.
"Your overwhelming faith and confidence in me is duly noted," Ben rolled his eyes. "I think I need an expert on this."
"Well seeing as how only two stallions in our group are married, the rest are in varying degrees of school and I'm a griffon, I'd say that narrows your search pretty quickly," Twig said. "Who's this expert you had in mind?"
At that moment a charcoal colored stallion flew over the two of them as they discussed the human's herd delima. He was busy busting clouds for his weather shift and speeding through the task with ease. More importantly, Ben knew a small tidbit about his personal life thanks to Cheerilee.
"Well, speak of the devil," Ben mumbled.
"Thunderlane...that's your expert?" Twig asked skeptically.
"What's wrong with him?" Ben asked in return.
"The guys a complete jock head, and a pegasus to boot, those two rarely make for an over friendly personality," Twig replied. "I mean, I could be wrong, but he just doesn't strike me as the talkative type."
"I think you're putting too much into his occupation, and sure he's a pegasus, but so is Rainbow Dash and she's...pleasant for the most part," Ben shrugged.
"Hey if he can help you, more power to ya, I'm just trying to be a realist, I mean aside from our group how many ponies have you really talked to?" Twig asked earning a hesitant mumble from Benjamin. "My point exactly, and you're about to ask about threesomes."
"Twig!" Ben growled.
"Just calling it like I see it." the griffon laughed. "Know what would have made all of this a lot simpler?"
"Please enlighten me, oh wise and elder griffon." Ben mocked.
"It would have been better if you picked one when you had an out given to you. Now, you're trying to force two mares from two different walks of life to live together all because you didn't want to hurt anypony's feelings...are you seeing my point?" Twig asked.
"Yes, I realized all of this later on," Ben sighed. "Maybe...maybe you're right, but I still want to talk to Thunderlane."
Unbeknownst to either of the two friends, bits and pieces of their conversation had been picked up on by a large set of fluffy tuffed ears.
---
Vesper quietly opened the door to the loosely shared house of her herd. Ordinarily the thought would make her cringe, but today she was too deep in thought, even after leaving a fuming Cheerilee for a bit to go take care of some things she needed to, and perhaps spying on a certain human that had her interest, to ensure his own safety of course.
What had her bothered was that despite their obvious differences, and their certain incompatibility with each other Benjamin was still determined to find a way to make the three of them click. Vesper had to admit, she admired that trait in a stallion, even if it was borderline stubbornness. Still something was bothering her about the teacher, something that just didn't seem to normal about the way she reacted around her specifically.
Vesper saw the mare in question quietly reading in a chair, an odd peace that would probably be ruined the moment she walked anywhere within ten feet of Cheerilee. While her playful side just wanted to tease and poke fun, Cheerilee didn't seem to want any part of that. She was almost all business and no jokes, they were like two exact opposite ponies. Certainly Vesper could be serious when she needed to be, but being like that all the time was no fun.
That's what she and Cheerilee needed, some fun but the tricky part would be getting the mare to go out and cut loose, if only for a while. The earth pony always treated the threstal like a criminal, despite being in the guard and proudly serving Equestria when the call was put out to bring order to chaos.
Even as she was formulating her plan in her mind, Vesper approached Cheerilee slowly, earning only a brief glance before the earth pony's eyes were back on her book with a sigh. She steeled herself, knowing that she would probably be met witha bit of resistance no matter what she threw at Cheerilee, good or bad ideas.
"Hey, Cheerilee," Vesper said her voice struggling to summon its normal enthusiasm. "What book is that?"
Cheerilee seemed disinterested in any conversation with the bat pony, but managed to pull herself from the pages long enough to make eye contact with Vesper. "It's for an assignment I had in mind next year, I always read what I'm giving my colts and fillies."
"Pretty impressive you put that much time and thought into them." Vesper said.
"I don't think I could call myself a teacher if I didn't...I believe you get out what you put into something after all." Cheerilee commented.
"Speaking of that," Vesper spoke up making her move. "I think its time we had a serious chat, while Ben's out and about."
"Oh?" Cheerilee's expression was a mixture of mock amusement with a hint of annoyance, really one that was hard to replicate. "Well, I'll try, but taking anything you have to say-"
"I mean it, this isn't just about you and me, it's about all three of us," Vesper cut her off.
"Okay, what's eating at you?" Cheerilee asked, her voice still harboring a bit of frustration.
"How hard have you been trying with this herd thing?" Vesper asked.
"Again with this question?" Cheerilee moaned. "Look, it's not my fault that-"
"We come from different back grounds, and aren't compatible"
"We come from different back grounds, and aren't compatible" Vesper matched her word for word. "I've heard that excuse, now I want the truth, why do I bother you so much?"
Cheerilee suddenly felt as if she had been put on the hind leg with no defense to be found. Her expression told the bat pony all she needed to know as she side stepped all of the teacher's mask and stabbed the heart of the problem. Vesper couldn't relent like she normally did though, she had to find some common ground with the mare.
"Why do you care so much all of the sudden if I like you or not, every part of you should want me dead for even touch Benjamin." Cheerilee quizzed.
"I'll be honest with you if that's what it takes to get the truth out of you," Vesper sighed. "I would rather be alone with him, I would rather have him hoarded away somewhere right now cuddling him and never letting him out of my sight again because Equestria is full of magic and he...well, he's not very sturdy and I worry about him, but he's a grown stallion and I can't keep him chained to a bed, and if he wants to try this herd thing then I need to respect that."
Cheerilee sighed "You probably think I'm a crappy mare, huh?"
"Well, I don't know what to think until I know more about you, that's all I'm asking for." Vesper replied.
"So, you're asking me on a date then?" Cheerilee raised an eyebrow.
"If you want to look at it that way," Vesper shrugged.
"You are without a doubt the strangest bat pony I have ever met," Cheerilee said.
"I'll take that as yes to wanting to spend a night out," Vesper said.
Cheerilee shook slightly almost as if she were mad or frustrated, but her expression was one of confusion. It admittedly had Vesper a bit confused but eventually the earth pony gave an exasperated sigh before leaving her chair.
"I'll be ready in a few minutes, don't screw this up," Cheerilee cautioned.
---
Benjamin entered the bar he'd watched Thunderlane fly into only moments ago. He had taken to heart some of Twig's criticism, and now felt uneasy about his questions. It was true, he was about to try and barge into the personal life of a pony that he really didn't know that well, for herding advice. Still, he felt that if he tried going to Twilight it would be a lecture and less help, this required a stallion's input.
It didn't take long for Ben to find him, since he stood out like a sore thumb. His coat was probably dark enough that if he wanted to he could probably hide in a thunder cloud. Brushing his childish speculations aside, he approached him, which Thunderlane immediately took note of with a ear swivel and raised eyebrow, but never turned his head or looked from his drink.
"Thunderlane?" Ben started, before the stallion held up his hoof.
"You can drop formalities, I know you were waiting for me to land," Thunderlane spoke up. "There's only two types of ponies that do that, loan sharks and creepos...so...which are you?"
"Neither, I just wanted your help with something...well, your opinion really," Benjamin replied.
"Oh..." Thunderlane replied, seeming a bit bored by the human's answer. "Well, out with it then."
Ben felt nervous all of the sudden, he had expected to be rejected out right, but instead he had been invited to sit with the stallion in question. "So, this may seem like a personal question, but did you...have a hard time when you started your herd?"
Thunderlane's expression shifts to an unreadable one as he takes another drink his head staying knocked back a bit in thought. "That is kind of personal, but I think I understand your woes, and why you came to me....because of Flitter and Cloudchaser, right?" he asked.
Ben nodded making the stallion take in a deep breath before he continued. "It wasn't a light heated decision, it was one made by all three of us. Naturally there was some headbutting going on for a while, some feelings got hurt, hooves still get stepped on to this day, but we made it as a family. For the record, I'm not the stallion ponies make me out to be, just because I go home to two mares."
"Hey I don't judge," Ben said. "I came to you because the two mares in my life can't stop fighting and I feel like I'm trying to force something, even though herding seemed like a solution to everyponies problems."
"I can't make them stop fighting, and I don't have a magical solution I'm afraid. They'll have to come to some sort of understanding on their own, it's just the order and balance of things...I don't think I got your name." Thunderlane said.
"Benjamin, and I figured as much, but I'm willing to try anything, you know?" Ben replied.
"Have some faith in your mares, I know that seems hard, I mean mine have told me I like to rely on myself too much, but I think they'll pull through," Thunderlane commented.
"Thanks for talking with me about it at least," Benjamin said rising from his seat only to feel a hoof keep him in place.
"Not gonna just chat and dash without a few rounds with your new pal now, are you?" Thunderlane smirked at Ben mischievously.
Benjamin didn't want to leave Vesper and Cheerilee alone together for too long, but maybe Thunderlane was right. They needed to sort shit out for once and this gave them time to do that.
---
Cheerilee was partially convinced she had been duped somehow by Vesper, but she couldn't quite figure out how. Here she was walking side by side with a bat pony. She wore a calm, collected look, but internally she was screaming as her mind triedto rationalize how Vesper had preformed some kind of mental gymnastics around her, her of all ponies, it shouldn't be happening, but here they were just outside a decent restaurant.
"Y'know, I'm surprised you have ran away yet," Vesper spoke up.
"Why? You think I'd back out now?" Cheerilee blurted out, covering her muzzle with her hoof when she realized how loud her voice was.
Vesper didn't respond and just held the door open. The earth pony walked through with a sigh, it seemed Vesper was committed to whatever she had planned for the teacher. Cheerilee found herself more nervous now than anything, as if this was some how secretly a punishment for something she did, since she felt she didn't deserve the nice treatment from the bat pony mare, it was un wanted to begin with, but now that it was here she was forced to deal with it.
Once they were seated and everything seemed to be flowing normally, Vesper looked Cheerilee up and down a bit, almost as if she were admiring the stock at the fruit market. The earth pony wasn't quite sure if she should feel flattered or slightly offended.
"So," Vesper started again. "Tell me about Cheerilee."
"Are you serious?" Cheerilee asked, to which Vesper nodded happily. "Well, as you know I teach for a living, making one fourth of my year boring, until a few weeks ago when a certain bat pony and human decided to change all of that."
Cheerilee laughed nervously at the end of her explanation. Benjamin was a delight in her life. It was Vesper that had been a bit unexpected and the variable that made things...interesting, on a good day.
"I know about that stuff," Vesper remarked with a wave of her hoof. "Tell me what her favorite music is, what books she likes, that stuff."
Cheerilee wasn't sure if she should be impressed or offended. Vesper seldom had the patient to think things out this well. Then again, the mare could tell she was genuinely trying, even if she was being a bit awkward, but Cheerilee chalked it up to her culture.
"I used to like heavy music, when I was younger, but now I prefer calmer tunes. As far as books go, any that will stop and hold my attention, I have a love hate relationship with cliffhangers," Cheerilee giggled slightly. "There was this one about a racer from Ponyville-"
"I don't believe it," Vesper mumbled.
"Don't believe what?" Cheerilee stopped.
"That's the first time I think I've heard you laugh," the bat mare replied, causing the teacher to blush.
"Oh don't go putting the walls backup, I can see you doing it now," Vesper groaned.
"I've no idea what you're talking about," Cheerilee replied.
"Of course you do, it's no secret you don't like me. I brought you out here to get to the bottom of why so that maybe we could try to be happy together with Benjamin," Vesper motioned with her hooves as she spoke, clearly passionate about the subject.
"You really want to know what happened?" Cheerilee said darkly, but quietly so as not to draw attention to them. "Fine, I hate bat ponies because of what your kind did to me, does that simplify things?"
"So this...all of this is because of your past?" Vesper struggled to keep her voice level. "Well I'm not giving up on you."
Cheerilee was anticipating something, anger, rage, tears, sorrow, but not...hope? It was as if her only tool had just been taken and tossed back at her. It would have been easy to react to any other response, but how could she respond to hope. Somepony took her anger and simply pushed it aside.
"Why..." Cheerilee asked. "Why do you not hate me?"
"Even if you see me as that pony who wronged you, I know I'm not. You have to let the past go Cheerilee," Vesper replied.
"You don't understand, that hate is something I've held onto," Cheerilee shook her head as quiet sobs started to come from the mare.
"All it's done is cause you pain though, I know you think your hate made you strong, but all it does is tear down," Vesper said. "You're a strong willed mare Cheerilee, and I'm no slouch either...Ben wants us together."
Cheerilee hated to admit it, but Vesper was right to a certain point anyways. How could she expect Vesper to understand what happened to her when they had never found the stallion, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't being unfair in holding all of them accountable just to try and find some justice in all of it, perhaps that was why she couldn't let go.
"Why do you care if I like you so much?" Cheerilee asked.
"Because I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of being judged, and being yelled at." Vesper replied "We're supposed to be herd mates, not enemies."
"Vesper, I want to tell you I can just forget about my past and we can start clean, but it's not in me to fib," Cheerilee sighed. "I can't guarantee you any of that."
"I'm just asking for us to both start trying, for real this time, because lets be honest neither one of us has been wild about this whole process...but I can never go back to my family after what I gave up, you two are all I have," Vesper said.
"I guess we have been silly about this, huh?" Cheerilee laughed lightly, rubbing her eye.
The two mares continued their talk well on into the night, bridging the gap in some places, and coming to terms with differences in others. It was clear this wouldn't be a problem worked out in a single night, but at least they were on the right path now.
---
Wraith watched as the tall figure talked with a charcoal coated stallion. The sun had set now, making this the perfect setting for his plan to unfold, even if he had to rely on unwilling help to see it through. He cast a quick glance to the bat pony stallion beside him, a lunar guard no less, that he had responded to the call for aid was somewhat fitting.
"Are you sure about this? I mean, why does it have to be such a drastic method?" The guard asked.
"We both know that the quickest way to ruining a herd is to get rid of the stallion," Wraith replied. "While our tall target is no stallion, he is none the less the cause of my problems, and there for to be taken out."
"But..." The guard hesitated.
"Do I sense hesitation in you? Is there some uncertainty as to where your real loyalties are?" Wraith asked, his voice almost threatening.
"No, no, my loyalty is to my kin...it's just...never mind," the guard said.
"Good, then come on, he's alone now. It's time to wake my sister from this self induced dreamland she's put herself in," Wraith spat following the human quietly, with the reluctant guard close behind.
Their approach was masked by their silent wing beats, and the night, only briefly illuminated by the moon's soft glow, but their dark fur helped make up for any laps in hiding. They kept their approach steady, until Wraith was sure if he wanted to, he could easily tackle him to the ground and end the strange being.
Wraith reasoned that there was no sense in dragging this out, and that the human wasn't armed or dangerous. A shame, for him anyways, because that would have made things a bit more interesting. Even so, one swift ram to the back was all it took to knock him off balance and into the dirt.
"Hey, what gives?!" Ben shouted , making Wraith recoil slightly as his ears stung from the out burst, but a quick slap across the face with his hoof silenced the human.
"You stole my sister, I'm simply here to take her back," Wraith replied, doing his best to pin Ben to the ground, but found it difficult as he struggled to get up.
"Vesper? That's what this is about?" Ben sounded annoyed as she shoved the bat pony off him and against a tree. Strong as they were, they were still surprisingly light weight.
"Now!" shouted Wraith before letting out a terrible high pitched cry from his throat directed at Ben just as he got back on his feet.
A ripping sound could be heard over Ben's cries briefly as the other bat pony flew past, wearing a talloned hoofguard that tore at the human's clothes and left two deep cuts in his back.
"Nicely done, I knew you'd pull through on this," Wraith commented as the two approached the writhing figure of the human.
"F-Fang?" Ben said quietly as he got a good look at his attacker.
Fang froze for a moment, but narrowed his eyes at Ben. "I warned you that you had no idea what you were getting yourself into."
"Oh...that explains it, he's your friend, well, now it's a test of loyalty then, Fang, prove where your loyalties are." Wraith grinned.
"No...Fang, you don't have to listen to him!" Ben pleaded as he tried to stand once more, but whatever Wraith had done to him with his voice had left his body in disarray.
"I'm sorry Benjamin, but that's the price of a double life. I took an oath to defend the night, and keep it pure," Fang mumbled, almost in a spellbound fashion. "I don't have a choice."
Benjamin heard the weapon click into place on the hoof guard as Fang was poised to strike for the killing blow. He was paralyzed by fear and betrayal, knowing he should do something, but against two of these ponies, what could he do, and his arms and legs still didn't want to cooperate.
Suddenly, Fang was knocked to the side by a blur of darkness against the moonlight, the tallon-guard flying free from the bat pony's hoof from the impact. There in the moonlight was Vesper, her wings fully flared, her fangs on full display.
"Sister, how good of you to join us. Though it was a bit reckless to come alone, you're sparing me the trouble of tracking you down later." Wraith said stepping forward.
"She isn't alone though," Cheerilee said approaching Wraith from behind.
Wraith foolishly tried to take a swing at the earth pony, unaware of what he was getting himself into. Cheerilee was in no mood for mercy this time and grabbed the stallion's foreleg, twisting it along with her hole body until two loud pops could be heard. This made Wraith scream in pain until a sharp jab from Cheerilee silenced him.
Fang was back on his hooves and was going to retreat until Vesper flew into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. "What kind of soldier attacks civilians, you coward!" the bat mare screamed angrily hitting Fang hard enough to dislodge his helmet from his head with a loud thunk.
Cheerilee stood over Wraith who looked up at her with a knowing smile as Vesper rushed over to Ben. "When did you learn how to fight?" he asked coldly, blood oozing from a wound on his muzzle.
"When I decided not to run any more," Cheerilee replied. "I have others to look after now."
"Damn waste, teaching," Wraith mumbled.
"Shut up before I break your wings too," Cheerilee rolled her eyes. "Hey Vesper, hurry up and arrest your brother so we can get Ben out of here."
"So he's really your brother? I feel like I've missed something, and...why are you two being nice?" Benjamin quizzed as feeling started to return to his limbs.
"Be thankful Thunderlane hadn't flown too far away when he heard the commotion and came and found us." Cheerilee explained.
"I still can't believe Fang would do something like this..." Ben said in disbelief.
"I'll be turning the both in, Cheerilee can you get him home? Then we can talk about all of this and get him taken care of." Vesper's ordinarily upbeat nature was shrouded in a serious mask, but given the circumstance it wasn't hard to figure out why as she read both Fang and Wraith their rights.
A small look into who is responsible for Cheerilee's hate of Bat ponies, or are things so black and white? 
I'm enjoying bringing this story back up, and regret putting down to begin with. After this I'm not sure what I might do, some thoughts on that have come to me, but we'll see. I didn't expect such a positive reaction when I picked it back up, so thanks for reading.
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I think Luna is gonna be a slight bit pissed when she learns what one of her guards did
Cheerilee can kick some serious ass
Cheerilee is leaving with Ben, while Vesper will be alone. Now would be a good time for her father to snap her up. One thing you learn from scooby doo is that splitting up is a bad idea.
Are there no other guards that are willing to help, or are there no other in town? Also it might be a good idea to take Ben to the hospital, the more ponies/people that are aware of the incident the better in my opinion.
9416415
Justice for Vesper! she'll be all alone!
9408731
I decided to fully re-read this just to enjoy it and get re-immersed into it... And what do you know, another chapter!
You haven't lost a step in the absence, Mr Ximer. Still crafting original material from scratch and presenting it very well. Bravo, my good lad. I look forward to the next installment of Ben becoming even more confused.
It does not seem like that is part of dialogue.
Missing closing quote for the line itself.
‘‘with a’’
touching
everypony's
‘‘tried to’’
somehow
unwanted
patience
Period should be a question mark.
let's
nonetheless
therefore
lapse
outburst
weighted?
taloned
Comma should be a question mark.
Comma should be a question mark.
them
Comma should be a period.
Things are getting real now. I'm glad to see the girls are trying to get along. I agree with 9416415 . They should get Ben to a hospital and have his wounds checked and documented for indictment. I'm also hoping that Thunderlane went to find some "Day" Guard as well. Vesper might need some help booking Wraith and Fang. I have no doubt both Celestia and Luna are going to be very displeased when they find out. A good update Ximer. I've enjoyed the story ever since I first started reading it just over a year ago. I look forward to reading the next chapter.
9417279
Thanks, I should have more time to put towards it soon (I've been in the process of moving here recently) putting this story down for as long as I did probably goes down in my biggest list of regrets.
9417319
Don't sweat it; you're back now and many of us are happy for it. Good luck settling after the move. I still have boxes upon boxes left to unpack since moving a few months ago.
haven't
whole