A dark grey bat pony stallion, donning dark blue sharp-edged armor was speaking quietly to his wife, a smaller, but also dark grey thestral mare, who had just given birth to a young colt mere minutes prior. They were full blooded bat ponies, but their son...
"He is a pegasus..."
"He's still beautiful, Sky."
"He is..."
The stallion and mare both smiled warmly and tiredly at their newborn foal, who slept soundly in his mother’s hooves, and had not cried once during birth. He was a colt, fur matching their own identically in color, with a multi-shaded purple mane, with lighter on the bottom and darker towards the top.
"What should we name him, dear?"
"Oh... um... I do not know, Midnight."
"I think..."
"...What?"
"What about... Pegafangs?"
"P-Pegafangs?" the stallion chuckled at that.
"Okay, I'm not the best at deciding names," the mare responded, chuckling with evident exhaustion.
"Hmm..."
"What about... No, not that."
"Bloodvein?"
"H-how did you know?"
The mare giggled softly. "I could guess you were about to say it. I say it sounds wonderful."
"You... think so?"
"Yes, Sky."
The stallion let off a sigh. "Okay then. Bloodvein it is," he said, smiling again down to the foal.
"Would you like to hold him?"
"Would I? Of course."
The mare giggled, and gently set the baby colt in the stallion's hooves.
The stallion held the colt, rocking him slightly, and keeping him calm and sound asleep.
"Hey there... Bloodvein..." the stallion said quietly, smile growing and eyes glassing at the sight of his newborn son.
The colt snored quietly in his hooves, almost too quiet to be heard. A couple of times, his wings opened and fluttered.
"Haha..." The stallion chuckled lightly. "I-I have a son," he started to cry for joy, then gently handed the foal back to his wife, then trotted out of the room and shut the door, out of the sight of his wife.
Out in the hall, he clutched another unsuspecting bat pony and hugged him tight, sobbing into his shoulder for joy. "I have a son!" he shouted, just before letting the poor pony go, and fainting on the floor, hooves straight in the air, maw open, and eyes rolled back, his hind leg twitching a couple of times.
"DAAAAAD! Do I have to go to school?"
"Yes, son. You do," the father responded evenly, setting a small saddlebag onto the young pegasus' back.
"But, why?"
"Because, Bloodvein, it is to help you learn, so you work towards a job like mine in the future."
"But, dad—"
"Butts are for sitting on, son," the stallion let off a sigh, crouching down to meet his son’s eye level. "I didn't want to go to school when I was your age, either. But, you have no choice. It's required for all young colts and fillies to go to school," he explained.
"But... what if..."
"What if what?"
"What if I hate it there?" the colt whimpered, glancing up at his dad, teary-eyed.
The stallion sighed again. "You won't, son. It's a nuisance to go five days of the week, yes, but it will really help make your future better," he wiped the tear free of his son's cheek and nuzzled him.
The colt nuzzled his father back. "Dad... I want to be like you."
"You will in time, Bloodvein," the stallion smiled.
"No, dad. Not your size, I mean..."
"Mean what?"
"I want to be a soldier like you."
"Y-you do?"
"Yes, dad."
His father really didn't know what to say then.
"Dad, you're my hero. You protect everypony in our colony. I want to be somepony like you when I grow up."
"But, son, don't you want to be something else?"
"No, dad. I want to join the Legion."
Again, the stallion was speechless. A few moments later, he sighed. "It's a very tough job, son. I am not too sure you would enjoy it."
"Dad, if you made it in, I'm pretty sure I can, too. I am your son after all... right?"
For a third time, the stallion was speechless, but was thinking of things to say quickly.
"Of course you are, Bloodvein. Why wouldn't you be?" the stallion smiled, bringing his little colt into a hug, holding back tears.
"Because... I'm not like you, or mommy," the colt replied, peeking back to his wings.
"You're still our son, no matter how you may look. You have fangs like us, right?"
"I do, but—"
"You have no trouble seeing through the dark, right?"
"Yeah, but—"
"You can hear good, right?"
"Yes. dad, but..."
"Then you are just like everypony else, and you're my son, and I am proud of you regardless."
"Eh, um... th-thanks, dad..."
"Come on, I better bring you to school before your mom has a fit."
"Er... okay."
The colt pounced onto his father’s back and settled down as he trotted off out of their home carved into a wall in an enormous cave system, with many houses also carved into the sides of the cave.
"So, children, what is two plus two?"
"Fooour!"
"Very good!" A bat pony mare, the teacher at the school, said as she clapped her hooves. "You kids are so smart! Now, what is five times the square root of sixty-three?"
The colts and fillies in the class' jaws dropped, as they all stared at their teacher in absolute horror.
"Oh," the mare giggled, cheeks heating in a bit of embarrassment. "Whoopsie! Oh dear, silly me, I almost forgot! We have a new student today, class! Bloodvein, come on up!"
The entire class shifted their slit-pupil gazes to the stone-grey pegasus at the rear of the class. He nervously rose from his chair and strolled up beside the teacher to begin introducing himself.
"Uh... umm..." The young colt gulped. "H-hi there... I'm... B-Bloodvein..." he attempted to continue, terrified out of his mind as every pony in the class narrowed in on him.
"Don't be shy, Bloodvein. We don't bite."
Small laughs emanated from the students, then ceasing when Bloodvein cleared his throat.
"S-so, uh... as all of you have probably guessed by now, I'm..."
"You're what?" one filly cut in.
"I'm... different from everypony else."
"You don't look very different!"
Bloodvein then sighed and reluctantly spread wide his little pegasus wings. The class seemed to stare in bewilderment. It took a good few seconds for somepony to point it out.
“What’s with your wings?” a colt questioned, head cocking sideways.
“I... they—”
A sharp gasp from another colt startled Blood, him standing by his forehooves on his desk with one pointed directly at Blood.
"Pegasus wings! My parents told me about them! You're an Equestrian?!"
The whole room gasped collectively, minus the teacher and Blood himself.
"N-no, I'm not!" he protested.
"Equestrian!" the whole class shouted menacingly, and in seconds, Bloodvein raced out of the classroom sobbing.
"No, Bloodvein, wait!" the teacher called, slowly trotting behind him. Stopping at the doorway, she snapped a glare at the class, and everypony instantly went silent.
"He's an Equestrian," one colt whispered to another, and the whole class soon started exchanging quiet conversations between each other about the new student, who now hurried to hide.
"Son? It's your father... Listen, I need for you to come out of there."
"No! I'm never coming out!" Bloodvein cried fearfully. He had locked himself in a janitor’s closet of his new school, after introducing himself did not nearly go as well as he had originally hoped.
"Come out of there, you dirtbag!" one colt yelled, before receiving a gentle, yet warning smack on the back of his head by the largest pony there at the time, Bloodvein's father himself.
"Please, Bloodvein, come out of this closet."
"Why should I?"
"Because," his dad began, before sighing. "There’s something I believe you should know, but I can't tell you right here. Just, come out, and I'll tell you what it is."
"No, I want you to give me a reason why I should come out!"
"That is the reason, son. Listen, if you don't come out, I'll call the Legion to pull you out themselves."
"W-wait, no! Please, don't."
"Then, please, come on out."
Bloodvein then sighed softly. "Fine.”
The doorknob twisted slowly, and out walked a teary-eyed Bloodvein, diving into his father's hooves and embracing him tightly while erupting into sobs.
After holding each other for a few moments...
"Come on, son. Let's go home," his father whispered, standing up and beginning to walk away with Bloodvein across his back, only to be halted by the teacher.
"Mr. Sky, today's school session is not over. He needs to stay with the class for another hour," the teacher said with a raised eyebrow.
Bloodvein's father then turned around, giving the teacher a stabbing eye, as well as baring his fangs, with a low growl emanating from his throat threateningly..
"I am not leaving my son here so your students that you should be disciplining pick on him. If this EVER happens again, I will personally see to it that you are let go. You hear me?!" He roared, voice echoing through the hall. The students all huddled together behind the teacher fearfully, who also recoiled back and began to tremble.
"Y-yes, sir."
"Good."
The two then walked out of the school-cave together, Bloodvein in pure shock and awe that his father had just told off the teacher, and even threatened to have her fired! He knew right there that he was no stallion a wise pony should think about angering.
"Dad?"
"Yes, son?"
"What was the thing you wanted to tell me?" Bloodvein asked.
The stallion did not reply instantly.
"Dad? Why did they call me an Equestrian? Aren't we all Equestrians?"
Blood's father let off a deep sigh. He let Bloodvein off of his back, and sitting down in front of him. "Look, son, I have not been completely honest. I think it is time that you learn the truth."
"Okay...?"
"I will explain everything to you when we get home, alright?"
"Okay, dad."
The two resumed their way back to their house, a dead-end cave branching off from the main one. After they walked inside, Bloodvein sat down on a chair, and waited as his father stripped himself of his armor, significantly slower than what Blood had been used to.
"Son..." he began, seating himself down in front of the little colt.
"Yes?"
"We are not Equestrians. Neither of us are."
"But... why? We are in Equestria, aren't we?"
"We are, but... You see, it is a long story. You would get bored."
"No, dad, I want to hear it."
"Are you sure? I-it's... horrible," his dad muttered at the end.
"I'm positive, dad. Just... tell me."
The stallion’s eyes grew reflectant as tears built within his ducts, something Bloodvein had not seen before in his life! His father reached to him and brought him into a tightened hug, and sniffed loudly, with tears rolling down his cheeks. Not like when Bloodvein locked himself in the closet, but enough to make a bit of a scene, had it been out in public.
"It all began about a thousand years ago. Us bat ponies and Equestrians coexisted peacefully. Then, something happened. The princess of the night, Princess Luna, became an evil entity that nopony could explain. She vowed to bring eternal night to the world, and succeeded at first, before being banished to the moon by her sister, the princess of the day, Princess Celestia.”
“In the years after her banishment, bat ponies everywhere revolted in response to neglect and disrespect received by ponies. This, in turn, resulted in a civil war between the bat ponies and Equestrians, and soon later, the Royal Guard. We did not want a war, but, we had no choice but to go forth with it."
"A-a war?"
“Yes, Blood. We managed to overwhelm the Royal Guard forces, who outnumbered us by at least five times, and made our way towards Canterlot. But, Princess Celestia knew we wouldn't stop until we got what we wanted, maybe even more. She did not hesitate, and used the Elements of Harmony, and wiped out ninety-five percent of all bat ponies,” he drew back, cracking a weakened smile as he stroked his son’s mane with a hoof. “You do not know your percentages yet, but, ninety-five percent means almost all.”
“The remaining bat ponies went into hiding, making the Equestrians believe we were all gone. We watched them closely over the years, they seemed... happier, joyous... that we were supposedly wiped out. Ever since then, no one that we know of has made any contact with the outside world. Nopony is allowed to leave the colony, ever. Since then, our race has blossomed.”
“So... that's why they called me an Equestrian. It's because of the way I look, isn't it, dad?”
“Though you look like a pony from the outside world, you are still a bat pony to me, and you are and always will be me and your mother's son," his father said, smiled.
Bloodvein also smiled, reaching up and nuzzling his father lovingly, who returned with a nuzzle of his own.
"Just remember, be careful around the others in our colony. To us, Equestrians are a danger to our race, and we would do anything to protect our cause, so we may live on in the future. We never wanted a war, but sadly, that is what it came to," Blood's father sighed, looking off to the side.
“Dad, though our past is horrible, I’m sure there's a way we could make it up to them!”
"What do you mean?"
"Why can't we just talk peace with them? It can't be that hard."
"It is, son. It's not nearly as easy as it sounds. They don't want us, and we don't need them. Our colony is thriving, and no matter what, it always will."
"But, dad, what if I want to do something about it?"
"Like what?"
"Like, I don't know, leave the colony, see the world outside, be free."
His father’s eyes widened, jaw slackening to partly open. He had to give some credit to his son for thinking the way he did. For his age, he was smart...
"I wish it could be that way, but, it can't. I want you to be as free as your mind is, but, I cannot lose my only son to the savages of the land.”
"You wouldn't lose me, dad," Bloodvein then smiled genuinely up at his father. "Because, I am like you."
A warm, proud smile grew on his father’s muzzle. "I could not be happier to be your father, Bloodvein," he said, hugging him tightly once more.
It has been just over a year since I started school. It hasn't gone that well for me since my first embarrassing day. I did, however, get lots of praise after accidentally discovering a rare crystal on an excursion in the mines that improved the way we live. Though, I decided to give credit to somepony I didn't know, since life seemed to be much harder for him. The crystal, known as the amethyst power crystal, was broken into tinier pieces, and is now used around our enormous colony for a power source that will last us half a lifetime. Now, our days have gotten a little more brighter, and I'm happy about it. Why everypony here likes the darkness? I will never know. I've also grown a full five inches, and my dad keeps saying he is extremely proud of me. He still looks forward to me marching along side him, but my mind is beginning to tell me otherwise.
"Hey, son? Would you mind coming down here for a moment?" a tough but collected voice called out.
"In a minute, dad!" A much squeakier voice, the voice of none other than Bloodvein, replied.
"Now, please."
"In a minute, dad!" The colt repeated, voice raised, and the muscular bat pony stallion on the lower floor facehoofed himself, leaning back against the stone-and-wood-construct couch, his wife giggling.
"He really has a mind of his own, Sky," the mare nickered.
"He sure does, Midnight," the stallion, Skywatcher, replied, grumbling as he rubbed his forehead with a hoof.
"I wonder where he gets that from?" Midnight smugly said, smirking and looking over at the larger pony, nudging him with her elbow lightly.
"Don't look at me," Skywatcher rolled his eyes, chuckling, before the pegasus colt trotted his way down the stairs.
"What's going on mom, dad?" Bloodvein asked, plopping himself down on the rug in front of his parents.
"We have a surprise for you, Blood," his father answered, sitting up straight in his seat and smiling.
"What is it?" Blood's eyes widened just a bit, full of curiosity.
Midnight then giggled and looked at Skywatcher, then to the small colt. "Mommy's pregnant! You're going to have a sibling!"
Suddenly, Bloodvein's world came to a screeching halt. "...What?"
"Isn't that exciting?" Skywatcher said, smiling.
"Uh, yeah... s-sure." Bloodvein stuttered, his irises recoiling to the size of small marbles.
"What's wrong?" Midnight sat forward, smile dropping into a frown of concern.
"Nothing. I-it's just... a sibling?" Blood lifted his worried gaze, his little, bright, golden eyes returning back to normal.
"Well, didn't you always wish for a little brother or sister, so when you got older you could beat up whoever bullied them?" Skywatcher questioned.
"I did say that, didn't I?" Bloodvein said, sighing. "I didn't think it would actually come true."
The two parents exchanged looks. Their announcement plan took a completely new turn. "Well... we're sorry if we are stressing you out, honey. But, you have to know it was just a matter of time," Midnight said, rubbing a small foal bump on her belly.
"N-no, you're not. It's just... a little shocking, that's all," Bloodvein responded and glanced up at her, before being yanked up into a rather sudden hug by both of his parents.
"Okay, class. We will now move on to geography!"
"Yes! My favorite subject. Bloodvein mentally said, a grin widening on his muzzle while he eagerly watched as the teacher brought out a detailed model replica of their cave system.
"What is that, miss Sunset?" A filly asked, raising her hoof.
"This, is our colony cave, but on a much smaller scale. Today, we will go over a slightly scary, but informative lesson about our home cave." Sunset said, pouring some water into a cup, as the students watched curiously.
"Our cave system is like any other in the world, but as far as we know, we are the largest colony in Equestria, both in population, and the sheer size of our tunnels. But, flaws with our designs have recently been discovered. When it rains in torrents, cracks in the ceiling that may lead to the surface can fill with water rushing down the slopes of our mountain, and our cave has the capability to flood. Although we are located inside of a mountain, it is still very possible to flood all the way to the cave ceiling," she explained, and some of the colts and fillies gasped as they watched.
Bloodvein continued to watch with pure awe and curiosity as the teacher gradually poured water in one side of the tank, and the class observed as the model tunnel carved deeper into the mountain flooded faster than the entrance due to its slope downward.
"Our caves were dug out at an angle, where the caverns further in would flood within minutes, while where the hole to the outside would not, as the water would simply flow down the slope. Sadly, it is just a matter of time before this happens again. On the bright side, we as a colony are always searching for ways to prevent this, and we have been quite lucky for the past hundreds of years that nothing has happened," she finished with a bit of a smile.
Bloodvein then raised his hoof. "But, Miss Sunset, what happens if it does?"
Sunset stopped and looked at him for a moment, blinking. His question seemed to have stumped her. "I do not know, Bloodvein. Perhaps that is a question more suitable for somepony like your father. I suppose he would know."
"My dad?" Bloodvein whispered to himself. The teacher continued to semi-ramble on about flooding and earthquakes, seeing how the region around them was prone to both, as well as other strange weather patterns from the ocean a short distance west.
During recess, Bloodvein pranced around, elated to know that his day hadn't been ruined, when...
*BOING*
Before he knew what hit him, Bloodvein's face smacked into the ground at the sudden impact of... something. Around him, some of the other foals laughed, before he stood up, eyes spinning and his hooves stumbling over themselves. He soon realized one of the colts struck him with a ball, and they too laughed.
"Stupid Equestrian, go back to Canterlot, you worthless lump of dirt!" the colt said, the ball spinning in his hoof, while the other fillies and colts continued to laugh.
Bloodvein began to curl up on the floor, tears building in his eyes. He was so very close to breaking down, yet he knew doing so in front of everypony else would worsen the situation for him.
Rather, he took a deep breath and stood up, puffing his chest out. "You know, if you wanted to play ball with me, all you had to do was ask," Blood came back, smirking.
The colt snarled, "Oh, yes, I do. Let's play HARDBALL!" before throwing the ball with all of his might at Bloodvein, only to bounce right back and strike the colt right in the muzzle, knocking him back with force to send him sliding.
When he opened his eyes wide, a large bat pony stallion in night-blue armor stood tall over the colt, baring his fangs and letting off a warning growl.
"You better leave my son alone, you lump of dirt," Skywatcher said, stomping hard enough to physically shake the earth directly beside the colt's wings, and he took off running with the other foals.
Bloodvein started to laugh as his father had literally just scared off his entire class, again! "That never gets old, dad. That's why I love you." He said, trotting and reaching up to hug Sky, who picked his son up and hugged him and smiled.
"I see you are becoming less afraid, why is that?" Skywatcher questioned with a light smile.
"Two reasons. One, you're always here for me, and two, they're about the same size as me," Bloodvein replied.
Skywatcher's heart warmed, and his smile grew. Deep down, he knew, one day, there will be a time where he would not be there for his son. He wasn't ready to admit that, even if that day could be years in the future. He nuzzled Blood, then set him on his back. "Let's go home, mom is probably waiting for us."
Bloodvein returned his father a happy nuzzle, and clung onto his back like a tick on a dog. "Giddy up, dad!" he giggled, and Skywatcher happily cantered off.
The sun rose over the valley, nice and steadily, gradually filling the three mile-wide bowl in the earth with bright, golden rays of warm sunlight as it rose past the peaks just east of Vanhoover. Clouds rarely dotted the sky as they slowly slid through the air, following the breeze as it went east. In the cave colony built into one of the smaller peaks, Bloodvein stepped outside into the world as it woke up at a pace most would find annoyingly slow, yet the young colt didn't mind.
Instead of typically waiting for his parents, he knew his father had an early shift that morning, while his mother needed her rest if she were to deliver a healthy foal soon. The young colt packed his saddle bags, then trotted off to his school.
Outside the school, the teacher counted heads and wrote on a checklist to see who was attending, and who would not be.
"Alright, children. Is Bloodvein here?" The teacher looked around, not spotting the charcoal-grey colt.
The fillies and colts looked between each other, some snickering at the thought of his name, until the little colt rushed up to them.
"I'm here!" Blood panted slightly, after having to run almost the entire way.
The teacher smiled warmly and checked Bloodvein off her list of foals who attended. "Perfect! Are we ready to go?"
The foals cheered, a confirmation that they were ready.
The light grey-coated thestral mare's smile grew with each passing moment of the excitement visible on her students' faces, beginning to lead the pack of colts and fillies through the carved-out town, towards the exit leading to the outside world.
As the teacher stepped outside into the sunlight, each of the thirteen fillies and colts initially squinted to the sudden brightness, but as their eyes gradually adjusted to the day, each stared in awe at the expansive valley, completely shrouded by tall, dark green northern pine trees, with trees of other types mixed in between. Above, birds flocked in groups high through the sky, while squirrels scampered across the gravel path in search for food.
"Whoa!" Bloodvein thought to himself, his hooves gently brushed through the soft, lush grass as he followed his classmates down the slope and straight through the forests.
Small pine needles floated down to the ground as the gentle breeze freed them from their branches on the hundred foot-tall trees surrounding the group of students and one teacher. The mare glanced down at her map, remembering there was a small outpost somewhere nearby that belonged to the Bat Pony Legion, which was off limits to all but those who were serving in the Legion.
She halted, still looking down at her map, before being knocked out of her investigative trance when students walked into her hind legs by accident, one by one in a silly incident. They were simply too enthralled by nature to realize where they were going!
The teacher looked back at her students as they backed away from her hind legs slightly, and giggled. "I can tell each of you are enjoying the scenery, aren't you?"
The fillies and colts nodded, Bloodvein not paying attention and continuing to look around him in utter shock at the beauty of nature, completely oblivious to his classmates continuing on their journey down the path. By the time he came to his senses, he realized his fellow classmates, and the teacher, had left him behind unknowingly.
"Heeeello?" Blood looked around, following in the direction he knew they were going, before coming up to a split in the path. Of course, the teacher had the map and he did not, leaving him on his own to navigate and hopefully catch up with the rest of the class.
The colt stared down each of the paths, which of course, at some point curved away where all he could see was rocks and trees. He inhaled a deep breath, before trotting down the right-hoof path at a faster pace than usual if he wanted to eventually catch up with his class, unaware that they had taken the left-hoof path.
After only a few minutes, his little stomach growled, a sign he needed to eat after eating a small, quick breakfast that morning. Blood dug into his saddle bag, snatching out an apple and taking a rather large bite in to it, savoring the sweet juices the fruit possessed. He finished it quickly and stood back up, back to full energy, putting his saddle bags over his lower back and continuing in the direction he believed his class went.
"Bloodvein?" Midnight trotted carefully down the stone stairs in their home, forgetting the colt had left for his field trip out into the wilderness. The mare looked around the small home, before finding a note in the kitchen.
"Hi, Mom,
Left for the field trip. I didn't want to wake you because you need your rest. I love you lots, will be back later!!"
Midnight giggled softly, reading the note crammed on to an extremely small piece of yellow note paper, thanking the stars he had remembered to leave a note and remind her of where her son had gone without initially remembering.
Bloodvein continued trotting through the forest, now in a bit of a panic as he searched frantically for his fellow classmates and the teacher. His heart raced as he soon realized he took a turn down the wrong path, and is now possibly lost.
"Hello?!" he called, looked around, taking a moment to catch his breath from running around. He soon began gallop through the woodland, running completely past a sign which read 'Off Limits'.
Soon, the pegasus colt came up to what appeared to be a gate, which led into another winding path. He strolled past the gate, and into more woodlands. After a few minutes, he heard heavier hoofsteps behind him. Blood tried his best not to think about what it might be, before a large figure swooped over him, landing just a few feet in front of him.
He jumped back, his heart racing a hundred miles an hour with surprise, looking up at the thing that just landed before him. Surprisingly, it wasn't a tiger with the head of a snake and the wings of a dragon. Rather, it was another bat pony stallion, one that looked very similar to his father, but not quite. He wore dark blue and purple armor, with a steel purple-colored collar around his neck, allowing the stallion's dark red mane to be shown, which hung over his eyes slightly.
"Well, hello there," the stallion smirked slightly. "Far away from home, aren't you, little guy?" he began to circle around the colt.
"Uh... n-no... just lost... I-I got split up from my field trip group," Blood trembled. He knew the pony was in the Legion because of his armor, but was still quite nervous as to what he was doing, and how his voice sounded as he talked.
"I take it you didn't read the signs at all, did you?" the stallion lowered his head to the colt's eye level, giving him a slightly deadly stare.
"W-what signs? I-I didn't see any s-signs!" Blood trembled even more. He really was in trouble now.
"The 'Off Limits' and 'Do Not Enter Unless Authorized' signs?!" The stallion stepped closer, forcing the colt to back away.
"I-I swear, I didn't see anything!" Blood backed away slowly, until he pressed against a tree trunk and unable to move any further.
"I'm not sure if I believe you," the stallion stood up to the colt, showing his fangs with evident anger. He then slammed his hoof above the colt's head on the tree trunk, Bloodvein now beginning to whimper in fear.
Before the soldier could do anything else, he received a slap to the face from another pony who landed directly next to him.
"Oi! Leave the colt alone," the other stallion ordered, wearing a patch over his right eye. "Get a grip on yourself and quit attacking ponies."
"He was trespassing!" the menacing stallion hissed back, glaring at Bloodvein.
"He's a colt! How is he supposed to know our outpost is back here? He's just lost!" The eyepatch-wearing stallion slapped the other once more, forcing him to back away. "How'd you end up back here, little one?" he knelt down in front of Blood calmly.
"G-got separated from my classmates," Blood trembled lightly still.
"Hmm, I see. Are you from the northern caves?"
Blood nodded slowly. "My dad is First Lieutenant Skywatcher, if any of you know him."
The stallions gasped. "Head of the valley's security?"
"I don't know... i-is he?"
The two stallions exchanged looks with each other in utter shock, before turning back to the small colt. "We need you to come with us."
"What? W-why?"
"No particular reason, but, we need to make sure your father brings you home."
Blood nodded again. "Okay..." he stood up, following the duo through the forest.
Soon, the three arrived at the outpost, which was consist of some wooden houses, likely barracks, as well as towers built atop tall trees, a training field, and a large two-story building with smoke rising from the chimneys. The outpost was sprawling with activity, anywhere from stallions marching, to others running the mud track, to a couple of ponies wrestling in a small crowd.
Blood glanced around in awe, never once seeing an actual Legion base in person before. Now he knew what it looked like, how it smelled, how it felt. Before he could fully realize, he was being pushed by the stallions into the large wooden building in dead center of the outpost.
The door swung open to a soldier’s office inside the Bat Legion outpost’s central building, revealing behind it two thestral stallions, one with a black leather patch covering his right eye. Below them stood a young charcoal-grey pegasus-winged colt with a slicked-back mane with two shades of purple, and bright gold eyes.
The colt peered around the room in awe, then to a large wooden-and-glass frame on the wall with a sword striking down through a basic steel shield. The opposite wall of which the sword and shield sat on was decorated with portraits of the cave colony, as well as some of the past year’s troops gathered in a neat, collected group, though none smiled in these pictures.
The stallion at the desk lifted his gaze. He was a jet-black bat pony with a dark blue mane. A dark grey scar stretched an inch below his left eye, extending another few centimeters above it, likely acquired during training, or an unknown war as pondered by the young colt. Unlike the rest of the ponies, he shared the same circular-pupil eyes as Bloodvein, but with a grassy-green color.
“Who’s this? Who let a foal on the base?”
“We discovered him walking towards the base on his own, sir. He claims to be lost. He also claims to be Lieutenant Skywatcher’s son,” the stone-grey bat pony motioned his hoof as he spoke, while the other with the eye patch looked down at Bloodvein.
The pony at the desk looked at the colt once more, before motioning his hoof towards himself. “Have a seat, little guy," he then glanced up once more. "You two, wait outside, and please shut the door on your way out.”
The two stallions who brought Blood in responded with a firm salute and trotted out, closing the door gently behind them. Blood then slowly strode up to the desk and climbed onto a chair. Deep down, he felt as if his little heart was going to explode from beating as fast as it was. Never in his life had he had such an adrenaline rush, not even when his father made him run ten laps around the cave for stealing a mango cookie from the kitchen late one night.
“What is your name?”
“B-Bloodvein, sir.”
The stallion cracked the faintest of smiles, although, not enough to comfort the young pegasus. “So, you are Skywatcher’s son," he remarked in more of a statement than question.
Blood nodded in response, confirming even more.
“Commander Kozak’s the name, little one. What brings you out here by yourself?” he calmly questioned.
“I didn’t mean to, sir, I-I swear! I was just trying to find my class. I was... split up a while earlier,” Blood’s fear was evident, showing he was in fact lost.
Kozak nodded in reply. “But, you did see the signs right?”
“That’s what that one of your ponies asked… I did not see any signs, I-I swear,” Blood kept his cool, though unable to stop his hooves from trembling.
"I'm not sure if I believe you, Blood. We have warning signs posted every eighth of a mile, spanning a mile away around. Tell me you saw something?"
Blood shook his head slowly, his eyes moving down and fixing on the surface of the polished wooden desk separating the two.
Kozak sighed and slid his chair back, rising to all fours and moving slowly around his desk, over to a glass case that stored some locked-away weapons, unable to be reached unless the glass were to be broken.
"It truly is not that often that ponies get mixed up on a turn or two and wind up here, but it also isn't often that they leave without cuffs on their hooves," he grabbed a towel and began wiping at the glass to clean it.
This made the young colt extremely uneasy, and now his wings began to tremble in almost synchronization with his hooves. "I'm going to be arrested?!"
Kozak turned around and faced Bloodvein, settling his gaze upon him and blinking slowly. "No, of course not. You're a colt, I do believe you got lost. But, not a moment do I believe you didn't spot any signs warning you to turn around."
Blood eased himself only slightly. Fear was still painted all over his paling coat and feathers as he gawked up at the tall, muscular stallion.
"For now, I am going to keep you under watch in the barracks. I don't believe you will do anything if you are truly Skywatcher's son, but, I must take every precaution there is. I am certain that you understand, correct?" the stallion sat back down at his desk.
Blood nodded, gulping some. "Yes, sir."
"Good," Kozak then picked up a pen, which, on the top end, had two bat wings sticking out of the side, as well as the Bat Pony Legion's main emblem located dead in the middle, which wrapped around almost the entire pen, and started writing something on paper. "Guards, take him to the barracks and keep an eye on him."
The same two stallions from earlier trotted inside and saluted a second time, the pony with the eye patch gently lifting Blood up and placing him on his own back, trotting out of Commander Kozak's office, downstairs, and outside, into the rest of the base.
Blood sighed quietly as he rode on the stallion's back. He did not enjoy the feeling that he was brought to the Base Commander's office, even though he was not exactly in enough trouble to land him in the magma dungeons in the nearby region.
His father has once told him about those caves, and his description of it wasn't sunshine and rainbows with a cherry on top, either. Normally, those who were imprisoned there had done something nasty prior to being transported there, mainly those who killed others, or, even worse, made deals with Equestrians, which was a major punishment to the colony and others scattered across the land.
A minute or two after speaking with the Base Commander, Blood was taken in between two barrack cabins and seated down at a bench-like table used for eating when the time came. By that time, the sun was just barely past dead center in the sky, and along with the air temperature, humidity shot through the roof, creating a hot and sticky environment—a rather unpleasant one for Blood to sit in for long periods of time.
Unlike Vanhoover, which was a simple valley's jump west of the base, the valley where his colony was situated experienced a climate similar to that of the southeastern Equestrian coast. Even a distant forest named the Everfree situated in central Equestria and was unexplainable to many, but every pony had to live with it. A few of the soldiers hid in their barracks to keep cool. Blood didn't mind the heat and humidity much at that time, what he was worried about most was...
"What will my dad say?" he mentally questioned himself, staring down at the wooden picnic table.
Moments later, three bat stallions—two of them a similar grey to Bloodvein's coat, while the other was midnight blue with a similar mane to the colt's—trotted up to the table, all joking with each other, until they spotted the colt sitting at their table.
"Who is that?" the midnight blue stallion pointed his hoof at the sight of the colt.
Blood glanced up at the stallions, his heart racing again. "H-hi...?"
The stallions exchanged looks, then fixed their gazes individually at Blood. "Who are you, and how did you get in the base?"
"I got split up from my class on a field trip and ended up here by accident," Blood explained, looking back down in embarrassment.
The stallions once again glanced at each other, before chuckling mischievously. One of the grey ponies stopped laughing and trotted closer. "You screwed up big time, kid," he smirked.
"But... th-the..."
"No buts, you're headed to the magma dungeons," the midnight blue stallion joked. Blood didn't know that he was.
Blood's heart stopped as he started to tremble even worse than before He moments later hopped off of the picnic table and scurried away. While chatting, the two stallions who brought the colt in caught sight of him running out the gate, and quickly jumped to chase after him.
"Hey!" the pony with the eye patch shouted, running after the colt, who quickly ran out the unguarded gate and into some bushes just beyond the base's boundaries.
"Just let him go. He chose to run away," the other stallion trotted up next to his friend, who was panting slightly.
"Yeah, but... what's the Captain gonna say?"
Bloodvein ran and ran, not caring about where he was going anymore. He didn't want to be imprisoned in a cave where lava poured from the ceiling and into an enormous, searing lake of fire below, even though the Base Commander told him otherwise.
What felt like forever, but in reality was most likely just ten minutes, Blood was once again lost in the middle of the humid pine forest, but now stood in dead center of a path, which led to a direction that he hoped wouldn't loop back around and bring him right to the base again. The young colt stood perfectly still, before dropping to his haunches to catch his breath.
The poor colt panted like a dog in a desert without water, but managed to quickly regain some of his composure a few lengthy moments later to gather his surroundings. The sun hadn't budged much in the sky, meaning he had at least eight and a half or so hours to find his class—or, even better, home.
He soon stood back up and casually walked down the path, which was half-covered in pine needles and other leaves the wind broke free of their tree branches. The soft dirt muffled the sounds of hooves as he is used to hearing back home in the caves, which was nothing but stone all around.
As he walked along, he suddenly heard a new sound: leaves rustling and twigs moving around. Blood stopped dead in his tracks as the sound snatched his attention, quickly looking around to see where it was coming from.
The colt took notice of a bush just a few paces off to his left beginning to rustle. He was curious to see what it was, but also part of him wanted to run away in case it was a cockatrice, or worse, a winged python! Moments later, a small yellow beak popped out of the bush.
"It's a..."
"You... WHAT?!" Skywatcher hissed, baring his fangs in pure anger, his blue irises shrunk as he barked at two other bat ponies.
"W-we... uh... told him he was going to the magma dungeons for sneaking in, s-sir," one of the stallions—the midnight blue pony—answered with a broken and rather terrified voice.
"Why in Tartarus would you do that?! Not only is he my son that you picked on and scared off, but you scared him into the most dangerous forest west of the Everfree! You are lucky I didn't chop all of your heads off by now and served your blood to the rest of the officers here!" Sky continued to yell in his loudest volume at the three stallions, as well as the two who tried to catch him. "And why in the world weren't you two there to watch him?!"
The pony with the eye patch fiddled with his own hooves, tapping them together and biting his lip in fear. "We didn't think anypony would try and scare him off like these three did. I tried to catch him and stop him from running, believe us we did, but he ran too fast sir."
Sky grunted in anger and threw his hoof into an empty wooden trash bin, the force smashing it to bits out of pure rage, before facing away.
"You idiots may have sealed my son's—my ONLY son's fate!"
"...an eagle?"
Bloodvein blinked in both curiosity and awe as a small brown feathered avian crawled out from the bushes and stared up at the young colt. Unlike most of the eagles he had seen in class, this one was different. Instead of being brown across its whole body, its head displayed pure white feathers, with some tiny black spots mixed in towards the borderline of the bird's brown and white feathers.
"A bald eagle..." Blood thought to himself, eyes widening in even more awe at the young eagle.
The eagle squawked suddenly, backing away and tucking its head into its neck in fear as it looked right back up at the colt.
"Hey, shh. I'm not going to hurt you," Blood plopped down on his haunches and smiled kindly at the bird, which had stopped backing away and peeked its head out a bit more, before slowly approaching him.
It squawked again, cocking its head slightly at the sight of Bloodvein's tiny fangs. The tone the eagle squawked, as well as its small size, gave away that it was a young male, likely only a couple of weeks old, and the colt's smile grew. Not only the sighting of a rare bald eagle excite him, enough to almost scream, but rather holding it in to avoid scaring it off, standing up close to one that initially backed away, but then returned to him excited him even more!
His only problem now was how he would explain all of it to his parents.
Skywatcher hugged Midnight tightly, as she sobbed into his chest as he held her. It was an unusual sight, but Skywatcher was shedding tears of his own.
"S-Sky...the sun went down twenty minutes ago, his class returned over five hours ago!" Midnight whimpered and trembled.
"I know dear, but...he's a strong colt. He'll come home!" Sky smiled lightly, hoping to calm Midnight, though it was evident that he was on the verge of breaking down.
"Sky..." Midnight sniffled, "You aren't a very good liar."
Skywatcher's heart sank, his wife was right. He was never good at holding back emotions, despite being one of the toughest stallions in their colony.
"Oh, Midnight," Skywatcher hugged his wife tighter, slowly beginning to cry in synchronization with Midnight. The two were scared for their son's life. There was now no denying he was lost out in the open world, somewhere in the valley below their colony city.
Bloodvein panted as he jogged down a path, slowly but surely approaching a mountain he hoped and prayed was his home. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath.
"Stupid..." He coughed, "forest..." He then continued jogging his way towards the towering snow-capped mountain.
As he jogged, he then heard the flapping of wings, which caused his ears to perk up and his hooves to freeze. The grey colt slowly looked back at his wings, which were stuck tightly to his sides; it wasn't his wings making the sound. Where was it coming from? After a minute, he shrugged it off and continued on his way towards the mountain. Moments later, the flapping came back, and once again he stopped.
"Okay..." He panted a bit, "Who's making that sound?!"
Blood looked around, catching his breath completely as he did so. He then noticed a dark spec slowly moving towards him down the same path he was on. As it came closer, it became clear it was something he wanted to leave behind.
"Gawwk!" The creature, the same bald eagle he ran into earlier that day, squawked and flapped his wings.
Blood rolled his eyes. "No, bad eagle! Stop following me, my parents won't let me keep you!" He walked up to the bird, which squawked some more. Blood sighed in a frustrated tone. "You CAN'T come with me!"
The eagle's head buried into it's own feathers in fear, and it squawked in a less-happy tone. Blood sighed and looked down.
"I-I can't take you home...if I do my parents will kill me!" Blood reached a hoof forward and pet the small eagle, which continued to squawk sadly. Bloodvein felt bad hearing the eagle squawk like that, before sitting in front of him. "Fine, you can come with. But, please don't fly around the house destroying things when we get there, alright?"
The eagle squawked in understanding and flapped his wings, briefly flying up and landing on the colt's back and perching on his left wing. Blood giggled a bit and began trotting the path back to the mountain. It was another long walk up the slope, which lucky for the colt and the eagle was the path Blood walked down earlier, before he was separated from the group of students.
"Listen to me, all of you...if you see a pegasus colt, grey like myself, with a mane that looks like he is a fast flyer with a scheme similar to mine, bring him to me. Please," Skywatcher spoke to a group of five Legion soldiers, who saluted moments after he stopped talking.
"Yes sir!" The five stallions said in synchronization, before trotting off to look for the missing colt.
Sky sniffled and wiped his muzzle with a hoof as he watched the stallions walk off, as well as looking further down the cave and towards the busy part of town where a fourth of the colony were out doing things, such as shopping, eating, or even playing.
"Where are you son..." He shed a tear, once again a rare sight to see with Skywatcher.
After another twenty-three minutes, Bloodvein finally reached the the top of the steep path, panting even more as his little hooves gave out underneath him. The eagle squawked at him and flapped it's little wings and dancing some, still perched on the colt's wing.
"Oh be quiet," Blood panted still. "You weren't the one who just walked up a thousand-foot winding path!"
The eagle puffed it's chest out and squawked more, turning it's head and looking over at a lit hole in the side of the mountain.
Blood gasped. "The cave! We're home!" He stood quickly and galloped towards it. He slid to a stop suddenly when a large bat stallion in Legion armor landed in front of him. Bloodvein glanced up at the tall stallion, who stared back in some shock.
"Bloodvein! Guys, I found him!"
Skywatcher laid in bed, staring at the ceiling as if it were a snake just moments away from biting him. His deep blue eyes remained at the size of golf balls, not moving one hair away from what they were locked on. Millions of thoughts raced through his mind as he laid calmly on the bed in the cold, dark room.
Never in his life had he ever broken down like he did an hour ago, nor did he break down at all since he joined the legion so long ago. The pain he felt in his chest was a billion times worse than the pain he felt when he first went through physical training, which before he thought was the worst time of his life. He now stood corrected; getting word that his son is lost on a field trip was the worst day of his life.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door downstairs. The stallion snapped out of his trance of thought, and hopped off the bed and flew downstairs. He braced himself for bad news if there was any, and took a deep breath. Sky opened the door and was greeted with another legion soldier.
"Sir," the soldier saluted.
"At ease," Skywatcher motioned his hoof. "Any news?"
The soldier moved to the side, looking down. Skywatcher gasped and his eyes widened.
"Dad!" The colt behind the soldier jumped at his father, who caught him in his hooves.
"B-Blood!" Skywatcher teared up, hugging the colt tightly. "I-I thought I lost you!"
Bloodvein cried for joy as he hugged his father's chest. "I th-thought I would never see you again!" He trembled.
The soldier outside the door smiled at the two ponies now reunited, before yelping a bit and looking behind him.
Both Skywatcher and Bloodvein were too caught up in embracing for the first time in what seemed like forever after the experience they both had that day. Their moment was soon cut off by a knock on the door, despite it being wide open. The two ponies looked at the soldier, who was biting his lip as if he was in pain.
"There's... argh! One other thing..." He opened his right wing, glancing back at the small bald eagle, which was perched on it.
Skywatcher gasped. "Is that a..."
"Oh..." Blood's ears lowered. "Yeah, Dad... it's an eagle," he looked down. "A bald eagle."
Skywatcher stared at the eagle in shock. "G-give it to me, soldier," he motioned for the stallion to hand it over.
"Yes, sir," the soldier lifted the bird off of his wing, which was cut up slightly by his small talons, and handed the brown and white feathered bird over to Skywatcher, who allowed the eagle to perch on his hoof. The soldier then trotted off back to his station, and Sky shut the door, still holding the bird.
Bloodvein leaped from his other hoof and sighed. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
Skywatcher glanced down at Bloodvein. "What? No! You're home, why would you be in trouble?"
"I brought home an eagle..."
"A bald eagle, son. Do you realize how rare these are?" Skywatcher looked between the eagle and Bloodvein, smiling a bit.
"They're rare?" Blood looked back up at his dad, tilting his head a bit.
Sky nodded. "Very rare. How did you find it?"
"He, um... he came to me. He followed me home. I tried to tell him to stop following me, but he got sad and I couldn't help but to take him with me." Blood looked at the eagle, which squawked and puffed his chest out.
"It's a he?" Sky looked at the eagle.
"Mhmm," Blood nodded.
The eagle then squawked again quietly, flapping his wings a bit.
Skywatcher chuckled. "He's cute. Can he fly?"
"Barely... he flew a bit to get on my wing, but that's about it," Blood stood up and walked up to the stallion and the eagle.
"Hmm, so I guess you two have something in common," Skywatcher looked at the eagle again.
Bloodvein groaned. "Thanks, Dad. I wouldn't imagine you want to keep him," he walked to the stairs to go to his room.
"Actually," Blood stopped and looked back. "As long as you take care of him, of course we can keep him."
"Really?" Blood's tail wagged a bit, and he smiled brightly.
"Of course. If you really like him, and he really likes you, he could be our pet," Skywatcher smiled.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Bloodvein hopped around happily.
"But..."
Blood froze mid air, and fell down to the floor. "But what?"
Two months had passed since Bloodvein wound up lost in the forest outside of his colony, and at the Legion outpost, as well as finding the rare, young bald eagle which he took in. The eagle grew quickly, and after some time, was at full size and ended up larger than the colt himself. Bloodvein kept the eagle well fed and taken care of, as well as managing to train it how to fly, with the aid of his father of course.
"Blooodveeein?"
"Coming, Mom!"
The young colt trotted downstairs from his bedroom, towards the mare's voice. When he hopped from the last two steps onto the ground, he walked over to his mother and kissed her cheek. The bat mare sat on the couch, rubbing her belly, which was now a large foal bump.
"Just a couple more months, my little Bloodvein," Midnight giggled softly, nuzzling the colt.
Bloodvein nuzzled back. "I can't wait, Mom!" He smiled, baring his little fangs. "Where's Dad?"
"He left early to get some quick work done by the hole to the outside. He should be back later, though," Midnight smiled warmly, glancing down at her foal bump, still rubbing it.
"Oh, okay!" Bloodvein smiled, then hopped off the couch and walked over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Midnight peered over at him.
"Just going to go for a little walk. I'll be back in a few!" Blood responded, holding his hoof on the door handle and glancing back at his mother.
"Alright, baby boy, see you in a bit!" Midnight giggled a bit more.
Bloodvein's cheeks grew a pink tinge. "Mom, please don't call me that. I'm almost seven now..."
"That doesn't change anything. Even when you're thirty-eight, you'll still be my baby colt," Midnight smiled.
Blood rolled his eyes. "Alright, see you later, Mom," he opened the door and walked out, before shutting it behind him.
Outside, the air was just perfect. A slight breeze blew through, which was unusual for being so deep in a cave. Blood didn't bother to think about it for over a few seconds before deciding stop by and check on his dad.
He trotted happily along, through the somewhat busy streets of his colony town. It didn't take long to reach the end of the cave, where he hoped to find Skywatcher, but instead saw two other legion soldiers guarding large, white cloth bags stacked atop one another.
"Excuse me, sir," he stepped up to one of the soldiers, "Where is First Lieutenant Skywatcher?"
The soldier looked down at Bloodvein, a small, genuine smile pursing his lips. "He is at the town hall."
"Thanks," Blood returned the smile, heading off in search of his father.
"What do you mean we don't have enough sandbags?!"
"Governor, sir, there isn't enough sand left in the mines. What we have out there is what we have left," Skywatcher stood at attention across a wooden desk from a navy blue bat stallion just over half his size.
The stallion groaned and put his hoof to his forehead, shaking it slowly. "What do you suggest we do, Lieutenant?"
"I suggest we evacuate. It is too risky to see if the sandbags work this time. On top of that, some of my soldiers have observed growing cracks in the walls and ceiling. It's just a matter of time," Skywatcher attempted to keep a stoic look on his face, but fear wrote itself all over.
The Governor glanced back up at the taller pony in front of him. "Evacuating now would cause a panic, but doing nothing puts us all in danger. We have to do something."
"I know, sir," Sky dropped his tough act for a split second, but unlucky for him, the stallion at the desk caught it.
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean what's wrong, sir? Everypony's lives are at risk. That's what's wrong," Sky tensed back up.
"No, it's something else. What is it?"
Bloodvein walked up the stairs in the town hall, coming to the second floor where he heard his father's voice, then walked up to the office door and listened closely.
"I'm worried about my son. He's the only pony in his class who hasn't really learned how to fly yet."
"Why hasn't he? Is it that bird of his?"
"Bald eagle, sir."
"Have you noticed that the eagle can fly, but he can't? What does that tell you?"
"Sir."
"He can't fly, he doesn't have any real friends."
"Sir..."
"He isn't even one of us!"
Skywatcher screamed at the top of his lungs and hissed. "Sir!"
Both Bloodvein and the Governor jumped at the ear-piercing yell.
The stallion breathed heavily in anger. "I helped him teach the eagle how to fly. I was intending for Bloodvein to follow through as well, but he didn't get the idea. I didn't want to tell him, because I didn't want him to think I'm forcing him to fly. He'll learn on his own. Maybe he'll learn tomorrow, maybe he'll learn next year, or maybe he won't learn at all! He is still my son, and I love him to Tartarus and back!"
The Governor sat back in his chair, shaken by Skywatcher. Outside, Bloodvein was shaken as well.
"Lieutenant, I..."
"No, Governor, stop. I don't want to hear anything more about what you think of my son. He's mine, not yours, and I actually care for mine, and I would never ship him off to military camp without his own permission!" Skywatcher stepped back, calming a bit. "Unlike you, who did."
The Governor sat speechless. He knew Skywatcher was right, and what he did a few years back was wrong.
"Now if you excuse me, I have to go tell my family what's going on," Skywatcher turned around and started to walk to the door.
Before he could walk out, Blood ran downstairs and outside into the town. He now knew something was wrong and his heart raced. After a minute, he removed the thought from his mind and walked around, only to hear a familiar voice.
"Bloodvein!" Skywatcher called from behind.
Blood froze and turned around. "Hey, Dad."
Sky strode up, and the two embraced. "How's my amazing son today?"
"Good... what about you?" Blood glanced up, raising a suspicious eyebrow. "Dad, I heard everything."
"What?" Sky looked down at the colt.
"Why are the sandbags up?" Blood drew away and stared up at his father rather sternly.
Skywatcher's world came to a screeching halt. "Son, were you... eavesdropping on me and the Governor?"
"Yes, Dad. What is happening?" Blood's heart began to beat faster, but he remained calm.
Skywatcher continued to keep his deep blue eyes focused on the colt in front of him, slowly sitting down and sighing. "If I tell you, promise you only tell Mom, alright?"
"Sure, Dad," Blood also sat down, raising an eyebrow again.
"There's a—"
A loud crash echoed through the caves, startling everypony in it. Bloodvein ran up like lightning and hugged Skywatcher's arm tightly.
"W-what was that?!"
"Thunder. The storm is here... but, the sandbags should protect us."
"I-if you say so, Dad... let's go home."
"Okay, son," Skywatcher stood back up, lifting Bloodvein up and resting him on his armor-covered back, marching back towards their house, through crowds of bat ponies of all sizes staring in the direction of the cave exit, where rain poured from the heavens above.
The door to the house opened, and Midnight glanced over and saw both Skywatcher and Bloodvein.
"Hey, boys!" She smiled and Blood hopped off of Sky's back and quickly ran upstairs.
"Hey, dear," Sky walked over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
"What's wrong with Blood?" Midnight looked over at the stairs, where Blood had already raced up.
"The storm scared him," Sky then sat down next to Midnight, wrapping a hoof around her.
"Storm? Again?" Midnight snuggled close.
"Mmhmm. We have less sand bags than usual, but they should last us," Skywatcher hugged Midnight and nuzzled her forehead.
"I hope so, dear..." Midnight sighed.
Moments later, there was a loud cracking sound emanating from outside. Skywatcher quickly stood and ran to the door, peeking outside.
"Oh, no..."
"What is it honey?" Midnight slowly stood and stared in concern.
Skywatcher shut the door and looked at Midnight. "I'm going to pack our things. We need to get out of here."
Midnight nodded, understanding what was now going on. "Be quick, dear."
Sky flew upstairs quickly. "Bloodvein?!"
Blood ran out of his room with a small bag, as well as his blanket and pillow. "Dad! My room is leaking!"
Skywatcher watched Blood run downstairs, then peeked in his room and saw a large crack in the ceiling, which had water squirting from it. He then flew into their bedroom, and quickly threw some small belongings into a suitcase, before flying downstairs.
When he landed, the floor already had at least an inch of water flooding it. He lifted his hoof the moment it touched the water and looked down at the water, which was frigid, before glancing back up and noticing Blood and Midnight already gone. Sky ran to the door, but before he could run out, he heard a squawking come from upstairs.
"Talonfang," he thought to himself, before setting the bag on the couch and flying back upstairs to the eagle, who was still in his cage.
The eagle squawked in fear as more water poured from the ceiling of Blood's bedroom, and was now pouring down the stairs, with crayons, pencils, and other small, light objects floating by slowly as the house flooded. Skywatcher without hesitation opened the cage, then kicked Blood's window out.
"Go, get out!" He yelled, and the eagle flew out the small window. Sky ran downstairs, grabbing the bag off of the couch and flying out the front door. To his surprise, there wasn't as much water outside as there was in, but it was moving a lot faster as it went downhill towards the mines. "Blood? Midnight?!"
"Over here!" Came a loud, echoing voice. Skywatcher looked to his right, and saw Midnight and Blood standing side by side. Bloodvein was struggling to help his mom walk, despite the rushing water which was almost enough to knock him down.
Midnight groaned. "I-I can barely move..."
Skywatcher raced to Midnight and Bloodvein, flying underneath the two and lifting them onto his back. "Hang on!"
The stallion started trudging through the water, being unable to fly with all of the weight. He looked up and saw a large crack slowly opening in the cave ceiling, and started to gallop, hoping to pass it before it opened completely. Bat ponies screamed and flew as the cave started to flood, while Legion soldiers flew just above where the sandbags used to be to keep the flood of ponies evacuating at a steady pace, and making sure nopony was hurt in the rush.
"Come on Sky..." He thought to himself as he galloped through the knee-deep rushing water. At first, it seemed like they would make it past the crack slowly pouring more cold water into the cave system.
Just before they could pass under it, large boulders started splashing down into the water, creating waves which were enough to overwhelm a normal pony. One hit the stallion, as well as Midnight and Bloodvein, but they still clung on to Skywatcher as he ran through the water towards the exit. No longer than a moment later, the crack gave way, and more large rocks fell around the evacuating ponies, as well as more bone-chilling water pouring from the ceiling, adding to the water already pouring in from the entrance. Another wave hit them, and Bloodvein was knocked away from Skywatcher and Midnight.
"MOM! DAD!" Blood cried in fear as he was quickly separated from his parents.
"BLOODVEIN!" Midnight screamed, and Skywatcher stopped and gasped, his blue pupils shrinking as they met the sight of his son being swept away.
"CORPORALS!" Skywatcher yelled up, and two Legion soldiers flew down to them. "Get my wife out of here, I'll catch up!"
"Lieutenant, there's no time to go back! The cave is going to collapse!" One of the stallions resisted the order.
Skywatcher growled and showed his fangs, before the two stallions grabbed Midnight quickly and flew away with her.
"Sky, no!" Midnight cried as she was taken away.
Sky started running with the water, towards the cries of Bloodvein, who was quickly being swept further down into the caves.
Bloodvein spun through the freezing water, attempting to stay above. The force of the raging flood pushed him under a couple of times, but Skywatcher managed to keep an eye on him as he flew towards the colt.
"Son! I'm almost there!" Skywatcher panicked as he flew faster, before looking up and gasping.
Blood turned around and saw the mines fast approaching, which was a two-hundred feet drop. Blood's pupils shrunk as he tried to swim against the water, which of course did not work.
"Dad!" Blood screamed as he approached the mines, which was now turned into a large waterfall.
"Blood!" Skywatcher landed in the water, reaching a hoof to the colt, oblivious to some rocks above him about to fall.
"Lieutenant!" One of the soldiers yelled, flying at Skywatcher quickly, before pulling him back just moments before the rocks fell, cutting him off from Bloodvein.
"NO!" Sky screeched, his ears lowering and tears building in his eyes.
Bloodvein screamed as the rocks splashed water into his face, and he fell down the falls, deeper into the cave.
"Sir, come on! The cave...is...collapsing!" The soldier yanked on Skywatcher, trying to pull him away from where the rocks had fallen, blocking the way to Bloodvein. "Guys, I need help!" He yelled. Soon, more stallions flew over and helped him carry Skywatcher away, who was screaming for his son.
Blood screamed as he fell, before landing in a deep pool of colder water below, which felt like landing on icy spikes for a few moments. As he came back up, he was forced down another cave by the rushing water, moving too fast down the small tunnel to do anything. The tunnel twisted and turned for what seemed like forever. The colt shut his eyes, he knew this was the end.
"I'm sorry dad...I'm sorry mom...Faust help me..."
Everything was black... and cold. It was dark and cold. This must be what it's like to die, he pondered.
Bloodvein opened his eyes. It stung the moment he did due to the freezing... water?
"I'm alive?" He thought to himself. He was still holding his breath as he floated in place under the freezing, dark water. Blood looked around slowly, spotting the bottom of what he thought was an underground lake. It was certainly smooth, but still rocky.
After glancing around for a minute, he realized that even if he did try to go to the surface, he'd never be found. In one final attempt, the colt opened his mouth, allowing the air he kept stored in his mouth out, to float to the surface in a few small bubbles.
"I need to end this. What's the point of going to the top?"
The thought of death tugged on his heart strings, but also believed he would be reunited with his father, or maybe even his mother, in case her and everypony else weren’t able to escape in time. Then, a new feeling came across young Bloodvein. It was nothing at all. After seven long years, he was at peace. It felt like forever, but after one minute, he finally shut his eyes in one final attempt to end it all. He knew that if he fought back, death would keep coming after him. Once again, everything went purely black.
"Bloodvein."
...
"Bloodvein..."
...
"BLOODVEIN!"
Blood shot awake, attempting to pant, but instead swallowing the ice-cold water. He shrieked, despite slowly being flooded internally with water, and swished around so he was no longer floating on his back, and he started to swim back up towards the surface out of a random surge of motivation. His eyes narrowed as he quickly swam up towards the surface. After a few moments, he pierced the surface, gasping for air and coughing out whatever water he had yet to swallow.
Blood glanced around, immediately spotting a flat surface of black stone and swimming to it, panting for breath. He grabbed onto the rock, slowly pulling himself onto the dry rock with whatever energy he had left. After pulling himself up, he laid belly up on the rock, staring up at the dark ceiling and panting. His entire body shivered at the feeling of his cold, wet coat. His little heart raced a hundred miles an hour as he shivered.
"What is wrong with me? I... I fought back. Wh—why do I need to go on? No one is going to find me down—"
A stone fell into the water, creating a slight disturbance in it. Blood shot up, staring at the water and trembling as the tiny waves bounced against the cold stone. Suddenly, a ray of white light shone down onto the water. His eyes moved up to the ceiling, and to his surprise, he could see outside.
"Is that..."
Bloodvein slowly stood, and attempted to walk closer without going back into the pool of icy water, but found his right foreleg in more pain than his feather flu shot he received a few months back. He held the hoof in the air and limped over to the edge, peering up at the tiny hole. He then gasped at the sight. "It is the moon."
He stared for a full two minutes, flabbergasted that he could see the moon.
"Am I dead?" Blood mumbled to himself. The only real explanation for seeing the moon while underground to him meant he was dead, and he was still feeling pain somehow...or he wound up in a small pit somewhere else that was right below the surface. The next thing that came across his mind; even if he is alive, and he is that close to escaping, what are the chances he'll find somepony to help him, and he knew the chances of finding someone friendly to help were almost at zero.
He then sighed and looked down at his injured hoof, knowing the only ways out are to swim back where he came from, and hopefully find another way out, or somehow dig his way up through the thin layer of dirt and rock separating him from the outside world. Either way would be near-impossible in his condition. He was hungry, his hoof was badly hurt, and he was very weak after being submerged for Faust knows how long.
Suddenly, he heard a new noise. His ears perked up at the noise, and he looked around the tiny cave he was stranded him. To his surprise, it was coming from above. Blood glanced back up at the hole, and noticed it was opened some more, but not by much. The next thing that he could hear, was faint talking.
"M-mom? Dad?" His ears pinned back, not sure what to expect. The talking slowly got closer, and soon enough he could hear hoofsteps, one set light, the other set heavy. It took a moment, but soon he realized they weren't his parents' voices. The next thing he realized, was they could help him.
"Hey! Hey!!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, voice shaky and weakened.
"I'm telling you honey, I think we should adopt!"
"Cloud, please, just—"
"Hey!"
"Do you hear that?"
"Help, please!" Blood cried. His throat was dry, and it pained him just to talk, let alone scream. Soon, the hoofsteps got louder and louder, before finally stopping directly above him.
"Where are you?!" A deep, slightly roughened voice called out.
"Down here!" Blood replied.
The two ponies looked down at the tiny hole in the ground, peeking into the dark. Bloodvein looked up and saw a purple eye stare down at him.
"I can't see you, where are you?"
"Over here!" Blood waved his injured hoof, hurting it more in the process. "Ow!"
The eye pulled away from the hole, and the two ponies talked for a moment, before one of them ran off. Moments later, a pair of green eyes stared into the hole, down at Bloodvein. "He's going to get help, we're going to get you out of there, okay?"
"O-okay! Please, hurry!" Blood whimpered, looking around frantically.
No longer than five minutes later, more heavy hoofsteps could be heard approaching quickly. Blood glanced up, now laying on the rock and shivering even more. The hoofsteps came to a stop just above him, followed by the sounds of three stallions panting.
"Are... are you alright?" A new voice yelled from above.
"Cold, but I think s-so!" Blood shivered, huddling up into a ball to keep himself warm.
"Okay little one, we'll get you out in a jiff!" The new voice called. "Everypony, stand back."
The two other ponies stepped back, before the other stallion put all of his weight into his hind legs, standing up on them, before slamming his forehooves back down into the ground, breaking open a large hole in the ground and whatever dirt and rock was loosened fell into the water next to Bloodvein.
He glanced back up after the rocks finished falling, and finally got a good look at the ponies. To the far right stood what appeared to be an extremely light grey, or even white pegasus mare, with grass-green eyes and a brown, curly mane with what appeared to be either a white or extremely light yellow stripe down the side.
To her right stood a head-taller brown unicorn stallion with a silver mane resembling a mohawk-buzzcut mane. Blood then glanced over to the third pony, who was reaching his hoof down to him. The first thing he noticed was his hoof, which was trimmed on the bottom, revealing the bare mid-blue hoof. He looked up at the stallion, which was a pale-white pegasus, a royal guard he pondered to himself.
"Come on, reach!" The pegasus grunted, holding his muscular hoof out to Blood, trying his best not to fall into the water.
Bloodvein slowly stood up, holding his injured hoof in the air slightly. His body shuddered as he moved. The colt took a few short steps back, before running and jumping into the pegasus’ hooves.
"Whoa!" The pegasus jumped slightly, not expecting Blood to jump. He caught the colt, who immediately buried his face into his chest and begun to cry. "Easy, easy...you're safe now," he hugged back, feeling his freezing, wet coat.
"Th-th-thank you," Blood sobbed and shivered, clinging himself to the stallion's warm chest.
The pegasus looked up at the couple. "He's freezing."
The mare gasped and looked at the unicorn. "Should we get him a hospital?"
The unicorn glanced at Blood, then back to the mare. "If he's just cold, we can take him home and warm him up, give him a hot bath, whatever he needs."
The pegasus pried the small colt off of him for a moment. "Are you hurt?"
Blood nodded and held his hoof in the air, sniffling a bit. "I-I don't kn-know how it happened..." He shivered more.
The pegasus looked closer. "Let me see it little one."
Blood whimpered slightly and slowly extended his hoof to the pegasus’. His hoof was red and was still bleeding. The white pegasus moved the fur away to look at injury. He gasped a little at the sight.
He then looked up at Blood. "Okay, this is going to hurt for juuust a second," he leaned his head down, quickly yanking back up.
Blood yelped and whimpered more, pulling his hoof out of the pegasus’ and holding it in his own.
"I got it," the pegasus spat out a sharp black rock into his hoof, which was half red from the blood. "It went in pretty deep, it needs to be bandaged. You're lucky it was cold water, or else amputation would have been needed. Cold water helps with deep injuries."
Bloodvein whimpered more and looked down at his bloody hoof, catching a brief sight of the deep cut. The little colt stood up and faced the unicorn and the mare.
"He should be fine if the cut is bandaged up, and he is warmed up. Whatever he went through shook him up pretty bad too," he said to the two ponies, before leaning closer. "I also don't want you bringing him to any hospitals, or else it may start a panic."
The unicorn and the mare exchanged looks in confusion, before looking back at the pegasus. "Why would it cause a panic?"
The pegasus looked back at Blood in some concern. "You'll see it. Please, get some bandages on him and get him warm. He's probably too shaken to talk much."
"Okay. Thank you... so much, sir." The mare smiled at the pegasus stallion.
The stallion nodded. "Anytime," he returned the smile, then nodded at the unicorn, who nodded back, before trotting away.
The pegasus mare glanced down at the colt, smiling faintly. "Hey, don't be scared... we got you out of there," she smiled more and approached.
Bloodvein simply looked up at her, still shivering and whimpering slightly, his heart racing.
"Come on, let's get him home before he gets sick. Hopefully he isn't already," the unicorn walked closer, looking at the mare.
The mare nodded at him, before looking back down at Blood. "What's your name?"
"B... Bloodvein..." He trembled.
The unicorn raised an eyebrow at the name, but continued to look at him, while the mare smiled more.
"Where are you from?"
Skywatcher stared... and stared... and stared some more. The cave had completely collapsed in on itself shortly after he and the other soldiers escaped. His deep blue eyes were full of dread, as the scene of the rocks cutting him off from his son played and replayed in his mind. Meanwhile, bat ponies worked to try and remove the rocks that had fallen, in a final attempt to get back in and search for anypony who may have been trapped for hours.
Luckily, that wasn't the case, but Sky still ordered for the caves to be unblocked in case Bloodvein was still alive. His muscles shifted from tense, to feeling like they were simply full of air. It was the first time in a very long time that the other Legion soldiers had seen him as distraught as he was at that very moment. His ears were flat as a deflated ball, and his wings were folded tightly against his sides.
"Sky... t-this isn't your fault," Midnight rolled over to the stallion in a wheelchair, resting her hoof on his shoulder.
"It is, Midnight. I could have grabbed him," Skywatcher spoke in a low, depressed tone. As he did, his eyes became glassy while he stared further at the blocked cave, which used to be their home. "He was right in front of me. Because of me...our son is gone."
Midnight sat up some, then kissed him on the cheek. "Don't say that honey... he could still be alive."
"What are the chances, Midnight?" Sky snapped his head back, giving her a cold scowl out of pure anxiety.
Midnight quickly sat down and recoiled back a bit. "Miracles happen."
"Well, here it is," the door opened to the house, and Bloodvein, as well as the unicorn stallion and the pegasus mare stepped in. The house was enormous, and could certainly fit three, maybe four of his old house in it over! He looked up and spotted a glassy object he’d never seen before, which lit itself with small candles.
To their left was a large living room, with a large couch and a love seat, as well as a recliner, all surrounding a large fire place that remained darkened. Inside was quite warm—scorching, even, compared to the water Blood was in for over eight hours. He took in a deep whiff the air, detecting a brand new scent. It smelled sweet, but he couldn’t quite put his hoof on what it was.
"I will go make some soup for you, Bloodvein," the unicorn strode off into a room to their right—the dining room—before turning again into the kitchen.
The mare glanced down to Blood and smiled. He still looked quite scared, but she knew it was because of what he went through.
"Come on, Blood," she walked into the living room, taking up a white fleece blanket with red snowflakes, edging off of the couch and motioning for him to come over.
Blood steadily limped over, still holding his cut hoof a few inches off the floor, which changed to carpet the moment he stepped hoof into the living room. He hopped up onto the couch, and the mare covered him with the blanket.
"I'll be right back, your hoof needs to be wrapped up," the mare then walked off.
The blanket was comforting, the softest he had ever felt! It did not take long for him to feel warm again. After being out of the water for so long, his coat dried at last, and it fluffed at the feeling of being warm again, along with his feathers.
A few short moments later, the mare returned with a small blue box with a red cross printed on the front. She then opened the box and plucked out a roll of thin cloth, as well as a wet bathing cloth.
"Here, give me your hoof," she smiled and pulled the roll end off slightly. Blood shakily extended his red-soaked hoof to her, and she dabbed it gently with the steaming-hot wet cloth. He cringed and tried to yank his hoof back, but couldn't due to the mare's grip on it.
After a moment, the now-clean cut ceased to bleed. The mare began wrapping it with the thin cloth four times over, before tying it down on its own to his hoof, and finally, planting the softest of kisses on it. "There."
Bloodvein looked at his hoof, then smiled up at her faintly. His coat then fluffed again, this time enough to be noticed.
The mare giggled. "Well, aren't you a little fluff ball?"
Blood let out a small laugh and nodded, smiling even more. The mare's smile dropped into a look of surprise at the sight of his teeth, gasping a bit.
"You have fangs?" She raised her hoof to her mouth.
Blood's smile vanished, and he recoiled back in fear now, lifting his unhurt hoof up to his mouth and shielding his fangs. "N-no, I don't!"
The mare lowered her hoof gently. "Don't lie, please. I won’t judge. If you have fangs, that just makes you special!" she said with a smile.
Blood looked up at her, shaking still. It took him a few moments to trust her word, before slowly lowering his hoof, revealing the tiny fangs poking out between his lips.
"It's okay, Bloodvein..." the mare scooted closer and looped her hooves around him gently. "We'll take care of you until we can find your parents again."
Blood shivered slightly still, only to slowly smile and hug back. "Th-thank you," he nuzzled her chest, sighing a bit.
Rocks fell from the ceiling as dynamite detonated, blasting the rocks blocking the only entrance into the cave to smithereens, granting the bat ponies a way back into their old home. Water still flooded the cave at a depth of two feet, with tons of debris scattered across the ruined town.
"B-Bloodvein?!" Skywatcher shouted as he ran atop the pile of smashed boulders, staring deep into the dark, frigid cave for any signs of life. He then jumped into the water and started trudging as quickly as he could to the end of the town, where he last saw his son.
The water became deeper as the cave dipped further down, being at a five-degree slope going into the mountain. Water dripped from the crack in the ceiling where it used to be pouring in in gallons.
"Sir, wait!" A Legion soldier called out, flying in after the distraught stallion as he looked everywhere for a certain pegasus colt.
Skywatcher panted as he kicked debris around, sticking his head underwater three or four times, still searching for his son. His heart raced a hundred miles an hour as emotions surged through his veins.
Soon, he arrived at the end of the cave which was still blocked by five tons of dirt and rock. The dirt that fell atop of the rocks eventually dampened and turned into a brown cement-like mixture that stuck to Sky's hooves as he struggled to move the immovable wall of earth.
"Guys, help me. HELP ME DARN IT!" He screamed as tears rushed down his cheeks, he was starting to go insane. He pushed harder and harder on the wall of mud and rock, only to have no effect. Sky struggled afterwards to pull his hooves free, managing to with the help of another legion soldier. He fell back into the water, beginning to cry at his failure.
"Sir...pl-please, calm down!" A soldier stared Skywatcher right in the eyes, picking him up out of the water and holding him against the wall of the cave.
"Get off of me, my son is back there!" Sky hissed, baring his fangs at the soldier.
"Sir, please. You're acting desperate!" the soldier tried to calm the stallion, managing to hold him back against the wall.
"I am desperate!" Sky pressed his muddy hooves to his face and cried into them. "My son... h-he's gone!"
"Bloodvein? Wake up, sweetie."
Blood slowly fluttered his eyelids open and rubbed them with his hooves. He looked up, squinting at the bright morning light. Moments later, his vision cleared and his eyes met those of the same pegasus mare he’d met the night before. The colt soon realized he hadn’t dreamed up the entire cave scenario, or his entrapment in the closed off sinkhole in... where was he exactly?
"Good morning..." he yawned, his fangs becoming clearly visible to the mare, and...
A male suddenly gasped. "You weren't kidding, he does have fangs."
Blood quickly snapped his mouth shut, pupils shrinking to pinpricks at the mention of his teeth. He glanced over and saw the brown unicorn standing next to the mare with a concerned look on his face.
"W-what?" Blood nervously looked between the two ponies.
The stallion shrugged, while the mare smiled. "Nothing, sweetie."
Bloodvein gulped slightly, a sense of nervousness rising once more.
"Are you hungry?" The stallion continued to stare, but instead cracked a slight smile his way.
"A tiny bit..." Blood looked down at his stomach, which growled under the blanket.
"I'll make us breakfast. How does that sound?" the mare smiled between the stallion—presumably her husband—and Bloodvein.
Blood nodded in return and smiled. "That sounds good. Thank you... thank you both for letting me stay with you.”
"We couldn't just leave you to die, Bloodvein," the stallion smiled and took a seat behind his hooves while the mare trotted into the kitchen.
"Still, you didn't have to take me home with you," Blood sat upright, his mane having drooped down overnight, and was now long, messy, and covered his eyes slightly.
"Well, one, you deserve a good home rather than an orphanage after what you’ve gone through, and two, my wife wouldn't have let me leave you at an orphanage anyways," the stallion let off a small chuckle.
"Heh, true..." Blood looked down slightly, then back up. "What's your name?"
"My name?" The stallion blinked. "Specter."
"Just Specter?" Blood asked.
Specter nodded. "My wife's name is Glitter. We both met a couple of years ago at the same park we found you in, eventually I proposed and we got married," he sighed happily.
"Well, then," Blood smiled. "You two certainly look happy together."
Specter chuckled. "She only likes me because I'm a guard."
Blood's pupils shrunk once more, and an adrenaline rush kicked in. "A royal guard?"
Specter nodded. "Yup. Joined five and a half years ago, now a sergeant, if you know what that is. It's boring most of the time, though, I've had thoughts of quitting."
Blood's adrenaline stopped. "Oh, well... t-that's your decision. Although, from what I have heard, it is quite an honorable job."
Specter looked at Bloodvein, the smile he formerly had on his muzzle vanishing entirely, and falling into a strict frown. "How would you know? You're a bat pony."
Skywatcher sighed, sitting on the gravel outside of the cave with a blanket wrapped around him. Bat ponies worked inside the caves in one last attempt to drain the water somewhere else, while others gathered belongings they didn't have time to grab previously. Sky stared at the ground, tears sitting at the bottom of his eyes.
One managed to break free, streaming down his cheek and dripping onto the ground in front of him. He trembled as the emotions finally broke through to him, there was now no denying that Bloodvein is gone, possibly forever. Moments later, he lifted his hooves out of the blanket and cried into them.
The pain was too much for him to hold back the tears, and he continued to sob in front of some fellow soldiers, who stared in shock. One Legion troop walked over, his ears pinned back at the sight of Skywatcher breaking down.
"I am terribly sorry, sir," the stallion sighed, then leaned forward and brought Skywatcher into a gentle embrace.
Skywatcher cried into his hooves, before moments later snatching the legion soldier and hugging him back tighter, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder.
"Don't cry," the Legion soldier rubbed Sky's back in an attempt to calm him. "I am certain he is still alive. He's your son, after all."
"No..." Sky sniffled. "He's gone... there's no way he could escape, and if he did, he couldn't survive on his own.!”
"B-but, I'm not a bat pony! W-what's a bat pony?" Bloodvein chuckled nervously, a sweat breaking on his forehead.
"Don't you lie to me. You have fangs, and you look like one apart from your wings and eyes," Specter snarled, glaring daggers at Blood.
Blood started to tremble. "But... th-they're all gone, dead! How could I be one?"
"Either you gained their traits, or they still exist," Specter turned himself to fully face the colt. "Now, tell me. Where is your colony?"
The colt continued to stare nervously, still trembling in fear. "S-Specter..."
"No, you will refer to me as sir!"
"Sir... I-I don't live in a colony!" he cracked, tears in his eyes as his heart pumped with fear.
"Stop lying to me!" Specter stomped a hoof on the floor.
Blood stared, terrified, unsure of what to say, or even do.
"Specter!" a mare's voice called out from behind.
The unicorn snapped to his right, his eyes meeting his wife's. She stared in pure disgust at her husband.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Glitter walked closer.
"Can't you see, Glitter? He's trying to hide who he is!" Specter stood and faced the shorter pegasus mare directly. “Don’t you understand?! He himself is a threat to national security!”
"He’s a damned colt! He's scared, Specter, you're scaring him!" Glitter stared furiously, hoof stretched outward pointing to the small, terrified grey colt.
Specter recoiled, struck by her words. He glanced to his left at Blood, now a vibrating lump in a blanket. His glare softened, and his ears pinned back at the sight, then turned back to Glitter, sighing.
"I'm sorry, honey... it's just, you know what they almost did all that time ago. I have every right to be uneasy about this," Specter eased his glare on the pegasus, coming to his thoughts of what he was doing
"I know the story, and I understand your concerns. But, maybe they've changed, dear. He isn't a violent type or anything. Just give him a chance, all he wants is to go home to his true family. For right now, we need to take care of him until either we find them, or they find us," Glitter stepped closer, now almost muzzle to muzzle with the brown unicorn.
Specter peered over at Bloodvein, who shakily peeked just his muzzle out of the blanket and let off another sigh. "Okay," he then turned and hugged Glitter.
The hug was quick, and Glitter quickly let go, before turning back towards the kitchen. "Breakfast should be ready in a few!"
Specter smiled a bit. "Alright, honey," he then turned to Blood, sitting down beside him, frowning once more.
Blood peeked the rest of his head out slowly. He trembled slightly at the sight of Specter now positioned so closely next to him.
"I am sorry, Blood... I'm sure your parents told you everything, haven't they?"
He nodded slowly and crawled out completely, sitting upright beside the larger-than-him unicorn.
"Do you hate me... s-sir?" Blood slowly looked up at Specter.
Specter looked down at Bloodvein, a genuine smile creeping across his muzzle. "No, of course not. Admittedly, you are too adorable to hate."
Bloodvein’s cheeks tinged red in embarrassment, a definite change from the fear he felt moments ago. "I'm not cute."
"Yes you are, Blood." Specter smiled more and offered his hooves out for a hug, which Blood hesitantly accepted, before a question arose. "Can you fly?"
Blood looked up at Specter again, cocking his head. "What? No.”
"Hmm. Perhaps... we could help you learn while you're with us," Specter kept a smile on his face.
"Really?" Blood smiled brightly and wagged his tail.
"Of course. I don't know how much of a help I'll be, but Glitter should for certain. She’s a pegasus, after all. Like you."
"Yay!" Blood smiled more and hugged tighter, nuzzling the stallion's chest for joy.
Specter chuckled and kept hugging the young colt, petting his mane to comfort him. "Hmm... Blood?"
"Yes, sir?" Blood glanced back up.
"Do you mind if... I dunno, we change your name? You know, just, until we find your parents. Around here, that kind of name might spook someone," Specter chuckled.
Blood blinked curiously, head still cocked. "What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking... Night Shadow."
"Okay, are you ready?"
"Yes, sir, I am!" He threw up a random and quick salute to Specter and Glitter, a sign he was ready to begin.
Glitter giggled. "Then let's get started! First things first," she strode up to the colt. "Open your wings!"
He did so, fluttering them a bit to get used to the feeling.
"Good! Now, the next step is the critical part. You are going to run and flap your wings at the same time. Run as fast as you can. If nothing happens after ten seconds, we'll start over, alright?" Glitter smiled.
Bloodv—Night nodded, his ear-to-ear grin growing. "Right now?"
Glitter took a few steps backward. "Yup!"
Night nodded again to the couple, then turned his attention directly in front of him. He dragged his hoof across the ground, like a bull about to charge. Then, without any hesitation, he started running as fast as his hooves could take him, simultaneously flapping his little wings. Specter and Glitter both watched, their smiles fading just slightly after the ten seconds were up.
"Okay, Night Shadow, stop please," Glitter flapped her wings and floated over to him, landing just in front of him. "You were doing good. Maybe another try will get you up?"
"Oh, of course!" Night smiled, turning around to run back where he came from.
"Run like the guards are chasin' ya, Night!" Specter yelled from a few feet away. Glitter then flew back over, glaring slightly, but the two laughed a bit at his comment.
Night once again got into position, before running as fast as he could through the grass. He flapped his wings again, faster than ever. This time, his hooves slowly lifted off of the ground, but just three inches. Moments later, he fell to the ground, landing on his side and giggling.
"I almost did it! I lifted off the ground!" Night stood up and hopped over to the two ponies, who were both smiling.
"Very good! You're getting the hang of it, Night!" Glitter smiled more and clapped her hooves a bit. "Wanna try again? Maybe you'll get higher up!"
"Sure!" Night smiled back, then trotted back over to where he landed. Instead of running, he stood his ground.
"Aren't you going to run?" Specter's smile faded slightly as he watched in some confusion.
Night took a deep breath, shutting his eyes. He opened his wings moments later, then reopened his eyes, putting his game face on. He then begun flapping his wings, faster and faster with every flap.
"Hnnnnngh!" he strained, flapping his wings as quick as a bumble bee.
Soon, his hooves lifted a couple of inches off of the ground, like before. Sweat beaded down his forehead and cheeks as he struggled, continuing to float up a few more inches. Specter and Glitter both watched, their jaws open as Night Shadow rose up over the grass tops.
"Keep going, Night! You can do it!" Specter yelled.
Night shut his eyes and strained harder. Moments later, it started to hurt, and Night finally fell to the ground like a brick.
"Ouch!" He slowly stood back up, shaking the dirt off. "H... how'd I do?" He panted.
"You did good, you went higher that time!" Specter trotted up to Night, smiling. "Buuut, I say we head on back. You look exhausted."
Different thoughts raced in Night's mind. He looked over at the field, wanting to give it another shot, but he knew in his current condition, he couldn't do much of anything. Not with his hoof this way, that is. He returned his attention back to Specter and Glitter and nodded.
Specter enveloped the colt in his magical aura, lifting him onto his back, and started alongside his wife down hill, back towards the city of Vanhoover. The three ponies soon entered the large city, streets jam-packed full of ponies at the time. Most were wandering about, while others surfed shops or got a bite to eat.
"Such a beautiful day, is it not?" Glitter smiled, looking up at the bright blue, near-cloudless sky.
"It is," Night smiled and looked around at the seemingly hundreds of ponies. It felt strange being in a city different from his own, but in a way, it felt like home.
"I can't imagine you got out much back at home. Did you, Night?" Specter glanced over his shoulder at the colt sitting on his back.
Night shook his head. "Out of the cave? Not really," he felt safer bringing up his true identity and where he lived around them, figuring they had no reason to dump him somewhere now, even after Specter’s outburst earlier.
"I see. I've been wondering, what ever happened, anyways? You know, how you got in that sealed hole? Also, aren't bat ponies nocturnal?" Specter looked forward again.
"Uh... I'd... rather not talk about it, at least not out here," Night looked around cautiously to make sure nopony had been eavesdropping. "And, no, not really. Well, some of us are. It depends on the season."
"Oh, alright," Specter continued walking down the street, Glitter at his side.
"Heheh..." Night held his own little hooves, gulping a bit. The thought of what happened two days before remained fresh in his mind like it occurred only five minutes ago. He still wondered, though, where were his parents?
"Skywatcher, sir?"
Skywatcher glanced over, standing at a table with three other legion soldiers. On the table sat a map of the region, including the city of Vanhoover on the coastline. Another soldier came trotting over, smiling.
"I think we've found him!" The stallion stopped just before Skywatcher.
Sky gasped. "My son?"
The soldier nodded, still smiling.
Skywatcher's pupils shrunk slightly, and he teared up. "Tell me where, and we'll go!"
"Vanhoover, sir. He was spotted with two other ponies."
"He's with... ponies?”
Hours later, the sun slowly dipped into the horizon, right into the blue ocean far off of Vanhoover. The sight was spectacular, the sky to the east turned a faint dark blue, while the sky to the west turned orange, yellow and pink. Clouds were scattered across the sky, most of them appearing as if someone took a paint brush and brushed the sky with white and light grey paint.
Night Shadow, Glitter, and Specter all sat in the park watching the sunset. No one was there at the time, which was strange for a Friday night. The lights of the city slowly came to life, a definite sign the night was fast approaching. Night sat in Specter's lap as they watched the sun slowly disappear below the horizon, with the unicorn's hooves wrapped around the colt. They all smiled at the sight, relieved on how well the day went.
"I've never seen something as beautiful as that." Night smiled more, watching the sun half cut by the ocean as far as the eye could see.
"It is, isn't it?" Glitter sighed happily and scooted against Specter's side. "Spec brought me here on our first date."
Specter blushed slightly. "Hehe, yup."
"I can see why, it's amazing... and the city, it's awesome, too," Night giggled some, but then sighed. "I wish bat ponies weren't against Equestrians... our lives would be so much better and easier than they are now."
"Hmm..." Specter looked down at the colt. "What's it like?"
"What?" Night looked up at Specter.
"What's life like as a bat pony?"
"It's... um... well, it's certainly different. No one is allowed to leave the caves, it's dark most of the time... except for when I found a glowstone thingy that we used in lamps to light the cave," he looked down at the ground.
"So, a dictatorship, huh? Has anyone ever tried making a change?" Glitter chimed in.
Night shook his head. "No one's dared to. Well, not that I know of... and if anypony did try it, they'd be arrested and taken to the magma caverns... basically our type of dungeon."
"Hmm... I have heard of those, actually. Are they—"
"There he is!" a voice called out from above.
Night quickly looked up, his golden pupils widening with surprise. By then, it was too late to do anything. Two bat ponies, both Legion soldiers, flew down and tackled Glitter and Specter to the ground, knocking Night out of his hooves. He quickly stood and ran over to one of the soldiers managing to pin down Specter, who struggled to stand.
"Wait, get off of them! They're not hurting me!" Night squealed, trying to push the Legion soldier off, before noticing a third bat pony in lieutenant's armor floating down with tears in his eyes. "Dad?!"
"Bloodvein..."
"Dad... let them go!"
Skywatcher, surprised, sputtered out, "Corporal, Sergeant, let them go."
The two bat ponies nodded and eventually stood off of the mare and the stallion, both leaping to their hooves. Glitter rushed over to Specter and grasped him tightly, terrified out of her mind. Specter then glared at Night Shadow.
"What is this all about?!" he yelled.
Night turned and looked at Specter. "S-sir, I don't know... I had no idea they were going to do this!"
Skywatcher walked up beside Night, lifting his gaze to the stallion and the mare. "Have you two been watching over my son?"
Specter nodded, heart dropping in his chest at a good look over the thestral. "Yes, sir. N-Night Shadow's been under our protection these last couple of days."
"Night Shadow? You renamed my son?!" Sky hissed and stepped forward, fangs baring, only to be stopped by Night himself.
"No, dad," he sighed. "It's complicated. I'll explain it, but I'm still Bloodvein," he teared up slightly. "They renamed me just so someone doesn't freak out. Please, don’t hurt them."
Skywatcher looked down at Blood, then back up at Specter. "All right. But, you have been keeping him safe, correct?"
Specter nodded again. "Yes, sir."
Sky stared, then bowed his head. "Thank you, thank you, a million times, thank you." A faint smile appeared. "We'll be on our way now that we found my son. Come along, Blood."
Blood stopped between Skywatcher, who had begun to walk away, but paused.
Sky glanced back. "Aren't you coming, son?"
Blood sighed and lowered his ears. "Sure. Just, give me a second," he then turned and faced Specter and Glitter. "T-thank you... for everything." He smiled, shedding a tear, then rushed up and hugged the two ponies as tightly as he could. "I guess this is goodbye..."
"You're very much welcome, Bloodvein," Glitter smiled, eyes tearing up, sniffling a bit. "We're happy that we found your father. Or, more like, he found us." She laughed a bit to hide her heartache.
"We will definitely miss you, Blood," Specter hugged back, raising his hoof in a salute once the embrace broke. Blood, with a smile, returned the salute, wiping a tear from his cheek, then trotted over to his father, climbing onto his back. The little colt peered back at the unicorn and the pegasus, waving one last time as Skywatcher, as well as the Legion soldiers, flew off into the dusk sky.
Thirty minutes later, the sky was completely black and starry as the four ponies journeyed east back into the mountains. Bloodvein was elated to see his father again, but was also sad that he left Specter and Glitter behind. He then sighed.
"What's wrong, son?" Skywatcher glanced back at him.
"Nothing, dad, it's just... I'm a little sad that we'll never see them again... they did take care of me, they even partially taught me how to fly," Blood looked down toward the distant ground, feeling a slight pain in his chest.
"What?" Skywatcher suddenly stopped, looking back at Blood with a look of surprise.
"They brought me to a field and I flew a little bit."
"You... know how to fly?" Sky's eyes widened.
Blood nodded. "Kind of... I'm getting the hang of it."
Skywatcher smiled and grabbed Bloodvein, hugging him tightly and beginning to sob for joy. "Gone for two days, and my son already knows how to get his hooves off the ground! I'm so proud of you..."
Blood squeaked out and returned the hug as best as he could, wheezing as he was crushed by his father’s strength. "Thanks... dad...!" He struggled to breathe.
"I'm so... happy you're safe... I-I'm still in denial that this is all real!" Sky sobbed out, then started flying forward again towards some clouds. He released Blood from the hug, but continued carrying him in his hooves as they flew across mountaintops.
"Me too, dad," Blood sighed, closing his eyes. "I was sure I was going to die that night."
"It's okay, son. You're safe now. Better yet, we've got a new home!"
"We do?" Blood looked at him curiously.
Skywatcher nodded, then pointed to the clouds they were flying towards. Blood turned around and gasped. Their new home... was a city on clouds!
"Welcome to our new home, son, the city of Batsburg.”
The following week, everything in Bloodvein's colony returned to normal. No more flood worries, no more cave-ins, nothing to be concerned about. The new colony town was completely built up on thick, but soft clouds high in the sky. From that altitude, the city of Vanhoover could now be clearly seen most of the time when the low-level clouds were not obscuring the view.
Equestria was far bigger than Blood originally imagined. From his new home, which was certainly bigger than his last, he could see for at least a hundred, maybe two hundred miles out. Obviously he couldn't see it all, but he could only imagine how big the land was.
Around seven o'clock in the evening, Bloodvein sat at his desk in his room finishing up homework he received at school. His grades had not been the best, yet he still felt some confidence in himself and was determined to complete the second grade. His father, Skywatcher, paid not much care to his grades, as he was still somewhat shaken from recent events. Rather, he was more than relieved that his entire family were safe, as were Midnight and Bloodvein about each other.
As Blood worked on his homework, a familiar squawk rang out, causing Blood to flinch and drop his pencil. Before he could do anything else, a brown-and-white feathery mass swooped past his head and perched at the top of his desk.
"Gah, darn it, Talon!" Blood scrambled his hooves as the eagle swooped next to him. Talonfang simply puffed his chest out and let out a quiet squawk, shutting his wings tightly to his side upon landing. Blood groaned and resumed working, focusing on the final few questions on the piece of paper.
Though school was Monday through Thursday, and he had all weekend to get his homework finished, Bloodvein worked hard and powered through all three annoyingly-lengthy quizzes in just two hours. He went over the next question, thinking it over a couple of times before storming up the answer, and quickly writing it down with near-perfect spelling.
As he moved on to the next question, his eagle lifted a talon to scratch his neck, reaching his neck down and giving him a nip to the ear.
Blood yelped and quickly leaned back up, dropping his pencil and rubbing his ear simultaneously. "Ouch! Stop it Talon!" He glared at the bird, wanting desperately to take him and throw him out the window, but knew he would just fly back anyways. He then returned his attention to his homework, picking his pencil back up and thinking of what to put on the next unanswered question.
At the door, Skywatcher caught Bloodvein's squeal when Talon flew in, and quietly flew upstairs to see what happened. Luckily, he was just in time to see the eagle bite Blood's ear and snickered at his reaction. He continued to watch closely as the eagle flapped his wings into Bloodvein's face.
"Pffgat!" Blood jumped, spitting a brown feather out of his mouth, then he growled at the eagle. "Can you not? I'm trying to think here, featherbrain!"
Talon simply squawked and puffed his chest back out.
"Oh, I see how it is. You wouldn't be the one laughing if I bit you on the... uh," Blood hit a stump. "...where are your ears?"
Skywatcher burst out laughing at his stalemate. Blood jumped once more, but at his father's sudden laughing. He quickly turned around and stared at his dad.
"Don't laugh, he's picking on me!" Blood pouted as Skywatcher slowly entered the room, but stopping in front of his bed. He continued to chuckle, then wiped at his eye.
"That was golden, son."
"Oh, haha, very funny. Just keep him out while I work, please."
"Blood, he's your pet, just put him in his cage," Sky pointed a hoof to the small rounded cage hanging from the ceiling just next to the side of Blood's desk.
Bloodvein groaned. "Yes dad. Come on you lump of feathers," Blood reached a hoof up, allowing Talonfang onto it and bringing him over to the opposite side of the desk, placing him into the cage and shutting it.
"There, now he shouldn't..." Skywatcher snickered. "...nip at your ears."
Blood rolled his eyes, then turned his seat and resumed working.
"Oh, come on, you have to admit. That was quite humorous."
"Suuuure it was," Blood kept his eyes on his homework, biting his lip with his right fang in concentration.
"What did the teacher give you now?" Sky walked up to Blood's side, looking down at his homework.
"Simple multiplication, nothing more."
"I see. Are you hungry? I'm about t—"
Before he could finish, a loud scream could be heard from downstairs. Both Skywatcher and Bloodvein jumped, and the two ponies quickly looked behind them at the door.
"Honey?!" Skywatcher yelled downstairs and galloped out of the room. Bloodvein quickly hopped out of his chair and followed close behind.
By the time they raced downstairs, Midnight was leaning against the back of the couch, holding her bloated foal bump in pain. Skywatcher gasped and ran up to her. "Honey, what's wrong?!"
"Sh-she's coming!" Midnight gasped, breathing in heavily, then screaming in pain again. She slipped from her grip on the couch. Skywatcher quickly grabbed hold of her, then lifted the pregnant mare onto his back.
"Bloodvein, come on, let's go!" Sky opened the door and galloped out towards the town's hospital.
Blood briefly hesitated and ran after his dad, shutting the door behind them and followed them all the way to the hospital, which was three rows of houses down. Other bat ponies watched as they ran by, Midnight screaming and groaning in pain as they raced by. Minutes later, the trio reached the hospital and ran inside.
"M-my wife, the foal is coming!" Skywatcher panted and looked between the receptionist and a nurse, his blue pupils shrunk to pinpricks.
Without a moment to spare, a doctor ran out with a stretcher bed, allowing Skywatcher to carefully lay Midnight in it as they wheeled her away. Bloodvein then ran into the hospital, panting and out of breath. He was well behind his father, but came in at the right time. Skywatcher picked Bloodvein up and set him on his back and galloped after the doctors and his wife.
The doctors and nurses finally stopped at a vacant hospital room and left her bed backed against the wall, and quickly started birth procedures. The hospital guard, however, denied Skywatcher and Bloodvein entry.
"B-but, my wife is in there! Let us in!" Skywatcher hissed at the guard, stomping his hoof.
"Not until after the birth. Please wait, sir!" The guard snarled back, glaring at the stallion and the colt.
Skywatcher grumbled and sat down on a chair outside of his wife's room, Bloodvein sitting next to him and holding his hoof.
"M-mom will be okay, right, Dad?"
Sky glanced over at Blood, tearing up. "Y-yes, of course, son."
"Mr. Watcher, and Bloodvein?" A doctor, still with a mask over his muzzle, peeked his head out of the room, eying the stallion and the colt.
"Y-yes?" Skywatcher jumped up, staring the doctor right in the eye with some concern.
"Congratulations. You knew in advance, but, I shall repeat for tradition. It is a filly!" He pulled his mask down and smiled.
"Your wife is ready to see you now, but we have her on some powerful pain killers, which means she will be asleep the rest of the night and maybe tomorrow as well."
Skywatcher smiled, then reached out and pulled the bat pony into a tight hug, squeezing the poor pony's lungs out. "Thank you!" He rocked him gently, before releasing the doctor. "Come, Blood," Sky smiled, tearful in the eyes, a rare sight for him, but not so much as of lately.
Blood trembled a bit in anxiety and climbed off the chair, following his dad into the room.
"Hey, boys," Midnight smiled tiredly, holding a blanketed grey little filly in her hooves. She slept quietly, and had a light-purple mane, with little thestral wings closed at her sides.
"Hey, honey," Skywatcher smiled and sat on the floor next to the bed. "She's... beautiful," more tears built in his eyes as he set them on the little foal sleeping soundly.
Bloodvein trotted over and hopped onto a chair to get a full view of the newborn foal. He gasped and smiled at the sight, wanting to squeal with excitement, but knew he had to keep quiet. "Is that..."
"Yes, son," Skywatcher smiled at Blood.
"It's your little sister," Midnight continued for Sky.
Blood smiled even more, wiping a tear away. "W-what are we going to name her?"
"Uh," Skywatcher turned to Midnight, who shrugged, then turned back to Bloodvein. "Why don't you name her this time?" He smiled.
"M-me?" Blood fluttered his wings some. "H-how about... Dawn... Dawn Blossom!"
Blood did so, slowly lifting his head from his hooves. He glanced around. Instead of seeing his bedroom, or his home, he was on a dirt path in the middle of the forest. He could have been more surprised at where he woke up. Was he lost again?
"Bloodvein."
Blood then turned to his left side and looked up, immediately seeing his father standing over him.
"Where are we dad?"
"Come on, we're almost there."
Bloodvein slowly stood on all fours, shaking some dirt off of his back, still questioning where he was. The two ponies walked for about five minutes, until they reached a metal fence with blank signs on them.
"I know this place." He said mentally.
Skywatcher opened the gate, allowing Blood entry to wherever his father was taking him. It took a few moments, but after passing through the gate, the same military base he discovered a long time back appeared out of thin air. His first thought was new technology which can camouflage an area to most ponies, especially non-Legion personnel. Sky entered behind Blood, smiling at the sight as he put a hoof around his son. "What do you think?"
"It's amazing dad." Blood smiled. "It's even bigger than when I ended up here by mistake!"
"Yup, and with the help of the southern colonies, we're all working to build the biggest Legion base in Equestria! Come on, I'll give you a to--"
Just before Skywatcher could finish, large rocks started raining from the sky, some on fire. Without any warning, one smashed into the earth before Blood, his father disappearing under it.
"D...dad?" Tears filled Blood's eyes, just barely noticing the sky beginning to turn red, then dark grey. He slowly looked up, directly at a tall mountain, which spewed a gigantic black cloud, shooting up at high speeds and spreading out over the valley. More fiery rocks rained from the sky, crashing into adjacent mountain peaks and slopes, as well as buildings on the base. Blood's heart raced as he looked around, seeing multiple Legion soldiers running for their lives as large streams of red hot lava poured down, setting the wooden buildings ablaze and instantly melting them, and whoever was inside. The lava streamed towards Bloodvein, but was split by the large boulder that crushed his father. He desperately wanted to run, but couldn't for some reason. He felt as if his hooves were magnetically sealed to the ground. He heard a cracking sound, slowly peering down at his hooves to see a steaming crack forming. The sound soon got louder, and moments later the ground caved in underneath the pegasus. He fell...and fell...and fell. The sky disappeared above him, and everything went black.
"N-no...no...no!"
"NOOOOOOOOO! DAAAAAD!"
Bloodvein woke up sweating and panting, his golden pupils shrunk to marbles as he sat up, slowly looking around his room. Rays of sunlight poured into the windows, lighting up his dark bedroom. His heart was racing at a hundred miles per hour, but for no reason it seemed. Everything was calm. He sighed and laid back down. "Just a dream..." He mumbled to himself, turning onto his right side and shutting his eyes once more.
Blood's heart slowed back to a normal pace, and he managed to calm himself with the comfort of a stuffed bat pony soldier, which he grabbed and squeezed tightly in his hooves. He whimpered slightly, trembling as he held the stuffed toy against his chest. It wasn't as good as his real father's comfort, but it was good enough.
Blood opened one eye, moving it to the clock on his nightstand on the right side of his bed. He was up much earlier than he wanted to be, now that he was out of school. He groaned and released the plush, sitting up once more and climbing out of bed. His hooves made a faint clop as they met the wooden floor, and Blood yawned quietly. A slight growl could be heard, and at that time he knew he needed to eat something.
Blood trudged out of his room, soon gaining his posture as he walked the hallway, past his parents' bedroom, the bathroom, and his sister's bedroom. He then opened his wings, lifting himself off of the ground by a few inches, and floating downstairs, followed by a quiet landing on the thin carpet on the first floor. Blood looked around, raising a bit of an eyebrow when he didn't spot his mother dusting something off, or his little sister running around on some sort of sugar rush.
"Mom, dad?" Blood walked further into the living room, still looking for his parents and sister. It wasn't usual for all of his family to be gone, unless they all went on a vacation without him. Moments later, he heard a faint thump from upstairs. His ears perked some, but it immediately told him he was simply awake before everypony else. His pupils then shrunk; how did none of them hear his un-manly scream? Then another thought hit his mind. Before he could think of anything else, he galloped back upstairs and opened his parents' bedroom door.
"Mom, dad, are you okay?!" Blood panted, holding a hoof on the door.
Midnight jumped, standing next to the bed in shock. "Y-yes, I'm fine...your dad is out doing something. Is something wrong?"
Blood then felt embarrassed for scaring his mother. His cheeks heated, eventually turning red as he blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, er...n-no. Just, some thoughts raced through my mind when I didn't see anyone downstairs. That's all." He smiled, relieved that his parents hadn't died in their sleep or something.
"Oh, well..." Midnight giggled a bit. "We're still here. Say, now that I remember, your father has a surprise for you later, so I would suggest getting a shower before he gets home."
"Really? Alright then." Blood smiled more, and trotted a door down into the bathroom. "A surprise? I wonder what."
He then shut the bathroom door and turned on the shower, hopping in after the water warmed to a comfortable temperature. Blood's mane immediately drooped over his eyes, and he lifted a hoof to get it out of the way. He reached forward, grabbing a bottle of shampoo, and squirted some into his hoof, brushing it into his mane and washing it out moments later. After a five minute shower, he hopped back out and grabbed a towel, drying himself off.
His mane puffed back out, messier than ever, as did most of his coat. Blood reached onto the counter, grabbing a hair brush and brushing his mane so it was neat once more. Afterwards, he set down the hair brush, picking up his toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, squirting some onto the brush and running some water on top of it. Next, he brushed his teeth and fangs until they sparkled, spitting the toothpaste into the sink and washing it down the drain completely. After all was done, he smiled briefly to make sure he didn't miss any spots, which he didn't.
"Bloodvein?"
"Comiiing!"
Blood trotted out of the bathroom and downstairs, greeted by his father who was once again in his armor. Skywatcher smiled and walked up to Blood, and the two exchanged hugs.
"You're growing so fast Blood. We're proud of you." He smiled. "I take it mom told you we're going out for the day?"
"Yup!" Blood smiled back. "Where are we going?"
"Oh, you'll see." Sky turned around, walking back to the door, "Let's go." And unfolded his wings, taking off into the bright blue morning sky. Blood followed suit a moment later, catching up with his father quickly as they flew east. After a few minutes, they started a descent towards the ground, and into the forest.
"Uh, dad? Are you sure you know where we're going?"
"Of course I do Blood, what makes you think I don't?"
"We're uh, kind of flying towards the forest."
Skywatcher just chuckled in response, and the two continued down towards the ground. Eventually, they landed on a dirt path. Bloodvein felt a sense of deja vu as their hooves reached the ground, and got a cold chill down his back. He glanced around, feeling as if he had seen the area before.
"Dad?"
"Hm?"
Blood stopped. "Nothing."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's nothing."
Skywatcher raised an eyebrow, "You're acting like a mare." mentally talking to himself, but shrugged his strange behavior off, and started walking with Bloodvein at his side. Less than ten minutes later, the two walked up to a metal fence, which triggered Blood to get a chill down his spine again, but tried not to think about it. Skywatcher opened the gate, motioning for him to enter first. He did so, only bracing himself for what he thought would come next.
To his surprise, the nearby mountain didn't explode...not that there was one there in the first place. Blood looked up, realizing there were two smaller peaks replaced by the larger one in his nightmare. He breathed a sigh of relief, but kept his guard up in case something were to happen again. One thing he also noticed, a Legion base didn't appear out of thin air either.
"Bloodvein!"
Blood snapped out of his trance of thought. "Hmm?"
"Are you coming or what?" Skywatcher stared back at him from a distance, an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, yep." Blood galloped up to his father, and the two started walking again. Soon, the forest got more dense, and the path started to disappear under moss and grass. Eventually, they were stepping through bushes and on sticks, making slight cracks at every step. Blood continued to feel uneasy, but started feeling better knowing reality was diverging from his nightmare by a lot.
He continued to stare down, watching every step he had and hoping he wouldn't trigger an old snare trap from the Lunar rebellion. Suddenly, he bumped into his father's armor, making a slight clank which snapped him out of another trance. He quickly snapped his hooves together and looked up, his eyes widening at the new sight. "Whoa."
"Welcome to the Fang Legion main operating base son." Skywatcher smiled back as Bloodvein stepped around him, standing at his side and staring at the base in awe.
"It's grown so much." He continued to stare in awe.
Sky chuckled, "It has. Come on, let's head in." And started towards the base, Blood following close behind. No longer than a minute later, they were officially in the base. Bat stallions in similar armor to his father's trotted around. Some carried wooden planks, while others marched behind a higher ranking official, as well as others doing their own thing.
Since Blood's unexpected visit, the base had grown by at least ten buildings, and was now covering more land than before. Still, Blood looked around in awe at the new and improved base. The buildings were upgraded, and were now concrete with some steel built in as well for improved durability. Even the paths were upgraded, and most of the base ground was concrete as well.
"Weren't these buildings wooden before?"
"They were, until we figured out using stronger materials was less expensive and would work out better during strong storms. We learned the hard way." He sighed a bit.
"Why, what happened?"
Skywatcher pointed to his left, Bloodvein turning his head and seeing a stone monument, which two Legion soldiers sat in front of, their heads and ears down, holding their helmets in their hooves in respect. Blood gasped at the sight.
"A wind storm swept across the valley a year ago and wiped out some of the barracks, which took eleven lives. Eleven young lives."
Bloodvein slowly looked back, his ears pinning back. "Did you know any of them?"
Skywatcher shook his head. "Nope. But a loss is a loss, especially eleven losses. It hurt us all for a while, and still does as you can see."
"How come I never heard of it?"
"Our colony never hears news of what goes on at the bases, unless it's of an attack. So, no one but the governor hears of the news."
"I see..." Blood sighed. "That really sucks dad."
Skywatcher nodded, looking down a bit, but perking back up a moment later. "So, would you like to see everything?"
Blood perked up as well, smiling brightly. "Would I?"
Sky chuckled again. "Alright, let's go. Father-son time, you and me."
Blood smiled more as Skywatcher led him further into the base, passing barrack after barrack. "There are currently fourteen barracks with two more under construction as of right now, and they should be completed in mmm...three weeks. After that, two more will be added." He started as he led Bloodvein around the base, nodding to some ponies he knew as Blood followed shyly, but glancing around in awe. Following the barracks, they went to the outskirts of the base where a new small military prison was built, as well as what appeared to be cannons as base weapons.
Shortly after, the two circled back and passed more barracks, the mess hall, the training grounds, and finally into the main building, which was much larger than the first. Touring the main building took longer than Blood expected, but it was worth it in his opinion. After the tour was complete, both Skywatcher and Bloodvein felt hungry, and went back to the mess hall. They grabbed trays and got in a short line for food. As they went along, they were given mashed potatoes, green beans, three celery sticks and dressing, and diced oranges as a side, and a glass of milk; one of Skywatcher's personal favorites. The two sat down and started eating, Bloodvein being surprised once again that military food wasn't the brown mush that was mentioned in a book he read.
"So, Blood. What do you think?" Skywatcher smiled as he chewed on some celery.
"It's amazing dad. You really surprised me." Blood smiled back, sipping his milk.
"Heh, I figured you'd want to come back...under my guidance of course. However, I have something else I want to talk to you about."
"Yeah dad?" Blood picked up his fork, picking up some green beans and putting them in his mouth, chewing at a normal pace.
"Do you want to enlist?"
Blood's eyes widened, and he wanted to spit out his food, but swallowed to avoid being rude, putting a hoof to his chest to keep himself from choking. "E-enlist?"
"Isn't that what you always wanted, to be a soldier by my side?"
Blood's heart sunk. "Y-yeah, but...I..." He sighed. "I don't know if I want to anymore. I mean, I just don't think I would fit in here."
"What are you talking about? Of course you would fit in! Look, I felt the same way when I first enlisted. It's a hard start, but it gets better after a few weeks."
"A-are you sure dad?"
Skywatcher nodded. "Would I ever lie to you?"
Blood picked up more green beans with his fork, holding them in front of his mouth and thinking, "No." And set them in his mouth and started to chew.
The days following Bloodvein's amazing Fang Legion base tour with his father, Skywatcher, things were really beginning to look up. He no longer needed to attend school, and for a change, he took the responsibility of flying Dawn Blossom, his little sister, to school. It felt great to be flying at last, after wanting to for nine years—and that in itself was eight years prior! Blood was now a seventeen year old colt, and a great older brother according to Dawn.
“So, you ready for school, 'lil sis?” Blood turned back to Dawn, smiling as they glided towards the school.
“You bet I am!” Dawn responded with a squeaky-excited voice, a bright smile crossing her muzzle.
Blood chuckled. “You know, I hated school as a colt, but I have a feeling you'll enjoy it much more than I did, only because you'll fit in easier.”
“Why did you hate it, big brudder?”
“Well, I'm not like the rest, for one. I mean, I look like a pegasus, which makes me different.”
“Well they are just mean then! I don't think you're different! Want to know why?”
“Why, Dawn?”
“Because you're my brother,” she giggled and hugged the back of his neck.
Blood blushed and felt his heart warm at his sister's little squeeze, descending down towards the school. “Aww, thank you, Dawn,” he landed, and lifted the filly off of his back, ruffling her mane with his hoof. “You have a great day at school! I'll be back to pick you up later, alright?”
“Okay!” Dawn smiled brightly, “Bye!” and ran into the school, stopping to wave at Blood one final time from the door, before vanishing inside.
Blood returned the wave and the smile, then leaped off into the sky once again. As he flew, he pondered for a minute.
“Should I sign up for the Legion today? I'm of age, and it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. I don't know, I'm pretty weak. I wouldn't last a day! I could get a job at the bakery or something, just to make some money.” He looked down, now hovering in the air in front of the town's bakery, “I think I'll do that.” and flew down to the front door, which had a 'Now Hiring' sign in bright bold written on it, trotting inside.
The thestral mare working inside smiled at Blood as he trotted in. "Hey there, Blood! What can I get you?"
Blood had to admit, he had a bit of a crush on the bakery mare. "Hey, Cinnitoast," he started, shortening her name, her full name being Cinnamon Toast. "Mind if I snatch a job application?"
Cinnamon's eyes grew a bit with surprise. "A job application? I thought you wanted to enlist with the Legion?"
"I changed my mind. I plan to enlist later, but, I thought I could make some money now," Blood smiled warmly.
"Well, all right," Cinnamon nodded, strolling over to a separate counter and plucked up a piece of paper from a short, tidy pile. "Here you go. Just fill this out and hand it back to me when you are finished!" and headed into the back room.
Blood smiled, observing Cinnamon walk away, sighing happily, but shaking his head. "Right, the job app."
He picked up a pencil and began to scribble down down his information, filling out the entire paper in a couple of minutes, before setting it back on the counter and ringing the bell.
"Just leave it on the counter, and I'll get to it in a minute!" Cinnamon called from the back room.
"Alright!" Blood yelled back. "I'll be going. Thanks, Cinny!" then trotted out the door onto the street, taking a in deep inhale. "I guess I better tell my parents the news," and took to the skies, flying back to his home.
Minutes later, he landed outside his home and opened the door, coming inside. "Mom, Dad? Guess what!"
His mother, Midnight, strode out of the kitchen, a glass of water in her hoof. "What is it, sweetie?" she smiled, taking a short swig of the drink.
"I applied for a job at the bakery!" Blood decreed with a wide grin of enthusiasm.
"You did?" Midnight smiled and set her glass down, then hugged Blood tightly. "That's great, honey!" she giggled. "My little colt isn't so little anymore."
"Heheh, I know, Mom. You tell me that every day. Where's Dad at?" They broke the hug.
"Oh, he's upstairs working out. You know how he is," Midnight rolled her eyes, giggling softly.
"All righty. Should I go tell him, or wait?"
"What ever you want, sweetie. I am sure he will be excited to hear that."
Blood just smiled in response, and flew upstairs into one of the spare bedrooms, where Skywatcher performed steady push ups.
"Come on..." Skywatcher grunted to himself, sweat beading on his brows and forehead. "One... forty-eight. Nngh. One... forty-nine."
"One...fifty!" and rose to his hooves after his final push up, chest heaving slightly and lifting a hoof to wipe at his forehead. He jumped when he heard a pair of hooves clapping at the door.
"Very nice, Dad!" Blood grinned. "Guess what?"
"Hey, son, what is it?" Sky's gaze met Blood's with a somewhat tired smile.
"I applied for a position at the bakery!" Blood's grin grew brighter. "Isn't that great?!"
Sky's pupils shrunk slightly, the opposite reaction of what his son had anticipated coming up the steps.
"What is it?" Blood cocked his head with bewilderment.
"I... um..."
"What?" he blinked, puzzled.
As Sky's maw parted, there was a knock at the door that halted the words on his tongue. Moments later, the door creaked open, and Midnight began speaking to the pony outside, before calling them down.
"Bloodvein? Skywatcher? Come down here, please."
Blood turned, staring at the doorway, then shifted back to his father, then back and down the short hall and stairs. Before he could reach the bottom step, Blood froze right in his tracks, eyes narrowed directly at the front door. Standing there, beside his mother, was a pony about his father's size, donning Legion armor, who stared Blood right in the eye.
"Are we ready to go?" The stallion asked.
"Go?" Blood's head tilted a second time. G-go where?"
A sigh could be heard behind Blood, and Skywatcher hopped onto the floor with a thump. "I went and enlisted you for the Legion."
"You... what?" Blood's golden pupils shrunk as he stared at his father in shock and question. "Why?!"
"You have always mentioned how much you wanted to be in the Legion as a colt, I... went and did it. You're of age now, anyways. Besides, I could see if the base captain will let me train you personally," Sky spoke, a tinge of nervousness in his tone.
"No, Dad. Tell me why you really had a recruiter come to pick me up," Bloodvein squinted at Skywatcher. A flame of annoyance flickered in them.
"Son... I... I think you should go. I want you to be a soldier like me, and I want to someday salute you like you would salute me."
Blood simply stared at Skywatcher, dumbfounded, his blood now boiling with anger. "Have you ever thought of what I've wanted to do in life?!" he screeched.
"S-son... inside voices!"
"Shut up, Dad! I don't want to hear it right now!" Blood ran down the last few steps and up to Skywatcher, delivering a hard slap to his cheek, shocking even the recruiter.
Tears welled up in the older colt's eyes as his father turned his head back, rubbing his cheek slowly. Blood, notably livid, only received a deadly, stabbing glare back from his father.
"You... do not... slap me. Ever again," Skywatcher clenched his teeth.
"Make me!" Blood hissed back, rearing a hoof and throwing a punch at the stallion before him, only to have it stopped by Sky's hoof, who violently twisted Blood's. He yelped and screamed in pain, flailing his other hoof and trying to force his father to release him.
"SKY!" Midnight shouted, prompting Skywatcher to finally let go of Blood's hoof after a long, painful few seconds. He fell to the ground, grasping his hoof and tearing further in pain.
Sky simply panted, his glare at Bloodvein unwavering. "Go to your room, and don't come out the rest of the day!"
Blood's fury soon returned, and he snarled right back up at his father. "I'd rather die!" and jumped up, darting around him and straight out of the house. He slammed the door shut behind him, knocking a picture free of a nail on wall, which shattered upon impact.
Midnight gasped, and stared at the door in tears, then to Skywatcher. "W... what did you do, Sky?"
"H-he'll be back..." Skywatcher panted, a mixture of emotion plastered on his face, then trotted upstairs.
Bloodvein flew... and flew... quickly leaving Batsburg behind him. He didn't think to glance over his shoulder to ensure no one was following him. He sobbed, flying lower and closer to the ground to remain out of sight, even avoiding the Legion base entirely.
Eventually, he came to a stop a few miles from his home, landing in dense forest. He collapsed beside a tree, sobbing and screaming loudly and hanging his head just above his hooves. His heart ached in the most pain it had ever throbbed in his life, feeling as if somepony shot an arrow directly into it, and directly out the back of his neck.
As he cried, he repeated himself between sobs, "I hate you, Dad... I hate you, Dad!" and after a few minutes, with glassy eyes, he peeked through a small clearing in the leaves behind him, displaying a rather clear view of Batsburg. "I never want to come back."
He stood up, running further into the forest, not caring about where he was headed. Blood just ran... and ran, flying long distances at times without pausing. Eventually, the sun began to set. His stomach growled. He was starving, and hadn't eaten anything throughout the entire day.
A whole day passed. Then two days. A couple of times would he stop to scope out some fruit from small farms along the way without being spotted. Without anything to carry the food in for snacks along the way, he was left with a choice of gobbling the apples down and potentially sickening himself to where flying, running, or even walking became a hassle, or leaving it behind. He said with the voice in his head, surely there is a town around here somewhere...
He gradually looked up, spotting distant lights on the side of an extremely steep snow-capped mountain. Blood flew towards them as fast as he could, weakened by his hunger. He knew well that he was now in Equestrian territory, but didn't know where in Equestria he was.
The city soon became more and more visible as Blood flew closer, but he suddenly stopped about a mile from the city. The realization soon struck him that he had no money, meaning he couldn't buy anything to eat. For the time being, he was too frightened to seek another job.
"I could go back just so I can earn enough from the bakery." He thought to himself, but shook his head, "I can't go back," and continued flying.
After neck-breaking hours of flying that morning and afternoon, he finally reached the city. To his surprise, it was jam-packed full of non-thestral ponies. It was like Vanhoover, except the city had been cramped on a mountainside, and the architecture appeared to be immensely different, with what appeared to be a large castle a few blocks beyond. The city wasn't as big as Vanhoover, obviously, mainly because it was on a plateau.
Blood then at his stomach as it growled, and he sighed deeply, mumbling as he glided toward a dark gap between buildings, "What have you done, Blood?"
Skywatcher groaned with a sigh, rubbing a hoof across his eyes. "I-I thought he would want to join the Legion..."
"Sky, any decent father knows that if they want to let their colt or filly enlist in something like the Legion, or something else they are interested in, they should let them do it themselves."
"Are you implying I am a terrible father, Midnight?"
"Yes, Sky! You went and did something without your son's permission, and he's Faust knows where now, probably never coming back!" Midnight hissed. "You will be sleeping on the couch from here on out. I can't believe you," she sniffled and shed some tears, trotting upstairs to check on Dawn.
Skywatcher sighed, then walked over to the window and stared out into the night sky. "Come back, son... I am sorry."
Weeks passed, and nothing had yet changed for the better for Bloodvein, who now slept beneath a barely large enough cardboard box in an alley, luckily with the comfort of an old, filthy, raggedy blanket to keep him warm against brutal temperatures after dusk. Still, his mind denied his body to fly him back to his former home.
He managed to survive on fruits, vegetables, and leftovers ponies had dropped without their knowledge, which was more often than he expected—and, on occasion, large spiders, which beyond Blood's belief, tasted significantly better than he anticipated, and actually enjoyed it. But, that could always have been his taste-buds running haywire after living in an alley for nearly a month now.
He shivered as he lay on the blanket, curled beneath the same box, which had two holes for him to peek out of in case food fell within his line of sight and grasp without sparking unnecessary attention.
Blood prayed to the gods he knew of that a miracle would happen, such as somepony taking him home like Specter and Glitter did a decade ago, or that his father would come and apologize and bring him back home. Though, he doubted that would ever happen, and kept the thought fresh in his mind that his family no longer cared for him after what he had done to Skywatcher.
As the night grew colder, Blood shivered and trembled, even quietly sobbing to himself and hoping he would fall asleep shortly after to skip right to the following day, which he expected to be comfortably warm again that time of year. Instead, he remained wide awake, trying his best to keep warm under nothing. Not even his coat, thicker than the average pony's, helped much.
Outside his box, he heard ponies talking, walking, and even laughing as some enjoyed a fancy meal across the street at a restaurant, something Blood could only wish to have.
Over time, he took temporary jobs, ranging from picking up litter at parks for a few extra bits, to cleaning storefronts, and at one point, snatching bits from fountains when nopony was looking. All of those times went unnoticed by citizens and, thankfully, the city's gold-armored law enforcement.
In total, it still didn't add up enough to live off of, and now he was completely broke. He was beginning to give in, hope building that one night he would perish in his sleep from the cold, silently and painlessly.
But, just as he was starting to doze off, the cardboard steadily lifted off of the ground in a sparkling aura of magic. Blood opened his eyes and lifted his head shakily, staring up at a faded-brown unicorn, who smiled faintly.
"You're looking for a job?" He spoke with a faint accent of which he did not recognize.
Blood nodded, too weak and hungry to really talk much.
"Come with me," the unicorn gently lifted Blood to his hooves and led him out of the alley, onto the streets.
"Wh... where are we going? I-is it far? I d-don't want to lose track of wh-where my blanket is..."
"Oh, don't worry, it isn't far. Besides, you will have a room to yourself."
"R-really?" Blood shuddered coldly as he walked just behind the unicorn.
"Of course!" The unicorn turned around, smiling.
Eventually, the two reached a two-story building of brick construct, and the unicorn led Blood up steel stairs placed between the apartment building and a shop. They entered the apartment, which was small in size, but reasonable for a pony living alone.
"I-is this your house?"
"Apartment, yes," the unicorn trotted in ahead of Blood and straight into the bathroom, calling from inside, "Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?"
"O-okay," Blood shivered, nodding, but began to slowly warm inside the apartment. He followed the unicorn into the bathroom, who had already started a hot bath for Blood to soak in.
The pony helped Blood enter the tub, and started cleansing him as if he were a colt who couldn't do it himself. "Th-thank you, sir..."
"Don't mention it," the unicorn smiled genuinely as he scrubbed Blood from ear to flank. "I happened to notice your box saying 'Need a job, will be hired for ten bits an hour.' Don't worry, I'll give you more than ten bits an hour."
"R-really?" Blood smiled faintly. "Y-you don't have to... ten an hour is kind of pushing it."
The unicorn suddenly stopped, furrowing an eyebrow as he looked directly at Blood. "You're kidding, right? You're in Canterlot, ten bits an hour is murder! Then again, it is like that everywhere, except Detrot."
"W-well... okay," Blood warmed in the hot water, feeling as if his coat could poof from the warmth, though it couldn't since it was soaked. After the long bath, the unicorn dried Bloodvein until he was fluffier than a chinchilla, then nuzzled him affectionately.
Afterwards, the two ate warm soup and crackers while watching a 'show' on a device Blood had never seen before, which was apparently powered by unicorn magic. It mesmerized him to see something that bat ponies didn't have, and it saddened him that he now knew his colony remained living in the Lunar Rebellion days.
A half an hour later, the unicorn, his name being Halberd, turned off the device and stood up, taking their empty bowls and bringing them into the kitchen for later cleaning. He whistled briefly, stood at the start of the hallway.
"Come, Bloodvein," he grinned, gesturing his head.
Blood stood, following Halberd into his bedroom where he laid on the bed, chest-down. Blood followed in, glancing around, bewildered. "What are we doing in here?"
Halberd chuckled softly, rolling on to his back and resting on his hooves above his head, "You're about to go to work," and smirked.
Bloodvein laid in bed with his eyes wide open late at night. His eyes were somewhat bloodshot from the lack of sleep, with his golden pupils circumcised to about the size of ping-pong balls. To his side lay Halberd, who was out cold and snoring quietly, facing the opposite direction of the grey pegasus.
Blood slowly looked over at him, somewhat jealous of him being able to sleep, but desperately wanting out. His mane was extremely messy, as was some of his coat, and they both smelled of something Blood couldn't explain, but he knew it wasn't what he wanted to smell like. His body also felt strange, and found a slight struggle to move his hind legs without feeling like he was leaking something out his rear end. Blood then raised his head enough to peek over the slumbering unicorn, seeing his alarm clock read four twenty-five in the morning. He yawned quietly, then slowly and carefully removed the blankets from atop him and begun to wiggle out of bed.
He stopped once when he heard Halberd no longer snoring and fake-slept long enough to make sure he wasn't awake and watching him. The unicorn then turned over onto his back, now snoring louder with his hooves at his sides above the blankets. Blood breathed a sigh of relief, and finished climbing out of the bed, then quietly walked over to the shut bedroom door. He grabbed the knob and tried to twist it, but discovered it wouldn't budge.
“Locked,” he mumbled. Blood set his hoof back down and looked around the dark room. Thanks to his enhanced vision, he spotted a window with the curtains mostly shut, facing out onto a narrow street where a lamp flickered and needed changed. He soundlessly walked up to the window and moved the curtains which waved slightly in the cool breeze, then realized the window was cracked open. “Jackpot.” Blood mumbled again, smiling some. He slowly opened the window, which creaked loud enough to wake a not-so heavy sleeper, but once again he was lucky to know Halberd was a heavy sleeper and was out cold still.
Once he had finished opening the window, the breeze blew through his messy mane, forcing it to bounce a centimeter or two. A cold chill from the sudden breeze went up his spine as it swept through his thin but warm coat, and Blood turned his head and stared at the unicorn for a few moments. Sure, he took him in and gave him a bed to sleep in for who knows how long until he got rid of him, unless he was planning to later on but got too tired and fell asleep, and he fed him warm food...but he couldn't stay to be a pleasure pony, which still scarred his mind freshly. Blood turned back and sighed, then took flight out the window and left it wide open, Halberd still completely oblivious.
Blood was homeless once more. He needed a change, and fast. Luckily, he knew where he was sleeping the weeks before meeting the unicorn, and flew back to it. Nothing had changed, the alley was still cold and his blanket and box were still there where he had left them. He smiled again, then curled up on the blanket in a final attempt to sleep that night. Instead, something in his mind kept him wide awake, with his heart still beating faster than it should be. Blood was thankful to have escaped the unicorn, but was back in a depression, knowing he had no real place to call home again. He was again ready to give up, and thought it might be best to go back home.
As the sun rose a couple of long hours later, ponies started to flood the streets again as they started their commute to work. Blood surrendered and gave up trying to fall asleep, moving his box and standing back up weakly and shaking the dirt off of his back. He walked out of the alley, cleaner-looking than he had been during his unfortunate time in Canterlot.
He, however, noticed something new. He trotted up to a building across the street after noticing a pony put up a colored poster of what appeared to be an alicorn princess, with a large sun in the background, smiling and looking down on a one-dimensional view of the world, with Equestria in dead-center, and other landmasses on the sides that he couldn't specify without reading some books.
Then, on the right side facing the world picture were three angled stallions; the larger and closer one was white, the one in the middle was a grey unicorn, and the furthest was once again white with another unknown race, all wearing magnificent golden armor. The two white stallions had blue manes, while the unicorn had a white-grey mixed mane on his helmet. Above all, there was a short description.
"Equestrian Royal Guard, Recruiting Now! Protect the princess and all, with the honor of you. Enlist Today!"
Blood didn't get the last part, minus the 'Enlist Today!', but it intrigued him. It reminded him of Fang Legion, but he knew the Royal Guard was twenty times bigger. He thought for a few moments as he stared blankly at the poster, then his ears perked and he trotted off. He searched and searched, looking for the nearest recruiting station.
Eventually, he found one. It was a grey stone two-story tall building with pillars on the front, with the rest of the front being all glass. Above the door was a sign, showing a white pegasus stallion in the same armor as the poster standing on his hind legs with his forelegs held out one in front of the other. On the right side stood a dark grey unicorn wearing purple and dark blue armor with sharper edges on the chestplate. Above both stallions, were the sun and moon, the sun being over the golden-armored pegasus and the crescent-shaped moon hanging over the dark-armored unicorn.
Blood took a slight inhale and casually trotted inside. Instead of the appearance of the outside, the building was all one story except at the back, where a round staircase sat to the side of a wooden desk. At the desk sat a pegasus stallion in the same golden armor as the poster and the sign, facing down and doing what appeared to be paperwork with a quill and ink. Blood stopped halfway up to the desk, and begun to tremble a bit when he realized the pony was bigger than him. Again, he took an inhale, this time deeper, and trotted up to the working pegasus with his chest puffed out some. The pony didn't initially notice, and Blood cleared his throat to grab his attention. The pony then looked up at Blood. "Here to enlist?"
Blood nodded. "Yes sir, I am."
The pony briefly noticed Blood's fangs as he spoke, leaning closer a few inches while staying seated and squinting his eyes. The stallion then lifted a mug of coffee and stared down into it, then dumped it into a trash can on the side of the desk. Afterwards, he set the mug down and scrambled some papers, then lifted a clipboard with some of them on it, and a pencil. "Finish that, then bring it back to me and we'll get started." He smiled lightly, but kept a serious look on his face.
Blood nodded again, then took the pencil and clipboard. He trotted over to a chair and sat down on it, then went over the long three papers of blank lines following questions. After reading, he went back to the first page and started writing quickly. Instead of writing his name, he wrote down 'Night Shadow' instead to avoid raising a few eyebrows.
He then wrote down his age, seventeen, his gender, which apparently wasn't obvious enough but he didn't care, then his home town which he put down as Vanhoover, which was almost accurate but was still a lie, then other questions before standing up and bringing the pencil and clipboard back to the stallion, who he assumed was a royal guard. Bloodvein stood where he was as the guard went over the papers. A minute later, the guard set down the clipboard and put his hooves together, staring straight at Bloodvein while crouched down some and raised an eyebrow, nodding slightly as he looked over the pony. "You sure you're guard material?"
"Yes sir."
"Do you think you will pass training and become a guard?"
"Yes sir..."
"DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TOUGH ENOUGH TO BE WORTHY TO GUARD THE PRINCESS?!"
"Y-yes sir!"
"Good," the guard smiled. "You're in. Training begins tomorrow. For now, I need you to come with me."
"What for, sir?"
The guard stood and snorted a bit. "You want a bed to sleep in, don't you?"
Canterlot was busy. It was definitely the capitol city of Canterlot with how many ponies filled the streets. It was hard for Bloodvein, now officially calling himself Night Shadow, to navigate with the crowds and keep up with the guard who he met at the recruiting station. Of course, they could have just flown over the crowds, but Canterlot had strict flying bans, especially near the castle. Eventually, they broke through the last crowd and ended up beside one of the main entrances to the Canterlot Castle.
"Here we are," the guard spoke, then began walking on the sidewalk running against short hedges and wrought-iron fences separating the street from the castle grounds. Trees were everywhere, which were the homes to many different colored birds ranging from blue jays, to cardinals, finches and hummingbirds, as well as many squirrels which scampered around searching for nuts. Night was amazed at how well kept the city was, and wished back home looked somewhat like Canterlot, which it obviously didn't come close to. He looked around in awe, taking in a deep breath of the warm autumn air as a decent breeze brushed through his mane and feathers. As he did, he noticed they actually were at the castle.
"Uh...aren't we going to a base sir?"
The guard stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow. "Base? This is our base. The castle is home to the training grounds of the Royal Guard. It is our home."
"Oh. But, where are the barracks?"
The guard didn't reply. He felt annoyed by Night's questions, which made Night blush in embarrassment. Eventually, they turned at another sidewalk, which took them through the most beautiful gardens known to Equestria. Flowers of all color on the spectrum were still bloomed in patches all over, as were rose bushes, cherry blossoms, and rhododendrons. Birds chirped and sang as the two ponies passed by. The gardens seemed to go on for a long way, until the guard led Night through a doorway, entering the castle.
Inside, there were paintings from all points in time, some dating before the Lunar rebellion and even around the time when Faust passed. Above, there were extensive skylights which were as long as the hallways themselves, which always ended at intersections of the castle or corners. At every crossing, dead center above were massive diamond chandeliers which shimmered in the sunlight and made small rainbow circles and squares on the red carpet, about the size of a foal's hoof.
Night was again peering at his surroundings in pure awe at the interior design, which was beyond anything he had ever seen before. Another thing he noticed, he couldn't hear his own hoofsteps. The carpet below him was made of one of the softest materials, and absorbed any hoofstep, which granted the royalty who lived at the castle sleep, even though the rooms were already soundproof. After a five-minute walk in the ever so long castle halls, the guard and Night Shadow exited through another door.
Outside was a whole new sight; barracks lined up side by side, then in another row across the courtyard. In between, there was an extremely tall flag pole, topped by the one and only Equestrian flag. Ahead, numerous stallions and a couple of mares were seen jogging on a long dirt path, which extended through a pine forest separating that end of the castle from the long fall off the mountain. Elsewhere, ahead of a line of different colored stallions marched a dark green unicorn wearing what appeared to be a park ranger hat, but with a gold star on it, implying he was a drill sergeant, forcing Night to shiver a bit. Suddenly, the guard stopped, and Night bumped into his rear end by accident and jumped back in surprise, landing on his own rear.
"Watch it!" The guard snapped back at Night, then growled. "On your hooves!"
Night quickly stood back on all fours, brushing himself off. "My apologies sir!"
"Captain on deck!" A stallion yelled out of nowhere, and everypony snapped their hooves together and stood at attention as a tall, white unicorn walked through the training camp wearing purple and gold armor.
"At ease boys," the stallion spoke, having a slight west-coast surfer accent. He looked around, then spotted Night Shadow with the pegasus guard and walked over. The guard snapped his hooves together and puffed his chest out as well as the stallion approached. Night noticed the stallion, then gasped a bit. "It's the captain!"
"Good afternoon, sir," the pegasus saluted, returned by the unicorn.
"Afternoon. So, is this him?"
"Yes sir," the pegasus dropped the salute, and stepped to the side a bit, allowing the unicorn to approach Night.
"Are you Night Shadow?" The unicorn spoke, keeping a serious look on his face as he stared down some at the grey pegasus.
"Y-yes sir," Night stuttered some in fear, then saluted with a shaky hoof.
The unicorn chuckled. "At ease Night," then turned to the guard and nodded, who then trotted off. "So, you think you've got what it takes to be a guard?"
"Well, I'm not sure. It's worth giving a shot though," Night chuckled awkwardly.
The unicorn chuckled again. "It is. I am Shining Armor, it is nice to meet you Night," then extended a hoof.
Night noticed the hoof, and extended his. The two shook hooves, just as the pegasus returned with another guard. This time, the guard was another pegasus, but his coat was a lighter grey than Night's, and his mane and tail were black as night, while his eyes were a deep blue. After they shook hooves, the white pegasus left, leaving the three.
"This is Sergeant Thunderblast, he will be your instructor and trainer, and he will make sure you're in top shape to become a guard."
The pegasus, Thunderblast, smiled proudly with a slight smirk at Night. "That's right. You'll be a guard when I'm done with you after these next few months."
Shining nodded, then turned to Night again. "Well, I better leave you to it. Thunder, if you would please, show Night the way to his barrack."
"Yes sir," Thunder nodded, then saluted. Shining saluted back, then walked away. Thunder then turned back to Night Shadow and smiled once more. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too!" Night smiled, hiding his fangs while doing so.
"Please, follow me Night. Your barrack isn't far, and lucky for you, you'll have one all to yourself," Thunderblast turned, then started walking with Night following by his side. "So, what made you join the guard?"
"I...um...a few reasons actually."
"I've got time."
"Well, first, I was homeless these past couple of months. I need the money, and I've kind of wanted to be one for a while now."
"Homeless? Why?"
"I ran away from home. My dad was acting like he was going to try and kill me." Night sighed and lowered his head some.
"Man, that really sucks. At least now he should respect you when he sees you in armor."
"I guess...but I don't know. I slapped him hard before I left."
Thunder turned and stared at Night with eyes widened. "You actually did that?"
Night Shadow simply nodded. "I-I couldn't hold myself back. He needed it."
"Well, I agree there are some times where parents need a wake up call. I never hit my parents though...not that I knew them longer than seven years." Thunder faced forward, sighing a bit.
Night looked up, then eyed Thunder as he walked. "What does that mean?"
"Mine died when I was a colt."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Thanks. It was hard moving on...even now it still hurts."
"Probably. Things like that would hurt for a lifetime. But look at you, you're a sergeant in the Royal Guard. I bet your parents are smiling down at you," Night smiled.
"Perhaps. I don't know though, I've done pretty bad things in my life, Night Shadow."
"We all make mistakes. It doesn't change how much your parents love you though," he sighed. "But that's you. My parents probably hate me by now."
By the time Night had finished speaking, the two had reached the empty barrack and Thunderblast pulled out a key, then unlocked the door. He twisted the knob and pushed the door open, and the two walked in. Inside, the temperature was very warm, tallying one con up already. Around the room were eight bunk beds, night stands, hooflockers under the beds, two wooden desks, and two small bathrooms with showers. It wasn't the most comfortable room, but Night had to live with it.
"Here she is. You may pick any bed you want, nopony else is living here. Well, yet," Thunder smiled a bit.
Night looked around, then took in a deep inhale. "I could get used to this," he chuckled a bit, then turned around. "Thanks."
"Oh, don't thank me. There's no need to. But, you're welcome anyway."
Night walked up, then pulled Thunderblast into a hug. It shocked him slightly, but Thunder slowly hugged back and smiled. A moment later, the hug broke and Thunderblast walked back over to the door. "Get some good rest when lights are out, we'll all be up early tomorrow, then we'll get started."
Night Shadow nodded. "Yes sir," then saluted. Thunderblast saluted back, then trotted out of the barrack, shutting the door gently behind him with a faint click, then walked past the window as he left. Afterwards, Night walked around, trying to decide which bunk he should choose. It didn't take long, and he chose one of the beds in the middle of the right-hoof row, on the top bunk. He had never slept in one before, but he knew he'd have to get used to it quickly if he is to survive training. Unlike the other guards, he didn't have anything to put in his hoof locker, but that left him with room to store other things he needed as he progressed, and until he could hopefully get a place of his own.
Suddenly, Night was startled by a horn from the outside, followed by a bell from across the camp. He looked to the clock on the wall, which read one o'clock, meaning the guards were heading to the mess hall to eat lunch. Night's stomach growled loudly, and he decided to go as well, no longer caring what they might be serving. He trotted out of the barrack, then followed the other guards, some without armor on, to the mess hall. When they arrived, it was a large one-story building with only a few windows.
He slipped into line to enter, which went pretty quickly until he got inside. There were numerous tables, which some already had stallions sitting and eating, others talking and laughing, with fans spread around the room to keep it cool, as well as the annoying broken light which flickered every millisecond which would give one a throbbing headache. The line wound around the outer edges of the building as the chefs raced to get the food ready for all of the ponies who weren't eating out or didn't bring their own lunches. It seemed like forever, but eventually Night was at the front portion of the shortening line. His hooves trembled slightly, and he grabbed a dark red tray and panted weakly, now starving.
Minutes later, he was just behind two guards when the chefs announced they didn't have enough food to give the rest of the ponies in line. Night groaned and set his tray back down, then went to go sit down at an empty table, now unable to eat. He sat down and laid his head on his hooves, looking down at the table and the tiny crumbs that weren't cleaned up yet.
"Hey."
Night's eyes moved up, and they met a familiar grey guard, who was frowning a bit. "Hello sir."
Thunderblast sat down in front of Night, across the table. "Didn't get food either huh? And, you don't have to call me that right now. Just call me Thunder, alright?"
"Sure, whatever you say," Night groaned more. "I'm so hungry."
"Same here," Thunder groaned, but then perked up. "How about we go into town and get some food?"
"I don't have any money though."
"It's on me silly," Thunder chuckled, and Night smiled, raising his head.
"You really don't have to, Thunder," he smiled weakly.
"Oh come on, it's the least I could do. Besides, you were homeless for a while and you need something to eat. Come on, let's go."
"Alright, Shadow. Let's get started, shall we?" Thunderblast grinned, standing a few feet before Night Shadow on the near-empty training field.
"Yes sir," Night Shadow grinned back, standing at attention simultaneously.
"Now, I'm sure you know the basics about training. First thing! Physical training. I may not be a Drill sergeant, or a Guard trainer at all, but I still know how to push one to their limits. That said, you're my first trainee. I'll go easy on you, but not too easy. Be glad the captain assigned me. Second thing! Weapons training. You'll have to get used to the guard's assigned weapons, whether it be a spear or a knife, or even those pretty little teeth of yours. As a pegasus, many parts of your body can be used to defend yourself. But, we will get to that later. For now, I'm going to need for you to step over..."
Thunder floated over to a connecting dirt path beside the field, then landed on a white line. "...here," Night followed suit, standing on the line with his hooves together. "Next, follow the path. But, I would suggest running. Act like there's a manticore chasing you, and your wings were slashed to the point where you can't fly away," Thunder grinned more. "GO!"
Night jumped at Thunder's order, then took off running down the dirt path, his hooves making loud clops against the hard earth. He wasn't used to running, and fought numerous urges to spread his wings and take to the skies. As he galloped, he noticed Thunder coming up by his side, galloping slightly faster.
"What are you doing? FASTER DAMN IT! FASTER! THIS ISN'T AN ANT RACE!" Night grunted, and galloped faster. Faster than he had ever run before. "That's more like it! Keep it up, and don't stop 'till I say so!"
"Yes sir!" Night yelled in response, keeping a steady pace on the constant-winding dirt path, cutting through pine trees and past the edge of Canterlot many times. Minutes later, the two reached their starting point. Night wanted to stop, but Thunder ordered he go on. Night kept his pace, slowing once or twice, noticeable to his trainer, who was keeping a pace beside Night and could outrun him if he wanted to.
"Are you slowing down? I didn't grant you permission to! KEEP GOING!"
Night panted and went on, straining his body to the point where his weak muscles started to hurt, and were bound to cramp up at some point. Time seemed to go a lot slower as his body ached, but he continued on, and eventually reached the white line, where he tripped and slid on his stomach to a stop a few feet beyond the end, panting and groaning. "Is...that...it...?"
"Well...I was hoping for five laps total...but that was good. You kept a good enough pace. It'll take time, but you will get used to running more and more laps. You did good," Thunderblast smiled, extending a hoof to Night Shadow, who took it and weakly stood, wobbling a bit and still panting like a dog. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah...I'm fine...just hurting all over is all."
"Hmm...maybe we should have waited until lunch digested."
"I-I'm not sick sir...I meant my body..."
"Oh. Well, that is to be expected. I was achy after my first run. Usually the second run is what gets rid of the pain."
"You think?"
"I know so. Alright, let's take five. We'll do push ups and whatever else afterwards."
"Oh joy."
"You think the two laps were bad? I'm challenging you to seven tomorrow. But, tomorrow is tomorrow. We have all of today to prepare you for that horrible day known as tomorrow. Let's cut to the chase, shall we?"
Thunderblast grinned, then dropped down and quickly pushed his body up and down with his forehooves, his hind legs stretched behind him to their max. After five quick push ups, he stood back up on all fours, grinning more. "Think you can do five push ups that fast?"
"Well...uh..."
"Yes or no?"
"Yes sir!"
"Prove it!"
Night Shadow carefully got into a slightly incorrect position, but acceptable for a first day trainee. Following that, he slowly lowered himself to the ground, his stomach coming just under an inch from the dirt. Then, he began weakly pushing himself up off the ground and grunting.
His bones ached from the two-lap run, and he deeply regretted ever enlisting, but there was no going back now. Night then lost balance, falling onto the ground with a faint 'oof', but regained it and began pushing himself back up. By then, the time it took Thunderblast to do five push ups had already passed by three seconds, and Night was only at his second push up, feeling weaker than ever.
"Times up Night," Night then moved to stand back up. "I didn't say stop. Keep going! Give me ten total!"
Night whimpered softly and got back down and slowly began pushing himself up and down, barely picking up a faster pace thanks to his hurting body. Pain surged through his bones and veins at every movement his body made, more pain than he's ever felt in his life.
Eventually, Night reached ten push ups, where he then collapsed, all four hooves spread out across the dirt and trembling. He panted, barely keeping his eyes open. He had to admit, he was a bit of a wimp, which made him wonder if he'd even be worth the guard's time. Meanwhile, Thunderblast simply stared down at Night with an eyebrow slightly raised.
"Are you alright?"
Night was too weak to reply, and instead shut his eyes, wanting to nap.
"Come on buddy, we've only just started."
Night groaned, a whimper mixed in as well. Thunderblast then sighed. "Fine, we can continue tomorrow," and slowly lifted the stricken and limp pegasus onto his back, and began walking back to the barracks with not much issue of the pegasus' weight. Minutes after, Thunder brought Night back into his barrack, laying him on his bunk.
Night remained limp, weak from the two-lap run and ten push ups. He felt ashamed that he couldn't do more, but he also didn't want to strain himself to a breaking point. "I'll let you rest here. See you tomorrow," Thunder began walking away, a bit disappointed.
Night then coughed a bit, and weakly spoke. "W-wait."
Thunder's left ear swiveled a bit to the side, and he slowly turned his head and faced Night Shadow. "Hmm?"
"Not tomorrow...later. I'll be fine in a little bit, alright?" Night weakly smiled.
"I don't know, you seem pretty tired out already. I don't want you to kill yourself from this."
"I-it is fine...just stay close to the barracks, I'll be out when I'm ready."
Days slowly turned into weeks, and those weeks transformed into months. Four months to be exact. Time flew by from the day Night Shadow begun basic training, to where he was now sparring on the training field with other guards occasionally. The first month of training was the slowest and hardest, it being the time where the guard literally beats ponies into shape. It was slightly easier, being somewhat physically active before enlisting, but it still hurt Night for weeks after the first run.
Soon however, he got used to the procedure, and even one pony trying his best to take him down and force him out of the guard. For what reason, Night never knew, and didn't bother with it. During his time in training, he did wind up making a new best friend, perhaps more than his trainer Thunderblast.
One sunny and warm September day, Night Shadow sat in his barrack, polishing his trainee armor, which was plain silver all around, which didn't include hoof guards. Out of all of the armor the guard used, silver was the easiest to polish, and that made Night happy to know. He didn't regularly polish armor, but he felt his day off would be the perfect opportunity to, so it could be ready for tomorrow's day of probably more running, or even better, sparring. These days, he didn't know what training he had anymore, knowing he was nearing graduation time.
After finishing polishing his armor until his face reflected perfectly off of it, Night set the helmet and main piece in his hooflocker, swapping it for a small hoof-full of bits for lunch, then sliding the hooflocker back under his bed. Moments later, he trotted outside onto the guard barrack grounds, which wasn't as busy as weekdays, it being a Sunday after all. Night glanced around, disappointed when he didn't spot Thunderblast or his new unicorn friend anywhere, but shrugged it off and made his way into town to find somewhere to get some good lunch.
In Canterlot, places to eat weren't uncommon at all, though half if not most of the restaurants many considered to be 'rich-pony restaurants' because of how expensive their meals were, but not that money wasn't a problem in the city, especially for Night now. Soon after, he found a hay burger joint smack-dab in the center of town, which to his surprise didn't have a line extending three blocks away, like most restaurants that time of day did. There, he ordered a simple hay burger with a side of salted french fries, then sat down to eat. With the food the guard served at lunch, he eventually had the craving to go out for a change.
"Hey Night."
Night Shadow glanced up as he took a bite of his hay burger, his eyes meeting those of a dark grey unicorn with a white-grey mohawk mane, with a straight, styled tail matching the style guards use. The unicorn was levitating a slightly greasy white bag of food in a blue aura of magic, emanating from his own horn. "Oh, hey Sharp!" Night spoke with some food in his mouth, swallowing afterwards.
"Mind if I join you?" The unicorn smiled.
"Of course, of course!" Night smiled back, and the unicorn sat down across the table from Night, then opening his bag and pulling out a small closed box, plus another with an open top with hay fries sticking out.
"Ah, so you finally broke free of the mess hall, huh?" The unicorn grinned a bit and opened the box, the pony also had ordered a hay burger.
"Yup, I'm glad I did too. These hay burgers are amazing!" Night then took another bite of his hay burger.
The unicorn chuckled a bit. "Don't love 'em too much Night, if you eat them every day you'll have to go through basic training all over again," and levitated his burger out of the box and started eating.
"Oh, believe me," Night swallowed again. "I don't plan on that."
"Speaking of training..." The unicorn took a bite of his burger, then swallowed a couple of moments later. "How's it going?"
"Great, never better! Captain Shining Armor is allowing me to spar off duty now."
"Oh yeah? How do you like that?"
"I love it Sharp," Night smiled again. "Say, tomorrow when I do my sparring match, would you like to be my opponent?"
"Well, I don't know. My schedule is a bit iffy for tomorrow."
"Aw, come on! I want to see how you fight!"
"Eeeeh..." The pony looked at Night, then smiled. "Oh, alright, I guess I could."
"Sweet!" Night then finished his burger and fries, then stood up from his chair. "So, see you tomorrow?"
"Sure thing bro."
Later on at sunset, Night Shadow walked up one of Canter Mountain's numerous paths, most leading to lookout points, others splitting off and going around the mountain to the small, quaint village of Canterville. It was a long way up, but Night didn't mind it one bit. He smiled slightly at the feeling of the almost-warm breeze brushing through his feathers and coat, and through his styled mane. A half an hour later, the young pegasus reached one of the many lookout points, one not known to many. In fact, for all he knew, it wasn't one known to anyone but him and his new unicorn friend.
The small grassy plateau high up above the city was the perfect spot to sit down, relax, and watch the sunset or sunrise. It made him feel like he was on top of the world, although there were probably higher peaks elsewhere, on some unnamed or unmapped continent. The spot was perfect, and a bit romantic had he had a partner to come with. The grass was mostly shaded by trees, and there was a small creek streaming through some soft rock, and down a small waterfall, dispersing into nothing. It was more than peaceful.
Night slowly laid down in the grass, but keeping his head up as he watched the sun slowly set on the western horizon. From above, he could not only see Canterlot, but the lights of Ponyville, and a few other distant towns as well, and even the cloud metropolis of Cloudsdale high up, a place he wanted to visit sometime. He sighed a bit, wishing he had somepony to go with, but was still okay to be by himself. Some time later, the sun had finally said it's last goodbye, and disappeared behind a distant mountain range, and the sky began to slowly darken with it to welcome the night. Night smiled, then stood up and began making his way down the path and back into Canterlot. Occasionally, he would glance up at the stars as they twinkled high in the sky. Something about the night felt great to him, but he couldn't quite put a hoof on it.
After the long walk back, Night entered the edge of town, a part of town he immediately regretted to walk through to get back to the barracks. It was the small run-down sector of town, mainly abandoned shops and a few apartments. Some street lights flickered, some didn't. A few weren't on at all, which caused Night to tense up a bit and to keep an eye out for trouble if it were to come his way. As he walked, his ears perked up to the sound of a second set of hoofsteps. He froze and looked around him, standing under the light of a pole. He soon calmed himself when he didn't spot anypony, and continued on his way, but with a faster pace. He wanted to get home as soon as possible.
Moments after, he heard the hoofsteps again. This time, he didn't pause to see where they were coming from, but instead trotted faster. His heart started to race, knowing he was being followed. Instead of following the street, he slid into an alleyway, which he was sure would bring him out onto another street. But to his fate, it was a dead end alley. Of course, he could have flown, but it wasn't what came to his mind. The hoofsteps slowly stopped behind him, and a faint chuckle could be heard from a stallion's voice.
"Well well well, what have we here? Are you lost little boy?"
Night slowly turned around, trembling softly. "I'm not little, I'm seventeen."
"Hmm, you sure look little to me. I know all about you, Night Shadow. I want for you to listen closely."
"Wait...w-what? How do you know who I am?"
"I'll leave that for later."
Out of nowhere, a faint whip of a hoof could be heard, and Night Shadow blacked out the moment the pony's hoof hit his face. He didn't know what to think next, that is, until he woke up. When he did, everything was still dark, and when he went to sit up, Night found his hooves strapped down to a bed as well as his torso. When nothing happened after a few moments, not a light turning on, he automatically assumed he was blindfolded, or he went completely blind from the hit. He groaned a little, having a slight headache.
"Ow...h-hello...somepony?"
No one was there, or so he thought. He tried to remain calm, but couldn't stop himself from shaking like a leaf in the wind. Moments after, he heard the sound of hooves trotting down some wooden, creaky steps.
"Well, are you awake, bat pony?"
Night's ear swiveled a bit to the direction of the sound, which he turned his head to. "Who are you...what do you want with me?"
"Oh, nothing too important. Just a few little tests here and there, and if you're cooperative, I'll let you go. You hear me?"
"Y-yes sir." Night's voice cracked a bit.
"Good. Now, first thing, what were you doing walking through Upper-east Canterlot? Looking for trouble, guard?"
"Taking a shortcut."
"Oh, where from?"
"A lookout point...on the mountain."
"Hmm, I admire your taste for view." The pony seemed to be moving through what sounded like medical equipment, or a mechanic's tools for torture, not that he could really tell from being blindfolded.
"What are you doing...? I can't see."
"Well, that's because I have you blindfolded, you silly pony. Just stay still, and everything will be fine."
"No, what are you doing? I-I want to know."
"Shush."
Night didn't say any more for the sake of his life, if it was really in danger at that point.
"Now, this will hurt for juuuust a bit." The pony then lowered a syringe filled with a yellow liquid to Night's arm, slowly pressing it in and injecting the liquid. Night Shadow yelped at the pinch of the needle, and even more at the feeling of the liquid squirming into his body, which burned a little.
"W-what are you doing? Th-this burns!"
"Good. Now stay still or else it will burn even more." The pony pulled the syringe out after the last of the liquid was injected. Night trembled hard, trying not to cry out from the pain he was enduring. Minutes later, the burning sensation was gone, and soon so was the ongoing pinch of the injection site. Night panted and whimpered softly, feeling somewhat paralyzed from the liquid the pony put in him. Afterwards, he found himself to be sleepy.
"W-why do I feel tired?"
"Shhh...just relax, it'll be okay Nighty." The pony reached a hoof and moved the blindfold up. The pony had magenta eyes, his mane color and coat obscured by his shadow under a light. Before Night could get a good look, he fell back asleep, his head slowly turning to the side as he entered another slumber.
The following day, Night Shadow woke up in his bunk back at his barrack, perfectly tucked in. The memory of what happened was fresh on his mind, but slightly blurry. Then, he began to question if it was even real at all, or if it was a dream to start with. He felt no pain where the needle went in, or any burning sensation in his blood. He slowly rose out of bed, his body feeling a bit more sluggish than usual in the morning, and his muscles ached. Night groaned some as he got on all fours, but then feeling no pain as he stood. He looked down at himself, making sure if what happened wasn't a dream, that he wasn't transformed into some other creature. Luckily, he wasn't. But that led to another question, what actually happened? The next thing that came across his mind was...
"Shoot, it's Monday!" He dug under his bed, pulling out his hooflocker and twisting the knob combination and pulling out the armor he had tucked away in it. He remembered he would be sparring his friend Sharpblade today. Luckily, it wouldn't be until after lunch, and it was still quite early in the morning.
After realizing it was, he trotted over to the track to run a few laps, to get his body into shape for the sparring match, and to loosen up his body for whatever reason it were sluggish. He reached the track, finding two other trainee guards already on it as he ran down the dirt track, passing them twice, but not on the same lap.
Ten laps later, Night finally stopped and pulled off to the side to catch his breath. His body felt looser than earlier once he was done. Minutes after stopping, he looked around for a lamp clock the barracks had. He found it and walked up to it. It read eleven forty-three, meaning it was almost lunch, and that he would be sparring with Sharpblade afterwards.
Instead of staying at mess hall to eat, Night brought his lunch outside to a picnic table, directly next to the small area where guards did their sparring matches, and where Sharpblade and Night Shadow would spar. Night sat and ate, waiting for Sharp to arrive. Some time after lunch, Sharp arrived, geared up in his armor, which gleamed brightly in the sun. Night had to admit, he was a bit jealous of Sharp's armor and wanted a set of his own, but he knew that would come in time.
"Hey Night." Sharp walked up, smiling.
"Hey Sharpie!" Night stood up, picking his helmet up off the picnic table and setting it on his head. "You ready to go?"
"Sure thing." Sharp smirked, then walked over to the sparring grounds with Night Shadow. The two got into position, and a few other guards gathered around the two. "Oh, and Night?"
"Yeah?"
"Feel free to use those fangs of yours. They can be great for self defense if you're weaponless." Sharp grinned.
Night's pupils shrunk a bit. "How did he know I have fangs?" "Alright. Let's start, shall we?" Night got into an attack position and smirked.
"You go first." Sharp continued to smirk, gripping a steel sword in his magic grip. Night followed his order, and lunged at Sharp, gripping his own sword in his hooves. Their swords struck each other, the steel making a screech as the edges slid across each other. Night flew past Sharp, landing a few feet behind him and gritting his teeth a bit.
Without hesitation, he lunged back at Sharp, their swords once again striking each other. The other guards continued to watch, with more showing up. Sharp was impressed with how much Night had improved over time, and eventually took matters into his own hooves and lunged at Night. Before he could tackle him down, Night jumped out of the way, allowing Sharp to slide on his stomach where he was once standing. Night then stood over Sharp, grabbing his helmet and pulling it off. He pulled Sharp up by his shoulders, and bit down into Sharp's neck, sinking his fangs in deep. Sharpblade's eyes widened and he yelped a bit, flailing his hooves. "O-ow, hey!"
Night pulled back a few seconds later, spitting out some of Sharp's blood he got in his mouth. "Ew, blood!" He dropped Sharp and began rubbing his hooves frantically on his tongue, then spitting some more. Sharp slowly stood, holding his neck.
"Damn...you got me. Great job." Sharp smiled, rubbing at the fang wounds.
Night spat one last time. "Never again am I doing that. Blech, blood tastes terrible!"
The other guards laughed, and the group eventually broke up to do their own thing. Night then walked up to Sharp. "Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, your fangs are sharp."
"Heh..." Night simply blushed a little. "Will you be alright?"
"Should be." Sharp smiled. "You did good Night. Real good. Can't wait to do it again with you. But for now, I guess I'll see ya later," then picked up his helmet and walked off.
"Alrighty, see you Sharp!" Night smiled, then picked up his sword and began walking back to his barrack.
"Hmm hmm hmm..." Night hummed to himself as he stepped out of the barrack's shower, drying his mane and coat with a towel. The hot shower eased his muscles and removed the little aches he did still have in them. After drying off, he set the towel in a basket for it to be washed later on, then walked over to his bed. It was still mostly day time, but sunset was already near. As he walked over to his bed, the door to the barrack swung open, and a guard ran inside to Night, panting with shrunk pupils.
"Night Shadow...It's..." He panted more. "Sh-Sharp..."
"What...?" Night turned to the guard, unsure of what he was trying to tell him.
"Give me a sec..." The guard panted more, leaning his head down to catch his breath. After doing so, he raised it again and stared at Night in tears. "Sharp is dead Night!"
"W...what?" Night's ears pinned to his head, and his heart sunk. "D-dead...? How?"
"W-we don't know...he said he was having chest pains...then he just collapsed on the ground! He's dead Night!"
"But...I-I..." Tears built in Night Shadow's eyes, and he soon collapsed onto the floor, breaking down completely. He sobbed into his hooves, his body trembling as he did. The guard knelt down, pulling Night into a tight hug.
"I-I'm so sorry Night...He was gone the moment he collapsed..."
One week later, after Sharpblade's unexpected death, the Royal Guard was in pure shock, and the news managed to slip out to the public. Luckily, no one knew the full story, and Night Shadow hoped to keep it a secret if he wanted to avoid execution. As time passed, Night Shadow grew weary and depressed, and didn't come out of his barrack often, other than to eat or run a bit on the track, which was still rare at that time. Night was still in shock of what happened, and tried to think about what did happen. Of course, he put the full blame on himself.
Then, he finally remembered. The night before Sharp's passing, that mysterious pony injected him with something. It hurt to think about it, but there was only one conclusion, and it instantly gave him suicidal thoughts. One night, there was a knock at his barrack. Night Shadow didn't speak up, but instead remained curled up in a ball on his bunk, holding his hooves over his aching heart.
"Night Shadow? Please open up."
Night whimpered softly as he shed some tears. "Just come in and kill me...I know that's what everyone in the guard wants now."
The door to the barrack opened with an audible creak, then shut slowly. The next thing Night heard, was armored hooves approaching, then a noticeable shadow looming over him. Night slowly looked over, seeing Thunderblast standing above him. "Oh...it's you," he turned back over, facing the wall.
"I just wanted to check on you buddy. You don't come out much anymore."
"W-why should I? I'm a monster, Thunder."
"Why would you be a monster? You didn't do anything, did you?"
"I...I bit him. We were sparring, he said I should. I did so...then a few hours later, he was gone," Night whimpered.
Thunder put a hoof on Night's shoulder gently. "The fangs, huh?" Night nodded. "I mean, they are a good way to defend yourself at close range. They're like built-in weapons. Although, I don't quite see how it could have killed him like that, unless he didn't get the wounds treated.
"W-well..." Night sniffled. "There's more to it than that."
"What...?" Thunder looked up a bit, eying Night, who turned and sat up.
"The night before it all happened, I went up to this lookout place he showed me a little while ago to watch the sunset. On my way back, I get knocked out while taking a shortcut through the bad side of town. Then..."
"Wait...someone kidnapped you?"
Night nodded in response. "Yeah...then I woke up strapped to some bed and blindfolded. Then, the pony, a stallion, injects me with some kind of fluid that made my blood burn for a little bit."
"So...you're venomous?"
Night slowly nodded once more, then began sobbing into his hooves. "He did this to me...and now Sharp is dead!"
"Night, why didn't you speak up? This really could have been prevented!" Thunder stared Night directly in the eye. "I'm sorry, but...you are partially at fault here. Though it wasn't you who killed Sharp, you didn't tell anyone what happened, which could have saved his life."
"I...I...I woke up in my bed...I thought it was a dream Thunder. He took me back to my bed...right where we are...I thought it was all a dream, up until now, where I realize it wasn't."
Thunder's faint glare softened, then he sighed. "Fine...I understand. But, we should get you checked up. You can't keep this venom or whatever it is still inside you. Who knows, what if it reproduces and is a permanent thing if you don't get it taken out?"
"But then...they'll find out."
"Not if you tell them everything that happened Night. You have to speak up about these things, not let worse things happen."
"I guess...but I-"
"No, not you guess. Night, listen. You're going to tell them what happened. All of them. The high ranks, the captain, Celestia."
"C...Celestia?"
"If you tell her everything, she will forgive you. If you don't, someone will find out the bad stuff and think you poisoned him on purpose."
"But...I-I...I can't face her. Not after this."
"You don't have much of a choice Night. Unless you'd prefer to be executed."
"M-maybe that's for the best."
"No, it isn't. Night, for the last time, you aren't a monster," Thunder sighed. "Look, the funeral is tomorrow. Just...be there okay? It's what Sharp would have wanted anyway." Then stood and began walking over to the door.
The next day, clouds filled the sky over Canterlot, shrouding it in grey blankness. The sky was tempted to open up and drench the earth with tears of water, as if it knew the day wasn't meant to be celebrated in any way. Eventually, it did get to a point where rain dripped, but didn't pour. Both civilians and guards gathered at the Canterlot Memorial Cemetery, where guards are laid to rest for the final time. Six guards, three lunar and three royal, all wearing full armor, carried Sharp's casket down the cobble path, towards the prepared resting spot dug out in front of a granite tombstone, which read 'Corporal Sharpblade'. Behind the guards walked Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, the Lunar Guard Captain Fallen Star, followed by Thunderblast and Night Shadow. Thunder kept a straight face as he walked beside a depressed Night Shadow, who kept his head hanging down. When they reached the grave, the guards slowly lowered the wooden casket in.
"Ten HUT!" Fallen Star shouted. The guards clicked their hooves. "Hooves, UP!" The guards raised their right hooves while standing at attention, saluting. Both Night and Thunder watched, both wiping at their eyes. After a one minute silence, Fallen Star gathered the guards, and both Night Shadow and Thunderblast were allowed to walk up to the grave, both sitting side by side. Night stared down at the casket, more tears building in his eyes.
"Oh man, Thunder... How do I bring it up to them?" Night Shadow paced in his barrack as Thunderblast polished his armor on one of the bunks. A full day had passed since the funeral, and now Night's problems were getting worse. He was more nervous than depressed.
"Night, could you stop pacing first? You'll burn a hole in the ground if you keep trotting in circles." Thunder glanced up to Night, staring in concern as the pegasus stopped pacing.
"Sorry, I'm just nervous, Thunder." Night sat down a few feet before Thunder.
"I know you are. Listen up, just write a couple of letters, either deliver them yourself or have the mail pony take them to the princesses 'n high ranks, you sit down with them, and you tell them everything. They'll question why you didn't bring up your experience a week ago to anyone, but other than that, they should be pretty calm about it."
"Do you really think so?"
"I'm positive it'll be that way. If it isn't, I don't know what to say, because this all sounds like some plan to make it seem as if a guard trainee was killing other guards, and you just happened to do it to Sharp. One thing I don't quite understand, did he really expect you to bite others, and how did he know you have fangs to bite ponies with, if you wanted to?"
"That's two things."
"I-...oh, right."
"I don't know, this is all pretty sketchy." Night sighed. "Alright, I guess I can talk to them tomorrow. But, Thunder?"
"Hmm?"
"Will they kick me out of the guard for this?"
Thunder looked up from polishing his armor, staring Night directly in the eyes. Night looked terrified, with a definite sign of depression.
"I...don't know. I don't know how to answer that."
"I see..." Night slowly looked down, then wiped at his eyes.
"Hey hey hey, don't cry." Thunderblast slid his armor to the side and stood up, walking up to Night Shadow and pulling him into a hug. "It'll all be alright. You just need to get the truth out before someone starts making up rumors."
"B-but...what if...?" Night sniffled.
"Night, it'll be okay. Trust me." Thunder tightened the hug a bit.
Night leaned into the hug, then giving Thunder's chest a small nuzzle. "I trust you."
"Good." Thunder pulled back and smiled at Night, who smiled back, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "Well, I'd better get home. I hear the weather ponies are preparing a hell of a storm for tonight."
"A storm?" Night's smile dropped into a frown of worry.
"Yes, why?"
Night sighed. "I've never liked storms...not after an experience I had."
"Me neither really. Look, it'll all be alright. The weather ponies don't usually let something get out of control." Thunder picked up his armor, now fully polished. "See you tomorrow, Night."
"Tomorrow night? What for?" Night tilted his head a little.
Thunder stopped and turned his head back to Night. "No, I meant I will see you tomorrow."
"But why did you add Night?"
Thunder didn't reply, but raised an eyebrow. Night's pupils shrunk a bit as he remembered. "Oh." Thunder then burst into a small chuckle, then walked out, shutting the door behind him. Night stood back on all fours, walking over to the front window and watching Thunderblast walk down the lit path through the barracks, noticing the wind slightly picking up with some leaves flying by, a definite sign there was a storm on it's way.
Night sighed to himself. "Great," before turning off the light and walking back over to his bed, crawling inside. Instead of falling asleep, he stared up at the bottom of the top bunk in concern as he thought, ignoring the sounds outside as it begun to rain. Normally, he would be trying to hide himself from the storm, but he was too caught up in thinking to worry about it, completely ignoring the bright flashes of lightning and earth-shaking crashes of thunder.
Minutes later, the distressed stallion drifted off into a peaceful sleep. The next day, he woke to the sounds of the trumpets as expected. Night yawned quietly and slowly sat up, rubbing at his eyes. The first thing he noticed was it was bright and sunny outside, and was thankful that it was, and was also thankful he had the option to do track, knowing it would be equivalent to quicksand if he tried. Night then climbed out of bed and stood on all fours, before walking back over to the window to peek outside. He recoiled back slightly, having just woken up, and the sunlight hurt for a few moments before his eyesight eventually adjusting so it wouldn't.
Outside, rain and mud puddles were everywhere, and he watched as numerous guards stomped through them either marching, or running from the occasional drill sergeant that wouldn't hesitate to kick somepony's flank. Night then turned around and walked up to the small desk set up in the barracks, digging through the many drawers and finding some pieces of paper and envelopes.
He picked up a pencil and sharpened it, then began writing on them, addressing to Princess Celestia, Captain Shining Armor, and Captain Fallen Star, asking if he could have a word with them later that day or tomorrow, whichever worked for them. He knew with such important jobs, they would be too busy to get back that day, but remained hopeful. After writing, there was one last piece of paper. Night stared at the paper as he slid it in front of him, and for some reason he couldn't explain, wanted to write to his family back home. After a minute of thinking, he finally let his hooves follow his mind.
Dear Mom, Dad, and Little sister,
It has been a while, and I just want to let you all know, I am doing just fine and enjoying life in Equestria. I'm fitting in quite well, unlike back home with the other bat ponies. I'm not
Night stopped writing suddenly, then thought again. This time, he set down the pencil, and slid the paper out of sight, but leaving the very edge sticking out between a small split in the wood works of the desk. He sighed, then gathered the more important letters, and neatly stuffing them into envelopes, then writing on the envelopes to ensure they are sent to the right ponies.
Afterwards, Night flew out of his barrack and to the nearest mail drop box, then back to his barrack to shower and wait. Less than two hours after mailing the letters, the mail pony made his rounds through the barracks, sliding two letters under the barrack door and knocking.
Night looked over to the door, and floated over to the letters, then picked them up and floated back over to the desk to read. Both letters read almost the same thing; that Princess Celestia and Shining Armor would be glad to have a word with Night, but no response from Fallen Star...yet. Knowing he didn't have anything nice to wear, Night instead decided to wear his armor to the small meeting, and flew the entire way to avoid getting dirty from last night's thunderstorm, which left much of the guard barracks in a muddy mess.
He landed at one of the castle's entrances, being allowed in after being given a password by Celestia herself. Night was the first to arrive to the meeting spot; Celestia's throne hall, which was vacant of any life, guards too. Minutes later, the throne room doors swung open, followed by the entrance of the Sun Princess herself, escorted by two pegasus guards, then Shining Armor close behind. Night stood, bowing to both Celestia and Shining Armor in respect.
"Good afternoon your highness, captain." Night smiled to them.
"Good afternoon, Night Shadow." Celestia smiled back, and the three sat on pillows around a small discussion table. "You wanted to speak with us, yes?"
"I did, your highness." Night inhaled. "I don't want either of you to take this the wrong way, but I have an explanation as to why Corporal Sharpblade passed last week."
Both Shining Armor and Princess Celestia's eyes widened slightly.
"Y...you do?" Shining spoke.
Night nodded in response, then exhaled quietly. "The night before the incident, I was on my way back to the barracks just after sunset and took a shortcut through the darker side of town, and soon found myself in a situation where somepony knocked me unconscious. I woke up not long later, blindfolded and unable to move, then my captor injected me with some strange liquid. I didn't see what it was, nor did he tell me. I wanted to get help, but I soon fell back asleep. The next thing I know, I'm in my bunk back at the barracks. At first I thought it was all a dream, and me and Sharp had a sparring match planned later on after lunch. It went pretty well, and...he asked me to bite him...with these," Night opened his mouth, pointing to his fangs. Both Celestia and Shining Armor were once again in shock.
"Fangs?" Celestia stared at Night's fangs, then up at him as he closed his mouth again and nodded.
"I was born with them. Anyways, he said they would be a great way to defend myself, and I did bite him. Whatever that pony put inside me the night before, I'm certain was a plan to cripple the guard. Although, I don't know why he expected me to bite everyone I walked into, unless it was supposed to alter my mind or something."
"So, you're saying you killed the corporal?" Shining started to form a glare on his face.
"W-what? No sir. I would never, Sharp was my best friend. Its only now that I realize everything that happened," Night sighed, then looked down. Shining Armor continued to glare, until Celestia put a hoof on his shoulder.
"I think it is obvious you aren't at fault here, which means there's something else that we can tell the rest of the guard. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Night Shadow, and our condolences go to you. Sharp was a great stallion," Celestia put her hoof back down, still staring at Night in worry.
"Thank you, your highness. He was, and he was a great friend too," Night then looked down at his hooves, until Shining Armor cleared his throat.
"Night Shadow?"
Night glanced back up. "Yes sir?"
"Are you still interested in graduating guard training?"
Night stopped and thought. He didn't want to say no, but pondered about it. After thinking, he eyed Shining Armor. "Yes sir. But, I would like to make a small request."
"Name it." Shining replied.
"I would like to serve in the Lunar Guard instead, sir."
"Is that all?" Celestia asked.
"Yes your highness, captain."
"That can most definitely be arranged," Shining smiled. "I will be in contact with Fallen Star when he returns from his other meetings."
"Thank you sir," Night smiled back. "I vow to do my best."
Many more weeks later, the warm sun once again slowly ascended into the skies over Equestria, raised by none other than Celestia herself. The city of Canterlot quickly came to life as ponies scampered around town trying to get to their workplace, or wherever they needed to be. At the castle, of course, it never fully shut down. Guards kept watch over every inch of the palace, watching over it's royalty residents and other ponies who worked late at the castle. Every twelve hours however, the guard branches swapped places to be aligned with the times. Sometimes, one or two of the day guard branch were on duty to fill in for sick guards.
That morning, Night Shadow slowly rose from his bed in the barrack he still occupied to himself, and another newbie who arrived that week, but was almost never around to talk. He didn't pay much attention to the pony's absence, and was more focused on that day, for today he would be taking a new step in his career, and quite possibly his life. As always, Night followed his new morning routine; get out of bed, run a few laps on the track, polish his armor, then shower and get ready.
After he showered, Night slowly put his silver armor set on his body, still shining brightly in any light from being polished. He trotted over to a mirror, looking himself over to make sure nothing was put on wrong, or that there was anything wrong with the armor, which there wasn't from what he could see. He had finally finished looking himself over---five minutes ago---but was still staring at himself in the mirror, thinking to himself before finally talking. "You can do this Night Shadow. All these weeks, you're finally ready," then turned around, trotting to the front door and stepping outside onto the training grounds.
The temperature was unsure of itself, and Night felt it as half cold, half warm. It almost felt like he couldn't feel it, it was so perfect. Then, Night also noticed the gleam of his armor in the sun. In fact, the sun today seemed brighter than ever before. Nopony seemed to bat an eye to it, allowing Night Shadow to ease his muscles. The day seemed absolutely perfect, but that only aroused some suspicion. He felt something was bound to go wrong then, and tensed up once more as he made his way to the castle.
There was still plenty of time before he was to meet with Princess Celestia and Shining Armor, though he didn't know of a way to make it go faster without getting carried away with that activity, and missing a very important meeting that would decide his fate in Canterlot. Patiently, Night sat on a bench in the castle gardens, an extremely peaceful place, where the only sounds were tree leaves lightly brushing through the weak breeze, and birds singing from around the gardens, with the faint trickle of water from a nearby pond.
Less than an hour later, Night found it wasn't easy to wait any longer, but knew he should stay put for another hour to avoid forgetting, which was easy for him, something he desperately needed to change if he is to be a guard. Night tapped his hooves on the wooden bench, peering around at his surroundings, which was mostly trees, bushes, and flowers of all kinds. He sat back against the bench, shutting his eyes just enough to relax, but not fall asleep...hopefully.
Suddenly, Night felt the earth shake, quickly jumping to his hooves and looking around for the source.
"Night Shadow!" A guard yelled from close proximity. Night whipped around, seeing it was the guard who shook him.
"So I did fall asleep." "What is it? What happened?!"
"Someone stole the princess' diamond necklace, and they're getting away!"
Night gasped at the guard's words, quickly looking to his side and seeing the pony dart away in a flash. "Oh no you don't!" Night took quick pursuit, chasing the pony out of the gardens and onto the streets of Canterlot, which were surprisingly packed with ponies, making it hard to navigate. Thinking fast, he opened his wings and flew above the crowd, searching over it for the crook, which took time to find. Once the crowd ended two blocks down, the pony, a grey unicorn, took off galloping down the street again, turning a corner. "HEY!" Night yelled, flying as fast as his wings could take him from above, keeping up with the unicorn. Soon, Night found himself at a perfect position, and dove down, tackling the pony to the cobble street, both making loud grunts as they did. "I got you now!"
The pony quickly turned over, attempting to kick Night off. Night managed to hold him down, then finally getting a glimpse of the pony. His eyes widened greatly. "Sh...Sharp?"
Before Night could do anything else, the unicorn bucked Night Shadow directly in the gut, before standing back up with the necklace in his hoof, and taking off down the street. Night yelped, holding his gut in pain and coughing some, having the wind knocked out of him. Moments after taking the hit, he resumed his pursuit of the pony, who resembled his late friend. He couldn't believe he was chasing Sharpblade, and even more that he couldn't believe he stole from the princess. Night panted as he galloped after. "Sharp...stop! You won't get away!"
Ahead, Sharp was still galloping quickly, zigzagging between ponies as he made his way towards the gate. He looked behind, grinning when he didn't see Night Shadow following anymore. Suddenly, he was tackled from the side, the necklace being knocked out of his hoof and sliding across the cobble. He grunted loudly at the hit, squirming once more out of Night's grasp, until he grabbed a hold of his tail, yanking Sharp back with a tug. "Let go of me!" Sharp yelled, trying to pull his tail away.
"Not until you hand that necklace back!" Night kept a good grip on Sharp's tail, before it slipped free. Sharp then ran up to the necklace, about to grab it, before being knocked back down by the soon-to-be Lunar guard. "I won't...let you...get away with this Sharp!"
The two fought over the necklace, each throwing a few punches at each other. Night took most of the damage, being smaller than Sharpblade. Ponies watched as the two fought, shocked when it appeared the two ponies knew each other. As Night lay on the ground, groaning in more pain other than his gut, he slowly glanced up, seeing Sharp once more walking up to the necklace. In a final attempt, Night stood slowly. "Not...TODAY!" He tackled Sharp again, this time managing to pin him down. Both of their hooves were pressed forward, and the necklace slipped away, towards the cliff. The two ponies watched in surprise, before Sharp tried to kick Night off again, instead managing to roll him off, then chasing after the runaway necklace.
"No...no no no no!" Sharp yelled, lunging at the necklace to grab it, but found to be too late as it fell off the mountainside. Sharp slid onto the cliff, screaming out in anger. "NOOOOO! YOU IDIOT!" He quickly turned around, glaring at Night. Just then, more guards arrived, and almost instantly, Sharp was gone with the wind, running away to avoid captivity.
Night slowly stood, rubbing his sore arm and staring at the cliff with his ears pinned back. They soon perked back up once he heard the yell of a familiar stallion, then lowering them once more as he turned around. Standing before him was none other than Captain Shining Armor, who was glaring at Night deeply.
"What did you do?!" Shining Armor yelled in anger.
"I'm...I'm sorry sir, I tried to stop him and get the necklace, I swear! It slipped away!" Night recoiled back, shrinking in size.
"That necklace is irreplaceable, do you know how old it was?!"
"N-no sir..."
"Two--thousand--years old!" Shining glared harder. Night wasn't sure if he could glare any harder than he already was. "Screw your promotion, you're in deep trouble for letting the princess' necklace fall off a mountain!"
"But sir I-"
"No buts, you're NOT one of my guards." Shining lit up his horn in a pink aura. Instantly, the armor Night Shadow wore disappeared in a poof of smoke. Night gasped, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks, moments later collapsing onto the grass and screaming out.
"NOOOOOO!"
Night Shadow quickly sat up, pupils shrunk still and panting hard. He gradually calmed, seeing he was still in the gardens with the silver armor still on. "Wh...what?" He slowly looked around, shocked to find it was dark outside. Night quickly looked up at the sky, glancing around the pitch-black sky, then seeing the full moon at it's peak. "No...no no, I missed it!" He stood up on the bench, opening his wings and flapping hard, taking flight and searching for the entrance to the castle. He eventually found the door he came out of when he first entered the gardens, attempting to pull it open, but it was locked. "Come on...open up!" He continued to pull on the handles, hearing the rustle of chains on the other side of the door as he did. Suddenly, the lights inside the castle completely shut off, as did the street lights, and the rest of the buildings around Canterlot. Night jumped at the sudden power outage, now softly trembling in his armor. "Wh-who's doing this?" He slowly looked around, finding it somewhat hard to see, despite normally being able to in any darkness.
Night slowly backed away from the door, into a corner where the building split off into another small wing, a stairway leading to a bridge which led to more of the castle, a couple of small towers. He panted in fear, beginning to hyperventilate as a black fog appeared around him, slowly closing on his position and blacking out most of the area. Night opened his wings to take off into the sky, but found he couldn't flap them, nor could he move his hooves. He was paralyzed in position. He slowly looked back up at the approaching fog. "Please...whoever is doing this...you got me good! Tell me someone, this is a joke?!"
No one replied, and the fog soon engulfed Night altogether. It was hard to breathe in, and he choked hard, gasping for clean air, which wasn't there to support him. It felt like he was under water, except there was no water, just thick, black fog that took his breath away.
"AAAAAH!" Night sat up again, holding his hooves to his chest as he panted. He quickly looked around again, it was day time. He was unsure if it were another dream, if he was dreaming at all. The next thing he remembered, was he needed to find Princess Celestia and Shining Armor. He stood up, leaping off of the bench and galloping over to the northern garden entrance, pulling the door open and galloping inside. Everything seemed normal at that point, but he remained alert in case something else was to happen. Night navigated the halls, running as fast as his hooves could take him to the throne room, where he was set to meet up with Shining Armor and the princess. Minutes later, he burst into the throne room, spotting Celestia and Shining Armor with shrunk pupils.
"Your highness, captain!" Night panted. "I-I'm so sorry I'm late!"
"What are you talking about, Night Shadow?" Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, staring at the distraught recruit.
"I-I fell asleep while waiting, I'm so sorry!"
"What ever are you talking about? You aren't late. In fact, you're quite early," Princess Celestia spoke in a calm tone.
"I..." Night panted, then catching his breath. "What?"
"You're early to the meeting," Celestia smiled.
"But I...I fell asleep."
"You couldn't have slept too long, it's only ten-thirty," Shining chuckled slightly.
"Ten...thirty?" Night's eyes widened. "I-I fell asleep somewhere around ten twenty-eight! How is this...am I dreaming again?"
"Again?" Both the princess and Shining Armor raised an eyebrow.
"I had some crazy dreams while I slept. I'd...rather not talk about them." Night shuddered slightly.
"That is okay," Shining waved a hoof. "Now, are you ready?"
Night stood motionless, gaining his posture and inhaling. "Yes sir, I am."
"Very well. Princess, what do you think?"
"Captain, I admire this stallion as much as I admire his honesty he just showed to us," Celestia smiled. "I believe he will make a great guard under Luna's branch, maybe even more."
Night smiled at the princess' words. "Thank you, your highness."
Shining Armor then turned, staring at Night Shadow with a serious look. "I admire his honesty as well, your highness. He has done his part in training, and I think it is time we grant him permission to the Royal Guard Armor Crafter," He also smiled at Night Shadow. "Welcome to the guard, Private Night Shadow," Shining then stood up, saluting to the pegasus, who saluted back, trying to hold back tears.
"Thank you...so much your highness, Captain," Night dropped the salute after a moment, as did Shining Armor.
"You are to go to the armor fitter tomorrow, as he will have a nice set of armor ready for you to try on." Shining spoke once more.
"Yes sir. Is that all?"
"Affirmative. Now, you are dismissed, private."
Night Shadow nodded once, once again saying thank-you to the two ponies, before exiting the throne room, where he squealed of joy in front of two of the throne room's guards, who stared at the pegasus and forcing him to quiet down. Embarrassed, Night galloped off, returning to his barrack.
No more than two months following Night Shadow's promotion, giving him the Private title at last, he was enjoying his first full-time job very much. Days seemed to fly by, and soon enough, they were getting shorter and colder. Leaves were turning different colors and floating away from their parent trees, and the breeze was picking up some as well, a sure sign fall was on it's way. By then, Night was used to the warmer climate of central Equestria, and didn't at all miss the colder northeast temperatures of his home... the home he was suddenly beginning to miss.
One cool August morning, it finally hit Night hard in the mind. It had been just under a year since he left, he was two months away from turning eighteen, and he was now a private in the Lunar Guard. His mind battled over the different ideas of returning for a couple of days, but every turnout wasn't good.
It either ended with his parents forcing him to stay, or disowning him altogether and having him thrown in a dungeon for joining the guard. It shook his heart either way the tables were going to turn, but he did miss home, and would do anything to go back and make things right, even if it was just between him and his parents. Night knew even just showing up would most likely anger his father. Who knows he thought, what if they adopted a replacement for him?
His heart sank deeper into the cold ocean of terrible thoughts, but instead of curling into a ball and sobbing, he rose out of bed and started readying himself for his shift. It wouldn't be any different he thought, surely things couldn't go awry like the Summer Sun Celebration did a week after his promotion, when it was night time for half of a day.
It was strange and unexplainable, but he didn't think much of it. Instead, he trotted out of his barrack in full Lunar Guard patrol armor, down the path, and onto the streets of Canterlot. A Lunar guard in the day time seemed awkward to some ponies, as it did to Night himself, but he went with it like every other guard.
By then, the Lunar Guard was booming at the return of the so called 'Lunar Princess', who was rumored to be Celestia's sister, and also the thing that attacked Ponyville two months back. During that time, Night also learned that his friend Thunderblast was assigned to the Summer Sun Celebration when it went downhill, and managed to break one of his wings in the process, and was on medical leave for a while to let it heal.
Since then, he hadn't seen his trainer friend. It was lonely, even now that Sharpblade was gone. The thought of what happened left a scar on his heart which he knew would never go away as long as he lived. After what he went through, his personal mission was to find the pony responsible, and make him suffer for eternity for his crimes.
As Night patrolled, he kept his mind set on his job, but from time to time began thinking about home again. He shook his head to clear the thought, only to have it come back a few minutes later, stronger than ever. Finally, he pulled himself into an alley where no one would see or hear him...hopefully. There, he had begun to break down.
"Fine...fine! I'll go." He sniffled to himself, staring at his reflection in a small water puddle before him. Small tears slithered down his cheeks as he stood back up, opening his wings and taking flight back towards the Canterlot castle. Minutes later, Night Shadow landed on one of the palace's many bridges, which lead from one side of the enormous building to other sections, such as watch towers for the Royal Guard, and personal living towers made exclusively for royalty.
Walking across the bridge, Night approached a set of stairs, which wrapped around the sides of a large, round tower which went up at least three more stories. He walked up the stairs, hoping not to dizzy himself from walking in circles almost. Finally, at the top, he knocked on a golden door, complete with a large window dead in the center, but was covered with half-closed blinds.
"Come in."
Night Shadow stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. "Sir," he saluted the snow-white unicorn sitting at his desk with loads of undone paperwork. The unicorn saluted back instantly. "Permission to speak, sir?"
"Granted." The unicorn, Shining Armor, dropped his salute, as did Night Shadow.
"I would like to take a three-day leave, sir."
"What for may I ask?" Shining leaned forward, crossing his hooves on the desk.
Night Shadow walked up to the desk, "I am homesick, sir. I haven't been home in... well, I don't know how long."
"Hmm...common excuse for somepony to take time off, but seeing as you haven't taken any time off since the poisoning incident, I guess that will be fine. Three days, right?" Shining pulled open a drawer with his magical grip, and levitated out a small piece of paper and a pen.
"Yes sir, three days. That is all," Night kept a straight face as he eyed the unicorn, who wrote down a short note of his absence for the next three days.
"Alright," Shining finished the note. "I will drop this off at Captain Fallen Star's office later on. But for now, you are dismissed," then saluted to Night Shadow.
"Yes sir, thank you sir," Night saluted back, then turned around and trotted to the door, before walking out of Shining's office. Outside, he let out a deep exhale of relief, then once again took to the skies towards the train station. Once there, he bought a ticket for Vanhoover, granting him rest during the long journey ahead, which the train trip alone would take just under a day, plus another couple of hours just to fly back east in search of his long missed home. He boarded the train, seating himself in one of the emptier, quieter cars towards the rear.
Getting comfortable quickly, Night glanced out the window at the platform, which was mostly empty, except for the few that were waiting for a different train. He felt a jolt, and moments later, the train pulled away from the station. Night leaned against the wall, watching the buildings crawl past him as the train picked up speed, departing the city completely a couple of minutes later. He sighed softly, watching Canterlot fade into the distance as the train chuffed downhill, passing through a lower village on Canter Mountain without stopping.
Many hours later, the train raced west, and Canterlot now completely out of sight from their position. Now, the only sights to be seen were distant mountains, trees, and small lakes here and there. The sun shined brightly, with some smaller clouds scattered across the sky without blocking it. As Night watched trees pass, he returned his thoughts to home.
First, he thought what the weather might be like, and if he would have to get used to it like he did Canterlot's climate. Next, he wondered if he would fly the rest of the way, or walk, then fly once he was under the city. After that, his mind went blank from all of the thoughts racing through it at once, and instead decided to shut his eyes and rest for a bit.
Many more hours passed, and the sound of a train whistle woke Night Shadow quickly. He opened his eyes slowly, rubbing one with a hoof and recoiling at the brightness of the train's interior lights as it pulled into the Vanhoover station. The only two ponies in his car were already standing, waiting for the doors to open as the train screeched to a halt, jolting Night onto his hooves. Unsure of what time it is, but seeing how dark it was outside, especially on the western side of Equestria, he assumed he had a nice, long nap. He stretched his wings a couple of times, before the train conductor spoke over the train's public announcement system, welcoming the passengers to Vanhoover. The doors opened, and every one of the passengers disembarked, including Night Shadow. Once on the platform, he realized it was raining outside. Not perfect flying weather, especially at night, but he was still tempted to make the flight home. After a bite to eat in the station's restaurant to regenerate any energy lost during his nap, Night stepped out into the rain, which wasn't as much of a downpour as it was on the station's rooftop when he stepped off of the train. He allowed some time for his coat to floof, which would be his only means of staying warm in the cold rain. Without further waiting, he took to the skies, flying southeast, and towards his old home. The cold rain soaked the stallion as he continued in the direction of his old colony's home in the sky, which he hoped wasn't being drenched with rain as well.
Almost two hours had passed, and Night was still a bit away from Batsburg. Then, it hit him that none of his family would be awake at that time. Not wanting to wake them, he descended down towards the forest. Finding tree shrouded with leaves, a dry spot to stay for the night, he remembered a technique that bat ponies did in older times when they didn't have beds. It was a trait born with every bat pony, but remembering how was another story. With some hesitation, Night wrapped his tail around one of the stronger branches, and slowly leaned off, swinging under the branch with a quick squeal, having never doing what he was doing before. His swing slowed, and after moving his wings he awkwardly covered his face with, realized he was hanging by his tail perfectly. It was even comfortable, and like bat ponies used to do, he wrapped his wings around himself to keep warm against the cold breeze of the night. However, the wind wasn't the only noise he was hearing. Night slowly peeked over his wings, glancing around at the thick forestation around him, his ears perking and twitching at what sounded like faint snickering. Trying to ignore, he buried his face in his wings and remained as still as he could. He had to admit, being alone was a fear he never got over, especially being alone in the wilderness.
The next morning, the sun shined brightly once again, breaking through the thick layer of clouds which still partially blanketed the area. Tiny drops of water trickled from leaf to leaf on every tree, eventually finding their way to the ground, which was squishy and wet from last night's downpour. One drop slipped down Night's tail, slowly working it's way up his back towards his head. It tickled slightly, making him laugh in his sleep. Eventually, it fell from his ear, forcing it to twitch. Moments later, he yawned quietly and opened his eyes. For how much it rained, he was surprised to still be dry, despite the occasional drops falling onto him. Night folded his wings to his sides and rubbed his eyes with his hooves. After sleeping upside down, he felt more replenished than ever.
"Hmm...perhaps I should sleep like this more often. I feel great!" He said to himself, before swinging himself back and forth, then finally letting go and opening his wings, staying put in mid air. Night stretched his hooves, yawning once more, then looking around at his surroundings. Sunlight just barely broke through the thick forest roof, still lighting the forest bright. It hurt his eyes, only for a few moments before they adjusted. Soon after, Night flew up, breaking through a small opening and up above the trees. To his surprise, the area around him looked awfully familiar. The mountains, the forest, even the lake to the west. He glanced up, spotting what he didn't expect, but hoped to see after his long journey.
"Batsburg?" He gasped, staring directly up at the cloud city a long ways up, just barely above the mountain tops if it were over them. After staring for another minute, Night flapped his wings again, flying straight up towards his old home. Soon after, he landed near the edge of the cloud line, and began trotting around the town in search for where he used to live. He walked through the streets, past other bat ponies he didn't recognize one bit. Minutes later, Night reached the housing side of town, still looking for his home. By then, some more houses had been built, making it hard to recognize the area.
Some more minutes later, he finally trotted up to his old house. Stopping at the door, his heart raced a hundred miles per hour. His body wanted to go back to Canterlot, but his mind was still in control, just barely. Raising a shaky hoof, Night slowly knocked on the door, then stopped and stared at it. Inside, he heard faint, muffled hoofsteps which came closer. The door unlocked, and soon opened. Night's eyes soon met those of a dark grey bat pony mare with a silver mane and grass-green eyes. The mare suddenly gasped.
"Hi mom." Night stared with a somewhat sad expression, his ears less perky than before.
"B...Blood? Is it you?" The mare slowly pushed the door to the side, leaving it wide open.
"It is...but, I'm not Bloodvein anymore mom."
Midnight sniffled a bit. "Then, who are you?"
"I changed my name," Night sighed. "I'm Night Shadow now."
The bat pony mare smiled a bit through her tears. "I like that name. It's a good name," she said, before leaning forward quickly and hugging Night Shadow tightly, beginning to sob into his armored shoulder. Night hugged back as tight as he could without choking her, ears pinning down as he shed some tears of his own. A couple of minutes later, Midnight pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "Come in, your dad and sister will want to see you. Sky!" She yelled upstairs.
There was no response, except for the sound of heavy hooves trotting down the upstairs hallway and down the stairs. "Yes, Midni-" There was suddenly another gasp, but from a stallion. Night Shadow peered up, his ears still low as he stared Skywatcher right in the eyes. "Bloodvein?"
"Hey...dad." Night spoke in a quiet voice.
"What are you doing here?" Skywatcher slowly walked down the last few stairs, stopping just a couple of feet from Night Shadow and staring him directly in the eyes.
"I um, I felt homesick and came back," Night brushed his hoof on the floor slowly.
"After ten months of running away, you finally decide to come back to us?" Sky glared at Night Shadow.
"Y-yes..." Night looked down, then back up at his father. "Look dad I..." He stopped.
"You what?" Sky continued to stare. "And what are you wearing?"
"Armor..."
Skywatcher gasped some. "Did you go into the Legion? I haven't seen you around, where were you?"
"I wasn't at your base, dad. I was at another one."
Skywatcher raised an eyebrow. "We only have one base son."
"Oh crap." "R-really? Are you sure? Because, uh-"
"Quit lying to us. Where have you been all this time, and where did you get that armor?" Sky narrowed is eyes on his son standing before him.
"You...really want to know?"
"Yes." Midnight spoke up.
Night looked between the both of them, and inhaled. "I ran away to Canterlot...and I joined the Royal Guard."
"You...what?" Both Skywatcher and Midnight's pupils shrunk to pinpricks, and Midnight held Sky close.
"I joined the Royal Guard...I was accepted onto the Lunar Guard."
"You...traitor."
"Dad...just please listen, I was homeless for so long, it was my only option other than to starve in a dark alley with nothing but a blanket to sleep on. I had to dad."
"You could have gone into the Legion for the same thing, son! How could you betray your own parents like this?"
"Because you were forcing me to do something I didn't want to at the time!" Night yelled, startling his parents. "I was taking a part time job, to earn some extra money for us, and you went and enlisted me without my prior knowledge or permission! If you were a good parent, you would know to let your son do what he wants, whatever makes me happy! And this, I am happy with!"
Night panted, staring his parents down in a sudden burst of rage provoked by his father. The entire room went silent, until the sounds of hooves running down the stairs filled the room. Night glanced behind his parents, spotting an older filly who stopped on the last step, staring at the three of them.
"Big brother?" The filly gasped.
Night slowly calmed himself, and nodded. "Dawn."
"Don't go near him, Dawn," Skywatcher spoke.
"But why? Blood is home!"
"He's not your brother, and he certainly isn't my son," Skywatcher growled slightly, showing his fangs at Night.
"No, get out of here. You aren't wanted here anymore, Bloodvein."
"Dad...I'm not Blood anymore...I told mom. I changed my name, I'm Night Shadow now."
"Fine then, get out of here, Night Shadow. Never come back."
"Dad..."
"GO!"
"...Fine." Night turned around, wiping at his eyes and sniffling softly, walking out the front door and shutting it behind him.
Midnight turned to Skywatcher after the door shut. "Sky..."
"No, don't start with me Midnight, he's a traitor to all of the bat ponies. He should be lucky I didn't drag him to the Governor for his crimes."
"What crimes? He ran away and got a job elsewhere. There isn't anything wrong with that, and he hasn't attacked anyone. He's still our boy."
"He's not my boy," Skywatcher turned around to walk upstairs, spotting Dawn Blossom still standing there, glaring at her father. "Dawn?"
"Dad, what did you do?"
"Night is a traitor, sweetie."
"He isn't a traitor! He's my brother! Why don't you ever listen to mom, or me?! You're the reason he left the first time! I...I hate you!" Dawn turned around, running upstairs into her bedroom and slamming the door.
Skywatcher sighed, following Dawn upstairs a minute later. "Sweetie...please don't say that!" He walked up to her door and knocked. There was no response. "Dawn?" He knocked again, still no response. Sky turned the door knob and pushed it open, gasping when he found Dawn not to be in her room, and her window open. On her bed was a note written quickly by Dawn, which Sky walked up to and began reading.
"Dear dad,
I will only come back once Night is back. Until then, don't bother looking for me."
Skywatcher's ears drooped, and he let go of the letter, which floated onto the floor. "Fine..." He then turned around, galloping downstairs and out the front door, surprising Midnight when he ran past. He galloped down the street, searching for Night Shadow. "Night?!"
Meanwhile, Night Shadow had curled up next to the edge of the city, staring down at the ground with drooped ears. His heart ached, having it being broken by his own father for a second time in less than a year. Night was planning on going back to Canterlot early, but decided at that time to stay put, feeling too broken down to go anywhere. Then, the faint clop of hooves could he heard walking closer. He didn't bother to look up as a shadow loomed over him.
"Hey, are you alright?" A bat pony stallion spoke to Night. He too had a grey coat, with green eyes and a black mane.
"No...no I'm not alright," Night whimpered softly, still staring down.
"You wanna talk about it?" The pony sat down next to Night Shadow, staring down at him.
Night sighed. "Fine, I guess that will be okay," he continued to look down.
Both ponies stayed silent for a moment, before the bat pony spoke up again. "Silly me, I forgot to introduce myself. The name's Aux. Aux Tism."
"No offense, but that's a strange name. Isn't it the name of that disease that ponies are barely born with?"
"What? No?"
Night sighed. "Nevermind."
"Well...alright," Aux tapped his hoof. "Aren't you going to tell me what's wrong?"
"Why should I? We just met."
"Doesn't mean I can't help."
Night sighed once more. "I'm too hurt."
"Why, family issues?"
"Yeah...how did you guess?" Night sat his head up, staring at Aux.
"Heh, lucky guess?" The stallion scratched the back of his head with a hoof. "Look, I have a secret to tell you. Will you promise not to tell anypony?"
Night nodded. "Yeah, sure," then laid his head back on his hooves. Suddenly, there was a bright green flash to his side, followed by a snicker.
"This won't hurt that much," Aux spoke. Night quickly looked over, seeing instead of a grey bat pony, but a jet-black bug-skinned pony with holes in his hooves, as well as blue, holed insect wings, and solid blue eyes.
"Changeling?!" Night's pupils shrunk at the sight of the changeling. Before he could react, the changeling bit into his wing, causing him to yelp. "Get off you bug eyed creep!" He kicked his hooves, managing to shove the changeling away before he could sink his fangs deeper, then took off in another direction.
The changeling hissed, standing back up. "You caaaan't run from meeee!" Then chased after Night Shadow.
Night panted and galloped as fast as his hooves could take him, being unarmed and virtually helpless. Suddenly, he was tackled by a larger pony, who he assumed was the changeling. "Aaaagh, get off of me, GET OFF OF ME!" Night squirmed around, before having all four hooves pinned down by four more stronger ones. He felt a warm breath brush down his neck, giving him a slight chill.
"Night, Night calm down!" Skywatcher spoke, attempting to hold Night down. Night slowly stopped squirming and looked up.
"Dad?" Night gasped a little. "W-what are you doing?"
"Coming to talk to you. Listen, I haven't been fair to you. You're right, I'm not a good parent. I don't deserve to be your father at all." Sky stared down at Night.
"But dad, stop. Listen close. I-"
"Please son, just listen. I missed you all this time, I'm more than happy you're back. I'm just angry that you went with the Equestrians instead of your own blooded race."
"Dad...I'm a pegasus."
"You're still a bat pony in my eyes, son. Even if you have differences from the rest of us. You're still my son, no matter what," Skywatcher smiled down at Night Shadow.
"Dad...but."
"Yes?"
Night Shadow suddenly looked over. "Dad, move!" He suddenly kicked Skywatcher upwards after striking him in the gut, just barely dodging a blast of green magic. Sky noticed the blast, landing next to Night and helping him up.
"How did you..."
"Dad, there is a changeling here! I-I think I may have led it here when I slept in the trees!"
"A changeling?" Skywatcher stared at Night in some shock, then heard an evil laugh and stared ahead, spotting the changeling with a horn lit in green. "Oh...my..."
The changeling chuckled, smirking evilly towards the two stallions. "I told you you can't run from me."
Night growled back at the changeling, getting into a defensive position in front of his father. "Then come get a piece of me you creep!"
"As you wish," The changeling chuckled darkly again, running towards Night Shadow and Skywatcher.
Night moved forward to begin running at the changeling, only to be stopped by a hoof.
"Wait son, I won't let you do this. Alone. Let's get him together. Father-son time," Skywatcher grinned with his fangs at Night Shadow. Night nodded, grinning back.
"Let's give him hell," Night turned again, running towards the changeling. Skywatcher followed suit, staying just behind Night. The two dodged small magic orbs as they were thrown towards them by the changeling. It growled, stopping and lighting up it's horn and creating one last orb which slowly formed. Before it could be thrown, Night tackled the changeling and began throwing hard hooves into it's face. Sky ran up behind, grabbing a hold of the changeling's legs and holding them down, granting Night the chance to beat it up. He continued to punch the changeling, which eventually started bleeding green blood from the hits. The changeling hissed, managing to light up it's horn and form a shield, zapping the two off of him. It stood up, wiping at it's muzzle. He suddenly gasped as he did.
"M...my fang! You broke my fang!" The changeling hissed, walking up to Skywatcher, who was stunned from being shocked. Off to the side, Night slowly glanced up, groaning in pain from the shock. Before Sky could sit up, the changeling spit on his hooves. His spit soon formed into a green, sticky goo which bonded him to the ground and only stretched when resisted. Sky squirmed his hooves around, grunting and trying to stand up. The changeling grinned and lit his horn. "Say goodbye, old man."
Night gasped, then quickly looked to the side and immediately saw a statue of a Legion soldier holding a real spear. Night flew to the statue and grabbed the spear, then as fast as he could, flew towards the changeling. Skywatcher squirmed around even more, gritting his teeth in anger and staring up at the changeling, who was on the brink of putting him down with a dark spell.
"Dad, close your eyes and mouth!" Night lunged forward, gliding down towards them at high speeds. Sky quickly shut his eyes and his mouth, turning his head and facing away just moments before Night impaled the spear into the changeling's side. The changeling hissed out loud, it's horn slowly cracking, and soon blowing off into dust. The changeling, and Night Shadow, both fell over, one dead. Night slowly stood up, panting and covered in changeling blood. Skywatcher opened his eyes and looked at Night, noticing the slime on his hooves slipping off like water, and fading away. He slowly stood up, staring at the dead changeling.
"You saved me," Sky then turned to Night Shadow, staring in shock. Night got off of the changeling, panting a little from the shock.
"He was going to kill you dad. I couldn't let him," Night reached a hoof up, wiping the green blood off of his muzzle. As he did, he was suddenly met with a lung-crushing hug by his father. He gasped for air a little, Skywatcher releasing him enough so he could breathe, but holding him in a tight hug still. Night hugged back with both hooves, nuzzling his father's chest. "I missed you dad."
"I missed you too, son," Skywatcher shed some tears. "Promise me you won't ever run away again..."
Many days after Night Shadow's unexpected return home, he was back on duty in the capitol city of Canterlot. He felt more relieved than ever to have returned home and made up with his family again, even if on the first day it turned disastrous. Lucky for him, while he was gone, nothing else had happened in the city which relieved him as well.
One warm, calm afternoon, Night Shadow patrolled the streets, just like any other day after his promotion. Ponies trotted up and down the cobblestone streets, some walking from store to store or staring through windows at magnificently-designed dresses, while some younger colts and fillies ran up to a toy store window, watching a toy train on display chug into a small station made out of wooden blocks, or to see the newest Pretty Pony Princess dolls that had just arrived straight from Baltimare.
The day was more than average, and particularly quiet...a little too quiet, and boring. Although, after the changeling encounter back where Night was from, he was happy the day was going to plan. That was, until a rolled-up scroll appeared out of the blue in a pink burst of magic directly in front of his face, which did more than startle him. He leapt back a few inches, letting out a light squeal from the sudden teleportation of the letter, which now laid on the ground tied perfectly in a red silk ribbon with a golden stamp where the ribbon was tied. Night glanced around, his cheeks heating in embarrassment when he saw some ponies staring at him. He hoped everyone in Canterlot didn't hear his scream. Instead of darting off, he chuckled in embarrassment. "I uh, didn't see that coming,"
Shrugging it off, the ponies who had stopped to look at Night Shadow continued their day. Soon, the awkward blush faded from his face, and he picked the scroll up and stared for a moment. Sliding the ribbon off of the scroll neatly, he stood in position, opening and reading the letter.
Dear Private Night Shadow,
It is requested that you return to the palace as soon as you can. You are to meet with a new pony, and I have a feeling once you two meet, you will be the best of friends. When possible, please do come to my throne room. We will be waiting here until you do.
~ Princess Celestia ~
Night Shadow's eyes widened a little at the letter. He eased himself to know nothing had gone wrong, but was curious to know who this 'pony' the princess mentioned in the letter would be. Without any hesitation, he took to the skies, on a path back towards the Canterlot Castle. Not long later, he landed outside, trotting casually inside after showing his badge to the entrance guards. Minutes after, Night stopped at the throne room door, which was heavily guarded as always. After giving a password to enter, he did so, slowly walking into the ever so long throne room which seemed to go on for miles, although it didn't. At the end of the hall, sat Princess Celestia on her yellow throne, smiling brightly like the sun. Beside her, stood a much shorter alicorn mare. The mare's coat was a perfect midnight-blue, and had a moon-blue tomboy-ish mane and tail. Her cutie mark from what Night could tell, was black splotches of what he thought was stained oil. Stopping feet from the throne, Night Shadow lowered himself, bowing to the both of them, and assuming the shorter mare was also royalty.
"Good afternoon, Private Night Shadow," Princess Celestia spoke in a rather cheerful voice, perhaps more cheerful than he's ever heard before.
"Afternoon, your highnesses," Night bowed for a few more moments, then stood back up at a half-attention stand, smiling to the two alicorns.
Standing up as well, Princess Celestia walked calmly down from her throne to Night Shadow, while the blue alicorn continued standing beside Celestia's throne, looking in another direction. "Luna, come down here please."
The mare sighed and groaned slightly. "Yes, big sister," she spoke, having a bit of an older-teenager's voice. The alicorn then walked down from the throne, soon coming to a stop just before Night Shadow.
"Is this Princess Luna?" Night Shadow quietly gasped, speaking to himself mentally.
"Introduce yourself, little sister," Princess Celestia stared down at the smaller alicorn.
The alicorn glanced up at Celestia worriedly, then nodded slowly and returned her attention to Night Shadow, who was just a head shorter than she was. "Greetings, I am Luna, Princess of the Moon," she nervously spoke.
Night Shadow smiled to the smaller princess. "Pleased to meet you, Princess Luna. I am Night Shadow," He extended a hoof to shake.
Princess Luna backed away a few inches, staring at his hoof in concern. Night Shadow's smile dropped into a slight frown, and slowly pulled his hoof back.
"Hmm. Luna, Night Shadow will be serving under your guard, as will the rest of the Lunar Guard, and as they did before and during the rebellion. But for now, I'll leave you two for a little bit," Princess Celestia then walked past the two, and out of the throne room.
Night watched the Sun Princess disappear behind two tall, golden doors as they shut after her, then he turned back to Princess Luna. "So...you're the new princess?"
Luna took some time to reply. "I am not, how you say, 'new'," she then sighed a little. "I was once a monster, imprisoned on the moon for what felt like an eternity. Before that, I was a princess, just like my older sister. We ruled Equestria together, and brought peace and harmony for thousands of years."
"Well...what happened?" Night curiously asked, sitting before the mare.
Watching Night Shadow, Luna slowly sat herself. "We would prefer not to talk about it."
"Alright, that's okay," Night smiled towards Luna. "It is an honor to finally meet you, Princess Luna."
"R-really?" Luna slowly looked up, staring Night Shadow in the eyes.
"Of course," he continued to smile.
"Well...we thank you for your...honor. Where are you from, Night Shadow?"
Night's pupils shrunk a little, the question had returned. He was afraid to say where, but knew somepony had to know eventually. "Can you keep a secret?"
Princess Luna nodded in response. "We can."
"Alright, please don't tell anypony," Night inhaled a little. "I come from a bat pony colony near the Vanhoover area."
Luna stared, puzzled. "But, thou has the wings of a pegasus?"
"I can't explain that. But, I do have these," Night Shadow opened his mouth for the princess to see. Immediately, she spotted his fangs.
"You do have fangs," Luna gasped. "I've missed my dear bat guards all of this time, it pleases me to see one is back in the Royal Guard. But, why aren't there more?"
"Your sister hasn't told you, has she?" Night sighed.
"No. What hasn't she told me?"
"Supposedly after the rebellion, the bat ponies attempted another attack, but were mostly destroyed by the-" Night stopped to think. "...elements of...I forgot what they are called. The remaining bat ponies scattered around, beginning their own colonies to rebuild. Since then, no one but you knows we still exist, and are thriving."
"Why would...my sister do that?" Luna gasped, putting her hooves to her mouth.
"I can't remember all of the story, my father told it to me when I was just a colt."
"But, that does not explain the missing presence of bat guards?"
"It does, actually. Since the second rebellion, peace was never made again between the country and the bat ponies. We're independent of Equestria these days."
"Hmm," Luna thought for a second. "I will speak to my sister about this."
"Please don't, I beg you," Night's eyes widened.
"But, why not?"
"If you tell her, she will question me until I rot. It's best if I try and take care of the situation. Look, it's nothing personal. I just think it would be better if I brought it up to her instead."
Luna nodded in response after a moment. "I understand. When do you wish to bring it up to my sister?"
"Soon, whenever I can get an opportunity. Now I would say isn't the time, then again, I don't know what time would be good."
Many weeks following Princess Luna's grand return to her throne in the Canterlot Palace, her older sister Princess Celestia, as well as a few of the castle guards and other workers had overcome their fears of her and did their best to introduce themselves and the new world she came back to. Of course, it would take time to see all that had changed over the millennium when she was stuck on the moon. Across Equestria, many ponies were ecstatic to hear the Lunar princess had finally returned to her old self, even though the fear of the monster that made the first day of summer almost an everlasting night remained tied in ponies' minds. Soon after, the fear seemed to have gone completely.
One warm afternoon, Night Shadow was next assigned to show Princess Luna around the castle. The two hadn't exactly become friends, but were becoming closer to each other as time went by.
"Hmm...we are not familiar with any of these halls. Would thou care to explain?"
"Well, your highness," Night Shadow started. "Each of these halls have mixed rooms, whether they be storage rooms, housing for royalty, offices for castle staff, restrooms, even halls of nothing but art or old relics," he smiled to the princess as they walked side by side.
"I see...would thou be generous to show me a few of these rooms? We...I mean, I...am not used to this palace. You see, me and my older sister once ruled in a palace near where the town of Ponyville now exists," Princess Luna sighed a little. "It was abandoned after I destroyed a good portion of it when I became my own worst enemy...when I became the monster that I am."
Night Shadow stared curiously but also felt her feelings. "I don't think you're a monster."
"You don't?" Luna turned, glancing down at the Lunar guard.
"Of course not," Night smiled once more. "Everypony has their demons, we all must learn to overcome them. Sometimes it takes friends to help you defeat your fears."
Luna recoiled some at his words, putting a hoof to her chin to think about what he said, then she smiled down at him. "I guess that is true. But, I have little, probably no friends."
"Well, you're my friend, are you not?"
"Thou thinks I am your friend?" Luna blushed very faintly. "I accept."
"I mean, if you want to be. I'm really nopony special," Night looked down a little.
"You are if you were assigned to show us around this new palace," Luna smiled again.
Night stopped, looking up at the princess beside him. "Do you think so?"
"Definitely," Luna smiled still.
Night smiled back, then nodded once. "Thank you, your highness."
"In time, you will see just how powerful your soul is, your leadership is greater than mine. You will excel in your job of a Lunar guard."
Night playfully rolled his eyes as his cheeks warmed. "Oh, stop it! You're making me blush!"
Princess Luna let out a slight chuckle. "Isn't that what thou wants?"
"Hmm, perhaps," he grinned a little. "Alright, fair enough. You win, I lose."
Luna chuckled again, and soon so did Night Shadow as he led the Lunar princess around the palace, taking her through the rooms that weren't locked. After some time, he and Luna made their way down one of the longer halls of the palace, and then through some tall doors and into a much more colorful hallway, with the glass windows being replaced with pane art of what appeared to be major historical events, starting with the founding of Equestria, which had what appeared to be a blue pegasus guard wearing grey armor, a unicorn prince, and an earth pony farmer. Night peered around in awe, having never coming through that hall before. Princess Luna also looked around, but then stopped at one pane which painted the floor in front of it in dark blue and white. Night noticed her stop, trotting up beside her and looking up at her with worry on his face.
"Princess Luna?" He asked. She didn't respond, and soon her ears pinned back and she sighed. Night slowly turned his head and stared at the pane art she was also looking at. Gasping, he took a step back. "This...oh my gosh..." Night's ears pinned back. "No...why would they have this?"
"I do not know, Night Shadow," Princess Luna said in a sadder tone. "I may have been banished when this happened, but that does not mean I didn't watch it happen."
Night glanced over to the next window art, and gasped softly again. He slowly walked over, staring at it like it just stabbed him in the chest with a knife in fear. "The Bat pony war...why would they have this too?"
"I guess...it signifies as memories...for those who remember. Although, I must question how you know about this?"
"Because..." Night stared at the glass with his ears still pinned back. "It's about where I come from."
"Would thou remind me where you come from?"
Night slowly looked down at the red carpet. "I...I can't...say."
Luna sighed a bit. "I see...we will not pressure you about it. For now, we shall leave this room."
Later that day, Night Shadow sat in the mess hall, sipping at a cup of water and playing with his food with a fork while holding his head up with a hoof. He stared down at his tray, which was mostly full of diced carrots, apple slices, green beans, and a bowl of tomato soup. He was still in a deep thought about the room he and Luna entered regretfully earlier.
"Hey Night," a voice broke his trance.
He glanced up, his eyes meeting those of another guard in full golden armor, his helmet mane piece being black rather than the average blue or white. "Oh, hey Thunder."
"Mind if I sit with you?" Thunderblast asked, holding a tray of a similar selection of food, minus the bowl of tomato soup.
"Sure thing," Night smiled faintly, then started eating for the first time.
Thunder sat down across from Night, picking up his fork and putting a couple of diced carrots in his mouth. "Mmm," he started. "I gotta say, I didn't expect food to be this good in the Royal Guard."
"Heh, yeah," Night replied, eating slowly.
Thunder glanced up to Night. "Something wrong buddy?"
"Oh, no," Night smiled again, but didn't think of perking his ears back up.
Thunderblast raised an eyebrow. "You know, it isn't hard to tell when somepony is depressed. What happened?"
"I swear, it's nothing."
"Night, no offense, but sometimes it's easy to compare you to a mare," he lifted more carrots into his mouth with the fork.
Night Shadow's face turned into a slight glare and he sat up completely. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
Thunder swallowed his food and stared back. "It means, you like to hide your feelings even when it's evident you're not happy."
"Well, no, I am not happy today, and for the record, I am not a mare!"
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say," Thunder grinned slightly and continued eating.
"Do we have to take this outside?!" Night said angrily.
"Of course not, unless that's what you want."
"I'm not afraid to kick your little filly flank in front of all of these guards!" Night hissed.
"You, take me down?" Thunder chuckled. "That's a good one, you're getting better at humor Night."
Night growled and stood up, grabbing his tray and angrily walking out of the mess hall to eat outside. Sitting on a picnic table outside of the mess hall, he continued to eat slowly, but had lost the thought of the window art he saw with Luna. Less than five minutes later, Thunderblast walked out, instantly spotting Night Shadow and walked over.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I just want to know what's got you down," he said, sitting in front of Night.
"Forget about it, if you're going to call me a mare because I don't want to speak my mind all the time, then get lost," Night replied in anger.
"Sheesh, fine. I'll leave," Thunder stood back up and walked off slowly.
Almost immediately after, the thought hit Night again, and he facehoofed himself hard. "Ow..." He groaned, rubbing at where he bruised himself. Suddenly, another thought hit his mind. "Thunder, wait!" He stood up, staring at Thunder from a distance.
Thunderblast stopped and looked behind him. "What?"
"Come back, I have a favor to ask you," Night replied.
Thunder turned back around and trotted back, sitting in front of Night. "What is it?"
"Long story, but I can't tell you out here. Let's go to my barrack and talk there, alright?"
"Er...sure," Thunder stared with a raised eyebrow.
"Now, are you ready?"
"Sure?"
"Alright," Night sat down in front of Thunderblast, then opened his mouth and showed his fangs.
"Your fangs, what about them?"
Night closed his mouth. "You see, I'm part bat pony."
Thunder then smiled in amusement. "Part bat pony, you're joking right?" He then burst into laughter.
"It's true. I come from a colony east of Vanhoover."
Thunder soon stopped. "Bat ponies have been wiped out for less than a millennium. There are no more."
"You want to bet? We weren't all wiped out, although we almost were. Look, I need your help. It just now hit me that one of these days, my colony will lead the others to war with Equestria. If we can get our colony leaders and the princesses to talk about peace, we can stop another war. I'm not saying one will happen soon, but I would suggest we're better safe than sorry," Night explained. "Bat ponies don't like Equestrians at all after what happened."
"But wait, if they hate Equestrians, how will I be able to help, and what do you need help with exactly?"
"Well, first, we could disguise you as a bat pony, and secondly, we could talk to the governor of my colony about it."
"Okay, but how will I be disguised as a bat pony? It's impossible unless I were a unicorn, which I'm not."
"Ever heard of vampire bats?"
"Yeah, but aren't those in storybooks?"
"Nope, they're a hundred percent real. All we gotta do is find one, let it bite you, then boom, you're a bat pony."
"Wait, let it bite me? Are you insane?!" Thunder flailed his hooves.
"Perhaps," Night grinned. "It won't be permanent, I'm sure there are potions that you could drink to turn you back."
"Well, if you say so..." Thunder sighed. "Look, if this is some trick, I don't want in."
"I swear on my life that it isn't, Thunder. I really need your help. If this works, there won't be any more hate between races. Isn't that something you would rather have, than war?"
Thunderblast nodded some. "Peace is always good. Alright, I'm in."
Two nights later, long after his shift had ended and Night Shadow's had started, Thunderblast laid in bed in his apartment, almost completely wide awake. He had been thinking about what his friend said for over two days, and couldn't sleep because of it. He tossed and turned in his bed, attempting many times to think of something else, but the thought of having to find a vampire bat to bite him and transform him only stuck like glue fresh in his mind.
Finally, he laid on his back and stared up at his ceiling with wide open, desperate eyes. Thunder turned his head, staring at the alarm clock on the nightstand beside his bed, which read almost midnight. He stared back up at his ceiling, eyes barely moving as he thought the plan over. Shrugging to himself, Thunder climbed out of bed and trotted out into the living room of his Manehattan-style apartment and out onto the balcony. The air outside was cold, and nipped at his skin under his coat like mosquitoes.
He inhaled, then took to the skies, changing course and flying away from the city, then down towards the forest below the mountain. Shivering a little, he cursed at himself mentally for not wearing a jacket before leaving. Instead of going back, he decided to suck it up and keep going in hopes of finding a vampire bat in less than two hours. The only problem was, he was unsure of what one looked like, though he assumed one would look menacing.
Just over a quarter-till one, he continued to scan the forest by hoof, looking through the dark, shadowy trees for a vampire bat. Thunder grumbled to himself, still mentally facehoofing himself for not wearing something warm. His breath steamed as he walked, the cold air still sweeping through his coat and feathers in a brisk wind which whistled and rustled the leaves above and around him.
Before he could step any further, he heard a faint hiss from above. Thunder's pupils shrunk to pinpricks, and he slowly peered up at a branch, his eyes meeting an extremely dark grey colored bat, mostly wrapped in it's wings while hanging down a foot above his head. It's red, menacing eyes glared back down towards him, letting out another hiss as if it was warning him to leave before it attacked.
Instead of doing so, Thunder gulped and hesitantly floated up to the bat, which watched him closely and hissed once more. He stared back worriedly, then slowly extended his hoof towards the bat and shut his eyes, knowing the bite would be painful. The bat let out a quiet growl, lunging forward and grabbing hold of Thunder's arm in a tight grip, then opened it's mouth and sunk it's fangs into his muscle. He let out a loud yelp, wanting desperately to beat the ever loving wits out of the bat, but rather did his best to deal with the pain as it injected a clear liquid into his veins, which burned at the wound and his bones. When it finished, the bat pulled away, then flew away squeaking loudly, disappearing into the pitch black forest.
Thunder grabbed his arm, putting his hoof on the wound to hold the venom in, wishing the bat would have gone for a less sensitive part of his arm rather than his muscles, which only intensified the pain.
He floated slowly back to the ground, grunting some at the pain of the bite, then made his way back towards Canterlot with a slight limp in his walk. Desperate to get home, but also elated that he found a vampire bat, Thunder flew straight up towards the slumbering city, still gripping his arm which was beginning to go limp. He started to worry when he found it hard to move his arm, and flew faster, eventually reaching his apartment and trotting into the bathroom. He flipped on the light, recoiling at it's brightness a bit but quickly adjusting, then looked over himself in the mirror. Nothing had changed about him, which made him believe it wasn't going to work. Disappointed, he trotted back to bed and crawled in, snuggling into the warm blankets and almost instantly dozing off into a deep slumber.
Later on that night, he woke up in a shock, discovering his entire body in deep, throbbing pain originating from the wound. Flopping out of bed and slowly standing on all fours, he grunted loudly and dragged himself into the bathroom weakly. Thunder groaned louder, trying his best to find the light switch but failing to when more pain struck his body like an arrow. He dropped to his knees, holding his achy chest and slowly looking up at the mirror. His eyes widened in surprise when he first noticed his ears were slightly longer, and were split at the very tips as if his coat had fluffed up. Grunting more, he slowly stood back up, then put his hoof to his mouth where it was aching more. After it stopped, he moved his trembling hoof and opened his mouth.
Instead of seeing his regular teeth, he now saw two fangs hanging down from them, resembling Night Shadow's almost identically. Thunder blinked in surprise, before feeling a large amount of pain in his wings. They sprung open, and he glanced back to them. In a flash, they gradually changed into much thinner, more sensitive wings which initially appeared to be like the wings of a dragon. At another glance, he realized they were bat wings. Turning back to the mirror, he blinked once more. During so, his iris shape changed into slits, rather than their original round shape. One last thing he also noticed, was his coat was a slightly darker shade. He looked down to his arm, which was almost completely healed, and the two holes from the vampire bat's fangs were gone, left with two small blood marks. Moments later, the pain stopped altogether. Thunder stared in pure awe at himself, looking over his body.
"I'm a bat pony...this...this is amazing," he gasped softly, then turned his attention to new matters. "I've got to get to Night."
Meanwhile across town, Night Shadow patrolled the streets, dressed in full Lunar armor with the addition of cold weather enhancements to keep him warm. He held a spear in one hoof, keeping an eye out and scanning the empty streets for any signs of trouble. His ear perked, picking up a faint flapping sound coming from somewhere above. He stopped walking and looked up, unable to see in the pitch black sky. He stared in the direction of the sound, soon spotting a shadow flying towards him. As it approached, he gasped softly, recognizing the sound. Instead of pointing his spear in defense, he waited. Moments later, a dark grey bat pony stallion with a black, messy mane and blue eyes landed in front of him with a faint clop.
"Thunder?" Night's eyes widened in surprise.
Thunderblast nodded. "It's me. I found a vampire bat, I just turned into this form."
"Sweet Luna, Thunder. I had no idea you would go out tonight and do it!" Night Shadow set his spear against a street bench, staring at his friend with some concern.
"I couldn't sleep...I had to go do it Night. Look, I think it would be best if we leave tonight for your colony."
"You...you think so?" Night continued to stare in concern, his ears pinning back. Thunderblast nodded in response. "Alright...but, we will have to change your name. Thunderblast doesn't sound...bat pony-ish..."
"What? No way. I'm not changing my name!" Thunder groaned. "Let's just go, alright?"
Night groaned a little. "Alright, fair enough. Should we fly or take the train?"
"I'm not taking the train looking like this!"
"Fine, fine you big baby," Night gave a fangy grin. "Let's go."
Many hours later, Night Shadow and Thunderblast made their way high in the skies over western Equestria. The sky was slowly becoming light behind them as morning came to the eastern regions of the land. While flying, Thunder found it harder to stay airborne in the colder temperatures.
"H-h-how...h-how does your k-kind survive in th-this w-weath-ther?" Thunder shivered, flapping his wings hard to keep up with Night.
"Don't ask me...hey, you need help?" Night asked, slowing down and allowing Thunder to fly somewhat ahead. "You don't look like you're doing good."
"I h-hate this body...sure my coat is a-a lot warmer and s-softer, but my g-gosh, it sure ain't easy to f-f-fly with these wings. Especially at this-s altitude!"
Night smirked a little. "Want to ride on my back the rest of the way? We're close, I won't mind."
Thunder panted and shivered more, spotting a cloud below and swooping down to land on it. "S-sure," he looked at Night tiredly.
Night Shadow flew down beside the cloud, allowing Thunderblast to climb on. Night fell a few inches after he did, and Thunder wrapped his hooves around his neck to hang on.
"A-am I too h-heavy?" Thunder asked, still shivering.
"Not really, hang on!" Night smiled back at him, then flew forward as fast as he could with Thunder on his back.
Some time later, a cluster of clouds bunched together could be seen ahead, with what appeared to be dark-colored squares resembling houses and other buildings. The clouds were stationary, almost like Cloudsdale, but much smaller and didn't have rainbow falls flowing down to earth.
"W-wow...i-is this your home Night?"
"Mmhmm, well, kind of. Long story, and we don't have much time for it. For now, get ready to meet my parents!"
Night Shadow began descending towards the cloud city, lined up for one of the presumably basic housing streets and landing, trotting to a stop in front of a two story house made of stone. "Here we are, my parents' house!"
Thunder slowly climbed off of Night's back, still somewhat shivering and panting. Night knocked on the front door and took a step back.
"You think th-they're even awake?"
"I'm sure my dad is, he starts his shifts early. Who knows, he may have already left."
Inside, heavy approaching hoofsteps could be heard before the unlocking of the front door. It swung open, and immediately a large bat pony stallion could be seen, standing a half of a head taller than the both of them. The stallion's jaw opened a little in surprise, and his deep blue eyes widened.
"Night Shadow? You're back!" The stallion said happily, pulling Night into a tight hug. Night chuckled and hugged back.
"Yup, I'm back! I missed you dad."
"I missed you too," Skywatcher let go of Night after a few moments. "What have you been up to?" He then glanced over to Thunder, who was smiling innocently. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh! Of course. Dad, this is Thunderblast, my good friend. Turns out I wasn't alone in Canterlot all along," Night smiled happily.
"Ooh, well good for you son! I'm happy to see you found another one of our kind. Pleased to meet you Thunderblast, I am Skywatcher, Night's dad," Skywatcher extended his hoof to shake with Thunder's.
Thunder extended his hoof and shook Skywatcher's. "It is a pleasure to meet you, sir."
"Please, do call me Sky," he let out a deep chuckle. "Come on in, get out of the cold."
Both Night Shadow and Thunderblast entered the house, which was barely lit by a few lanterns. Inside was comfortably warm and cozy, which relieved Thunder greatly and allowed him to warm up.
"So, son. What brings you back around, anything wrong?"
"Nope, just thought I'd come by for another visit. Hey, you don't mind if me and Thunder share a room for a couple days, do you?"
"What, you two like each other?" Sky formed a glare on his face.
Both Night Shadow and Thunderblast's cheeks heated and turned dark red. "N-no, dad. That isn't what I meant!"
Skywatcher burst out laughing. "I'm kidding, Night. You two should see your faces right now!"
Night's ears pinned back, while Thunder looked away, embarrassed. "Dad, neither of us are interested in stallions. I'm going to leave it at that."
"I knew that, Nighty. I'm simply messing with you two. Yes, you can share a room. We haven't touched your room since you left, son," Skywatcher said, still with a grin on his face. "I'd better be off to work, I'll see you two when I get back."
"Alright dad. See you!" Night smiled to his father, watching him walk out the door and shut it behind him. After the door shut, he turned to Thunderblast.
"What?" Thunder was still blushing a tiny bit.
"He got us."
"He did," Thunder looked down a little. "But you did kind of set us up for it."
"I did not!"
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too!"
"Shush, Thunder."
"Giving up?"
"No, really, shush. My mom and sister are still asleep."
"Oh," Thunder started to whisper. "Sorry," he blushed in embarrassment.
The door swung open into Night Shadow's room, which was still dark from the lack of a sunrise during that time.
"And this is my room, where we will be staying. Now, do you want the bed, or are you going to try out hanging yourself?" Night Shadow stepped into his room.
"H-hang myself? Are you crazy, Night?" Thunderblast's pupils shrunk a little.
Night quickly stopped and turned around. "Not like that kind of hanging, silly. I mean, hanging by your tail. Like a bat!" He raised a hoof, pointing to a wooden pillar above his room just below the ceiling, a hanging perch.
Thunder stared up at the wooden perch. "Oh," he thought for a minute. "Perhaps."
"Well, you have all day to decide," Night sat down on his bed, then glanced around. "Hmm...I could have sworn-"
"Alright, what's all the ruckus going on in here?" The door opened again, and a younger bat pony mare stood at it rubbing her eye with a hoof tiredly. Suddenly, she squealed and ran up to Night Shadow, hugging him tightly. "Big brother!"
Night chuckled and hugged the mare back. "Good morning to you too, Dawn."
"Eee! I missed you!" She squealed happily still.
"It...it hasn't been that long," Night chuckled again.
"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't miss you when you're away!" Dawn giggled, then glanced over and spotted Thunderblast, who was standing a couple of feet away and watching them with a small smile on his face. "Who's this hunky stallion you've got with you?"
"Oh! Of course. Dawn, meet Thunderblast. Thunder, meet my sister, Dawn Blossom," Night smiled between the both of them.
Thunder stepped forward and extended a hoof. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Dawn," he smiled to her.
Dawn giggled and blushed faintly, extending her hoof to Thunder and slowly shaking it. "It's n-nice to meet you too...hehe...Thunderblast!"
The two pulled their hooves back to themselves a few moments after, both staring awkwardly at each other with Dawn's blush slowly becoming more visible. Thunder noticed it instantly and grew a slight blush on his cheeks as well, then he looked to Night slowly, who was grinning. Dawn also turned to Night, then scrunched her muzzle. "Looook, I'm gonna...go downstairs. Bye!" She darted out of the room and shut the door behind her.
"Weeeell?" Night grinned, turning back to Thunder.
"Well what?" Thunder dropped his faint blush and stared directly at his friend with an eyebrow raised.
"Aren't you two going to taaaalk?" Night smirked.
"Uh, what is there to talk about?"
"You know."
"I actually don't."
"Yes you do. Talk to her!"
"No! Not like that, are you crazy?!"
"Do it, you'll have to sometime while we're here!"
"Your sister is cute, yes, but I'm taken! Don't push this on to me, we're here for one reason and one reason only."
"Come on, lighten up Thunder. One of the reasons I wanted you to go is so you could meet my family. Not one of the main reasons, but still."
"One of the reasons? What were the others?" A glare began to form on Thunder's face.
"I meant the other reason, not one of them. Our mission is to bring the peace back between our races. Look, I just want you to stay calm about this. I know it seems serious, and it's stressful that we're doing it alone, but let go already. We have all the time in the world to get this done."
Thunder's glare softened, then he looked away a little and sighed. "Fine, fine."
Night smiled afterwards. "Now, let's head downstairs. I'm sure you're hungry too."
Sitting patiently at the table, Thunderblast waited as Night Shadow trotted about the kitchen, humming happily to himself as he brought ingredients for something to the wood stove.
"So...what do uh, what do bat ponies usually eat?" Thunder asked.
"Same food as regular ponies!" Night hummed more.
"You mean you all don't suck blood for a living?" Thunder grinned.
Night zipped over to Thunder with a scowl on his face. "We. Do not. Suck blood! Got it?!"
Thunder recoiled back fearfully as he stared Night in the eyes, who quickly calmed after he nodded and trotted back to the kitchen. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to wait patiently. Some time after, Night Shadow walked out holding two plates on his back and humming happily again.
"Breakfast is served!" Night set the plates on the table, sliding one to Thunder.
"I never knew you liked omelets," Thunder said, somewhat surprised.
"Oh, definitely! My dad makes the best omelets, but he's not here, so I made 'em!" Night smiled and began to eat.
Thunder also started to eat, almost immediately after saying 'Mmmm' with his mouth closed and kept eating.
"Like it?" Night asked, smiling still.
Thunder nodded in response, smiling back as he gulped down his first couple of bites. "Tastes amazing! Thank you, Night, for breakfast."
"Ah, come on. We flew all of this way, you had to be hungry," Night rolled his eyes playfully, taking a bite out of his food.
As they ate, the sound of hoofsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. The two glanced over, spotting another bat pony mare tiredly walking downstairs. This time, the mare was slightly taller than Dawn, and had a silver mane, her coat was a slightly lighter shade than Night's. The mare stopped at the bottom of the steps and smiled big.
"Nighty!" She called out, trotting up to Night Shadow and kissing his cheek.
"Hi mom!" Night smiled, his mouth slightly full.
"I had no idea you'd stop by!" Midnight smiled still, trotting into the kitchen. "It smells good in here, what did you make?"
"Omelets. I made you and Dawn some too," Night gulped down to speak properly.
"Aw, thanks sweetie!" Midnight picked up her plate and walked back out to them, sitting at the table. She then noticed Thunder, who was eating still as well. "Who's this?"
"Thunderblast, my friend."
"Ooooh, where'd you meet him?"
"Canterlot. Turns out I wasn't the only one there," Night chuckled a little.
"Well that's good! It is nice to meet you, Thunder," Midnight smiled to him.
Thunder nodded in response, having his mouth still full as he finished his omelet.
"Sooo, what brings you back home, my little Nighty?" Midnight asked, just before taking a bite of her omelet.
"Oh, you know, nothing too important. Just showing Thunder around is all," Night winked to Thunder, who winked back.
"Oooh, so a little vacation huh? Well, I'm glad you are back," Midnight sighed softly. "I always miss you when you're gone. I'm more than happy you came back to us when you did. We all missed you."
Night blushed. "Awh, mom, stop it."
"What? It's true!"
"Please mom, not in front of Thunder."
"Oh what is he going to do? You're my little bat, Nighty!"
Night blushed harder and shrunk slightly into his own body, turning his attention to Thunder who was snickering.
"Moooom, quit embarrassing me!"
"Oh you quit, you know you love it when momma loves all over her big stallion!"
"I thought that was dad?"
"You both are. But, you are dad's big stallion too."
Night blushed harder. "Moooom!"
"Oh fine, you big pansy. I'll stop," she giggled, and took her omelet to the couch to eat. Night laid his head on his hooves, embarrassed, and Thunder burst out into a loud laugh.
"Thundeeeer, that's not funny!" Night's face was red as his blood.
Thunder tried to speak, but found it too funny to speak and soon couldn't breathe from laughing too hard. Night dropped the blush and rolled his eyes, then flew to the front door.
"I'm going to go for a walk, I'll be back," Night opened the door and trotted outside.
Thunderblast quickly stopped laughing and stood up. "Hey wait!" He galloped after. "Wait for me!"
Night Shadow trotted down the street at a normal pace, his ear swiveling at the sound of fast-approaching hooves from behind. He glanced over, catching Thunderblast run up beside him and stop, panting a little.
"Where...are we going?" Thunder asked, trotting beside his friend.
"Eh, nowhere in particular. Just thought I'd walk around for a bit," Night shrugged.
"Oh, alright. Hey, where did Dawn go? I never did see her after she...ran away."
"Don't ask, she's weird," Night replied sarcastically.
"Right behind you, ya chumps," Dawn's voice appeared out of nowhere.
Thunder jumped, quickly spinning around and instantly seeing Dawn grinning and standing where he was. "Oh, D-Dawn! Were you following us?"
"Well, where else would I come from silly?" Dawn giggled and motioned a hoof.
"Oh...heh, of course," Thunder blushed awkwardly and looked over to Night, who stared back momentarily.
"Sis, what are you doing out here? I thought you had classes today," Night turned and stared to Dawn with some concern.
"Hah, of course not! I've got the week off. They never said why, we just have the week off," Dawn replied.
"Strange," Night thought for a moment, then shrugged it off. "Oh well."
"Hey, Thunder. Since we're all out here, would you like for me to show you around town?" Dawn asked in a soft voice.
Thunder smiled and blushed. "Heh...would I?"
"I'll take that as a yes," Dawn giggled. "Come on you two silly fillies."
Following Dawn's long, and quite unorganized tour of the town, the three finally stopped at the park to sit down. They sat on a bench, just a few feet from a large statue of the Legion's founder, who's engraved name was covered in snow. Sitting in between, Thunderblast laid back against the wood bench, relaxing a little, while Night Shadow was fiddling with his hooves and Dawn was...scooting closer...and closer. He continued to watch the mare scoot closer, although she was looking elsewhere. He then moved into a sitting up position, staring curiously at her. She finally stopped, just two inches from his side, when she slowly looked over to him with a faint blush on her cheeks. She jumped out of her seat squealing when she realized Thunder was watching her. Night Shadow quickly looked over to Dawn, then to Thunder who was watching her from his spot on the bench.
"Okay, what did you do Thunder?"
"N-nothing! She just jumped and squealed out of nowhere!"
"Dawn, what did you do?"
"He was staring at me!"
"You were scooting closer!"
Night then facehoofed and shook his head slowly. "Dawn...get over here. Thunder, move over."
Thunderblast did so, scooting to the other side of the bench and allowing Dawn to sit between them. She wrapped a hoof around Night, as he did back to her, but she continued to stare at Thunder with a faint blush. He tried not to notice, occasionally and briefly moving his eyes to her to see what she was doing. Almost each time, she was staring directly at him.
"Aagh, forget this!" Thunder stood up, his cheeks turning red slowly as well. "I'm going for a walk..."
"W-wait, Thunder! Let me come with you!" Dawn squeaked out, then blushed hard. "F-from behind...I-I mean, by your side...with Night too!"
Thunder stopped and looked back at her, then faintly smiled. "Come on."
Squealing happily, she flew out of the light hold of Night's arm and landed next to Thunder happily with widened irises. Thunder chuckled and started walking. Night Shadow stood up and tagged along, trotting up on the other side of Thunder and smirking.
"Ooooo, somepony is in loooove," Night growled playfully.
Both Thunderblast and Dawn Blossom immediately stopped and blushed hard. "We are not!" They said, almost synced perfectly. The two turned to each other, pupils shrunk and cheeks red as roses.
"Yeah, you two just keep telling yourselves that," Night laughed and continued trotting. Thunder and Dawn looked around nervously, hoping no one else was watching, and hesitantly followed Night Shadow through town.
"Extra, extra! Governor calls for town-wide meeting tomorrow night at seven! All residents expected to attend!" The local news colt yelled out from his paper stand, attracting the attention of some ponies, as well as Night Shadow's.
"You hear that?" Night turned to Thunderblast with an eyebrow furrowed.
"I do. A town-wide meeting? What for?"
"I don't know. Think we should go to it?"
"Well, he did say it's required for all to attend. It must be that important."
"True that," Night glanced back to the news colt. "I do wonder what it's about."
"As do I. For all we know, it may interfere with our plans."
"What plans?" Dawn Blossom suddenly appeared, floating upside down and grinning in Thunder's face.
"AAAAAaaa Dawn! What are you doing here?" His cheeks heated and turned a crimson red, and he awkwardly chuckled.
"Nothing, Dawn. Sheesh you are nosy."
"Aye, you know that's my job big brother!" Dawn laughed and landed beside them. "But seriously, what are these plans you two talk about?"
"I already said they're nothing."
"Come on, tell your little sister."
"No."
"But why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because they're none of your business!"
"Do I need to bite you?"
"What?"
Before Dawn could answer, she skipped to Night Shadow and playfully bit his neck. He yelped in pain and rubbed at the bite mark, which wasn't too deep. "Ouch! Did you really?!"
"I told you I would."
"Oh I'm going to-"
"Guys, stop." Thunder turned to Dawn. "Look, we will tell you when we get back. For now, stay quiet please. Can you do that for me?"
"Oh ... er, of course." Dawn shrugged. Behind her, Night Shadow was motioning his hoof with pupils wildly shrunk, trying to tell him to cut it out, but it was too late. "In that case, should we head back?"
"No!" Night yelled. Dawn turned around and both her and Thunder stared at him. He blushed hard. "I-I mean, no. Let's walk around town some more."
"Is ... everything alright?" Dawn asked, staring at her older brother in concern.
"Of course," Night smiled awkwardly. Dawn shrugged again and trotted off, while Night walked up to Thunder and glared. "What are you doing?!" He asked quietly.
"She asked, we have to tell her what's going on. We have to."
"Thunder, she is my little sister! She will not like this at all!"
"Night, the best thing we can do right now is to let your entire family know what's going on. So that way, we will have more ponies on our side. Isn't this what you want?"
"Well, yes ... It's just ... I'm afraid to..."
"Afraid to what?"
"Tell ... my father. He would slay us."
"Oh come on, it won't be that bad. Sure, he's a big guy, but you're his son. He can't disown you for your decisions."
"He did once before..." "Y-yeah," Night slowly looked down.
Thunderblast raised an eyebrow. "Look, do I need to talk to you about this entire thing, this plan that was your idea?"
"No, Thunder. It's just hard to ... explain things to my family."
"Night, listen," Thunder rested a hoof on the grey pegasus' shoulder. "You need to learn to be more assertive. That's one of the key factors to being a royal guard. If you're going to be afraid to speak up, then ... I'm sorry, but being a guard ... just isn't the job for you."
"W-what?" Night slowly glanced up, his eyes widened. "So ... after all of that training, I don't deserve to be a guard?"
Thunder sighed, then slowly nodded. "You did well in training, you certainly proved yourself. You stayed strong after losing a good friend of ours, and you passed basic training in flying colors! You even impressed the captain, Night. You impressed both of them, to be exact. Who knows, maybe you're the next Lunar Guard captain," he then smiled.
Night's ears slowly perked, and he cracked a smile. "You really think so?"
"Of course."
"Thanks ... but, a captain? I don't know about that. I'm not a good leader."
"Neither am I, but Captain Armor seems to think so. He's pretty spot on about things, but I guess only time will tell. For now, we need to get your family on our side."
Later on that evening, the three had returned home for dinner, which at the time was still being made. Instead of stopping to talk, Night Shadow and Thunderblast flew upstairs and into Night's room, who had locked the door behind him.
"Damn it all, Thunder. This is going to be harder than you think! Trying to explain things, serious things, especially to my sister is like trying to teach algebra to a two month old."
"So you're comparing your fifteen year old sister to a two month old? Brilliant. I highly doubt she's like that."
Night sighed. "Do you have the potion?"
"What potion?"
Night's eyes widened. "The ... venom potion! You have it right?!"
"No, what potion?!"
"The potion to turn you back!"
"Nope."
"Are you serious?!" Night glared at Thunder, who burst out into a laugh. "What's so funny?!"
"I'm kidding," Thunder walked up to the nightstand beside Night's bed and opened the drawer, sticking his hoof in and picking up a small glass potion bottle of a transparent purple liquid, which glowed slightly. "It's right here."
"And how do we know you won't permanently stay a pegasus once you drink it?"
"Because, if I take a couple of drops, I will turn back after a minute or so, enough time to show your sister. The only way it'd be permanent is if I drank it all, which I won't."
"Oh ... well then. Dawn?" Night yelled downstairs.
"Yes?!" Dawn yelled back.
"Come up here, please!"
Dawn didn't reply, instead the only sound to be heard were approaching hoofsteps, and the door trying to open. "Open the door!"
"It IS open!"
"You locked it, dimwit!"
"... Oh." Night reached a hoof and unlocked his door, blushing in embarrassment and opening his bedroom door to see an angry Dawn. "Sorry."
Dawn grumbled and trotted inside, then hopped onto his bed and got comfortable, lounging with her hind legs crossed. "Aaah," she shut her eyes lazily. "So, what's up?"
Night shut the door and once again locked it. "Dawn, we have something very important to tell you."
"Oh?" She kept her eyes closed.
Night sighed and turned to the other stallion beside him. "Thunder?"
At his word, Thunder pulled the cap off of the potion bottle and sniffed it once, then regretfully lifted it to his mouth and very slowly lifted it, allowing two or three drops of the liquid in his mouth, then capped it once more and set the potion on the nightstand. Dawn barely opened an eye, suddenly spotting Thunderblast and opening her eyes wide.
"What the?!" She squeaked, surprised. Instead of seeing a black-maned bat pony, she was staring at a well toned pegasus of the same colors, but a lighter grey coat and eyes the same as Night's, but blue. "Thunder ... is that you?"
Thunderblast nodded. "This ... is actually me."
"But ... I ... MO-"
Night Shadow quickly covered Dawn's mouth, she let out a muffled scream and stared with shrunk irises.
"Ssssh. Ssssh. Please don't yell. Dawn, listen to me. I told you this was important, but you need to actually listen. Will you promise not to scream?"
Dawn took a moment, but then slowly nodded and eased herself. Night slowly pulled his hoof away, and the bat pony mare sat up.
"You're telling me, Thunder is an Equestrian?"
"That I am," he nodded once. "Long story short, we need your help, and that is why I am disguised as a bat pony. The potion won't last long, I only took a few drops. I'll be turning back soon. But for now, you need to know what's going on."
"Well, w-what is going on?" Dawn slowly turned to Night, who inhaled a little before speaking.
"Okay, so I'm certain you already know about the great war we had with the Equestrians all of those years ago?" Dawn nodded. "We're out here to talk peace between our races. If we don't, another age of war may be upon us, and we want to stop it. Just today, Thunder convinced me to talk you, mom and dad to be on our side. We don't mean any harm to our race, Dawn. We just want to prevent another war, and possibly extinction of our race."
"I ... extinction?" Dawn's ears drooped. "W-what makes you think that?"
"You know what happened last time the bat ponies tried going to war with Equestria. We're lucky to even exist today, Dawn."
"Y-yeah ... s-so, you came here to stop a war, how do you plan to do that?"
Night sighed. "That's where we're kind of stuck, there's us against an entire army if they find out our plans. Which is why we need dad on our side, they will all listen to him."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Thunder said, groaning a little as his wings began to slowly reform into bat wings. "Governments have the right to throw high ranking soldiers from power if they disagree with their decisions."
"The governor wouldn't do that, he's the one that promoted my father, I highly doubt he would remove him from the Legion after his service record."
"You never know. Things can change in the blink of an ey-" Suddenly, Thunderblast's eyes widened and a brief glow filled the room. Moments after, he was back to being a bat pony. "Speaking of which..." He grumbled.
"So, Dawn. You get what we're trying to say here?" Night turned back to Dawn.
Dawn nodded. "I do, and I support the both of you," she smiled. "I'll do what I can to help. We still need to talk to mom and dad about this, the last thing we need is to be sent to the dungeons for trying to help. I just can't believe Thunder is actually a pegasus!"
Thunder chuckled and blushed. "Well-"
"Dinner is ready!" Midnight called from downstairs.
"DINNER!" Dawn's eyes widened of joy, and she flew up and towards the door, but instead of flying out, she crashed into it face first and fell to the floor. "Did you really lock the door again?!"
Later on, following dinner, Night Shadow and Thunderblast returned to their room, tired from the long day walking around town.
"So, are you sure you want to try hanging? It takes a little while to get used to it and not have the blood rush to your head," Night Shadow said, fluffing the pillow on his bed.
"It doesn't hurt to try," Thunder stared up at the wooden perch above him. "So, how do I get up here?"
"Alright. First, you fly up there, then you wrap your tail around the perch, and that's it. That's all there is to it."
"You sure?" Thunder opened his wings and floated up. "And, will this be strong enough to hold me? It doesn't look too sturdy."
"Should be, I've used it many times," Night Shadow laid down on his bed, pulling the sheets over him.
"If you say so," Thunder worked his way to a position, then began wrapping his tail around the perch. Afterwards, he stopped flapping his wings. Almost instantly after, his tail lost grip, and he fell to the floor with a thud. Night sat up and stared down at Thunder, a smile growing on his face.
"You okay?" Night grinned.
Thunder stood up, wobbly after taking a hit to the head. "That ... really hurt."
"I bet it did. What did it feel like?"
"What does that mean?!"
"You know what it means," Night snickered.
"Trade me."
"Nope, you already said you wanted to hang by your tail. Gotta get used to it!" Night tucked himself further into his blankets and purred softly.
Thunderblast grumbled and floated back up to the perch, once again wrapping his tail around the smooth wood bar, and instead of closing his wings, slowly worked his way to hanging, then stopped flapping altogether. This time, he kept a good grip on the perch, and glanced around in awe. "I'm hanging!"
"Don't die," Night said, his eyes shut.
"Wh-... What's that supposed to mean?!"
The following morning started off similar to the one before, but with the exception of Skywatcher cooking breakfast rather than Night Shadow or Midnight. After breakfast, Sky once again left for his shift before the meeting later that night. Nothing new had developed on what it was about, but both Night and Thunder had raised suspicions that it had to do with the future of both sides.
"So, what are you two going to do tonight at the meeting?" Dawn asked, sitting on Night's bed again.
"Nothing. We're going to hear it out, and leave. Nothing more. We will do this in a more private way, going in front of the entire town plus an army decreases our chances of being successful dramatically," Thunder replied.
"Thank you, Thunder. We really needed a scientific response," Night rolled his eyes. "But he is right. We're going to go to the governor tomorrow."
"And do what?"
"Talk to him. Do whatever it takes to make peace, and talk him into speaking with the princesses."
"And if he doesn't?"
"...Then..."
"Well?" Dawn turned to Night, as did Thunder.
"Then ... we will try a different approach."
"And that is?"
"...I... don't know yet."
"Perfect. So, no plan B, huh?"
"Not yet there isn't. We'll fight if we have to."
"Whoa whoa, you're saying you want the five of us to go against our entire town, plus the Legion? Smart idea Night, you'll land us all in a dungeon for eternity!" Dawn hissed.
"Dawn, listen. It won't be that way. I-"
"Night, are you even thinking about this?! You're going against the government of our race, who is probably on the verge of starting a new war with Equestria, and you want to just talk to them? Do you really think out of everypony, they will listen to you?"
"Why wouldn't they?"
"Many reasons actually," Thunder started.
"Shut up, Thunder!" Night and Dawn both said, and Thunder recoiled back, embarrassed.
Night sighed. "Dawn, just trust me this once, will you? We have to make this work."
Dawn calmed herself. "We do..."
"Let's just ... talk to mom and dad, okay?"
"Dad's at work. He won't be back until later to pick us up and go with him to the meeting. Besides, telling him in front of everypony won't be such a good idea."
"Worth a try," Thunder shrugged.
"He's right."
Dawn let out a quiet sigh. "Fine, fine. When are we going to tell mom?"
"Now would be a good time, while it's still day. We just have to make sure she doesn't freak out. Thunder, what do you-" Night looked to his side, seeing Thunder was no longer there. He turned to his other side and saw the grey stallion trot out of his room. "Thunder, wait!" He chased after, as did Dawn.
Thunderblast trotted down the stairs. "Mrs. Midnight?"
"Yes, sweetie?" The mare walked out of the kitchen, having washing the dishes and eyeing Thunder with a smile on her face.
"Me and Night have to tell you something. I'm going to make this quick before he probably kills me, but I am really a pegasus from Equestria," Thunder stared seriously.
Midnight's eyes widened, then she let out a small laugh. "Oh, Thunder. That's a good one!" She giggled some more, but stopped when she noticed the stern look on his face. "You're... Not kidding are you?"
"I'm afraid not. You see, I-"
Before Thunder could finish, Night Shadow tackled him to the floor and pushed his face into it. "Oh, ho ho. Sorry mom, Thunder's been eating some raw mushrooms. He's going a little crazy," Night blushed in embarrassment and chuckled awkwardly, but instead received a slight glare from his mother.
"I can see right through that smile of yours, Night Shadow. Why is he here?!" Midnight yelled, still glaring hard at Night, and soon at Dawn as she came downstairs.
"Mom... That's why I'm here," he slowly stepped off of Thunder and helped him up with a hoof. "You see, our race and Equestria have been throwing hatred at each other for so long, almost nopony knows our race still exists. We're here because... Well, because we only wish to bring the peace back, to stop this ongoing hate between our races. Mom, we want to stop a war, a war that would probably wipe us all out again."
Midnight kept a hard glare, but it soon softened as she listened in, then she glanced to Thunder and back to Night. "That's why you're here?" Both Thunderblast and Night Shadow nodded, and soon Dawn. Midnight softly sighed. "Does your dad know?"
"Not yet, unfortunately. Mom... You're not, mad are you?"
Midnight stared at Night, but then shook her head and smiled. "How could I be? You're taking a big step towards peace ... towards something nopony in our colony has ever thought of doing," she moved closer, smiling still. "You're special, Night. I hope you know that."
Night blushed softly and smiled back to his mother. "I am not, mom."
"You are," she smiled and nuzzled him gently.
"Whatever you say, mom," he smiled.
"For now, let's wait to tell your dad. You remember what happened last time," Midnight looked down. "Telling him would set him off ... you know how he can be."
"Right, right. Of course, mom."
"But... I just want you to know, I'm proud of you. And so is your father. He may still be uncomfortable with your decision of becoming a Lunar guard, but deep down, he is even more proud, knowing you took the steps of going somewhere else while following his."
Night smiled even more, then pulled Midnight into a hug. "Thanks, mom."
"Oh, you're welcome sweetie. I love you, my little Nighty."
"I love you too, mom."
Many more hours later, the sun had already disappeared below the western horizon, allowing the night sky to take over with Luna's moon, which barely lit the world below with a faint, soothing white light. At that time, most of the townsfolk were on their way to the main government building downtown, a three story domed building with signs posted on the outside telling ponies where to go for the meeting. Across town, the front door opened to Night Shadow's old home, and Skywatcher trotted inside.
"You all ready to go?" He asked, staring at his family, plus Thunder seated in the living room with a faint smile.
"We are!" Night replied, and the four stood up and walked in single file to the door. After locking it behind him, the five all made their way on hoof downtown, soon arriving in line at the town meeting center.
Once inside, they stood in a large crowd towards the back. Inside, the building had cathedral ceilings, with small bridges on the second and third floors above leading to offices and other rooms. Up ahead, the podium where the governor was to speak was heavily guarded, with Legion soldiers standing at almost every doorway around them. It was certainly an important meeting. Minutes later, the doors shut, meaning nopony else was coming inside, and soon, a slightly taller, extremely dark blue bat pony stallion walked up the podium and stopped before the microphone, clearing his throat.
"Good evening, my fellow mares and gentlecolts. Tonight, we are all here to discuss... Ahem, our latest discussion towards a movement that will bring us back into Equestrian territory," he stopped. Thunderblast and Night Shadow turned to each other, their eyebrows raised, then they whispered to each other.
"Are we too late?"
"I dunno. Let's just listen."
"As of two days ago, we have learned of the return of one of our own, a pegasus with bat pony parents. I am sure he is here, in the crowd." Night Shadow's ears perked, and he glanced around, catching the looks of a few others. He knew the governor was talking about him, but how? "But, there is also word spreading around that there may be another pegasus in the mix as well."
A few gasps spread around the building, followed by ponies looking at each other and saying some things inaudibly.
"Please, allow me to finish," the crowd quieted. "Thank you," the Governor cleared his throat once more. "But, that is not of any import. What is, is our movement into Equestria, starting with the take-down of the west coast."
Night Shadow and Thunderblast's jaws dropped, and they looked to each other in shock, but then turned back.
"We all know what they did to us, the princess allowed her subjects to neglect us like pets, then destroyed most of our kind when we retaliated. Now, we will do what she did to us. We will storm through every city, and wipe out any Royal Guard base for hundreds of miles. After this, we will take Canterlot. We will not let these...ponies...look down on us ever again!"
Bat ponies throughout the crowd looked to each other, some fear spreading around, but it quickly vanished as ponies began to cheer for joy, including even the Legion soldiers guarding the building. Night Shadow turned back to Thunderblast, then to Dawn, staring at them in concern and whispering.
"We need to go. Now!"
As he finished, he gasped, staring at Thunderblast in shock.
"W-what is it?" Thunder stared back worriedly.
"The venom...it's wearing off!" Night shrieked, accidentally catching the attention of the crowd, who turned to him and Thunder.
Thunder looked at himself, realizing his coat was back to it's original shade, and he no longer had bat pony wings, or fluffy ears. "Oh shoot..."
The Governor heard the commotion, spotting the two pegasi in the crowd, then hissed. "A spy, get him!"
"An Equestrian!" One pony yelled, and soon bat ponies scattered around, screaming in fear and towards the exits, while Legion soldiers flew up and towards the two.
"We have to get out of here!" Night yelled, grabbing Thunder's hoof and yanking him towards one of the exits, which was quickly blocked by two armored guards, armed to the teeth with their fangs and spears. Backing away, the two soon realized they were surrounded when more Legion soldiers ran up, spears pointed towards them.
"Get them!" the Governor ordered at the top of his lungs, glaring furiously at the two pegasi making a run for the western exit. Bat ponies scattered, screaming and running for their lives as they squeezed outside the building and onto the streets, into a full panic. Legion soldiers galloped after them, spears drawn and aimed for the two stallions, surrounding them from every direction, while other guards worked on evacuating everyone.
"Well, this went just lovely," Thunderblast grumbled to Night Shadow, focusing on the armored stallions as they gradually closed in.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Night replied, looking around worriedly. "What do we do?"
"You're not going anywhere, spies!" the Governor chuckled as he approached from the side, pushing through two of the soldiers who stepped to the side. He grinned a fang-shown smirk, staring directly at the two pegasi. "I knew it was a matter of time before something went wrong."
"Oh yeah? Well, I—"
Before Night could finish, the sound of someone whistling from above caught their attention. Everyone in the circle quickly looked up towards the domed, cathedral ceilings, spotting Dawn Blossom and Midnight floating above one of the windows.
"Guys, up here, quick!" Dawn called, waving her hoof.
The Governor quickly looked back down, just as Night and Thunder took off at high speeds, making a break for what seemed to be the only exit at that point. "No! Get them, you imbeciles!" he barked. The soldiers took off after them, gritting their teeth angrily and hissing.
"Brace yourself!" Thunder yelled to Night, shutting his eyes to protect them, followed by Night as they crashed through the narrow glass window in the dome. Shards of glass rained onto the guards, stopping them briefly to shield themselves from the sharp projectiles.
"Graaah!" the Governor screeched, stomping a hoof into the polished granite floor hard enough to crack it, the sound ringing through the hall. "You idiots!"
Outside, Night and Thunder flew alongside Midnight and Dawn as fast as they could away from the building.
"That was a close one," Night wiped some tiny bits of glass from his coat, completely unscathed from it shattering, except for a minor cut on his hind leg.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Thunder followed suit. "That did not go well at all."
"What happened you guys?" Dawn flew up between them. "Why did Thunder change back?"
"That's something we both want to find out. The venom never wears off, and the two drops of the potion Thunder took to demonstrate shouldn't have turned him back," Night replied. "Thunder, are you certain you had two drops?"
"I can't be more sure. If I had any more, I would have told you."
"Right," Night said. "Let's just get back, they don't know where we're going... I hope."
"Wait, wait," Dawn flew in front of them, the three stopped and immediately looked at her. "Where's Dad?!"
Night Shadow's eyes shot wide open and he gasped lowly. "Shoot, where did he go? Was he even with us?"
Midnight shook her head. "I saw him at one of the exits getting ponies out. He should be on his way home now!"
"Mom, are you sure it was him?"
"I'm ninety-nine percent positive."
"What about the other one percent?" Dawn squinted.
"I... I don't know," Midnight's ears drooped. "Sweet Luna, I hope they didn't catch him!"
"Calm down, Mom. I don't think they suspect who's who right now. Our best bet is to head home and stay low, and if somepony who isn't Dad comes, we leave. Got it?" Dawn and Midnight looked to each other, then nodded. "Good. Now, let's get home."
"Mister Governor, sir," Skywatcher strolled up to the inch-shorter bat pony stallion and saluted to him. "Everypony is out of the building. What is the situation?"
"The spy and his aide got away," a Legion soldier medic had finished plucking out the last tiny shard of glass from his skin with tweezers and quickly bandaged it. The Governor's hooves had blood spots on them from the cuts. He groaned softly as he did so.
"All right. I will assign my unit to watch over the town for any trouble. For now, I say we keep everything on lockdown. Nopony comes in, nopony goes out. Everyone must remain in their homes until the situation is contained."
"Of course," the Governor replied with a nod and waved off the medic, standing up. He looked around Skywatcher and nodded, then returned his attention to the stallion before him. "Although, we do know who the spy's assistant was."
"Oh, is that so? Who was it?" Skywatcher blinked, then heard hoofsteps come up to both sides. Two Legion soldiers stood beside him, staring at the Governor.
"Let us simply say, he is different from us all," the Governor smirked, but then shifted his look into a hard glare. "Take this traitor away, I will question him later."
"Yes, sir!" The Legion soldiers spoke in unison, grabbing a hold of Skywatcher's forehooves and cuffing them.
"Wait, traitor? Mister Governor, sir! What is going on?! Uncuff me this instant, that is an order!" Skywatcher barked to the soldiers.
"Oh, I am afraid you are relieved of duty, Skywatcher," the Governor suddenly grabbed a hold of the stallion's chest plate, unclipping it from the rest of his armor and yanking it off, then threw it on the floor with a loud metallic clank.
"Sir, this is ludicrous! I have not done anything!" Sky yelled, trying his best to pull free from the soldiers' grip.
"Shut. Up!" the Governor grabbed Sky by his neck, headbutting him violently, then letting him go. The force knocked Sky unconscious, and was now completely limp in the soldiers' grasp. "I said, take him away!"
"It's been two hours," Dawn stood up off the couch, turning straight to Night, who was attempting to comfort his mother. "Where is Dad?"
"Dawn, how many times are you going to ask?" Night tossed a glare her way.
"As many as it takes to get some other answer out of you!"
"He is likely busy handling security matters right now. After that, I wouldn't be surprised if the town is shut down or something," Thunder responded.
"But, what if they did arrest him?!" Dawn's eyes widened.
"Dawn, be quiet!" Night hissed at her, holding Midnight to his chest as she started to sob silently. "You're going to give mom a heart attack."
"Well, sorry! I'm worried about Dad, too, okay?!"
"Then quit giving us a hard time about it! Do you ever shut up?!"
"Well, you're one to talk!"
"Night, Dawn, STOP!" Thunder yelled, stomping a hoof. The entire room went silent, and the two stared at him. "You two fighting isn't helping the situation any more! We're all in danger here, and right now, the last thing we need is the two of you fighting because you're scared!"
Night's ears pinned back, head recoiling. "I... I'm not scared."
"Yes, Night. You are. You are always frightened of something. You're scared that we almost got skewered like kebabs on spears, you're scared that your colony's entire military is after us, you're scared that your father might be held up somewhere! Well you know what? I don't even have a father!" Thunder shut his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth, lowering his head as tears squeezed between his lids. "I... don't have... a father."
Dawn's eyes widened with surprise as the words left his muzzle, then she watched as he slowly fell to the ground with his ears flat and tears falling to the floor. She gulped, then after a few moments of hesitation, came closer to him. "Thunder, I... I had no idea."
"Of course you didn't," Thunder welled out more pained tears. "None of you knew. He committed suicide, right in front of me. He didn't want to go on, and after that, neither did I. I was completely suicidal afterwards."
Dawn's ears slowly lowered, and she wiped at her eyes. "Thunder... I'm sorry. But... you did know him, right?"
"Yes... seven years, that was it. I-I knew him from birth, to age seven. That was it."
"Y-you knew him, and that's good to hear. You spent seven years of your life with him, seven years you cherished. Am I right?"
"Yes... yes, I did," Thunder sniffled. Before anything else, he felt a pair of hooves wrap around him from above in a tight, warm hug. His eyes opened up wide, which were still full with tears, and he trembled softly, then continued with a broken voice. "Since then, I... h-haven't moved on much... I haven't been able to—"
"Things... like that, take time to overcome. I am very sorry, Thunder, for your loss. From what you just said, I-I can tell you loved your father dearly, and I know you would do anything to bring him back... but, for now, we need your help. Will you please help us, Thunder?" Dawn squeezed tighter, while Night Shadow and Midnight watched.
Thunder remained motionless, minus the light tremble in his body, then he nodded slowly. "Yes... yes, Dawn. I will help," he wiped a hoof at his eye, lifting his gaze. "I will help you save your father. I... I'm sorry... that I broke down."
"Don't be," Dawn softly nuzzled his cheek. "It's good to let emotions go every now and then. There's nothing wrong with crying. What is wrong, is hiding your emotions, to act like the tough stallion you think you are," she sighed.
"I hid my emotions for a while, when Nighty left, when dad hit him. I was so happy when I found out he was back. My world literally brightened up," Dawn looked up, and smiled to her elder sibling. "I look up to my big brother, because he is far more braver and stronger than I'll ever be. And knowing he's always around, and now that I know that you are his friend, I feel a million times safer already."
Night smiled, then stood up and walked over to them, bringing both Thunder and Dawn into an embrace. Thunder's cheeks flushed a soft pink, having being hugged twice in less than two minutes. Following the long squeeze, Night offered a hoof to Thunderblast, who took it, stood up, and smiled, then they turned to Midnight.
"Don't worry, Mom, we'll get Dad back. But, you should get out of town. Things might get ugly. At this point, we need a new plan of attack."
"Ow..." Skywatcher groaned, slowly reaching a shaky hoof to his head and rubbing the bruise where he was headbutted. He quickly pulled it back, hissing at the pain. His ears perked, and he looked at his forehooves, which were shackled and chained.
The room around him was extremely dark, and cold. His eyes gazed over the cobble floor, following the chains which he soon discovered connected to a steel plate on the wall, with a spike that dug in a couple of feet to prevent anypony from ripping it from the wall, as well as his hind legs which were also shackled but movable.
"Perfect," he muttered to himself, noticing to have been stripped of his armor, with his bare grey flank clearly visible to his eyes. Sky slowly stood up, the chains making faint clanks as he moved, and he tried to pull himself free, quickly giving up when he found how thick the metal of the chains were.
Soon after, his ear swiveled as he caught the noise of hoofsteps approaching. He stared in front of him, observing a light flickering through the bars of the steel door closing off the cell from the hallway, a torch light. Sky watched as the top of a navy-blue helmet stopped just before the door, and then caught the clink of keys as they worked their way through the door's lock, and soon opening.
The door screeched briefly as it swung open, and a short, light-green bat pony stallion walked in slowly, followed by a darker-shaded blue bat pony with a slightly-messy silver mane. The stallion's cyan eyes met those of Skywatcher's and he smirked.
"Good to see you're awake," the Governor chuckled, then motioned for the light green pony to leave, returning his attention to Sky and grinning.
"Where are we...?" Skywatcher looked around at the cell.
"Why, we're in our old home, Sky. The new dungeons. Much better of a place to keep traitors and other criminals than to fly hundreds of miles to that horrid prison of ours inside that volcano," the Governor smirked. "Now, would you care to tell me what your son was doing with that Equestrian?"
"My... son? I do not follow," Skywatcher stared, an eyebrow raised.
"Your son, Bloodvein, has—"
"He goes by Night Shadow now, sir."
"Whatever. Your son, Night Shadow, sneaked in a pegasus royal guard, disguised as one of us. They have been walking through our town the last two days, and have been staying at your house."
"I... how do you know all of this?"
"I have eyes everywhere, Skywatcher. Don't think I don't keep an eye on suspicious ponies. I have to keep us all safe somehow."
"So, by doing that, you spy on my son, who decided to take a different step in life?!" Sky hissed, trying to lunge, but being restrained by the shackles. "Graaaah!"
"Easy, tiger. I'm not finished yet," the Governor raised a hoof and smirked.
"You will be," Skywatcher growled. "My son and his friend will—"
"What will your son do? He is nopony special, he's nopony like you. He's not even a bat pony!"
"...But he is my son, and he's a soldier, like me."
The Governor burst into a laugh. "As if!" He soon stopped and grinned. "I had to do this sooner or later, Skywatcher. We deserve our land back, we should have never allowed those immigrants from the deep south to take over, then destroy most of our race?!"
"Sir, Princess Celestia destroyed our ancestors for a reason, to protect her subjects! Do you know nothing of our past?! You are well over seven years younger than me, what do you know?"
"Is that supposed to be an insult?" frowned the Governor.
"Perhaps."
The Governor threw a strong hook into Skywatcher's cheek and snarled. "What do I know? What do I know?! What I know is, I shall retake every square mile of land those putrid surface dwellers took from us and reclaim our former empire, even if I must kill every last one of them! Equestria belongs to us, Skywatcher, NOT them!"
Skywatcher simply stared, forming a glare on his face. "And who said you will get it?"
The Governor growled. "No more questions. I am finished with you," he stood up and made his way to the door. "The operation begins tomorrow night. I will see to it that your son and his friend are either in chains beside you, or burned on a pole for their actions. I cannot let anything get in the way of our plans, and nothing and nopony will. You hear me?" Skywatcher didn't reply. "Good," the Governor said, then walked out of the cell, the door shutting behind him and locking.
Sky sighed, gaze falling down to the floor. "I hope you're better off than I am, son."
"So, just how are we going to do this?" questioned Thunderblast, sitting atop house roof beside Night Shadow while overlooking a pair Legion soldiers on watchful patrol the morning following the eventful meeting.
"Still working on it. For now, we can fake a surrender and let them arrest us so they can take us to my father, or go the hard way and try and talk to the soldiers into not following the Governor," Night eyed the two stallions below.
"...And why isn't faking surrender the harder way?" Thunder turned to Night with an eyebrow raised.
"Shushhh!" Night put a hoof over Thunder's mouth, still eying the soldiers as they walked up to another bat pony and started questioning him, trying to listen in to their conversation.
His ears perked, and soon his eyes widened, then he pulled his hoof away from his partner's mouth. "Okay, listen up. We're going to take these guys down. When I fly up, you follow me, and we tackle them to the ground and cuff them. Got it?"
"Wha-...Where are we going to get hoofcuffs?!" Thunder loud-whispered.
Night pointed to the soldiers, Thunder looked closer, spotting a pair of hoofcuffs on the side of their armor close to their flanks.
"Now, you know what to do. Come on!" Night flew up and over the soldiers, followed by Thunderblast. Moments after, they darted down towards them, each forcing one of the soldiers into the ground and managing to knock them unconscious upon impact. The other stallion being questioned stood there in surprise, then opened his mouth to scream, only to be silenced by Thunder's quick hoof pressed across his lips.
"Shush, ssssh. Don't scream, we're not going to hurt you," Thunder mumbled, eventually removing his hoof from the stallion's muzzle while Night Shadow cuffed the soldiers.
"What do you... want with m-me?" the stallion trembled and shrunk down.
"Nothing. We just want to hide these guys. Listen, it is probably not a good idea to be out here. I suggest you get home," Night ordered.
"O-of course," the stallion replied with a nod, then galloped off in the direction of his home. Night helped Thunder drag the cuffed and unconscious soldiers into an alleyway.
"So, what do we do with them?" Thunderblast turned to Night, blinking.
"Not sure yet. I say we leave them here and work our way to Dad, then the Governor."
"Why do you all call him that?"
"It's his name."
"No one is named 'the Governor', Night Shadow. He has to have a real name," Thunder waved a hoof.
"Oh... well, I don't know then. But, that doesn't matter now. What does, is us getting wherever my father is."
"Well, we could always ask these guys," Thunder pointed to the unconscious soldiers.
Night shook his head. "No, that is silly. Who knows when they will wake up?"
Moments after, the two soldiers groaned softly as they began to wake up.
"Right now," Thunder smirked, then trotted up to the soldiers and sat them upright against the wall. As he did, either ponies struggled against the cuffs.
"Hey, what is this? Uncuff us, this instant!" one of the soldiers hissed at Thunder.
"Not until we're done with you. Now," he sat down before them. "Where is Skywatcher?"
"Hmph. Why should we tell you?"
Thunder smirked a little and chuckled. "My pal Night Shadow over there is venomous. One bite, you die." The soldiers' eyes widened, and they struggled harder. "I wouldn't suggest struggling, you're cuffed. I'd hate to have to force you into the ground too."
"Fine, we'll talk!" one of the soldiers cried out, then ceased their struggle, as did the other. "Come again with the question. Where is who now?"
Night Shadow walked up, his golden eyes looking over them. "My father, Lieutenant Skywatcher."
"He's... I believe he is at the dungeons."
"Which dungeons?" Night bared his fangs.
"The—the new ones! Where we all used to live!"
Night's eyes opened wide, maw closing. "They... built dungeons there? Why?"
"We don't know, that is beyond our pay grade. Look, just, please uncuff us, and we'll leave you be!" the other soldier demanded, tugging on his hooves from behind his back.
"Promise?"
The two cuffed stallions nodded in unison.
"Hmm... I don't exactly trust them. Leave them here, Thunder, let's go," Night stood up and opened his wings, walking out of the alleyway. Thunderblast followed suit.
"So, these caverns, where are they?" Thunder glanced at Night.
"I'll lead the way. Just stay close behind me, it can get pretty foggy down there sometimes with little notice."
Thunderblast nodded. "Of course."
"Come on, Night... I know you know I'm down here," Skywatcher sighed and anxiously glanced around the cold, quiet stone cell with no windows. "This really sucks."
Minutes passed slowly, and Skywatcher continuously tugged on the chains restraining him to the wall. It wasn't long before he finally gave up and laid his head down on his hooves, staring at the wall in a depressive state, ears pinned back. "Why is this happening? He was my friend..."
As he finished, the sound of a door opening slowly down the hallway could be heard. Sky's ears perked and he slowly glanced over without raising his head. He spotted an orange light slowly approaching his cell door, and then noticed the top of a Legion soldier's helmet, as well as a lit torch, through the metal bars on the small window of the door. A set of keys clinked, then were inserted into the lock and then the door pushed open. The same mint-green bat pony from the day prior entered the room, holding a small tray of food.
"Mister Skywatcher, s-sir?" The stallion asked nervously.
"Hmm?" Sky replied.
"Your food is here..." he shut the door and walked over, placing the tray on the floor before taking a seat next to the chained bat pony.
"Not hungry."
"You need to eat, sir, or else we are not getting out of here that easy."
"Wait, what?" Skywatcher slowly raised his head and stared at the soldier, puzzled. "Getting out of here?"
"I'm getting you out myself," he narrowed his eyes on the superior. "We cannot let the Governor carry out his attack."
"...Why are you on my side?"
"Because, sir," the stallion removed his helmet and wiped a hoof at his face. His coat had been altered from light brown to green.
"...Corporal?"
The stallion nodded and pulled out a single silver key, then quietly began unlocking the shackles from Sky's hooves individually.
"I don't... understand? I thought the rockslide killed you!" Skywatcher stood up, gawking at the shorter pony in surprise.
"I thought it did, too, sir," he dropped the unlocked chains on the floor. "That is not important. What is important, is getting you back to your son," he started walking for the door, only to be stopped by Sky's hoof.
"Thank you," Sky smiled. The corporal returned the smile.
"I couldn't leave you chained up, Lieutenant."
"But, still, thank you. I owe you."
"You don't owe me anything, except for a promise that you will help Night Shadow liberate us. The Governor needs to be stopped."
"He does, which is why we need to go now," Skywatcher grabbed the stallion's hoof and pulled him out of the cell through the door. "I'm unfamiliar with these new dungeons, could you show the way out, Lancer?"
"Of course, sir," Lancer responded, drawing his sword and stepping ahead of the taller, more built bat pony. "Stay close behind, and keep in my shadows."
"Are we close?"
"Very. About a couple more minutes, and we'll be there," Night Shadow replied, flying down through thick fog. "I hope."
"You hope? Well that's reassuring."
"I am certain we're headed the right way. But first, I suggest we slow down so we don't crash into the side of the mountain!"
"Sure thing," Thunder said, beginning to slow his descent behind Night. Minutes passed, and soon the fog began to clear, and the entrance to the cavern, now replaced with a heavily guarded steel gate surrounded by more stone walls, with no windows to see in or out. "Is this it?"
"You bet," Night said, stopping in mid air. "We need to take out those guards, or there's no getting in."
"Right. How should we do it, three each?"
"We can try. Let's go!" Night took off towards the front gate, seconds later being spotted by the guards. Two of them ran inside a separate steel door, but the remaining four remained outside as Night Shadow tackled one of them to the ground and began throwing hard punches at his face to subdue him, while Thunderblast went his own way, quickly taking down one of the other guards. The two others hissed and ran over, attempting to throw the attackers off, but instead receiving hind legs to the chest and gut each.
The two wrestled the guards on the ground, each attacking in their own way. Thunderblast threw hooves at the guard's head, stunning him, then finally headbutting him roughly and knocking him out cold, while Night forced his hoof violently into the guard's muzzle, followed by his side and stomach, which he managed to knock the wind out of, before finally stomping on his head.
"That's two down!" Thunder shouted to Night, before being immediately tackled by the other guards and quickly pinned down.
"Oh no, you don't!" Night hissed, lunging at the stallions holding his friend down and tackling them both off, grunting as he did. Following his tackle-lunge, he hissed again and threw his hooves at the two guards, striking them both in the muzzles and throwing them back. "Thunder, get in there!"
"What about you?!"
"I can handle 'em, just go!" Night grunted, taking another hit, this time in the jaw.
"No way!" Thunderblast shook his head once and galloped back towards Night, grabbing one of the guards and repeatedly punching the stallion with his own hoof until he was stunned, where he then threw him into some larger rocks, then back to the other guard on top of Night.
Instead of fighting, he grabbed a pair of hoofcuffs from the guard's armor and grabbed his hooves, yanking them behind his back and cuffing them. He growled and hissed, struggling to free himself from his cold metal bindings. "Just shut up and stay down!" Thunder said, dropping the cuffed soldier onto the stone ground and walking to Night, whose muzzle was only slightly bloody. "You alright?" He stretched a hoof down and pulled Night to all fours.
"I've been worse," Night wiped at his muzzle, then scraped the small amount of red along the stone beneath his hooves. "Let's head inside. There's more of them waiting for us, I'm sure of it."
"We'd better take these guys' weapons then," Thunder said as he trotted around the either unconscious or cuffed soldiers, stripping them of their weapons. "Not a good idea to go into a heavily guarded place unarmed. Take what you want."
Thunderblast dropped the collected weapons onto the ground, which was a small pile of spears, two swords, and a knife. Night dug through the pile, picking up one of the swords and the knife, while Thunder took the other sword only.
"Ready?" Night turned to him.
"You know I am," Thunder nodded and held the sword close, gripping it tightly in his hoof.
Night Shadow inhaled, then galloped through the steel side door, which was mistakenly left open by the fleeing guards. Thunderblast followed close behind, both holding their swords as they navigated a short hallway into a much larger, tall room.
Inside, it could be seen that the sides of the cavern were not nearly as wide due to newer cave-ins, from what Night could make out, and the old homes and shops were demolished and replaced by prison cells and small offices for guards and other dungeon operations, as well as a large armory carved where the town's government center used to be. In between, the main cavern hall was mostly empty, but instead had large, sturdy wooden pillars extending through the ceiling to hold it up. After a quick glance around, it seemed no one was present.
"Where is everypony? I would have thought they would all be charging at us right now," Night lowered his sword.
"Me too. Maybe they don't know we're here?" Thunder slid his sword under his wing, holding it there as if it were a scabbard.
"They have to. Think it's an ambush?"
"It could be," Thunder walked forward.
"Either way, keep your eyes open. We have to find my father. He might be able to help us stop all of this," Night trotted towards another steel door, pulling a lever and watching as it slid upwards. It dug into the ground, having steel spikes built onto the bottom, and slight blood stains were evident on them. It sent a chill up both of their spines.
"Eesh, that's gotta hurt to be caught under this door," Thunder stared with half-shrunk irises.
Night gulped, watching the door completely disappear into the wall above them. "Let's just go," he continued walking with Thunderblast tailing him.
The duo cautiously made their way through the poorly torch-lit and rather skinny corridor, peering around at the different cells. None of them seemed to be occupied, which came off as even more suspicious.
Attempting to be completely silent was difficult for them, considering their hoofsteps echoed against the stone floor and across the space, which limited their quick travel through what seemed like an endless hallway. Soon, Night's ears perked, and he put a hoof out to signal himself stopping, which he did.
"What is it?" Thunder whispered, tensing.
"I hear somepony," Night took extremely slow steps towards a hallway intersection, his ears perked still and swiveling at the approaching sounds of slow hoofsteps and muffled whispering. "There's somepony around this corner. Stay behind me."
"Got it," Thunder clenched the sword in his hoof and slid it out from his wing. Night also held his sword tightly, waiting until the right moment. Soon, the pony was close enough where his whispers could be heard. Night inhaled, then jumped out in front of the pony with his sword aimed ahead of him. "Halt!"
The pony extended his spear, hissing. "Drop your weapon!"
"Yours first!" Night hissed back, jerking his sword forward.
"Night?"
Night slowly lowered his blade and peeked around the armored bat pony. "Dad?"
"Stand down, Lancer," Skywatcher ordered. The disguised bat pony lowered his spear and stepped to the side, allowing the taller stallion to go around him. "Night!"
"Dad!" Night dropped his sword with a clamor and hugged his father tightly. "How did you escape?"
"Lancer here disguised himself and freed me. We were on the way to find you! Was it hard getting in?"
"Not that much, where is everypony? There were six guards at the entrance, two of which ran inside."
"Oh no..." Lancer's pupils shrunk a little.
Night Shadow and Skywatcher broke their hug, and all eyes turned to Lancer. "What is it?"
"We are too late. They are already on their way to Canterlot."
"What do you mean they're on their way to Equestria?"
"The Governor saw this coming, they might be on their way. But wait, you said you had to deal with some guards at the front gate, right?"
"Yeah?"
"They might be back in town preparing, or at the valley base!" Skywatcher said.
Thunderblast and Night Shadow looked to each other briefly, then back to Sky. "Think we should check it out?"
"It would be a good idea. If they're not at either, then we'd better start scanning the area. They couldn't have gone far in such little time."
"I wouldn't say that," Sky started. "Everyone on my squad is a fast flyer. Most bat ponies are. For all we know, they could already be in Vanhoover."
"Oh perfect," Night lifted a hoof and rubbed at his head. "This is just great."
Skywatcher lifted a hoof to Night's chin and brought his eyes up. "Son, you are our leader. Give us orders, we follow you on this mission."
"Dad ... what am I supposed to say? We don't know where they are..."
"Then tell us where to go, and we'll search for them."
Night stopped for a few moments, then inhaled. "We search the town and the Legion base. If they are not there, we advance on to the coast. If they're fast flyers, we have to keep up with them. We have to contain them in one area, and not let them spread across the country. We're Equestria's only chance at this point, our job is to hold things off until either the Royal Guard comes, or something else..."
"Something else?" Thunder's eyes widened.
"I don't know, but do you get the idea?"
Thunderblast nodded. "I do."
"Good. Now, let's go."
Minutes later, the four closed in on Batsburg, their wings taking them as fast as they could fly. They kept a slight formation, with Night Shadow in the center and the others off to the side and slightly behind. They began their descent towards the residential side of town, soon landing on one of the streets. Night peered around at their surroundings, his ears lightly twitching at how quiet the town was.
"Think they're here?" Lancer whispered.
"I'm not sure, I don't hear anything," Night perked his ears, trying his best to listen for any strange commotion, when suddenly the sound of sobbing caught his attention. "Over there!" He began galloping towards a path intersection, and around the corner before stopping in shock. "Mom?"
The dark grey bat pony mare sat on the ground, bawling her eyes. Night galloped up to her, hugging his mother tightly. "Mom, what happened?"
Midnight simply sobbed, taking multiple attempts to speak. "Th-they ... they ... t-took ... Dawn...!"
The words hit Night like a dart to the chest, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks and his ears pinned down. "W-what? They ... took her?"
Midnight sobbed even more, but stopped and sniffled to speak. "They ... came and ... took her from her own room! They smashed her window and...took...her!"
Night Shadow held his mother tighter, beginning to lightly tremble and shed tears. "N-no ... damn it, no! Why did they take her?!"
Thunderblast, Lancer and Skywatcher soon rounded the corner, spotting the two with widened eyes. Midnight turned her head, catching Sky in the corner of her eye. She gasped and stood up, Night releasing her. "Sky!" She ran into his hooves, Skywatcher clenching her in a tight hug.
"Oh sweetie, are you okay?" Sky kissed her forehead and stroked her mane with a hoof.
"N-no ... th-they took our daughter!" Midnight sniffled, then buried her face in his chest and sobbed.
"W...what?" Skywatcher's eyes opened wide. "How?!"
"They smashed her bedroom window ... and took her ... I-I couldn't stop them, I-I'm so sorry!" Midnight sobbed harder. "I'm a horrible mother!"
"N-no, sweetie, you're not. You did everything you could," Sky kissed her forehead once more. "I promise you, we will get our daughter back. I promise you."
"Pleaaaase, Sky," Midnight sniffled more. "Please, get our daughter back f-from them..."
"I promise, sweetie...we will. We won't do anything until we get her back," Sky grasped his wife tighter. Night Shadow walked up, joining in on the tight embrace. Behind them, Thunder heard the faint sound of a hiss, glancing all around to see where it came from, before he looked up at the sky with shrunk pupils.
The three broke the hug, and Night turned to Thunder. "What is it?" He wiped at his eye. Thunder pointed a hoof upwards, and everypony turned to face the direction he pointed to. In the distance, a squad of Legion soldiers were flying in, armed to the teeth.
"Honey..." Midnight hugged Skywatcher from the side.
"Go, get inside, now!" Sky ordered.
"Home is a few blocks down, I won't make it!"
"Then I'll go with you," Night stepped up to Midnight, staring at her with a serious look on his face. "Come on mom, I'll get you home. You three, stay here and fight them off until I get back!"
He grabbed Midnight's hoof and began galloping with her around the corner, their house in sight down the street. Halfway down, they were stopped by the hard landing of an armored Legion soldier, who hissed with his spear drawn.
"Hand the mare over this instant!" The soldier barked.
"Over my dead body," Night stood in front of Midnight, gripping his sword tightly in a hoof. "Mom, get over there and stay in those bushes."
"But-"
"NOW!"
The soldier brushed his hooves on the ground like a bull, hissing some more. "You're making a big mistake, little colt," he laughed, then lunged at Night.
Night stood his ground, the soldier's spear crashing against each other and sparking. Night grunted as he took the force of the soldier, but managed to stay standing despite the larger stallion's momentum.
"I won't ... let you ... hurt my mother!" Night clenched his teeth and pushed back with all of his might against his opponent.
"Here they come, prepare yourself!" Skywatcher yelled to Lancer and Thunderblast, watching as the Legion soldiers closed in on them, stopping and floating just in front of them.
"Oh look, the old lieutenant is free. Let's teach them all a lesson, shall we boys?" The squad commander chuckled, unsheathing a sword from his armor, the rest of the soldiers following suit with their own weapons. Thunder then gripped his own sword and glared coldly at the squad commander.
"I will deal with this traitor boys, you take care of these two runts by his side," the squad commander tackled Skywatcher backwards. Before he could do anything else, Sky kicked him off in the stomach and into the air, before jumping to his hooves and taking hold of a sword he stole from the dungeon guards and gripping it in his hoof.
"Back on opposite sides, I see," Skywatcher hissed at the stallion.
"You know it's better this way," the squad commander smirked, lunging at Sky. Their swords collided, Sky forced the stallion to tumble past him in a swift dodge, clearing him of any injury his opponent's sword might have caused. The squad commander slid to a stop after hitting the ground on his back, just barely keeping his sword in his hoof. As he moved to stand, Sky quickly tackled him, knocking both of their swords away, and the two then began throwing punches at each other, no longer worried about their weapons.
Meanwhile, Lancer and Thunderblast kept a defensive stance a few feet away, before each taking on a soldier. The sounds of swords screeching against one another filled the streets, and those in their comes came to their windows to see what was going on. Behind them, Skywatcher struck the squad commander, punch by punch until he was too stunned to move. His eyes spun around dizzily, before he fell unconscious with a blood-covered muzzle. Sky grumbled, then grabbed the two swords and went to help Thunder and Lancer. He ran up beside them, all huddling up back to back as Legion soldiers surrounded them.
"Let's show them what we're made of," Skywatcher eyed the soldiers, and all three took on the surrounding soldiers in even more sword to sword combat.
Around the corner and down the street, Night Shadow was thrown into the ground, his head bouncing twice as he hit the hard cloud and grunting. His nose bled some, and his arms and chest were covered in minor cuts. He panted, struggling to stand up before the other stallion crashed down hooves first over him, his sword clenched in his teeth. The soldier held Night down by his arms, smirking under the hold of his sword. Night squirmed, trying his best to free himself from the weight of the stallion.
"Say goodnight!" He hissed, slightly muffled by the sword in his mouth, then he grabbed it in a hoof and prepared to swing.
"No!!" Midnight screamed in fear from the nearby bushes.
Night Shadow watched the sword swing upwards, and then shut his eyes tightly, knowing the soldier was too heavy to push off even if he could.
CLANK!
Night's ears perked at the sound, even more at a heavy thud beside him. He opened his eyes, turning and staring at the soldier formerly standing over and pinning him down, who was now unconscious on the ground with his sword dropped, and a dent in his navy blue helmet. He then looked forward, his eyes meeting Lancer's. He held a metal pan in his hoof, panting a little.
"I got you," he smiled and pulled Night up. Night stumbled a little, but regained his stance and rubbed at his head.
"Thanks," Night smiled. Midnight galloped over, hugging Night tightly. Night hugged back. "I-I'm okay mom, don't worry about me. Lancer, get her home. It's just down the street."
Lancer nodded and took Midnight's hoof. "Let's get you home," he said.
Night took off into the sky, flying back towards his father and Thunder, hearing the sounds of heavy fighting coming from their location.
Thunderblast grunted, holding his sword up in both hooves in an attempt to keep the other soldier off of him. "We could...rrgh! Really use Lancer or Night's help right about now!"
"Just shut up and keep him off of you!" Skywatcher ordered, standing atop a pinned soldier and assaulting him with numerous punches to the face.
"Hang on guys!" Night swooped down, tackling the soldier off of Thunderblast and slamming him into the ground, sliding on top of him. The soldier fell limp, having being knocked unconscious by Night's momentum. He hopped off of the limp pony, galloping back to Thunderblast and Skywatcher.
Sky threw one last, devastating punch to the pinned soldier's face, watching as he also fell limp beneath him. He panted softly, wiping the blood on his hooves on the ground to get it off.
Night pulled Thunder up, then wiped at his own muzzle which still bled. "Is that all of them?"
Sky nodded and panted still, looking around at what they had done. "I believe so..."
Thunder also looked around. "Where's Lancer at?"
Before anyone could reply, Lancer galloped around the corner, stopping at them and trying to catch his breath. "Right...here."
"Is my mom home?"
"She is...she is," Lancer panted hard, his chest expanding and contracting.
"Are you alright?" Skywatcher raised an eyebrow.
"Yes ... I just ran two blocks to get here," he panted still. "Are they gone?"
"For now, yes. But, we still need to find the Governor," Thunderblast replied.
"And my sister!"
"Right, and his sister."
"I may have an idea of where they are!" Skywatcher said, now standing over the squad commander's unconscious body. The three walked over.
"What do you have?" Night looked down at the ground in front of Sky, spotting a map with red marks on different parts of it. "Wait a second ... that's a map of Equestria."
"It is," Sky said. "It looks like they have a pattern. Not very smart of them to mark what cities they'll go to first and next."
"What does it say?"
"Hmm ... well, all it really shows is what cities they'll go to in a row. I'm not sure how well this plan will work, because they're a much smaller army than the Royal Guard. They would be well overwhelmed. But, I assume they would be in Vanhoover right now. It's a big city, I can't imagine it would be a quick takeover."
"True, true. Should we check it out?" Thunder asked.
"Might be a good idea. But if they aren't there yet ... well, I don't know where they could be!"
"Well, I suggest we get going if we want to be in Vanhoover before sundown," Thunderblast said.
Minutes later, Night Shadow, his father, Thunderblast, and Lancer were airborne and flying westward towards Vanhoover. While flying, they kept an eye below them in case the bat ponies were still in the area. But, with the dense forest, it was hard to see anything. As time quickly passed, the skyline of Vanhoover became clearer over the tops of smaller mountains just east of the city. As they approached, nothing seemed to be out of sort.
"Huh. Where is everypony?" Night looked around as he floated above the city with the others.
"Think they went elsewhere?" Lancer asked.
"I don't think so, the Governor sticks to his plans pretty well. They could still be on their-"
Before Skywatcher could finish speaking, the sounds of ponies screaming and panicking down below caught their attention. Night quickly looked below them, spotting numerous ponies running away and into buildings. Behind them, numerous Legion soldiers marched down the street in squads, weapons drawn.
"That's them, let's go!" Thunderblast began flying downwards towards the city.
"Thunder, wait!" Night Shadow dove after him, soon followed by Skywatcher and Lancer.
"Ah, yes. Vanhoover," the Governor chuckled darkly, investigating the now cleared streets as more Legion soldiers marched in in larger groups and splitting up. "The first city in our takeover."
One legion soldier trotted up to him and saluted. "Sir, squad one and two have confirmed the Royal Guard station has been taken over. It can be used as our temporary base."
"Excellent," the Governor smirked and chuckled some more, then turned around, pulling the cover off of a cage being carried by four soldiers. Inside, Dawn Blossom was chained by her hooves to the bars. "We have found new home for you, Dawn."
Dawn hissed and pulled at the chains holding her back. "You won't get away with this, my brother will take down you and all of your cronies!"
The Governor burst out into a menacing laugh, resting a hoof on the cage and smirking at the younger mare. "Says who?"
"I-I..."
"Says us."
The Governor quickly turned around, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. "What?!"
"Let my sister go, and I will spare you with your life," Night Shadow gripped his sword close to his chest, baring his fangs in anger and he stared down the navy blue bat pony. He stood alone in the center of the street, with the others watching from a nearby rooftop.
"Night!" Dawn squealed in surprise.
The Governor hissed. "Take her to the guard station, I will deal with this bug."
"Is that supposed to be insulting?" Night smirked a little.
"You're a cocky one, aren't you?" The Governor pulled a dagger from his own armor and held it in his hoof. "You'll be the first to die."
"We shall see about that, Governor."
"Graaaah!" The Governor yelled, galloping towards Night with his dagger drawn forward.
Night held his sword to his chest, waiting until the right moment, when the Governor attempted to lunge at him to tackle, he leapt up into the air and above, just barely dodging the dark blue stallion as he slid on the cobble street. Night landed on all fours, his hooves making loud clops as they struck the cobble under him. The Governor let out a faint grunt as he impacted the ground, but quickly stood up and brushed the dirt off of his armor and hooves.
"Hmm, you're quick," the Governor picked up his dagger and bared his fangs. "But you can't stop me."
"Think we should help him?" Thunder asked, turning and staring at Skywatcher and Lancer.
"Hang on, I want to see how he handles this," Sky watched, his eyes opening in awe as Night continued to dodge many different lunges from his opponent.
After more dodges, Night finally ran at the Governor, catching him off guard and slamming into him with all of his force, throwing the dark blue pony a few feet back. The Governor grunted, completely surprised by the attack and stood wobbly.
"Oh, it's like that, is it?" The Governor picked up his dagger again, rubbing a hoof on it, then threw it in the way of a shuriken. Night saw the dagger flying towards him, and held his sword directly vertical in front of him. The dagger struck his sword, bouncing off to the side but also lightly cutting his cheek. Night yelped, putting a hoof to his cheek as blood dripped from it and onto his hoof, soaking the bottom of it completely red. The Governor grit his teeth, angered that the dagger mostly missed. "Argh, do you ever die?!" He hissed.
"Not ... ever!" Night flicked his hoof, drops of blood flying off of it and onto the ground, leaving a red mark on his injured cheek. He scraped his sword on the cobble, then ran at the Governor angrily.
The Governor smirked, then slowly ran towards him as well. "You know, Night Shadow," he stopped. Just before they collided, the Governor grabbed Night by his neck and swung him around three times, before finally throwing him upwards and leaping into the air after him. Once high in the air, Night opened his wings to stabilize himself, before being struck downwards by the other pony. He failed to regain control over himself, and soon fell back first into the ground, a small crater forming around him and sending cobble rocks flying through windows in surrounding buildings.
Night's eyes opened wide, and he hissed out in pain. "Aaaaagh!"
On the rooftops, Thunderblast, Skywatcher and Lancer watched in horror. "Night!!" Sky yelled.
The Governor landed a few feet away, chuckling. "I should have mentioned, I took some advanced lessons in the Legion a few years ago for self defense. It looks like it all paid off," he grinned, then reached for Night's sword, which fell beside him. "It's a shame this battle did not last longer, I was looking forward to a worthy opponent such as yourself."
"A-aagh..." Night groaned, his vision blurring out a few times as he tried to look towards the Governor.
"But, you know what they say. A good death, is it's own reward," he raised the sword. Night flinched, his ears drooping at the sight of the sword, but then he glared up at the dark blue bat pony. Before he could swing, he was forced through the window of a nearby shop, the sword dropping with a couple of loud clanks. Night peered over, seeing an angry Thunderblast setting his hind legs down on the ground, then turning around and pulling Night up onto his hooves.
"W-wha...?"
"You're hurt. Stay to the side, I'll take care of the Governor," Thunder stared with a serious look.
"N-no way, I can handle him!"
"Night, you're hurt!"
"I-I..."
"Night, please. Let me han-"
Thunderblast was suddenly tackled to the ground by the Governor, being quickly assaulted by numerous hard punches to the jaw. Thunder screamed in surprise, but then threw his own hooves at the stallion's face. Night backed away a few steps, watching as Thunder rolled them over, shoving the Governor into the ground and continuing to deliver devastating blows to the jaw and forehead. The blue bat pony hissed, managing to stop Thunder's hoof with his own and sinking his fangs deep into it.
"Aaaaagh!" Thunder screamed in pain, trying to pull it out of the Governor's tight grip. He continued to sink his fangs, then finally ripped them away, his fangs completely red from the bite. Thunder fell back, holding his hoof in pain as a heavy burning sensation flowed through his bones.
The Governor stood, wiping blood from his mouth and spitting. "Blech, you Equestrians have terrible tasting blood!"
Thunderblast groaned, clenching his teeth and attempting to fight off the stinging pain emanating from his arm. He tried to stand up, but found his limbs unable to move. "W-what ... is this? Argh!" He struggled, his body falling limp on the ground.
"Paralyzing venom," the Governor chuckled. "Perfect for disabling opponents. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be," he began to walk away, down the street.
"Oh no you don't!" Skywatcher hissed, landing on top of the Governor with all of his weight, forcing him into the ground. "Lancer, get down here!"
Lancer quickly flew down, stripping the stallion of any weapons he had stored in his armor and tossing them to the side.
"Gruh...you may have me pinned down, but my forces still have control over the city!"
Night's eyes opened up wide. "The Legion troops, we forgot!"
The Governor chuckled darkly. "Your ignorance is my bliss, Night Shadow. You've made many mistakes today, and for that, many Equestrians shall burn under my rule for everything they've done to our race."
Night's ears drooped, but then stood up again as a deep growl came from his throat. "Dad, let me deal with him. I want you two to go get my sister and handle whatever Legion troops interfere."
"But son, you're injured!" Skywatcher continued to hold the Governor down. "No, I won't lose you to this maniac!"
"Dad, for once, will you just trust me on this one? Please ... I can take care of him."
Skywatcher stared Night down, his ears pinning back, but then he gulped a little. "We will get your sister."
Night nodded once. "Go get her."
Thunder laid on the ground, eyes widened as Skywatcher and Lancer flew off. "Night, what are you doing?!"
"Finishing off this psycho stallion," Night weakly grabbed his sword and growled at the dark blue bat pony as he stood up slowly. "Stay back and stay down."
Thunderblast rolled his eyes. "Like I have a choice."
The Governor chuckled. "Up for a second round of pain, are you, Night Shadow?"
"I'm a guard, pain doesn't hurt me," Night gripped his sword tighter.
"Oh, of course you are," the Governor grinned. "Let this fight last longer than the first,"
"Indeed!" Night lunged towards the other pony.
The Governor quickly picked up his dagger, holding it just in front of him and allowing their weapons to clash and spark as the polished steel rubbed against each other. Night tumbled past the stallion, immediately after standing up on all fours and brushing a hoof on the ground a couple of times, gesturing his imminent attack. But, instead of attacking, he waited for the Governor to lunge, jumping out of the way as he did and catching him mid air with a clothesline punch which flipped him backwards. The stallion lay stunned on the ground, his dagger sliding a few feet further and coming to a rest by some broken glass and light debris of cobble.
"Is that all?" Night smirked.
The Governor slowly stood, stumbling once and relocating his jaw with his hooves. "You think you can mock me and get away with no further injury? You are very much mistaken, Night Shadow, if that's even your real name," he stopped and panted softly. "From what I know about you, your real name is Bloodvein, which is by far a better name. What ever gave you the idea of renaming yourself?"
"Reasons somepony like you wouldn't understand."
"Ah, but your father did not like your sudden change either. He wanted to skin you alive for your decisions to leave and become a royal guard hundreds of miles from home."
Night's eyes opened wide, and his ears lowered a little. "How ... how do you know all of that?"
"Oh, please, Blood. You think I didn't have eyes on you from the start? A pony like yourself, coming up in my colony is considered a threat to our safety. For all we both know, your real parents might be elsewhere, or dead. You are not a bat pony."
Night took the hits of his words, but perked his ears and glared coldly. "Yes I am."
The Governor chuckled. "Then tell me, who are you?"
Night narrowed his eyes on the navy blue bat pony. "I am Night Shadow, and I am more of a bat pony than you will ever be."
As he finished, Night galloped towards the Governor angrily, letting out an angered cry as he did. The Governor smirked, grabbing Night once again by the neck and tossing him upwards and leaping after him. Night flew high upwards, higher than before. As the Governor swooped up, Night flipped around, grabbing the Governor by the neck and slamming his hooves into both sides of his jaw one by one. The blue bat pony was surprised once again by Night's attack, and struggled to fight back. Both exchanged punches, each taking hits to their eye, Night taking the worst of it and receiving a black eye shortly after.
"You...idiot..." The Governor hissed, weakened by the hits. "You...cannot...stop us!"
"Yes...I can!" Night grabbed the stallion's wing and yanking it out, before snapping it in a direction it is not meant to go, then his neck again and swings him around as fast as he could, before moving upwards, and then down at high speeds. A moment after, Night pushed down on the Governor, both rapidly approaching the ground. "Graaaah!"
The street exploded into dust and flying rocks from the impact of the two ponies. Windows shattered on both sides of the street, and glass flew everywhere with the debris. Minutes later, the dust cleared, and a large impact crater had consumed the one created when Night hit the ground, with the debris of broken cobble laying all over. Night stood a few feet away, half covered in light grey dust and tiny rocks, staring coldly down at the dark blue bat pony, who laid motionless on the ground. He growled, then stomped with one hoof. The Governor woke up, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks with small tears sitting in his eyes.
"I-I..." He stuttered. "H-...h-how..."
"I told you, Governor, or whatever your name is ... I am a guard. I told you, you could not beat me, even with degrading words. As I said before, pain does not hurt me, mental or physical. And I will not say this again, I am more of a bat pony than you will ever be."
Thunderblast grunted and groaned as he struggled to move his limbs, then gave up and sighed in frustration. "Nope."
Night Shadow sighed and walked over to him. "Alright, I'll carry you there."
"What about the Governor?"
Night turned his head and faced the severely injured dark blue bat pony, then shook his head. "Leave him here, let him think things over. He isn't getting up anytime soon, trust me," he said, lifting a limp Thunderblast onto his back and galloping down the street, away from the slight destruction left behind from the fight.
"Where ... agh! Are we headed now?" Thunder asked.
"To find my dad and Lancer, then to find my sister if they haven't already!" Night galloped faster.
Further into the city, the squads of the Legion were mostly gathered in one part of the city, all armed with spears and surrounding the only two stallions not following their orders. One soldier stepped forward through the group, staring directly at Skywatcher and Lancer with a cold glare, but also a light smirk. The two turned and eyed him, the first thing they noticed was the black eye patch over his left eye.
"Oh, Skywatcher. Always finding a way to disobey orders. What made you different from the rest of us, hmm lieutenant? Is it because of your son, the pegasus?"
"Different, or more open minded?" Skywatcher replied, gripping a sword tightly in his hoof. "Unlike you, the one who doesn't care what his orders are, even if they are to harm innocent lives. Out of everypony in our colony, my son is quite possibly the greatest mind to come up in decades, and even he knows the orders you follow are wrong, captain!"
"You say all of this, yet I do not see him anywhere. What, did he run back to Canterlot crying to his Royal Guard?"
"In fact, he stayed to deal with the Governor," Sky smirked.
Some of the soldiers in the group gasped, and a slight chatter went about the crowd.
"Stayed to deal with the Governor, huh?" The captain dropped his smirk. "And you left him to take care of us, am I correct?"
"Perhaps, but I am here for something else. Now, where is my daughter?"
"Don't worry," the captain said in a fake, calm tone. "She's safe with us."
"Hand her over, before I take her from you."
"And why should we?" The captain chuckled.
"Because if you don't, I will have to tie your wings and drop you from a rooftop."
Both Skywatcher and Lancer, as well as many of the soldiers and the captain looked around, trying to find the source of the new voice. Finally, they glanced up to a building rooftop, staring directly at Night Shadow. Once again, a few of the soldiers gasped, most staring in surprise.
"I ... how did you get here?!" The captain yelled.
"I can fly you know," Night replied, a tone of anger in his voice. "Your leader is down, and let's say he won't be giving orders for a month or two. Now, hand over my sister, or you will come to rest beside him. All of you."
"Such a threat, especially coming from you, is preposterous."
"Oh, please. I took down your leader, you have no orders to follow. Your plans are foiled, captain. You're better off going home, before what happened a thousand years ago happens again. You don't want that to happen again, now do you? Our colony may have grown, but so has Equestria, and at this point, you would be even more outnumbered than the last time."
"And what proof do you have of this?"
On Night's back, Thunderblast grumbled loudly and squirmed some more. Finally, his hooves and legs cracked, and slowly were able to move again. He rolled off of Night's back, wobbly standing up.
"Meet my trainer, Thunderblast, a sergeant of the Royal Guard."
"That's right, and we're not alone. In fact, in Vanhoover alone, there are at least a hundred ponies who have previously served or are active in the Royal Guard. Which, also spells disaster for you. So, I would suggest listening to Night here, before he puts a major hurting on you. Also, I wouldn't forget, Night still has deadly venom in his system. One bite, and you have hours to live."
Many more of the soldiers gasped, and instead of staying where they were, a large portion of them took off into the skies and away from the city, and soon followed by the rest.
"What the, where you all going?! Come back you imbeciles, that is an order!" The captain hissed.
"Oh, what's this? It seems they don't follow your orders anymore, 'captain'." Skywatcher moved closer.
The captain hissed again. "Stay back, you idiot!"
"You may want to run," Night smirked.
"I would not do that if I were you," Skywatcher showed his fangs and growled deeply, approaching the other stallion.
The captain took some steps back and kept his spear drawn. "I said stay back, damn it!"
Instead of stopping, Skywatcher lunged at the near-black bat pony. Before he could, a sharp pain tore through down his spine, and his eyes opened up wide. He stopped mid air, and slowly fell to the ground, staring down at himself, seeing the spear had gone through his right chest area. Above, Night Shadow and Thunderblast watched in total horror as drops of blood fell onto the ground.
"Lieutenant!" Lancer shouted, his ears flattening.
"Dad!!" Night yelled.
Skywatcher laid on the ground, his head still up as he hissed in pain, staring worriedly down at the deep wound. Shutting his eyes tightly, but then reopening them moments later, he grabbed the spear with his hoof and yanked it free. More blood shot from the small hole it made, adding to the already large puddle on the ground. The captain's eyes widened, and his ears pinned back.
"S-stay back!" He dropped the spear, and backed further away.
Skywatcher hissed again, and grabbed his neck. "No dungeon time ... for you!" and raised a hoof.
"No, please...don't kill me!" The captain trembled in Sky's hoof.
"You stabbed me, the least I could do is this!" He grabbed the stallion in both hooves, lifting him up and moments later, slamming him down into the cobble street with a loud crack. Thunderblast cringed slightly at the sound, continuing to watch the scene down below.
Skywatcher panted, then soon collapsed next to the captain. Night gasped and quickly glided down to him. "Dad!"
Sky held a hoof to his chest, groaning and covering the wound. "Well..." He coughed. "He missed my heart," he faintly chuckled.
Tears built in Night's eyes, and he turned to Lancer. "Get a medic, right now!" then turned to Thunder. "Go get my sister!"
"Well, he's suffered a deep injury and has lost quite a bit of blood. I can't say much else, other than he's extremely lucky to be alive, and that the spear went in clean. The good news is, he should be out by the end of the week. The bad news is, he won't be able to talk for up to two weeks."
"That's a big relief," Night sighed and laid back in the chair, glancing over to Skywatcher, who laid asleep in a hospital bed.
"Although, I will say this. His genetics, as well as his body build may have contributed towards his survival. He does have very thick muscles, after all."
"Well, there's no denying that," Night chuckled a little. "Thanks doc, I appreciate it."
"No problem. But, you really should get some rest as well. You're banged up too."
"I would, but I really shouldn't. After yesterday, I'm expected back in Canterlot."
"Well, if it's that important, I'll let you off, but not without some meds. How does that sound?"
"Alright, I guess," Night stopped. "Actually, now that I think about it..."
Two more days later, Night Shadow sat on the train, staring outside the window and watching as Canter Mountain approached. He smiled faintly, staring upwards at the approaching city as the train made it's way up the winding slopes. Minutes passed, and soon the train began to slow as it pulled into the city, and screeching to a halt at the train station. The conductor opened the doors, greeting ponies into Canterlot. Night exited the train, and made his way towards the Canterlot castle. He showed his tag, being granted entry by the guards standing at the door who had stopped him, and they saluted him which surprised him a little.
He shrugged it off, and walked through the castle halls, eventually arriving at a tall pair of golden doors with the sun and moon engraved on both sides, also guarded. Instead of them asking for identification, they granted him entry on the spot. Once again, he was surprised by the random generosity of the guards, and entered the throne room. The doors shut behind him with an echoing thud, and he stared forward, smiling towards the two alicorn mares who ruled over the land. He stopped just feet before their thrones, bowing to them.
Princess Celestia let out a small chuckle. "Please, Captain. There is no need to bow."
Night's eyes shot open, and he stood back up. "Captain? Your highness, I don't...understand?"
Unexpectedly, the solar princess turned to her younger sister, who sat beside her and was also smiling down at the pegasus.
"Thou has proven himself of great skills in combat, and great loyalty to this country," Princess Luna cleared her throat. "You, Night Shadow, are a great example of a Lunar guard."
"After the events that occurred a few days ago, both me and my dear sister have decided, that you deserve much more than great praise on behalf of all of Equestria. You showed that when hope seemed lost, you prevailed alongside your friend and trainer Thunderblast, as well as your father. Speaking of which, we give our deepest condolences to you, Night Shadow, and we are very happy to hear that your father is doing much better in the hospital."
Night Shadow nodded once. "Thank you, your highnesses."
Princess Celestia smiled even more. "And, our decision is, that you should be reassigned of your duties."
Night stared towards the two alicorns, he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "I do not follow?"
"Night Shadow, as my sister addressed thou moments ago, we believe thou would be more fit to lead my personal escort, alongside the Captain of my Lunar Guard."
Night's eyes opened up wide, and he gasped softly. "Two captains...?"
"Yes, except Captain Fallen Star leads the whole of the Lunar Guard. Your position, would be leading one of the two squads I have for personal defense."
"But, I thought you already had a captain for your personal escort, your highness?"
"I do, but, a back up captain is always necessary in case of situations. We will announce your promotion at the upcoming Fall Gala. We expect you to be there, by the other captains' side," Princess Luna smiled.
Night Shadow's eyes widened even more, and he soon smiled. "Thank you, your highnesses. I ... can't thank you enough, but, is this position really for me? I'm only a corporal, such a large promotion is unheard of."
"If thou shows great honor and loyalty to their country, it is our decision, with the consent of the other high ranking officials of course, to promote you. And, both Captain Armor and Captain Star appreciate your actions sincerely, and agreed with us on this decision. Therefore, you are to be reassigned to being second in command of my personal escort. Once again, we expect you at the Gala in two weeks, I would love to have a casual talk with you there as well."
Two weeks passed following Night Shadow's meeting with both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and day by day, things gradually picked up around Canterlot as the city prepared for the upcoming Fall Gala. Although he now ranked at captain, Night had not yet been re-assigned to what he expected to be an office job, with lots of sleep-inducing paperwork.
Even after all of the time passed, very few of the guards addressed, or even saluted Night. Even though some knew, it was to be expected that not all would respect him as a high ranking officer, knowing it hadn't been announced yet and was going to be at the Gala, which was that later that evening.
"Captain, sir," a pegasus guard floated down to Night as he patrolled the city, he carried a rolled up scroll, neatly tied with a dark blue ribbon and a golden medallion with a crescent moon engraved in it. He landed with a faint clop of his hooves, then saluted respectively.
Night Shadow saluted back. "What is it, soldier?" He asked.
"A message from Princess Luna, sir. Shall I read it to you?"
"No, it is alright. Carry on, soldier."
The guard nodded once, handing the scroll to Night and taking off into the sky. He unclipped the medallion ribbon, setting it to the side and unrolling the scroll.
Dear Captain Night Shadow,
We are very excited for the Gala later tonight, and are looking forward to announcing your promotion, as well as commemorating you for your heroic actions in the city of Vanhoover. As part of our thanks, we have already prepared your captain's dress uniform at the local fitter on Trotting Street. You are to report to the suit fitter, and have it tried on for additional finishing touches, such as resizing. When you are finished, you will be escorted to your personal barracks at the palace, which are being prepared for you as you read this letter. Around seven o'clock, come to the main ball room at the west side of the castle.
As said before, we look forward to your presence at tonight's Gala.
Much love, your friend, Princess Luna.
Night blushed faintly at the letter mentioning Princess Luna being his friend, which was quite the honor, especially now that he was second in command of her personal guard. He rolled the letter back up, then stuck it into his armor and began walking in the direction of the dress fitter shop on the street mentioned in the letter. It wasn't long before he found it, which surprised him even more to find it was wedding related. His eyes widened, and he thought to himself, "This isn't for a wedding, I hope."
He pulled the door open, entering the shop. The door made the average bell sound, attracting the immediate attention of the shop keeper, a light pink unicorn mare with a curly purple striped mane, and a pair of square glasses. She smiled big, trotting up to Night and bowing her head to him.
"You must be Captain Night Shadow," she said, smiling.
"I am," Night smiled to her. "Please, there is no need to bow. I am not royalty."
"But you are a high ranking guard, and that is worthy of respect. I presume you're here to try on your new uniform, hmm?"
"Yes, ma'am," Night smiled still.
"Well, come with me! I've got it here in the back room for you to try on," the shopkeeper said, beginning to trot into one of the back rooms of the store. Night followed her from a few feet, also looking around at the different suits and dresses in the shop. The mare lit her horn in a light blue aura, pushing the fitting room's door open and walking inside. "Here it is!"
Night followed her inside, his eyes opening in awe as he stared directly at his new uniform, which was fitted onto a manikin of a stallion about his size. The entire uniform was extremely dark blue, with a few lighter blue detailing, such as the rank insignia which was that of a Captain, with a white crescent moon just above, which matched that of Princess Luna's cutie mark. The buttons up the suit jacket were fine polished gold, similar to the Royal Guard's dress uniforms.
"Well, what do you think?" The mare smiled hopefully.
"I love it. I absolutely love it," Night smiled brightly. "How much do I owe you?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, Princess Luna has it already taken care of. Now, let's have you try it on," the shopkeeper lit her horn again, enveloping the suit and the manikin whole, gently slipping it off and levitating it in the air. "You will have to take your armor off, first."
Many minutes of uncomfortable fitting later, the shopkeeper stepped back from Night Shadow, then turned him to face a vertical mirror. Night smiled to himself in the mirror and put a hoof to his chest, lightly smirking.
"Well, hello, sexy," he said to himself.
The shopkeeper giggled. "Perfect fit, I see."
"It is. I love it, I really do," Night turned to her and smiled. "Thank you."
"Oh, don't thank me, I just couldn't wait to be given such an honorable assignment, the job of making a uniform for one of the princess' high ranking guards. I should thank you, or more importantly, I should thank the royal sisters as well." Night chuckled and smiled. "Now, let's get it packed for you for later."
More minutes later, the shopkeeper neatly folded the suit, and wrapped it in transparent plastic clothing wrap, then set it gently down in a pink and white striped paper bag, and handed it to Night. He thanked the mare once more, then exited the store and started to walk towards the palace, only to be stopped by another pegasus royal guard, which startled him a little.
"My apologies, sir," the guard saluted. Night saluted back and chuckled again.
"Don't be, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings."
The guard kept a stoic expression on his face, not smiling once. "Are you ready to be taken to your personal quarters, Captain?"
"I am, sir. Lead the way," Night said.
Both the guard and Night Shadow began walking through the busy streets, weaving through small crowds as they did. Night turned and watched some ponies decorate the street lights and buildings for the Gala as they walked past, smiling at the ponies who watched them walk by. Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Night found himself at the front door of the castle. He followed the guard inside, and soon up a stair way onto the second floor. Two doors to the right, the guard pulled a key from his armor and stuck it into the lock, and twisted it. The door unlocked, and he pushed it open, stepping to the side.
"Your personal quarters, sir," he said.
Night entered the room, his eyes brightening in awe once again. The room was large, complete with a king-sized bed with the sheets and pillows neatly placed on it. The top blanket was a navy blue, and had the Lunar Guard serpent eye on it, dead center. Off to the sides, the bed had two night stands, one with two drawers, the other as a simple round table with a white and gold crystal lamp sitting perfectly on it. On the walls, were two steel swords crossed under a silver shield, hanging a few feet above the polished wooden floor.
To the right of the bed, were numerous tall windows, and dual glass doors leading out onto a round balcony with two chairs and a table, looking out over a good portion of the city. He walked further inside, noticing to his left, where the bathroom and kitchen were.
Night trotted into the bathroom, his golden eyes still greatly widened as he looked around. Inside was a master shower, a large granite counter with a gold-edged mirror, and a wooden towel rack. Night strode out of the bathroom, and into the kitchen, which was somewhat spaced off from the bathroom. It was an average kitchen, with a large refrigerator, a steel stove, many small cabinets both under the counter and above, as well as the dual-sided sink built into even more granite counter tops.
"If you need anything, I will be down the hall," the guard added, exiting Night's room and closing the door behind him.
Night continued to look all around, in utter shock of how luxurious his quarters were. In his mind, he expected something slightly rougher and smaller, but still comfortable. He trotted to the bed, setting his new uniform down onto it.
Hours passed, and soon the sun was already sunk beneath the west horizon, and the stars were already out to the east. Night carefully put on his new uniform, initially having some trouble without the aid of a shopkeeper like earlier. Once he was finished, he looked over himself in the mirror, making minor corrections so nothing was crooked or off. He looked over himself in the mirror, smirking a little and beginning to talk to himself in a mirror, acting like he was with a mare.
"Well, hello. I am Captain Night Shadow," he spoke in a slightly different voice other than his own, then he shook his head quickly. "No, wait, Night, this isn't a date. This is the Fall Gala. It's like the Grand Galloping Gala, but in autumn," he facehoofed himself gently, then noticed a small gold bowl of mints.
He reached into it and tossed a mint into his mouth, chewing on it for a few moments, but then spitting it into the trash can. "Agh, these taste terrible!" He coughed a little and spit into the sink, then rolled up one of his sleeves neatly and ran a hoof under the water to wipe at his tongue. "Blech," he shook his head, then trotted out of the bathroom.
Night walked to the windows, staring down at the streets ahead and spotting a long line of finely dressed ponies of all gender and race waiting to enter the palace. He inhaled, then walked to the door leading to the hallway outside of his quarters, shutting off the lights and trotting out into the hall, and down the stairs.
Come to the main ballroom west side of the castle, he remembered. Night made his way onto the first floor, passing by the occasional guard standing by closed doors. He eventually turned a corner, entering the main hall and stopping to look around. "Hmm, where's the main ballroom?"
"Down the first hall from here and straight ahead," a guard replied.
Night was slightly startled, having not noticed the guard before. "Oh, thanks," he blushed in some embarrassment and turned down the hallway, soon coming to end of it and pushing the doors open. Inside, the ball room was decorated beautifully with many different assortments of autumn-themed decorations.
Night walked in, slowly looking around at the empty ball room. In just thirty minutes, the palace would be packed with hundreds of mares and stallions.
"Thine uniform looks good," a new voice spoke up, once again startling Night Shadow.
Night quickly turned around, his eyes meeting those of Princess Luna's. She wore a black and navy blue dress with slightly transparent silver edging, which sparkled like her dark blue wavy mane. He blushed a little and chuckled.
"Your highness, I did not hear you walk in," he approached the alicorn mare and stopped just before her, bowing his head.
"Oh, we apologize if we scared thee. We simply wanted to have a word with thou before we open the doors."
"But of course, your highness."
Princess Luna sighed contently. "We know tonight seems like a busy night, but, we would like for thou to know that tonight is laid back. Do not keep your guard up too much, this is a night to relax and open up, and perhaps introduce yourself to a few ponies?"
Night Shadow nodded. "Of course, your-"
"Please, do not be so formal. As we said, tonight is simply for relaxation and opening up," Princess Luna smiled.
Night blushed softly and nodded again. "Alright, I-I'll try my best. It just feels strange not being formal. It feels wrong. You are after all, the Lunar princess."
"Yes, but, I much prefer casual talk in the presence of acquaintances. As thou may know, I do not have many friends, which is why we—I mean, I—grant you casual speech."
"Well, if you say so. I may slip a few times, though."
Princess Luna let out a small chuckle. "That is fine with us."
A new sound caught their attention, the sound of two large doors opening with faint thuds. Night and Princess Luna turned their heads, watching as ponies casually entered the ball room and looking around in awe. Princess Luna then turned back to Night.
"Please, just have fun. After your courage two weeks ago, you've earned some time off, Night Shadow," Princess Luna smiled again.
Night Shadow smiled back and nodded once. "Thank you, Princess Luna."
Following their short discussion, both the lunar princess and Night Shadow greeted guests as they walked in. Calm orchestral music played throughout the ballroom. Ponies walked around, some to a small area by the music altar to dance, others to the buffet for food. Guards stood by the door like any other day, present in the event of something going awry.
Twenty minutes later, the last ponies entered the ball room, soon followed by Princess Celestia, who wore a bright white and gold layered dress with a short train. The altar was cleared of the opera instruments, where the royal sisters stood to speak.
"My dear subjects," Princess Celestia started. "I welcome you all tonight to the first annual Fall Gala. As some of you may know, both me and my dear sister Princess Luna have a major announcement to make regarding changes in her royal guard. You may have met him at the door when you entered, but he is here now. Night Shadow?"
At her word, Night Shadow walked out of the crowd, down the red silk carpet. Many ponies in the crowd had faint chatter that even he couldn't hear, many of the ponies watching in awe as he walked to the altar, standing to Princess Luna's left side and smiling.
"We would like for all of thou to meet Captain Night Shadow, second-in-command of my personal guard."
The crowd lit up into a collective clapping of hooves and some cheering, and even some whistling from mares, then it calmed when Princess Celestia cleared her throat.
"Tonight, we greatly appreciate this brave stallion's courage, as he led the small rebellion against the bat pony colony's attacking forces in Vanhoover just two weeks ago. I shall hand this over to Night Shadow. Go ahead, introduce yourself," Princess Celestia turned to him, smiling.
Night gulped a little, then turned back to the large crowd. "Hello everypony," he started. "It is an honor to be here tonight, beside the princesses and with all of you. I come from a large colony of bat ponies in northwestern Equestria, even though I am a pegasus. Don't worry, I'm confused as to why I came out this way too," he lightly chuckled. Most of the ponies in the room chuckled with him, then continued to listen.
"But, when I learned of the plans of an invasion of Equestria, as revenge to what happened all of those decades ago, I decided it was too risky to come back, and I had to do it myself. By the time it started, the army of ponies of all of the colonies combined known as Fang Legion, started attacking the city and soon took it over, lead by the colony's leader, the Governor as we called him.
"He never revealed his name, which is why he follows that name in particular. I fought him, and lost. My good friend and trainer, Sergeant Thunderblast of the Royal Guard, stepped in, saving me from being executed, but was paralyzed by a numbing venom. I stood up again, and fought harder. Before I knew it, I had taken down their leader. Afterwards, I went to the aid of my father and his friend. Once it was all done, it left my father in the hospital," Night looked down. "I hoped he would be here tonight, but he is still heal—"
The doors to the ballroom suddenly gradually opened, and the crowd, as well as Night and the princesses turned their heads to the door. Standing there, Midnight Dusk, Dawn Blossom, and a bandaged Skywatcher neatly dressed stood, smiling at their son down the aisle. Some ponies gasped at the sight of the three bat ponies, more surprised than anxious or fearful. Night's eyes widened, and he soon smiled.
"It's... it's my family!"
The crowd once again clapped and cheered, smiling to Night, and then to his parents and sister as they made their way down the aisle. Night trotted down from the altar, then up to his family and embracing them in a tight hug. The crowd then let out a collective 'd'aww' and clapped more.
"I thought you were still at home?"
"We heard the news, and we couldn't miss out on such a once-in-a-lifetime occasion!" Dawn smiled and playfully nudged Night's shoulder.
Night chuckled and nudged Dawn's shoulder back. "I'm so happy you're all here! Come with me," he smiled and walked back to the altar with his family. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I would like for you to meet my father, Lieutenant Skywatcher of Fang Legion, my mother Midnight Dusk, and my little sister, Dawn Blossom."
The two princesses smiled, and all greeted each other, Night's family giving respective bows and being returned by the princesses themselves. The Gala soon returned to normal, and minutes later, Thunderblast trotted up, donning his black-and-red dress uniform.
"Hello, everypony," Thunder smiled.
"Thunder!" Night smiled back and hoofbumped him. "Good to see you, buddy."
"Great to see you too, Captain," Thunder threw up a quick salute, which Night returned. "Looking good in that new uniform, wish I had one."
"Sorry, Thunder, Lunar guards only," Night chuckled again, as did Thunder.
"So, how does it feel?"
"It feels great. It all feels great now that things worked out. I myself have a personal announcement to make to all of you!"
"Oh?" Skywatcher said, smiling to Night.
"While you were in the hospital, Dad, I took the time to have some tinkering done. I'm... not venomous anymore."
Night's family, as well as Thunderblast's eyes widened with surprise, and they smiled again.
"That's great!" Thunder said.
"You were venomous?" Dawn gasped.
"Long story, I'll explain it later."
"Sounds good, because I have some talking to do with the princesses," Skywatcher said.
"Some talking? What for?" Night asked.
"Peace talks, the Governor assigned me to do it for him, which is another reason why we're here."
"He changed his mind?" Night raised an eyebrow.
"Of course he did, you put a big hurting on him, big brother. He's scared of you," Dawn chuckled.
"Is he really?" Night kept an eyebrow raised. "I guess things really did work out then."
"Well, you know what they say, all's well that ends well," Thunder said as he sipped some mixed fruit punch.
"I guess that is true. So, what happens now?"
"We relax. Nothing more can happen, now that we're all at peace once again," Princess Luna said, walking up to the group.
"Princess Luna," Thunderblast bowed to her.
"Sergeant," the lunar princess did the same in return. "We commemorate you for your courageous actions alongside Captain Night Shadow here."
"Thank you, your highness," Thunder smiled.
The group talked for the remainder of the night, all enjoying each others' company as everypony bonded closer. Talks were made between the bat ponies and the royalty of Equestria, and even Skywatcher was surprised to find himself liked by the two princesses. While they talked, Night Shadow stepped away from the group and over to one of the windows, sighing softly and staring up at the starry sky.
"Sharp... I wish you were here to enjoy the night with us. I'm so sorry everything happened, I'm so sorry I... killed you," Night sighed and wiped at his eye. "I hope we will see each other again sometime."
