Restless Night

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The moon was full tonight, blanketing Equestria in a soft glow. As brilliant as the night sky was, it was clear that Luna was in a good mood. No doubt the night owls across the kingdom were appreciative of the light the Princess of the Night had blessed them with. Personally, I found it a bit depressing as it was a reminder that I would be leaving Canterlot tomorrow.

My name is Benjamin, no last name that I can remember, falling off a cliff can do that. I wish I could say my venture into this strange land was caused by an epic quest or some outrageous anomaly. No, my unexplained trip to Equestria was the result of leaving camp to take care of “business” and getting lost in the woods. Imagine my surprise when I saw a miniature Zebra that could talk.

One thing led to another, and I found myself in the company of two amazing princesses. Celestia presided over the day court and the sun, and Luna was in charge of night court and hanging the stars in the sky. Both were equally important in keeping the kingdom moving in the right direction.

Apparently the last documented human had died over two thousand years ago, wiped out by the Griffins, former enemy of Equestria. Imagine the princesses’ delight and curiosity when they learned about me. The first few days were filled with questions and recovery from my fall, which wasn’t too unpleasant. Luna would quiz me in the evenings before she took charge for the remainder of the day, while Celestia would visit once she was free of day court.

The only complaint raised was that guards escorted me almost everywhere. They were stiff, expressionless, and not the best choice to have a conversation with. I had just about given up on any sort of one on one interaction, until she came along.

I heard my door creak open and turned to see who it was. A head had poked its way through the opening; two large orange eyes staring back at me, accompanied by the friendly smile of Vesper Nightsong, or simply Vesper as she preferred to be called.

Vesper was a bat pony also known as a thestral, sporting a blue mane and tail with a set of black bat wings. Her fur was a bit longer than a regular pony as well, with adorable tuffs of fur on her ears. Two small fangs just barely protruded from her mouth when it was closed. Her cutie mark was a series of white musical notes against her grey coat, hinting at her talent for singing.

Since I used to fall asleep before the guards changed I had no idea who Vesper was. One night I found myself unable to sleep, with an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. Vesper's instructions from Luna were to make sure I was still alive during the night, being an endangered species and all.

On this particular night, Vesper poked her head in to find me awake, and decided to talk for a while. That had been two weeks ago, and already we were pretty close, since bat ponies form bonds a bit quicker than normal ponies. Vesper would anxiously wait for night to come so she could visit before I fell asleep.

“How’s my human doing?” Vesper asked, gliding over to my bed to begin our nightly conversations.

“I’m nervous about the move tomorrow,” I confessed as I stroked one of her ears. “I know I asked to see the rest of Equestria, but I’m starting to doubt myself.”

“Why’s that?” Vesper asked, leaning into my hand with a happy squee.

“You saw the way those court ponies acted when they saw me,” I replied, their expressions still fresh in my memory.

Against her sister’s better judgement, Luna brought me in on a few night court cases. The reactions other ponies gave me were shock and confusion, but otherwise nonagressive. Some however, silently expressed their negative emotions through occasional glares in my direction. The princess caught onto them soon enough and apologized for their behavior.

“I saw a few smiles,” Vesper reminded me as she leaned against my chest. “You just have to show them who you really are.”

“I know, that doesn’t mean I’m looking forward to all the stares and rumors,” I shrugged as I played with both her ears while occasionally running a few fingers through her mane.

“It’ll be fine, you’ll have me with you,” Vesper reminded me, having volunteered to be a personal guard of sorts. “Somepony has to make sure you don’t get attacked at night.”

“I doubt that will happen,” I commented, regretting my decision to as Vesper looked up at me with a hurt expression. “With you on watch, that is.”

The bat pony’s muzzle turned a light shade of red as she looked away with a smile. “Just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“I will be, Celestia has already told them about me so there shouldn’t be any unexpected screams of mobs with pitchforks,” I joked, even though the thought had crossed my mind as one of the potential outcomes for this.

“You should sleep,” Vesper said as she removed herself from my lap. “We can’t have you walking around Ponyville all sleep deprived.”

“Shouldn’t you get some sleep too then?” I asked as I complied and let myself fall back onto the mattress.

“I’ve still got a job to do,” Vesper replied as she draped her forelegs over my torso, pinning me to the bed. “Go to sleep, that’s an order.”

I smiled as she used a more serious tone and expression and proceeded to pet her once more. The serious demeanor evaporated as I continued to stroke her mane and ears, being replaced by a content sigh from the pleased bat pony. She let her head come to rest on my chest, giving me easier access to her ears.

Vesper watched me through one half lidded eye as I started to drift off to sleep. I knew I’d be safe with her nearby, watching me as I slept. As creepy as it sounded, it actually helped me fall asleep faster, and soon I could feel myself lose the battle against exhaustion. Vesper had become the last thing I saw before I blanked out for the night, and the first thing when I awoke the next morning.

“Goodnight Vesper,” I mumbled as I closed my eyes.

Welcome to Ponyville

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Cheerilee sighed as another paper was placed in a stack along with the others she had already graded. School would be out soon, which made the tests on her desk some of the last she would be grading for a while. Not that she didn’t enjoy the break, but during the months school was out she felt as if she didn’t have a purpose.

To make matters worse, Big McIntosh had ended their relationship, claiming he had found somepony else. Cheerilee wished she could say that it took her by surprise, but seeing as how her own students had been the ones to try and jump start their relationship, she always kept the possibility of a disappointing end in the back of her mind. She now had a lonely summer to look forward to, as her assumptions turned out to be true.

Cheerilee rolled her pencil over her teeth as she looked over another paper, this one belonging to Apple Bloom. She had improved since the last test, and was making solid grades with the basic school work. She also happened to be the little sister of Big Mac, and one of the three fillies who set her up with him. She had meant well, but as Cheerilee had tried to tell them, she wasn’t interested at the moment.

The mare marked her test with an A before placing it in the pile. Cheerilee let out a tired sigh as she got ready to file them away for the day. She would have gladly fallen asleep at her desk, if it wasn’t for her growling stomach and her bed being more comfortable than the wooden surface of her desk.

“At least it was just half of a school day,” Cheerilee muttered to herself as she closed the door to the school house. “I felt so drained today.”

She summarized that depression probably had a hoof in it. A pony shouldn’t fall asleep crying and expect to wake up refreshed. It wasn’t because Big Mac left her though; she had expected a relationship like that to fail. What made her cry were her own doubts about finding somepony on her own.

“Am I really that busy?” Cheerilee asked aloud as she started her long walk home with her ears drooping slightly.

As she walked, she noticed the town seemed a bit more lively than usual. Cheerilee wondered if the princesses were coming today, or if she had forgotten about some important pony stopping by for one reason or another. Whatever the cause for the excitement was, the mare’s curiosity was piqued.

A train whistle sounded off in the distance, which was followed by another, much longer whistle that signified the thundering construct of wood and metal would arrive shortly. This prompted Cheerilee to move a bit faster towards the crowd; the exhaustion she had felt earlier replaced with new found energy.

As she passed the dental clinic, Cheerilee noticed Colgate hang a sign with a picture of a clock on it over the door knob of the building. The mare wore an optimistic smile as she left. Colgate waved to Cheerilee when she noticed her walking towards a few of the other ponies.

“Hello Colgate,” Cheerilee gave the mare a soft smile. “Anything new in the dentistry world?”

“Not really,” Colgate shook her head as she matched her pace with Cheerilee’s. “Well, I take that back. There might be something new soon.”

“Oh?” Cheerilee raised an eyebrow. “What’s the uncertainty?”

“Didn’t you get the letter?” the blue unicorn asked in return. “The one that had the royal seal on it?”

Cheerilee’s ears folded back against her head as she wracked her brain in an attempt to recall all the letters she had received. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember seeing one that had the royal seal on it, which made her nervous. What if she was supposed to do something, or be somewhere specific?

“Umm, what did yours say?” Cheerilee asked with a nervous smile.

“It said a human was coming to Ponyville,” Colgate replied, not noticing the teacher’s nervous expression.

“Sorry, did you just say a human was coming to Ponyville?” Cheerilee’s trotting pace started to slow as she processed what her friend had said. “As in the thing that is supposed to be extinct?”

“I know right?” Colgate’s smile became bigger. “Maybe I’ll be the first one to get a good look at those teeth!”

Colgate continued to drone on and on about what she thought the human’s mouth might be like. Clearly the idea of potentially getting to make history was going to her head. Cheerilee didn’t have the heart to tell her that the chances of an extinct species suddenly reappearing in Equestria again were very slim.

While the thought was exciting if true, Cheerilee had already reasoned with herself that this was either a very elaborate hoax, and somepony was going to jail for impersonating a princess, or it was some sort of advertisement for a museum in Canterlot. Whatever the case, the mare’s hopes weren’t as high as her skepticism.

As the two mares joined the small crowd that had gathered around the station’s dock, the train pulled in, clacking nosily against the tracks. It crept forward at an increasingly slower pace until it eventually came to a stop, steam spewing from the engine’s sides with a loud hiss.

The doors on the passenger cars slid open, but didn’t produce any ponies eagerly waiting to leave the station. Instead, there was a large figure that passed by the windows of the car that seemed to be having difficulty moving about. Cheerilee found herself mimicking the rest of the crowd as her eyes tracked the moving shadow against the windows.

Finally, the figure stopped at the door before what looked like a Minotaur’s arm stretched out to place a hand against the door frame. It was an odd peach color that could have easily been mistaken for white, and it seemed much smaller than what should be normal for even an adolescent Minotaur.

Cheerilee’s eyes widened when a tall, lanky creature emerged from the train. Two tiny blue eyes scanned the awe struck crowd nervously. A black tuff of hair sat upon its head, which seemed to be the only visible fur covering its body. The rest of the thing’s body was covered by clothing, which the mare assumed must be uncomfortable, especially for a creature its size.

“This is a human?” Cheerilee whispered to Colgate.

“I don’t know, maybe?” Colgate replied with an uncertain waver in her voice.

Cheerilee tilted her head in confusion, having read about the creatures before. The Griffins had hunted them down during their failed invasion, believing that they were there to aid the ponies in the defense of their kingdom. Needless to say, the birds were thorough in their task, and an indigenous species was wiped out before help could reach them. How one had found its way to the princesses was an interesting thought to chew on.

The mare noticed something on the human’s back that appeared to be a pony. It was grey with an unusually blue mane, and a pair of shades resting over its eyes. It wasn’t until the pony stretched that Cheerilee got a good look at it, or her rather.

“Ugh…bat ponies,” she mumbled.

---

The train was unsettlingly quiet, as Vesper and I traveled to Ponyville. The ride had been made private, save for a few guards that were at each of the doors. Vesper was falling in and out of sleep, having messed up her schedule last night when she decided to take a rather long nap on my stomach. Much to the mare’s dismay, her sleep cycle was now out of balance.

“I can taste colors,” Vesper slurred.

“You’re acting weird,” I said, leaning back against the comfortable seat of the train car. “…what does blue taste like?”

“Vaaaaanilla,” Vesper giggled as her head came to rest against me.

“Good to know,” I smiled as I played with her ears.

“Nooo, you’re gonna send me to sleep…” Vesper whined, kicking her hind legs out of frustration like a child.

The guards in the train car stared at us as Vesper threw her fit. I chuckled nervously as their expression shifted into a frown. I could only imagine what was going through their minds as they saw one of the defenders of Equestria throwing a hissy fit about sleep. Perhaps they held me responsible since she only started acting funny the next morning…when she was found sprawled out on top of me, wings and all.

The whistle sounded, alerting us that we were nearing our destination. The bat pony at my side jumped up onto the ceiling…and stayed there. Vesper, like all thestrals, could hang and walk on ceilings without any visible grooves. This applied to hanging upside down in general really, which was one of her cooler abilities. Miraculously, the sunglasses that she wore defied the laws of gravity, as did a lot of things in this physics breaking world.

“Hey, come on, you can’t stay up there,” I said as I poked the bat pony in her side.

“Yes I can,” Vesper stuck her tongue out at me. “You can’t make me get down!”

I raised an eyebrow at her declaration and tried to pull her off the ceiling, to no avail. It was as if she had stuck glue on her hooves before opting to hang upside down instead of return to her seat. Vesper smiled victoriously, her snickers coming out as a series of squeaking sound.

Another whistle sounded, this time it was drug out for a few seconds before the conductor silenced it. I decided to take a different approach in my efforts to remove Vesper from the ceiling by placing both hands on her barrel. Vesper caught on, but as tired as the mare was she couldn’t move without falling down.

“H-Hey, you wouldn’t do a tired mare that way, would you?” Vesper’s smile looked like a frown as she continued to hang upside down.

“I don’t know, would I?” I smiled as I started to tickle the mare.

Vesper tried to fend me off from her sides with her wings as the train began to slow down. Eventually the mare relinquished her hold on the ceiling in a fit of laughter. Unfortunately, she didn’t land on the floor as I had hoped. The mare fell on top of me instead, and decided it would be a good time to become dead weight on my back.

“Ahh, so comfy,” Vesper commented as she draped her forelegs over my shoulder.

Despite her light weight, she was heavy enough to throw me off balance as I stumbled through the train car. I had been so busy trying to get Vesper off my back that I didn’t notice the doors on the train were open. I realized this as I tried to support our combined weight against a closed door; I had to catch myself before falling flat on my face.

As I stumbled out of the train, I was greeted by a small, quiet crowd of ponies. I was as silent as they were for a few seconds, scanning over the curious, but friendly eyes of the ponies in Ponyville. One pony had an annoyed expression as Vesper stretched while on my back.

“I brought the human!” Vesper exclaimed before finally passing out.

I wasn’t sure what to say or do for the small gathering, afraid that I would offend them somehow as they began to murmur amongst themselves. Thankfully, a lavender colored alicorn approached me after clearing her throat. Celestia had told me there was a princess in Ponyville, so I could only assume this was her.

“Greetings, my name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said with a warm smile. “Welcome to Ponyville.”

“Nice to finally meet you,” I said with a shaky voice.

Twilight leaned in slightly, lowering the volume of her voice. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t expect a welcome party,” I replied. “I’m not exactly used to being in the spotlight.”

“You don’t have to worry, these ponies have seen dragons, yaks, and a few other things,” Twilight said in a matter of factly tone. “I bet you’ll make a few friends here if you give them a chance.”

I looked up from Twilight to face the crowd, all of whom seemed to be eager for me to say something as their own conversations came to an abrupt end. I had expected them to be like the ponies in Canterlot, but they seemed more open, possibly excited about my presence here.

“Um…my name’s Benjamin,” I said trying to sound confident.

Several hellos came from the crowd that still seemed to anticipate something. Thankfully Twilight broke the awkward silence that followed, clearing her throat once more. “Well, I’m sure he’s had a long day, and this is all new to Benjamin. Why don’t give him some space for a while? I’m sure he’s just as eager to meet all of you as you are him.”

With that, a few in the crowd dispersed, while those that remained gave a few friendly greetings or encouraging words as we walked past them. Then there was the mare with the annoyed expression again. She sighed as she turned to walk away, which stung me a bit, but I was used to it from Canterlot. I felt bad that I hadn’t been as exciting as a few of the ponies might have expected me to be. I made a mental note to be a bit more energetic next time.

“Thanks for the save, Princess Twilight,” I said as I followed the alicorn, Vesper still asleep on my back.

“No problem, and just Twilight will do,” Twilight replied. “I’m sure Celestia meant well when she sent out the notifications. I didn’t think you would mind a little welcome party.”

“I’ve never been good with crowds,” I said, rolling my shoulders to keep Vesper on my back.

Twilight giggled. “I didn’t think that many ponies would show up, since your kind went extinct in Equestria.”

“You know I’m not made out of glass, right?” I asked rhetorically. “And are there other human outside of Equestria?”

“Not exactly, I’ve been to your world before,” Twilight replied. “I never thought a human from that world would come here though…how did you do that anyways?”

“Uh…I did a thing,” I looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

“Well, what was it? You have to tell me!” I thought for sure Twilight might start bouncing from her excitement.

I mumbled my response, my cheeks growing redder the more I thought about it. Twilight’s ears seemed locked on me as she struggled to hear me. I still found it interesting how she had been to the human’s world.

“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that,” Twilight said, coming to a complete stop.

“I got lost when I was trying to…do business.” I sighed, hoping she would pick up on what I meant.

“Really? What kind of business, where you a park ranger?” Twilight seemed completely oblivious to what “business” in the woods fell under for humans. “Oh, maybe a biologist?”

“...you can say it had to do with biology, yeah,” I nodded.

“I knew it, you have the look of a pon- err, human that loves science.” Twilight beamed proudly, tapping her fore hooves together like a person would their hands if they were clapping.

“Yep, I love science alright,” I chuckled nervously.

Twilight began to drone on about what she had been studying. If someone had told me that I would eventually get to meet a book nerd pony, I would have laughed at them, but here I was, following a book horse through a town of colorful equines. Book horse, I liked the nickname for Twilight, it suited her.

Eventually a castle appeared in the distance that seemed to be made entirely out of crystal. As we got closer, I was taken away by the size of the regal building. From the outside, it seemed incredibly sturdy and immune to any kind of outward attack, nothing like the celestial princesses’ castle.

“Pretty impressive house you’ve got there,” I commented.

“I think you’ll be even more impressed once we’re inside,” Twilight said, bringing an end to her theories on magic and just about anything that’s ever been put in a book. “Especially since you’ll be staying here a while.”

“That’s cool,” I said while mentally cursing my fate. I had essentially traded one castle for another, albite a cooler one.

“Is something wrong?” Twilight looked up at me with concern.

“No, everything’s good, why?” I asked as the guards stepped aside to let us in.

“You just didn’t sound as excited as I thought you would,” Twilight said. “It’s not every day somepony is told they get to live in a castle.”

“You’re-whoa…” I stopped mid sentence as I saw the interior.

The halls of the castle shimmered with vibrant energy, our reflections caught on some of the crystals that made up the walls. Our foot and hoof steps had an oddly pleasant echo to them as Twilight led me through the corridors. I felt as if I was committing an atrocity for walking through such a beautiful building with my shoes on. Even though I knew some mud had caked onto the bottom of my shoes no dirt seemed to be left behind, save for when we walked across a carpet.

“Do you like it?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“Yeah…” I dumbly replied, still awestruck by the beauty of the castle.

There was one thing that struck me as odd though, I had yet to see a throne of any kind. If Twilight was a princess, surely there would be one. As I was about to ask, two doors opened in front of us as a purple mist surrounded the handle, or whatever qualified as a “handle” for ponies. Perhaps hoofdles were a thing in Equestria?

Before I could ponder any farther on the matter, a pink blur materialized in front of me. When my eyes were finally able to track the creature that appeared from the pink haze, I saw a pony with wide blue eyes and a poofy mane and tail standing in front of me with a bright smile.

“Hi, my name's Pinkie Pie!” the bubbly mare was certainly excited. “What’s yours?”

“Benjamin,” I replied with the most enthusiastic voice I could muster.

“Soareyoureallyahumanthat’scomebackfromthedeadorwouldthatmakeyouaghosthuman? BecauseIdon’tknowmuchaboutghosthumans,butIknowalittleaboutrealhumans,eventhoughthey’resupposedtobealldeadandstuff.Oh,oh,doyoulikecake?BecauseImadeacake,butIwasn’tsurewhattomakeitwithsoIthrewabitofeverythinginit!” I could literally feel my brain cells overheating as I tried to process everything Pinkie Pie was saying.

“Simmer down there Pinky,” said a mare with a southern draw in her voice. “We don’t want ta go scare’n him none.”

“Benjamin, these are my closest friends,” Twilight said as she led me into the round room that had six chairs, and an odd looking table, all made out of crystal. “Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Spike and Starlight Glimmer are out right now but I’m sure you’ll see them eventually.”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, darling,” Rarity said, her accent seemed a bit out of place for Ponyville, resembling that of a Canterlot pony.

“So what can you do?” Asked the blue pegasus identified as Rainbow Dash. “Can you shoot lasers from your eyes? Maybe crush boulders?”

“Nothing that impressive,” I remained motionless as the mare circled me inquisitively. “I’ve got mad rock climbing skills though.”

“Why don’t you just fly over them?” Rainbow asked.

“No wings,” I replied with a shrug, nearly dislodging my passenger from my back.

A butter yellow pegasus tried to hide behind her mane as she studied me. I smiled at her, hoping it would encourage her to talk, or at least say hi. Sadly, my smile only caused her to blush and look away She certainly lived up to the name Twilight had identified her with, Fluttershy.

As the questions revolving around my world and myself were asked, I felt a little better about being in Ponyville, even if I had just traded one castle for another. Perhaps if I was patient enough I could get my own house, which was an exciting thought. Whatever happened, at least I wouldn’t be alone, as the weight of Vesper reminded me.

Enrollment

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My first night in the castle was mostly uneventful. I say mostly because Vesper was still acting a bit goofy, and tried to sleep with me; not in a dirty way, mind you. I had to remind her that she was supposed to be a body guard at night. Eventually she begrudgingly agreed and proceeded to anchor herself to the ceiling.

Drip

My dreams were less than desirable, as they included my family. I still loved them, but after being told the portal was only one way for beings such as myself I had tried to keep them out of my mind to avoid a major case of home sickness. Thankfully Vesper had helped with that, and Twilight had tried her best yesterday to make me feel welcome and at home.

Drip

Twilight and her friends seem like nice ponies, as does the rest of the town. It was far better than the “welcome” I received from Canterlot. So far there seemed to be only one pony that didn’t care for my presence in Ponyville. The odd mare in question had left before I had even made it off the train stations dock. I assumed that I would want to avoid her, since she clearly didn’t approve of me.

Drip drip

“Okay what in the world is tha-“ I huffed as I flung the sheets off of me, only to stop when I heard the light snoring of my bat pony friend.

Vesper was drooling; hanging on the ceiling by a single leg as the rest of her form was limp, save for the rise and fall of her chest. Another drool drop hit my head before I could move out of the way. Rubbing the spot only seemed to make it spread, and in my frustration I found myself on the floor.

I groaned as I rolled over to push myself up from the rather cold floor. Ponies didn’t have to endure the torture of a cold floor, as their hooves had next to no feeling. It was times like these that made me wish I had hooves instead of feet.

I looked back up at Vesper, the thestral still fast asleep. I was tempted to chunk a pillow at her, but the better part of me decided against it. Sighing, I left the bat pony to her dreams and proceeded to put on clothes to start the morning, hoping my dribbling wakeup call was the worst thing that happened to me today.

---

After breakfast and a shower, I decided to explore the castle a bit. The guards in Twilight’s castle seemed to be less numerous than the sisters’. It was a welcome change, as I didn’t have ponies looking over my shoulder, or judging me for not being able to read labels and asking them what they said.

The only downside to this freedom was that I had no idea where I was now. At that moment I would have done anything for a stiff necked guard pony to come trotting around a corner. As fate would have it, my ears were graced with the clip-clop of hooves. The only time I had ever been this happy about the sound of hooves was when the noise came in the form of two coconuts being banged together.

A mare rounded the corner with a coat that wasn’t exactly pink, per say, but wasn’t purple either. Aside from her difficult coat color, her eyes were a fair blue and her mane was a mix of purple and aquamarine. The style of her mane reminded me a bit of Rarity’s, only shorter and more colorful.

“You must be Benjamin,” the mare said with a skeptic expression as she studied me from top to bottom.

“Indeed I am, miss…”

“Starlight Glimmer,” Starlight disappeared upon giving me her name.

With an oddly comical popping noise, the unicorn appeared behind me, circling me as if looking for something specific. I saw a glowing mist surround my arm and lift it up slowly as Starlight continued her investigation of me. This wasn’t the first time I had been inspected by a unicorn and had learned not to pull against the whims of magic wielding equines.

“Weird…” she commented. “How did you even find the portal? I can’t find any trace of magic on you.”

“It was an accident,” I shrugged.

“That’s what Twilight said, I just had to see it for myself,” Starlight seemed satisfied for the moment. “So what’s the rare human doing in this part of the castle?”

“Getting lost,” I replied as I rubbed the back of my head. “Any chance I can follow you back to civilization?”

“Sure,” Starlight smiled, her demeanor towards me shifting as she motioned for me to follow her.

We walked in relative silence through the crystal halls of the castle. My mind drifting off in an attempt to make some sort of plan for today. Sadly, nothing came to mind despite my best efforts. I could explore, but I felt it would be better with some sort of guide.

“So,” Starlight spoke up, pulling me from my thoughts. “How did you get lost in the first place?”

“What do you mean?” I asked in response.

Starlight looked as if I had just asked what two plus two was before stopping to gesture her head towards a gold plate with several odd formations on it. “Twilight took the time to place labels in various places so that wouldn’t happen. She can be…a bit over dedicated when it comes to that.”

“Oh, those,” I said flatly. “I can’t understand them.”

“Wait, you can’t read what they says?” The unicorn asked.

“…no?” I cautiously answered.

“But, you spent time in Canterlot before coming to Ponyville,” Starlight’s voice started to rise slightly. “How did you get anywhere?”

“I just roamed around in the castle with a bunch of guards,” I replied. “Celestia and Luna were too busy to take the time to do that sort of thing.”

Starlight face hoofed with a groan. “Well somepony needs to rectify this as soon as possible.”

“Are you too busy?” I asked.

“I’m not the best teacher in the world, or at all for that matter,” Starlight motioned for me to follow her as we resumed our trek through the castle. “Twilight would probably be better suited to that sort of thing, but given how busy she is I suppose you’re faced with the same problem you had in Canterlot.”

“I suppose I could trouble Vesper for help, but there’s no telling how that would go down,” My shoulders slumped.

“Fortunately for you, my tall lanky friend, I happen to know a teacher here in town,” Starlight said proudly.

“You mean like a tutor or something?” I chuckled lightly. “Because I haven’t had one of those since my days in school.”

“Funny you should mention school,” Starlight suddenly had a rather mischievous smile.

---

Cheerilee let out a happy sigh for the first time since Big Mac had left her. She would have to thank Berry Punch for her little “end of school delight” as she called it. While not normally a drinker, it was a pleasant way end the last school day. She would never get drunk off the stuff, but consume just enough to get a light buzz.

“Here’s to a boring summer,” Cheerilee said, holding her shot glass up in toast to her empty class room.

As she mare poured herself another cup, she contemplated taking a well overdue trip to one of Equestria’s beaches. It would give her something to talk about with her friends during her downtime, and at the very least she could window shop the stallions that happened to be there through her thick sunglasses.

Perhaps it was the drink that encouraged such thoughts. A sober Cheerilee was far less confident in a trip to the beach. Once she got there what would she do? Where could she go that she hadn’t already seen with her family when they went? Another shot of Berry’s concoction drowned out any concern she might have had; at least until the affects wore off later.

Much to the mare’s surprise, she heard the door to the school house open. There wasn’t supposed to be anypony else here today after school let out, and she knew that no student would be within one hundred yards of the building once the bell rang for the last time this school year. Perhaps those that lived close enough would be within one hundred yards, but that was just a technicality.

She heard two different creaks in the wooden floor, both weighty enough to not belong to a foal. One set was obviously a pony, but she couldn’t quite identify the owner of the other set of hoof steps. They were certainly bigger than the second set’s companion.

Cheerilee remembered the bottle and glass as the beings approached her room. Given little time, the earth pony simply swept both off her desk and onto the wooden floor. Miraculously, only the shot glass shattered into a thousand different pieces just as the door to her room opened.

Starlight Glimmer was the first pony through the door, followed by the human that had arrived yesterday. These two were the last she would ever expect to see in her school house, especially the human that had to duck to fit in the school house.

“Hi Cheerilee,” Starlight Glimmer had a smile on as if nothing was wrong and it was completely normal for a giant creature to cram itself into a classroom built with ponies in mind.

“Um, hi, Starlight Glimmer, and…” Cheerilee struggled with the name for a moment. “Benjamin?”

The human nodded, thankfully lacking the bat pony that had accompanied him yesterday. Now that she saw him close up, Cheerilee could see that he was less threatening than she had previously thought. No claws, no sharp teeth, nothing but those odd hooves that reminded her of spiders, a true human. She had read that the humans in Equestria had been relatively docile, seeing one up close solidified that theory.

“So what brings you two here?” Cheerilee asked. “Giving him a tour of the town?”

“Sort of, I actually came to ask a favor,” Starlight replied, her human friend remained silent, but looked down at the floor avoiding eye contact.

“Oh well how can I help?” Cheerilee smiled.

“Perhaps it’s better if I show you,” the unicorn poked Benjamin’s leg to get his attention. “Benjamin, can you tell us what that says?”

The human followed her outstretched foreleg to a simple sign that listed a few historical figures in Equestrian society. Celestia and Luna were on it of course, names he should easily recognize after spending time in Canterlot.

“Nope,” Benjamin said with a shake of his head.

Cheerilee could hardly believe what she had just heard. Even if he was a foreigner, he should at least be familiar with the ruling sisters. Surely this had to be some joke Starlight was playing, having coerced the human into going along with it.

“Can you tell us who founded Equestria?” Starlight asked.

“Celestia and Luna?” Benjamin replied uncertainly with a nervous smile.

Cheerilee’s ears fell flat; this was knowledge that foals learned their first year in history, how in Equestria could he not possibly know who founded it? He had spent close to a month in Canterlot Castle according to the rumors.

“So that favor I was talking about…” Starlight said, twisting a hoof against the floor.

“You want me to teach him?” Cheerilee asked.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” the unicorn replied.

Cheerilee didn’t know how to respond, as the trifecta of booze, mental exhaustion, and boredom all assaulted her at once. She tried to say no, but then the argument of what else she had to do popped into her mind. At least with somepony needing her help she wouldn’t feel like she didn’t have a purpose over the summer. The again, this was a human, a once extinct species that very little was known about before their untimely demise. For all she knew, they could be the slow learners…but this human wasn’t from Equestria.

The more the idea circulated through Cheerilee’s mind, she began to understand Colgate’s excitement. Nopony had taught a human before, or at least in a long time. If she agreed she would at least have something to look forward to when she woke up as a bonus.

“Possibly,” Cheerilee replied rubbing a hoof against her chin in thought. “How far did you go educationally, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I graduated college with a few certifications and a degree,” Benjamin replied.

Cheerilee looked the human over once more before nodding. “I think I can work with him.”

Her heart warmed a bit when she saw Benjamin smile. Cheerilee was already formulating the best way to go about teaching a completely different being the fundamentals of Equestrian history, language, and perhaps a few mathematics. It was a plus that he had gone to college for the mare’s grasp of how educated he was. Still, it would be a major chore to tear down the pillars of knowledge from his world, only to build new ones in their place.

“I think it would be the same principle as a foreigner wanting citizenship,” Cheerilee said as a smile slowly spread across her muzzle. “Yeah, I think this can work.”

“Great, so when do you think he can start?” Starlight asked.

“Give me at least two days to get everything ready,” Cheerilee replied. “By then I should have a plan laid out.”

The teacher’s guest gave their thanks and departed, conversing with one another with excitement in their voices. The depression she had been trying to drown out completely evaporated with this human. True it could turn out to be very difficult, but it was better than doing nothing. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost forgot about the bottle on the floor, almost.

“…buck it, here’s to summer school,” Cheerilee smiled, tipping the bottle back as she drank the pleasing beverage straight from its source.

---

“So,” Starlight Glimmer looked up at me. “What did you think of her?”

“Eh, I’m impressed she didn’t chase me off,” I replied.

“Why would she do that?” Starlight’s raised an eyebrow at me.

“When I was coming in yesterday, I saw her give me this annoyed look,” I said. “It was like she was the only one disappointed in seeing me, but today she’s got a smile on her fa-err, muzzle.”

“Maybe she just didn’t understand what was happening,” Starlight said. “I’m pretty impressed the ponies of Ponyville were as receptive of you as they were. Usually the town ponies can be a little slow to warm up to outsiders.”

“Pinkie seemed super enthused, but I feel like I didn’t live up to their expectations,” I lamented.

“That’s just Pinkie Pie, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her sad,” Starlight chuckled.

“So, where do we go now?” I asked.

Starlight tilted her head to the side in thought. “Well, there’s a lot of places you probably haven’t seen yet. Personally, I wouldn’t mind a trip to Sugar Cube Corner.”

“I’m going to assume that’s an eating establishment,” Truthfully, I was getting a bit hungry, and if the “Sugar” in the title was any indication of what it served I was all over satisfying my sweet tooth’s craving.

---

Sugar Cube Corner turned out to be a bakery, which came complete with the local pink party pony. The owners were very nice, all things considered. Their foals, bless their socks, were a bit too inquisitive and proceed to turn me into their plaything. I had no real complaints about being a living jungle gym though, their laughter made me smile a bit.

Sadly Starlight Glimmer and I lost track of time socializing with other ponies that happened to stop by, and Celestia was already lowering the sun. Luna would take over in a few hours if she wasn’t up already, which meant a particular pony friend of mine might be up and about now, presumably avoiding any streams of light through the windows.

When we finally reached the castle, Vesper was hanging in the grand hall, literally. She lacked her familiar sunglasses and seemed perfectly content to be up with the sun still out. I credited her lack of eyewear to the castle lacking windows every few feet, like that of Celestia and Luna’s. Upon seeing me the bat mare released whatever magical hold she had over the ceiling and dove towards me.

I mentally sighed as I braced myself for impact, noting that Vesper had been awfully playful these past few days. As I was knocked off my feet by the hyper active thestral, I fully expected to break my tail bone against the hard crystal floor of the castle. Instead, I landed on something soft, almost squishy.

I looked down to see a thick formation of mist form beneath me. I looked over at Starlight whose horn was glowing with a brilliant light that matched the aura beneath me. As I stood up with Vesper in my arms, the aura vanished, as did the light from the unicorn’s horn. The mare had just saved me from a presumably painful evening with a sore backside.

“Sorry,” Vesper blushed as Starlight cast her a disapproving look before giving me a nod and trotting down the hall of the castle.

“How long have you been waiting for me on the ceiling?” I asked, ruffling the bat pony’s mane.

“A while…” Vesper replied, tapping her hooves together. “Maybe a few hours.”

“Vesper,” I sighed as I began walking down the hall way after Starlight Glimmer. “You don’t just have to wait for me, isn’t there anything you like to do for fun?”

Vesper gave me an odd expression before turning her head. “Occasionally I do fun stuff, but I prefer to stay in for…obvious reasons.”

“You hate the light?” I asked.

“No, well, yes but not all the time,” Vesper replied. “I just feel exhausted if I do try to have fun before work. I mean, I’m a night guard. I’m nocturnal and all that, but I want to walk around with other ponies and you, maybe.”

“What was that last part?”

“It’d be brand new, baby,” Vesper spat out quickly. “A day bat pony, just imagine.”

“I can say I’ve observed one first hand,” I chuckled. “You can’t just change your nature though, I don’t think that’s healthy.”

Vesper pouted and turned from me, occasionally looking up at me when she thought I didn’t notice as I carried back to my room. I did feel kind of bad for her, in Canterlot there had a least been a few thestrals for her to socialize with after I passed out and before she had to work. Here in Ponyville, she was the odd pony out, kind of like me.

Once we were back in my room, Vesper abandoned my arms in favor of the fruit bowl on the table. Licking her lips, she hastily scooped up an apple in her hooves and opened her mouth wide. With her fangs bared, she brought the apple close to her muzzle and sank her elongated canines into the tender skin of the fruit.

A slurping sound came from the mare as she clamped down on the fruit with her lips. It was an odd eating method, but bat ponies used their fangs to puncture the skin of a fruit and would then proceed to drain it of any juices it might have. They could eat the same way as a normal pony would eat a fruit, but she claimed that she couldn’t savor the taste like she wanted to if she just chomped down on her meal.

For this reason, Vespeer had certain fruits that she would pick over others. If they were juicy, you might want to hide your supply when she was hungry. Her favorites were mangos and apples, and especially oranges; heaven help you if you had oranges out in the open.

Vesper let out a satisfied sigh as she pulled the apple away from her muzzle. Two gaping holes were left in the dried up fruit, leaving behind a white apple husk. The fruit looked as if it had just been dipped in a large bucket of white paint, save for a few red spots here and there.

The thestral picked up a banana and looked it over before peeling it as easily as I could with hands. Giving it one last inspection, Vesper used both hooves to squeeze the banana from the remainder of its peel. She opened her mouth wide and swallowed it whole as it was launched from its peel. Even if her eating habit were a bit strange, they were entertaining to watch. The banana trick in particular stimulated the imagination.

For the remainder of the waking hours I offered to play a game of chess with Vesper, which turned into a few dozen more. I never would have taken Vesper, as hyper as she is, to have the patience and mind for chess. Not to insult her intelligence, but sometimes I got the impression that she was a bit of a ditz, an adorable ditz.

“I think I’m going to turn in early tonight,” I said, flicking my king piece over in surrender.

“Aw, but I was having fun,” Vesper sulked.

“I know, but I feel exhausted,” I replied. “Besides, I need to sleep off being roflstomped at chess.”

“Roflstomp?” Vesper tilted her head in confusion.

“Don’t worry about it,” I rubbed her tufted ears, earning a happy squee from the mare. “Goodnight Vesper.”

----

Vesper watched Benjamin from above, dedicated to her job and loyal to her friend. As she watched the human from the ceiling, she started to frown as her heart ached. She was directly over the one thing she felt she could never have.

“Why…why was I born to the night,” Vesper lamented.

Vesper had always tried to act with honor, and a strong sense of duty. Said duty had graced her many times over under Luna’s guard, and it had also taken its fair share from her life as well. It eroded away any chance to take things slow the higher she rose in rank. If she had known her rank would strip from her the one pony she adored, she would never have taken the pledge. Yet she always had hope.

Benjamin gave her affection by rubbing against her with his odd hooves, the type of contact he displayed was an intimate action to a thestral. Yet he never once approached her with intentions other than friendship. So many times she had wanted to tackle him, but fought off the urge with professionalism, and the lingering fear that she might be rejected by him and never see her human again.

Vesper tried to dismiss her feelings as little more than infatuation, since Bejnamin was perhaps the most exotic creature in Equestria, or even the entire world. The mare had a soft heart for things that were different from the rest. Being a bat pony she was all too familiar with being the odd one out for virtually
everything, save for her own kind.

Some ponies were still terrified of thestrals due to their appearance. That was why Luna had instructed Vesper to check on Benjamin only after he was asleep. Even the Princess of the Night feared what a human would do if he were to encounter the nocturnal ponies. Much to the mare’s delight he was more curious than terrified.

Vesper was pulled from her thoughts when she noticed Benjamin twisting in his sleep and glided from the ceiling to investigate. She landed softly on the mattress and cautiously approached the restless human, already assuming what troubled him. It was more than likely a nightmare, and Luna was unable to truly work her magic on him for some reason which left him to suffer. Thankfully, the Princess of the Night had found a solution through an old unicorn remedy.

Vesper sighed and pulled out two smooth purple stones. She tapped the two of them together producing a gentle click, triggering the magic stored within the unassuming objects. With a satisfied smile, the bat pony placed one stone a few inches from his ears, bringing his restlessness to an end.

The thestral remained still and silent for a few minutes to ensure the magic took hold. Something was different tonight though, giving the mare reason to pause before leaping back up onto the ceiling. A noticeable disturbance against the sheets was slowly beginning to form between the human’s legs as a smile started to spread across his lips.

“I knew the stones provided sweet dreams…but, um,” Vesper blushed as she watched a tent form from beneath the sheets.

Vesper fidgeted on her haunches slightly, her wings shifting as she watched the human. If she could see herself, she felt certain she would find the heat from her cheeks turning her fur red. It wasn’t that she had never “seen” a male before, she just didn’t expect to find herself in the situation she was facing now.

Vesper was on the bed, with the human she feared rejection from….with said human sporting a boner. Benjamin was passed out though, and the magic guaranteed that he wouldn’t be waking up for at least a full eight hours. The mare fidgeted again as she processed this information, her professionalism beginning to give way.

Okay Vesper, you just need to jump back up onto…his dic-no! The bat pony shook her head as an internal battle of morals raged on. I would never-ride him like a roller-stop it!

Vesper bit her lip with her fangs as she flew up towards the ceiling. She was thankful she had enough self-control to stop herself from doing something crazy. Still, it gave her no reprieve from the lingering lusty thoughts that had broken through the filter of her subconscious.

Come on, one little peek wouldn’t hurt, right? Vesper’s mind whispered. He’s asleep, he’d never know, and you’d be satisfied.

“I’m not going to take him while he’s sleeping!” Vesper huffed angrily as her muzzle scrunched up in frustration.

So you plan to do it during the day then? Her own voice asked. When you’re sleeping and unable to truly interact with him?

Vesper’s angry expression faded away as realization sank in. She had tried to stay up for the train ride to Ponyville, was to keep him company and she couldn’t even manage that. How could a true bond form if she slept during the day, only to be awake during the night when Benjamin was asleep?

The thestral scrunched up her muzzle in determination before closing her eyes. If she wanted Benjamin, then she would need to do more than just guard him. She needed to walk with him, talk with him, and be there as he tried to adjust to Ponyville. These were things she could never do so long as she was awake while he was asleep.

“The first daytime bat pony...that will be me,” Vesper smiled.

The Teacher Meets the Bat

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The past two days had been uneventful for the most part. Vesper was trying to stay awake during the day, and sleep during the night. This seemed counterproductive to her being a member of the Night Guard, but truth be told I had no authority to tell her otherwise.

Starlight Glimmer had been the one to show me around town, something about a lesson from Twilight. I was thankful for any help that the unicorn could provide, especially since I had a guide willing to stop and explain things to an ignorant alien that got lost in two castles.

Now, I stood outside Cheerilee’s house, not quite sure what to expect. I assumed it would just be baby steps with abcs, or whatever the Equestrian equivalent was. I knocked on the door, awaiting a response from the mare within. She had seemed to be okay with the whole teaching the human bit, but that was with Starlight Glimmer there. I’d be on my own today, and my first impression of her when I arrived was that she hated me. Perhaps this was a chance to get to know her better.

“Coming!” A muffled voice shouted from within.

Even from outside, I could hear the teacher’s hooves hitting the floor. I found the clip clop sound to be oddly soothing and was almost disappointed when it came to an end when the door opened to reveal the familiar muzzle of Cheerilee.

“Good to see you again,” Cheerilee said as she stepped to the side.

I made several observations as I entered the house. The floor, as expected, was mostly hard wood, save for the kitchen which was mostly grey tiling. The walls were salmon colored, with a red trim, and an assortment of pictures hung from them. The occasional shelf typically held an ornament of some kind.

The furniture was an inconsistent baby blue and sunflower yellow. A fish tank that held a few tiny tetras and a few other small fish I couldn’t identify was set up on the far left side of the room, just out of reach of the sun’s rays. A set of stairs led up to a second level of the house, which I doubted I would ever see for the duration of my time with Cheerilee.

“Okay,” Cheerilee said breaking the silence. “I know this is going to be a challenge for both of us, so let’s just get a fresh start on things. My name is Cheerilee, what’s your name?”

“Um, Benjamin,” I said, finding the mare’s method a bit odd, until I reminded myself that Cheerilee actually was a school teacher and was probably just trying to stick to that mindset as if she had a classroom full of students, instead of a giant talking ape.

“So, I think we need to start this off by learning a bit about you,” Cheerilee motioned for me to follow her into the living room.

“You mean like my hobbies and stuff?” I joked.

“If you want I suppose,” Cheerilee paused long enough to answer before motioning for me to sit in an easy chair.

“Darn, I don’t get a school desk,” I snapped my fingers in disappointment.

“Wait, you do that too?!” the mare’s eyes suddenly grew larger.

“….do what?” I asked.

“That…whatever it was you just did with your hooves,” Cheerilee looked genuinely afraid.

“Snapping my fingers?” I scratched my head before I came to the assumption that if it had Cheerilee startled it could be an insult of some kind. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything bad by it!”

“N-no no, it’s fine,” Cheerilee said taking in a deep breath. “Just promise you won’t summon any strange beings or turn water into bread.”

“I can’t do either of those things,” I smiled nervously, making a mental note to never snap my fingers around a pony.

“Good to know,” Cheerilee said, a smile slowly returning to her muzzle. “I think this will be a learning experience for both of us.”

I let out a mental sigh of relief as she proceeded to pull out a standard sized sheet of paper. I couldn’t help but wonder what had caused her reaction to such a simple, harmless motion. Perhaps a bad experience with some other bipedal creature was responsible for her mini freak out. She certainly seemed to settle down rather quickly though, probably a trait she had to develop when dealing with foals that can bend inanimate objects to their developing will, or ones that could fly.

“So, what I’m going to need you to do first is make a list of your letters,” Cheerilee explained as she passed me the paper and pencil.

“Yes ma’am,” I said as I took the pencil and started to write out the alphabet I was familiar with.

“You don’t have to be that proper,” Cheerilee giggled. “It makes me feel old, just Cheerilee is fine.”

“Alright, Cheerilee,” I smiled.

I wrote out each letter a bit slower than I normally would, as my hand writing is pretty bad. As I did so, I couldn’t but notice Cheerilee watching my hands intensely, seemingly fascinated by the motions that fingers provided. I knew about Minotaurs being a part of Equestrian society, so surely this wasn’t the first time she had seen fingers in use.

“Alright, done,” I announced, snapping the mare out of her hand induced trance.

“Excellent, now if you could simply go through them with me,” Cheerilee said, taking the paper.

“So this is A,” I said pointing at the appropriate letter.

Cheerilee nodded silently as she pencil in her mouth to scribble an odd looking symbol that looked nothing like an A to me, or in any known language from Earth. This trend continued as we worked through the alphabet. Her attitude seemed more positive than when we had last met. Every once in a while as we worked through the letters of my language I thought I noticed a smile of excitement.

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I want you to write five of each letter in our language,” Cheerilee slid two clean pieces of paper to me as she returned the pencil.

“I feel like I’m in kindergarten all over again…” I sighed as I picked up the pencil, which was surprisingly saliva free.

“The greatest heroes started out as humble foals,” Cheerilee said as she watched me. “I don’t expect you to learn everything in one day.”

I nodded, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling of her watching me write, and I use write lightly. The letters felt more like drawings but I suppose kanji was the same way; it felt more like art work than actual writing, but that’s probably why people back on Earth thought it was an interesting writing style.

“Start over with G,” Cheerilee pointed at my horribly misshapen work. “You added an extra stroke and turned it into a Q.”

I quickly erased it, sending tiny bits of the tool across the paper. Sadly, it was a fresh pencil and the eraser didn’t really work as well as a slightly used one would. This left a hideous stain on the pristine white paper, save for the other embarrassing attempts at writing the letters out. I shook my head as I started over; trying to ignore the grey and black blob I had left behind.

“Hey Cheerilee,” I spoke up. “How do you guys stand deal with getting eraser leavings out of your mouths, and for that matter, graphite as well?”

“I’m sorry?” Cheerilee tilted her head in that adorable pony fashion.

“Y’know, these things,” I said, pointing at one that I hadn’t swept off the table.

“Oh those,” Cheerilee l shook her head. “I can’t say I’ve ever had them in my mouth, they don’t look that tasty.”

“But…you guys use your mouths to write,” I felt my face twist in confusion which made Cheerilee chuckle.

“Yes, we use our mouths to write,” Cheerilee pulled another pencil out of a nearby saddle bag, this one well-worn from repeated use. “We use our hooves to erase.”

Cheerilee gave a demonstration as she made a perfect copy of the G she had made for me to write out. Without missing a beat, she released the pencil from her mouth, caught it in her hoof and proceeded to erase her work in the blink of an eye. I could smell the smoke coming out of my ears as my brain fried while she smiled at her work.

“I think you would have an easier time if you didn’t use your hooves,” Cheerilee commented as I resumed writing.

“I am not putting wood in my mouth,” I replied to which Cheerilee snickered

I stopped when I heard her trying to stifle her laughter. I ran the words over in my mind to try and determine what I had said to amuse her. I couldn’t think of anything that would trigger such a reaction, until my mind trekked off into the gutter. I raised an eyebrow at the mare who was covering her muzzle with her hooves.

“Are you thinking about what I’m thinking about?” I asked cautiously.

“That depends if your world works like ours when it comes to humor,” Cheerilee replied.

“…ponies aren’t supposed to have dirty thoughts,” I mumbled.

“They most certainly do,” Cheerilee rolled her eyes. “I spend three fourths of the year with foals that require me to keep composed and proper. Summer is when I’m free of that obligation.”

“What if you damage my fragile psyche with crude humor and dirty thoughts?” I teased.

“I was hoping to be a bit less formal, since my only student for the summer has a far more developed mind and personality than those I’m normally used to.” Cheerilee said.

I shrugged and stared at the pencil, pushing the dirty thoughts aside for the moment. I smirked as I carefully placed the pencil in my mouth, trying to avoid getting the eraser on my tongue. Cheerilee seemed surprised when I got as close to the paper as I could before moving the pencil around through an odd combination of tongue, lip and jaw movement.

For my efforts, I was rewarded with an almost complete match to Cheerilee’s G. My stunned expression allowed the pencil to fall free from my mouth as I observed my work when compared to what my hands had written. I looked over at Cheerilee who seemed rather pleased with the result.

“How the…what?” I stammered stupidly.

“See?” Cheerilee stood beside me. “It looks so much better!”

“This makes my brain hurt,” I said. “How can a mouth be better at writing than hands?”

“Let’s experiment then shall we?” Cheerilee asked rhetorically as she took the pencil in her mouth once more.

The mare’s expression became more focused as she tried to write a G in my language. After several attempts she spat the pencil out with a huff. Cheerilee cocked an accusing eyebrow at the letter before turning to me.

“It’s as I thought,” Cheerilee said. “Your language is best written with hooves, while mine is best written with mouths.”

“Hands,” I held up the two appendages, wiggling my fingers. “My hooves are called hands where I’m from.”

“Ah, I see,” Cheerilee said. “Well, I don’t suppose I can talk you into using your mouth for the duration of our visits?”

“I don’t think I’ll be using that method again anytime soon,” I laughed. “Even if it is easier, it doesn’t feel right.”

“I understand,” Cheerilee nodded before placing a hoof on the paper. “Let’s get back to it then, we’ve got a lot of ground left to cover.”

I did as instructed and the rest of our time together for the day involved rather basic stuff. At one point I felt like a kid again calling out colors, objects, and a number of other things with pictures. I was about to question her method, until she took the pictures away and asked me what they were. Despite the simplicity of this practice I lost my skepticism as the mare quizzed me. This was going to take a lot of work to grasp.

---

I stretched a bit as I walked out of Cheerilee’s house, its owner leading the way. When my stomach started to rumble, the teacher offered to get us some lunch. I tried to convince her I was fine, but she pushed me towards the door. She was surprisingly strong for a three foot tall equine.

“So, what does your kind like to eat?” Cheerilee asked.

“You really don’t have to-“

“Shush,” Cheerilee stopped me mid-sentence. “You’re my student, and it’s my responsibility to look out for you. Besides, we deserve a little break with the progress you’ve made.”

I reluctantly nodded and matched her pace, walking a little slower than I normally would. My legs were much longer than hers, and I would walk past her if I wasn’t careful. That was the only instance where I would be a bit faster, as a filly in Canterlot had outran me without breaking a sweat. It was hard to imagine all of that speed in a deceptively adorable form.

“Back to my original question, what is it that you eat?” Cheerilee asked again.

“Fish?” I answered, backpedaling when I noticed the mare’s expression shift slightly. “Or fruit! Yeah, love me some fruit!”

“O-oh, so that part was wrong,” Cheerilee seemed disappointed. “Odd, old text said that humans were primarily fruit eaters. At least that’s what evidence revealed.”

“So no on the other food option?” I asked. “Sorry, I’m okay with whatever, as long as it’s not hay.”

“There’s plenty more to choose from,” Cheerilee said. “I never thought humans would be piscivores.”

“Piscivore?” I gave her a confused look.

“It’s an animal that eats primarily fish,” Cheerilee answered.

“Well, I can eat veggies and fruits as well, I’m not too picky,” I said. “Though piscivore sounds a lot cooler than omnivore.”

“I suppose they’ll have to redefine the human diet in the books,” Cheerilee giggled. “Speaking of books, I have a few I want you to take with you when we get back to my house.”

“Out of curiosity, why did you want me at your house instead of at the school?” I asked.

“It didn’t seem practical to have one student sitting in the middle of the room as I taught him,” Cheerilee replied. “I actually dread the summer, even if I get to have a little time to myself. I feel empty and without purpose, what good is a special talent if one can’t use it?”

“Is that part of the reason why you agreed to see me?” I asked.

“A part, yes,” Cheerilee nodded. “Not that I don’t enjoy teaching you, please don’t take it as that. I enjoy teaching and I….I needed something to wake up for.”

I could hear her tone drop for a moment, but decided not to ask why. The way her voice seemed to fall midway through her explanation made my own heart ache at seeing something so happy and adorable sound so depressed. Still, it was none of my business, and I didn’t know Cheerilee well enough to try and pry into her life like that.

“Anyways, I think this is a pretty good restaurant,” Cheerilee changed the subject.

I looked the building over and was reminded of a McDonalds, without the drive-thru of course. It shared the same interior with the fast food establishment as well, with a kiddie area included. It reminded me a bit too much of home, causing memories that I wished to repress back to the surface.

“Are you okay?” Cheerilee asked, poking me with her hoof.

“Um, yeah,” I mumbled, removing the beginnings of a tear from my eye. “Just didn’t expect to be reminded of things today.”

“Oh…I see,” Cheerilee said, tapping the floor with a hoof uneasily. “Want to talk about it?”

“I can’t bug you with something so stupid,” I replied.

“You’re my student, I’m responsible for both your physical and mental wellbeing,” Cheerilee huffed, her cheeks puffing up as her nose scrunched. “Now go find a seat while I take care of ordering.”

I nodded after seeing the disarming display of adorable frustration. Cheerilee meant well, and the fact that she cared at all pricked my heart a bit. When I arrived I was asked questions, but I never felt as if I had a meaningful conversation with a pony until-

“Vesper?” I said aloud as I saw the bat pony push the open the glass door to enter the building. Her sunglasses blocked out the bright UV rays that her sensitive eyes couldn’t tolerate well. The fact that she was up at two PM was mind boggling.

"Hi Benjamin," Vesper chirped happily.

"Vesper, what are you doing up?" My question came with a slightly scolding tone that the bat pony either didn't register, or simply ignored.

"The alarm woke me up," Vesper replied as she adjusted her glasses slightly. "I didn't want to go back to sleep."

"But I rememebr shutting off my alarm, how did it wake you up?" I asked.

"Not yours, mine went off," Vesper explained. "I hate being the only one in Ponyville up into the odd hours of the night. I want to do stuff, like normal ponies."

"And normal ponies wear super thick sun glasses inside buildings?" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, there's DJ Pon3, Photo Finish-"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point," I stopped her. "Their sunglasses aren't discount welders goggles though."

"You have a problem with my "welder's goggles?" Vesper crossed her forelegs and raised an eyebrow at me.

Before I could answer, I heard a light cough. We both turned to see Cheerilee staring back at us. Her expression threw me for a loop as she slowly slid a plastic container of fruit towards me. Vesper had also grown quiet and tilted her head slightly at the mare.

Where once Cheerilee had been talkative, warm and friendly, she now seemed cold. I assumed her abrupt shift in attitude had been the result of me doing something wrong, given my lack of pony etiquette, but I felt that any malice or discontent wasn't directed at me. As she slowly took a seat across from me, her eyes remained locked on Vesper.

Both mare's ears flicked back and forth, as they held some sort of private conversation spoken only in pony body language. While I was pony ignorant, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that whatever was being communicated, and that it wouldn't end well.

"So, Cheerilee," I said, snapping her out of whatever trance she had been in. "Um, thanks for lunch, what all comes in it?"

"Nothing special, just an assortment of fruit," Cheerilee said, her eyes occasionally falling on Vesper before fixing them on me. "I,uh, I recommend the star fruit."

"That's hardly filling," Vesper commented. "Now mangos, that's what you want to dig into."

"Well there aren't any mangos in this," Cheerilee pointed at the assortment of fruit in front of her.

I could feel the tension level shoot right back up to where it had been before I broken their stare at one another. Both of their attitudes made little sense to me; was Cheerilee upset that Vesper took the seat beside me? No, that couldn't be it, that would be silly. Perhaps getting them off on a better hoof would smooth things over, temporarily anyways.

"Sorry, Cheerilee this is Vesper, she's a body guard," I said motioning with my head towards the threstal. "Vesper this is Cheerilee, the mare I told you about that would be teaching me."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Cheerilee said, her voice carrying a bit of bitterness.

"Same here," Vesper shrugged, her ears finally relaxing.

Cheerilee took a deep breath before looking at me, holding an obvious fake smile. "So, I assume you met at Canterlot?"

"Yea-"

"I used to come in and keep an eye on him," Vesper interupted me. "When the ear scratches started though, I kind of got attached to him."

"Ear scratches?" Cheerilee questioned.

"Sweet Luna, they're the best thing ever!" Vesper smiled, her fangs showing a bit more than they usually would. The sight caused Cheerilee to cringe slightly.

"I see," Cheerilee finally took a bite of sliced up fruit from her lunch. "I didn't think a human would make that type of contact with a pony."

"It was out of habit when we talked," I confessed. "Where I come from ponies don't talk, and are kind of umm..."

"Go on," Cheerilee motioned with her hoof while Vesper looked up at me confused.

"They're um...pets," I tensed up, preparing myself for a hoof to the face.

"That's all?" Cheerilee asked, taking me by surprise.

"You guys are really warm too," I added. "Well, Vesper is so I'd assume you all are, even if she's a bit fluffier than normal ponies."

"I'm just long haired," Vesper tapped her hooves together.

Cheerilee didn't respond as she took another bite of her food. I had almost forgotten about mine and took a bite. It tasted pretty good, fruit in Equestria had a richer flavor to the fruits I was used to on Earth. Cheerilee's ears perked up as I picked a random slice from the sizable plastic container, I assumed this was a piece of the star fruit she wanted me to try.

"This taste pretty good, actually," I commented, earning a smile from Cheerilee.

I felt a hoof gently poke my side, and turned to see Vesper looking up at me. Even with her sunglasses, I assumed she was giving me puppy dog eyes, or whatever the pony equivalent was. The bat mare eventually pointed at the fruit.

"You're not five," I said as I picked up another piece. "Use your words."

“Can I have some?” Vesper asked. “Please?”

“Since you said please,” I replied stabbing a piece of fruit with a plastic fork and passing it to her.

Before it was even in front of her muzzle, Vesper leaned into the approaching hand and inhaled the offering. She quite literally held her mouth open and vacuumed it off the fork like some sort of cartoon character.

“Well, it’s been thrilling to meet you Vesper,” Cheerilee said, abruptly leaping out of her seat. “I’m afraid that we’ve still got a few things to cover before I can release him for the day.”

I was about to comment that she still had food to eat, until I noticed the empty container. In the time it took for me to give Vesper a piece of fruit, Cheerilee had somehow managed to silently consume all of its contents without making a sound. I had assumed such an act would produce the typical sounds of a sloppy eater.

“What’s her problem?” Vesper asked.

“She probably lost it when you sucked the fruit right off the fork,” I replied, getting out of my seat. Thankfully we hadn’t selected a booth, and I didn’t have to wait for her to leave first.

While Vesper was probably the reason Cheerilee left, I had a hunch that there was a bit more to it than a silly eating habit. The way the mare went from being warm and happy to cold and isolated suggested as much, but I didn’t feel like it was a good idea to press her for information. Her attitude certainly raised a multitude of questions.

"You're going back already?" Vesper asked as she followed me out of the restaurant.

"If I want to learn how to get around on my own, then yes, I have to go back with Cheerilee," I replied.

"Oh..." Vesper's shoulders seemed to sag in response before she slowly flew off.

"What's her deal?" I mumbled before turning to catch up with Cheerilee.

As I caught up to my teacher I could tell she was still upset about something. She turned and smiled at me when she realized I had caught up with her. Cheerilee lifted her head up a little and seemed to walk a little prouder the more distance we put between us and Equestria's version of McDonalds.

"You feeling okay?" I asked.

"I'm right as rain, why?" Cheerilee asked in return.

"Just checking," I shrugged, reminding myself that I didn't know this mare well enough to ask her personal questions like that.

As I turned my attention to the road ahead of us, I noticed two mares that seemed to be rather good friends with a charcoal stallion. Both mares planted a kiss on each of his cheeks, making the stallion's chest puff out slightly.

"That's weird," I commented.

"Herding is perfectly normal," Cheerilee said. "Though some mares do prefer a stallion's undivided attention. Do humans not form packs...herds...troops perhaps?"

"None of the above, normally," I chuckled. "It's usually just two and whatever kids they have. Though you do get the occasional douche bag who thinks with his lower brain instead of the one in his head."

"Your species is quite odd," Cheerilee giggled, her mood steadily improving.

“We do what we can,” I shrugged.

“Oh do you now?” Cheerilee snickered.

“Ha ha, very funny,” I mumbled, trying to fight against the smile spreading across my mouth as I processed what made her laugh.

----

“Another night on the ceiling,” Vesper sighed.

The mare watched the sleeping form of Benjamin through the darkness, seeing him as easily as he saw her during the day. The soft moonlight was far tenderer to her eyes than the harsh sun’s rays, and even though she knew her human was just below her, he seemed so far away.

The sight was only made worse by the nagging of nature at her mind, disrupting normal logical thought that brought her growing discomfort. Aside from the physical pain, there was also an emotional side to it as well. The way that mare looked at her today hurt most of all. She knew she would be judged just for being a nocturnal pony, she still didn’t expect it to sting as bad as it did. In Canterlot, she was respected, even by the ponies who stayed up through the day. While the disdain for her kind had dwindled with Luna’s return, there were still some ponies that couldn’t get over the stigma that bat ponies had earned when they rebelled after the banishment of their leader.

For once, Vesper was thankful for needing such thick sun glasses during the day; they helped hide the sadness in her heart. It had taken all of her self-control to not leave and just give up trying to be with Benjamin. Just thinking about it brought a few tears to her eyes, which given her upside down position fell onto the sleeping human, causing him to stir slightly.

“Oh no, oh nonononono!” Vesper whisper exclaimed, landing quietly beside the bed.

The bat pony saw that the tears had landed on the human’s forehead and slowly climbed onto the bed. With a sigh of relief she gently dried the wet spot, studying his features. She found herself stroking Benjamin’s face as a smile spread across her muzzle. His hair tickled the bottom of her hoof, causing an involuntary giggle to break the relative silence.

Just as she was about to leave a powerful arm wrapped around her barrel, pulling her close to Benjamin’s chest. Vesper blushed as the human rolled over, nuzzling into her mane.

“Ben!” Vesper hissed quietly.

Um, why are you fighting this? a disembodied voice asked.

"Because...because..." Vesper mumbled quietly.

This is your chance! Now, get real close and you snuggle the shit out of him! the voice ordered.

"But...this isn't how I want it," Vesper sulked. "It's not fair."

The bat pony tried to free herself from the clutches of the human, but was unable to squeeze out of his arm. She couldn't escape without waking Benjamin up, and that would only cause more trouble and possibly set her back in trying to find a way to win the human's heart.

Just tell him you were checking on him when he sleep grabbed you, the voice provided an excuse to remain.

"Because that won't raise a red flag," Vesper rolled her eyes.

Wake him up, or fall asleep with him, your call, the voice said. Either way I'm not in any trouble, I'm just your subconscious.

"...does my subconscious have a name?" Vesper whispered.

I-ugh, goodnight, Vesper the voice groaned.

"But I'm-" The threstal yawned before she could finish. "-not sleepy."

Yes, you are.

-----

Vesper awoke to the beautiful moonlit room she had dozed off it. Everything was still the same from when she had drifted off, save for the absence of a tall, lanky, hairless ape. Seeing the open door to the room, Vesper assumed he had woken up, despite her best efforts to prevent his sleep from being disturbed.

With a sigh, Vesper rose from the bed to begin her hunt for the human. She would have to tell him that she thought he was having trouble resting, and that was how she ended up next to him. As she formulated her excuse, it dawned on her that perhaps she was why he left the room in the first place.

Her thoughts running wild, Vesper rushed to the door, but stopped when she heard giggling from the other side. Occasionally something would be whispered between the two voices, one belonging to Benjamin, while the other...the other sounded oddly familiar.

Pushing open the door, she found herself in a restaurant. In the very middle was a single table, seating Benjamin, and Cheerilee. Between them was a milkshake with two straws, each leading to the mouth of the table's occupants.

"W-what?" Vesper thought her heart had stopped beating as she continued to stare at the scene before her.

"Benjamin!" Vesper called out, but there was no response, not even a glance in her direction.

Something else caught Vesper's attention; the light streaming through the windows was slowly starting to slide across the floor as the sun rose to replace the moon. The threstal panicked at the sight and started to back up, forcing her away from Benjamin and Cheerilee.

"Stop!" Vesper screamed, but the light ignored her protest and continued to pour into the building.

Reluctantly, Vesper jumped behind the counter and shut her eyes as the first hours of daylight began. The mare curled up into a ball as she was ignored by the employees. None of them seemed to care that she was trapped in the building, unless she wanted to stumble around Ponyville with her eyes shut.

"Why was I cursed?" Vesper sobbed. "Why Luna...why couldn't I have been a normal pegasus?"

"Vesper," came a powerful voice, one she had been trained to heed above all others.

"Vesper," the voice said again as the sound of hooves approached her. "What troubles you so?"

"L-Luna?" Vesper opened her eyes to find the Princess of the Night standing over her.

"One would wonder why a threstal is dreaming at all tonight," Luna commented. "Have you fallen ill?"

"No, princess," Vesper replied as she stood up. "I...I can't talk about it."

Luna tilted her head in confusion. "You can't, or you don't want to?"

"Is there a difference?" Vesper sulked, her ears drooping as she spoke.

"One means you aren't allowed to speak," Luna said. "The other is just refusing to speak of your own will."

"You wouldn't want to hear about it," Vesper sniffled. "You have more important things to do than listen to a silly bat's problems."

"I, ruler of the night and moon, do not care about what one of my little ponies who is clearly distressed has to say?" Luna questioned. "Either I've failed as a princess for you to view me with such low expectations, or your heart is in such disarray that you truly believe you are beyond help."

Vesper looked away in shame as her princess spoke. She knew Luna could see into the dreams of others, and get rid of nightmares, a fact which put her mind at ease about her surroundings. She never expected to be visited by the monarch personally though.

"Princess, why am I cursed?" Vesper finally relented. "Why do I have to sleep when others are awake?"

"One cannot choose whom they are born to, only what they do with their life," Luna said. "Why would you think you are cursed?"

"I've failed you as a guard, princess," Vesper sighed. "I love who I was chosen to protect, and I mean LOVE love."

"So, that explains why you're asleep tonight," Luna smiled. "You want to be awake when he is."

Vesper didn't say anything in response, simply nodding in confirmation to the princess' assumptions. She felt as if walls of her dream world were starting to close in on her as the interrogation seemed to drag on. She would have given anything to hide herself from Luna, ashamed of how foalish she had been.

"You're certain there is no other way to win young Benjamin's heart?" Luna lifted Vesper's head up with a hoof.

"How can I show him how I feel if I can't see him during the day," Vesper replied. "I've tried staying awake, but I haven’t' made much progress. I still wake up pretty late in the day, when he’s busy. "

Luna closed her eyes in thought, as if considering something which made Vesper nervous. She could order her to ignore Benjamin, or worse, assign her something else to do that took her far away from the human. With all the possibilities floating around in her mind Vesper felt as if she would cry once more.

“Clearly I cannot convince you otherwise,” Luna said. “I also cannot tell you who you can pursue when it comes to love. If you truly feel there is no other, and you wish to be awake during the day, then I will tell you how such a goal can be achieved, even for a threstal.”

“I didn’t think there was as easier way,” Vesper’s ears began to perk up.

“I never said it would be easy,” Luna corrected her assumption. “I only said I know of a way, which I will send to you.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?” Vesper asked, blushing when she realized what she had asked. “Um, princess.”

“Because dawn approaches,” Luna replied. “I must give way for my sister to begin the day. You’ve certainly aroused my curiosity in the matter of our human friend, and given me a lot to think about.”

---

“Vesper?”

The bat pony opened her eyes to find Benjamin looking at her groggily. His eyes half lidded with a lingering sleep and foggy mind. The events of last night came rushing back to her, as well as her excuse. Vesper could only hope that last night’s incident could become the regular.

“Heh, good morning Benjamin,” the threstal chuckled nervously. “You may or may not have taken me hostage last night.”

Changing Winds

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Vesper yawned as the annoying beeping of her alarm woke her up. It had been an entire day and nothing had arrived for her. While she acknowledged that it might take a while for the mail, she had never been a patient pony. She preferred to get stuff taken care of as soon as possible.

The thestral also considered the possibility that her dream had actually been Luna free, and what she saw was nothing more than her subconscious speaking to her. Why would Luna look for the dreams of bat ponies? They weren’t supposed to sleep during the night.

“Another dull afternoon,” Vesper sighed as her grip on the ceiling was released and she began to fall towards the floor, saved by a swift spread of her wings to slow her decent.

Vesper walked past the chess board in the room, swatting the white king with her tail to knock it over. Normally she would let out a few soft squeaks of laughter, but today she just didn’t feel like laughing. She was tired, and regretting trying to interrupt her sleep schedule. The past few days had made it pretty clear that nature was not to be trifled with, and to do so could result in utter exhaustion.

The bat pony grabbed an apple from the bowl and began to drain it of nutrients, until the color faded and it shriveled. It was an act that always seemed to disturb the day walkers, even a few of the day guard.

Vesper tossed the shriveled apple and walked into the shower. Sleeping on the ceiling usually resulted in dirty hooves, since most ponies didn’t’ think about cleaning more than just the walls and floors. Despite being a bat pony, she preferred the warmth of a bed, even with her thicker coat keeping the cold at bay.

The thought of her coat made her sigh as she closed the door to the bathroom. A drawback of her kind was the extra effort on their part to keep clean. Stallions of the thestral tribe didn’t have as thick a coat as the mares, but they still faced a chore once the water stopped raining down on them in the shower.

“Here we go,” Vesper said as she turned the nozzle, triggering cold water to hit her extended foreleg.

While another pony would have recoiled from the contact, Vesper was unfazed. She acknowledged that the water was a little cold, but it wasn’t enough to make her pull away until the water warmed up a bit. Instead, the mare climbed in and then turned the nozzle for the hot water.

Soon enough, the water started to warm up, and steam began to rise from within the shower. Vesper took the hanging brush and rubbed a bar of soap across its bristles. Suds started to cling to any slick surface they could as Vesper slid her hoof into the loop attached at the base. The feeling of soap against her coat always felt weird to her.

The bat pony started to hum as she normally did when showering. For some odd reason everything sounded gross in the shower; her ears picking up smaller details no normal pony could. The afternoon had her off for a few other reasons, but the urge to shake and fly out of the shower was at the forefront of her mind, which she tried desperately to get rid of by thinking about other things.

Vesper stopped singing as her thoughts continued to wander elsewhere. No pony was around to hear her anyways. She found herself singing when she was happy or nervous. Her spontaneous vocal session had been brought about by the latter.

If she did go through with adapting to the day, what would that do to her relationship with her friends and family? Since most were nocturnal she assumed it wouldn’t bring about a positive change.

Vesper gave her wings a few flaps, ensuring that some of the suds ran across her fleshy wings, which was the only part of a shower she enjoyed. It briefly took her mind off the thought of losing all of her friends. She chuckled at the irony of being employed at the very castle that the princess of friendship resided in. All of these thoughts in her head were over a human; one that may not even like her.

Why did Vesper like him? Aside from the ear scritches, she admitted to being a bit lost on that herself sometimes. She had known him for a short time, she couldn’t deny that, but felt like she could talk with him. With her friends and family she never felt truly at peace talking about personal matters. Benjamin didn’t seem to mind though, he was unaware of customs, taboos, the does and don’ts of ponies; he was perfect.

Unlike a few stallions that had courted her, Benjamin was like a sponge and absorbed her every word. It made her feel better about things that were bothering her. He also told some of the strangest stories about his home. There were movies and games here, but the “airplanes” and other massive constructs from his world fascinated her.

Talking and scritches had become a nightly ritual after she found him awake when it was her duty to check on him for the night. It gave her something to look forward to when she woke up each afternoon. He never opposed her when she started resting on him, butting her head against his arm to prompt him to start rubbing her head. He had also been a good source of body heat when she had been out on cold nights.

Vesper turned off the water after feeling she was satisfactorily clean. No sooner had she stepped out of the shower, the urge to shake pushed itself to the front of her thought process. Almost instantly her body over whelmed her willpower and shook furiously, sending water all over the bathroom. Her mother had always told her only stallions had such a lack of manners, but she found it easier than wrapping a towel around her barrel and waiting to drip dry.

“Typical…” Vesper huffed as a quick glance in the mirror revealed a very fluffy pony looking back at her.

She rocked from side to side for a bit, watching her poofy coat and mane sway. Benjamin had mentioned he liked fluffy things, but she doubted any pony else would take her seriously. For being such a scary looking tribe of ponies their fur was rather disarmingly cute when drying.

Shower out of the way; she now had the afternoon to herself since Benjamin was out for his lessons. She felt bad for him since his progress was still at a basic level. She doubted that he would be learning any of the other languages anytime soon. Thestrilian was especially challenging for nonnatives and even some Equestrian citizens, which was odd since Equish was pretty easy to pick up, all things considered.

While she rarely defaulted to her tribe’s tongue, her father and brother seldom used any Equish at all. Normally, when one spoke her language it was like the words leaned on each other, sliding and dancing across the tongue which made it difficult for other ponies to know where one sentence stopped and another began.

Thoughts of her father cast a dark shadow on her interest in Benjamin. While most thestrals no longer had qualms with the other three tribes, there were some who had a great hate buried in their heart. The exclusion and distrust earned after Luna became nightmare moon more than a thousand years ago had long lasting consequences. It put a seemingly permanent divide between the citizens of the night and day.

Even though time healed some of the wounds, there was still an unspoken line that still lingered. Every time the moon replaced the sun it became apparent once more. Her family belonged to the night, while others belonged to the day. This was something she wanted to change, she wanted to be out during the day and not be exhausted.

She had yet to tell her family about her plans, or about whom she felt her heart was leading her to. If there was one thing all ponies could agree on, it was that fate had a very strong hold on their lives. That was a bridge she would have to cross at a later time.

“…I’m bored,” Vesper said trotting towards the door.

Still too light out to be moving too far from the grounds, the bat pony decided to take a trip to the library. As boring as that sounded in her mind, she was pleasantly surprised by the amount of books Princess Twilight had accumulated. While her collection was no match for Canterlot’s archives, it was still a hefty amount of paper in a single room.

“Eeny meeny miny…” Vesper chanted as she traced her hoof along the shelf. “You.”

The book’s cover looked interesting, as did the title. Vesper had a fascination of mystery novels and assumed the dark cover hinted at an interesting dark story. As her eyes danced from word to word she began to ponder if this story would get dark at all.

Still willing to give the story a chance, Vesper trudged through the uninteresting first five chapters, only to be pleasantly surprised by the sixth. Her eyes slowly got wider the deeper she read into the what she now realized wasn’t a mystery novel.

I raised my tail in silent answer to his question. His grin told me he enjoyed the sight before him, and he comically winked as I "winked" back at him. It didn't take long for him to rise up and plant his forelegs on both sides of my barrel; his weight pinning me beneath him.
The flared head of his shaft prodded at my backside until he found his target. I moaned as I felt him enter me and begin to move his hips back and forth in a sawing motion. There had been a spiteful snag before a brief pain interrupted the flow of pleasure. I bit my lip as I surrendered my virginity to the stallion that had taken my heart.
The magnitude of what I had done only made me slip deeper into the sea of bliss. Occasional pain registered in my lust addled brain, but it was snuffed out by the insistent thrusting of my lover.
He gently nibbled my ears and neck as he began to snort and grunt with effort. The bed was now bumping against the wall as we continued, no doubt disturbing the occupants in the next room.
" I'm gonna-"

"Vesper?" Starlight Glimmer's voice caused the bat pony to immediately drop the book and anchor herself to the ceiling.

"S-Starlight, I didn't see you there," Vesper said nervously.

"I can tell," Starlight commented. "What book had you so engrossed?"

Before the unicorn go get a good look, the thestral swooped down and scooped the book up. Starlight seemed a bit shocked by the speed the mare possessed, but caught a glimpse of the cover from the poorly concealed book and smirked.

"What?" Vesper asked.

"I didn't think a guard would find that kind of story interesting," Starlight shrugged.

“I genuinely thought it was something else though,” Vesper sighed, unwilling to admit that it had gotten her bothered slightly.

“What brought you to the library in the first place?” Starlight asked, levitating a book of her own in front of her as she sat down at a table. “There are plenty of things to do in Ponyville than stay cooped up all day.”

“My eyes don’t really agree with the daylight,” Vesper said, using her wings to hide the book as she opened it once more. The magic in her hooves kept her anchored to the ceiling as she used her forelegs to help support the book.

“Oh right, sorry,” Starlight’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“It’s fine,” Vesper shrugged. “I’m kind of in the minority here, so that doesn’t leave much in the way of entertainment for us night dwellers.”

“There’s a nightclub in town, have you gone there?” Starlight asked.

“There’s a nightclub in Ponyville?” Vesper asked in disbelief. “Why wasn’t I told this sooner?!”

“Yeah, they have karaoke and dancing,” Starlight glanced up at the bat pony. “Typical stuff.”

“…as tempting as that sounds, I’ve got a job to do,” Vesper said.

“Oh, Benjamin…why not take him with you?” Starlight replied. “What else does he have to do at night, right?”

“Do you really think he’d say yes?” Vesper blushed.

“I don’t see why not,” Starlight shrugged, turning her attention back to her book. “You two seem like pretty good friends.”

“Yeah, friends,” Vesper mumbled quietly.

While she could mask her voice, she couldn’t keep her feelings from over taking her expression. Starlight quirked an eyebrow at the bat pony’s downtrodden expression. It didn’t take her long to begin forming assumptions about her behavior, but she kept them to herself. The bat had unknowingly earned Starlight’s curiosity.

“Do you really think a human would be up for late night ventures like that?” Vesper asked, trying and failing to hide her concern.

“I think he’d love it if he gives it a chance,” Starlight paused, smiling as she returned to her book. “How could any pony say no to a night with a pretty mare?”

“P-pretty?” Vesper stuttered with a hushed voice.

----

“My head hurts,” I groaned, finally free from the evil clutches of learning. “Too many lines.”

My lessons were at that stage where it actually felt like I could feel the process of cramming new information into my brain. It was like trying to shove new files into a cabinet when you knew it was already full of other things, but you weren’t clever enough to remove what you didn’t need in order to make room. I dreaded the possibility that there were other languages out there, and how difficult those would be to learn.

I ceased lamenting my mental struggle when I noticed several boxes near a large carriage that had a faded logo on it. I slowly mumbled the letters under my breath until I put the word “Moving” together. The small accomplishment was a little boost to my confidence, a boost that was quickly swept away before I could even begin to piece together the next set of letters.

A griffon stepped out of the house the carriage was parked in front of. Even from a distance I could tell that it dwarfed a pony. I couldn’t really put a peg on its gender until another one leapt out from the back of the carriage with a box under its foreleg. It had feminine eyelashes and had a much softer expression than the other one which led me to conclusions about each one’s gender.

The male walked past the gate of the house and into the street to collect another box, revealing what appeared to be a prosthetic hind leg that stopped just short of the knee joint. I had yet to see a prosthetic limb on any on-pony in Equestria which gave me the impression that there was probably some spell of regeneration or something to that effect.

The griffon turned his eagle like head towards me, once he noticed I was staring at him. He stared back at me, sending chills down my spine. It was as if he held some sort of power over my ability to move as our stare down seemed to intensify.

“Shadowquill, could you come here for a second?” a soft voice called out.

The griffon in front of me turned his head with surprising speed, before glancing back at me one last time. Once his tail and rounded the corner I wasted little time in quickly walking away, not wanting to give the impression I was scared.

I knew what happened over a thousand years ago was ancient history, but something came over me when I saw the griffins. What was I to the griffins now? No doubt news had spread among the higher classes of various tribes that an extinct race was among the living again hadn’t caused some sort of curiosity. Said curiosity no doubt included the griffins, who were the reason humans in this world no longer existed.

Was I just a remin-

“Look out!” A young voice shouted.

My mind quickly snapped back into reality and willed my body to stop abruptly. In doing so I ended up toppling forward, and earning myself a face full of dirt. I groaned as my headache returned, amplified by my fall onto something that felt like a rock.

“Are you okay mister?” the same voice asked.

“I’m great,” I said picking myself up. “Just super, I didn’t step on you, did I?”

“No, I’m good,” replied a earth pony colt. “Though my dice bag has seen better days.”

“Dice bag?” I looked down and noticed the torn bag which had sent dice in all directions. “Oh crap, sorry there-“

“Dee Em,” the colt said proudly. He was orange with a green mane and tail. His flanks sported a picture of a twenty sided dice. The most notable thing about the earth pony was his cape that looked like it belonged to a wizard instead a young equine. Blue frame glasses sat on his muzzle, which seemed to bring the whole look together.

“I’m really sorry about your dice bag Dee Em,” I said beginning to pick up the assortment of numbered squares and other crazy shapes that I couldn’t immediately recall off the top of my head.

“It’s the dice that matter, that bag was super old anyways,” Dee shrugged. “It’s just an excuse to get a new one now.”

“So, where are you off to with the cape get up?” I asked.

“Off for a good time with PnP,” The colt smiled brightly.

“…gonna need a bit of context for that abbreviation, because my mind’s giving me all sort of possibilities with it,” I said.

“Ponies and Perils,” Dee replied. “It’s what the dice were for…umm, which, if it’s not too much trouble, can I have some help with them?”

“Uh, sure,” I said picking up the last one before following the colt. “So is this PnP thing like an adventure game or something?”

“Yeah! Have you heard of it?” Dee looked up at me, eyes full of hope with my answer.

“Kind of,” I confessed. “There was a game called DnD where I’m from. It was called Dungeons and Dragons.”

“Did you ever play?” Dee asked me.

“I wanted to at times, since a few of my friends did, but I could never find the time, or they would play over at a friend’s house that was too far to drive for a game,” I said going over the typical list of reasons.

“Do you want to play?” The colt asked with a gasp, coming to a full stop in front of a house.

I had torn this poor colt’s bag, nearly crushed him because I wasn’t paying attention, and he was now inviting me to play a game with him. Said game involved a lot of skills I hadn’t fully developed in this world, like culture and reading and writing. Math stilled worked the same way though, that was something I was grateful for; none of that common core bullshit existed here.

I was about to politely decline when the other half of my brain decided to wake up and give a counter argument. While I wasn’t good at any of those things, getting into a game that forced me to exercise those skills might not be such a bad thing. I couldn’t get any worse at reading, so I didn’t really have anything to lose by saying yes.

“You know I can’t read that fast, right?” I asked, deciding to bring up my dilemma anyways for the sake of having everything out on the table.

"I didn't, but that shouldn't be a big deal," Dee replied. "It's mostly just telling each other what you're wanting to do and rolling dice."

"Alright then, when is this thing?" I asked.

"Tomorrow night, at my house," The colt pointed to the building we had stopped at. "If that's okay with you, I mean."

"I literally have nothing better to do at night, I'm in," I said.

-------

Thankfully I made it back to my room without further incident. I had pondered over what this PnP game would be like, and if it really was similar to the role playing games from Earth. Whatever it turned out to be I at least had something to occupy some of my nights with.

I stopped in the door way after pushing it open at the sight of two mares in my room. One being Rarity, the local fashionista. The other was my self-appointed body guard. Every so often a container of some sort became engulfed in a magical mist before levitating. A brush would accompany it before both settled back down as Rarity nodded in approval.

My presence didn’t go unnoticed for too long though, as both mares focused on me, probably for the notable shocked expression on my face. Vesper quickly averted her gaze as my eyes locked on her. She was actually wearing makeup, something I deemed too girly for the guard pony. It wasn’t thick or over done either, which was a plus.

“Um, hi,” I finally spoke up. “If this is a bad time-“

“Certainly not dear, I was just getting Vesper ready for tonight,” Rarity smiled, which made the thestral blush.

“I didn’t know anything was going on tonight,” I said, rubbing the back of my head.

“Starlight dropped the suggestion that a little night out would do us some good,” Rarity replied. “I wholeheartedly agreed, as did our night dwelling friend.”

“You mean like a nightclub or something?” I asked.

“More or less, care to join us?” Rarity batted her eyelashes.

“It’s better than being cooped up inside a castle during the night,” I said. “Why didn’t I know about this sooner?”

“You didn’t ask dear,” Rarity replied as she trotted past me.

“Such a strange mare,” I commented after she had left.

“Pinkie Pie is even stranger,” Vesper said. “I think she’s a unicorn with a really tiny horn.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that,” I chuckled. “You uh, look good.”

Vesper’s expression seemed to brighten up a bit at the complement. She really did look good, for a pony anyways. While the makeup was nice, I thought she presented herself nicely without it. I was under the impression that most guard ponies wouldn’t even bother with the stuff.

“Thank you,” Vesper smiled. “Well, we probably shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

I nodded in agreement and followed the mare outside where Rarity and Starlight were waiting for us. The two exchanged a strange smile before composing themselves. I considered the possibility of this being a trap or prank, but I knew Vesper wouldn’t let anything go amiss. While we were still in Canterlot the mare foiled a prank against me. I only know this because she marched the two ponies in to apologize before even committing it.

Small talk between the mares was abundant, touching on everything from the stars to any late night ponies we passed. I spoke up only when I was directly asked a question, still feeling a bit out of the loop on pony topics of conversation. I kept myself entertained by reading the signs we passed until we finally reached the night club.

“Well here we are, stay close dear,” Rarity said as she led the way up to what appeared to be a bouncer pony.

“He with you?” the gruff pony asked, pointing a hoof at me.

“This fine gentle colt is indeed with us,” Rarity confirmed.

Shrugging, the stallion let us through and I was met by a plethora of shifting lights. It didn’t look all that different compared to the ones on Earth. I had never been that big into drinks, but now that I had been given a clean slate it was time to do things differently.

My presence turned a few heads, but overall didn’t cause that big of a problem. One clearly drunken stallion gave me a wink before passing out on the bar counter. The purple coated bar tender rolled her eyes before pouring another customer a drink.

“So, what takes your fancy?” Rarity asked. “In drinks, I mean.”

“What do you guys recommend for a newbie?” I replied as I sat down at a table with them.

“Apple Cider,” all three mare said at once, each carrying a varying degree of excitement in their voices.

“Well, I guess I know what your friend there is having,” said a mare that had approached our booth. “What about you ladies?”

Vesper requested cider with me, while Rarity and Starlight ordered something that sounded nothing like any drink from Earth. The smell alone when it arrived was pretty strong, but not in a bad way. It carried a sweet aroma, but something told me that it wasn’t exactly made for human consumption.

“So, have any good stories from your world?” Starlight asked.

“Eh, none that would probably interest you guys,” I replied. “I mean, you guys take on world ending threats, I’m just some weirdo who happened to find this place on accident.”

“You’re selling yourself short,” Vesper nudged me, turning her attention to the stage when a pony started to sing.

“Things don’t happen in my world like they do here,” I explained. “A common guy like me can’t do much to make a difference. I donated stuff and volunteered to help, but that’s about as exciting as my life gets. I’m not a hero or anything.”

“You don’t need to be some pony important to make a difference darling,” Rarity said. “There are ponies who are blessed, encouraged and inspired to not give up because of actions both great and small.”

“That was deep Rarity…” Starlight’s eyes had grown a bit after listening to the white unicorn’s mini speech.

“Well I mean Vesper can vo-“ I turned to face the bat pony, only to find an unoccupied seat. “Vesper?”

The music that had been playing throughout the building ceased, earning the attention of its occupants. Noticing that all eyes seemed focused on the stage we turned and saw an unexpected sight. Vesper was on stage, tapping the mic before clearing her throat. She mouthed something to the pony working the sound system and received a nod from the stallion.

“What is she doing?” I thought aloud.

“Singing,” Starlight said. “Wonder what she has cooked up.”

The tune started out low and peaceful, bringing a smile to the bat pony’s muzzle. Her voice was alluring, and sent a chill down my spine. I noticed that almost all noise in the building had ceased as the mare sung.

“What is that song about?” I whispered to Rarity.

“It’s an old song that tells the story of the scar left between thestrals and other ponies when Luna rebelled against Celestia,” Rarity said. “I’ve never heard it sung in Equish before though; it’s quite beautiful.”

“Yeah,” I nodded absentmindedly. “Very beautiful.”

Emotions

View Online

Cheerilee glanced up at her student as they walked the streets of Canterlot. During his stay with the Princesses, he hadn’t been allowed to explore the rest of the city. Since this was the centerpiece of Equestria, the teacher thought that a visit would be a good break from the books. With all the progress Benjamin was making she felt he had earned it.

Cheerilee noticed Benjamin’s face twist briefly as his eyes zeroed in on something. Following his gaze, Cheerilee saw a shop that said Doughnut Joe’s on the hanging sign. She turned back to the human who was still staring at the building.

“Is everything okay?” Cheerilee asked, poking his leg.

“Yeah, it just looked so familiar…” Benjamin replied, snapping out of his trance.

“The shop?” the mare tilted her head in confusion.

“No, the things in the window,” Benjamin pointed at the display case that Joe set up to draw in customers. “The big weird ones.”

“Bear Claws?” Cheerilee asked.

“I guess...” Benjamin let out a frustrated sigh.

Cheerilee’s ears fell flat as she realized what was wrong with her student. “Your memory still has gaps in it, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Benjamin nodded. “It’s weird sometimes. I can remember a lot of things from my world, but some stuff I still can’t remember, like my last name.”

Cheerilee started to walk away from the shop, hoping it would prompt him to follow her and take his mind off his memory, or lack thereof. Benjamin cast one last look towards the shop before following her. From his expression, the mare could tell it was still weighing heavily on his mind.

“I’ve kind of grown used to it, actually, “ Benjamin said. “Before the nurses knew anything about me, they used healing magic on me, since my fall was pretty bad. In the process, their magic affected my memory, or at least that’s what they told me. I’m lucky it didn’t wipe out everything.”

“Do you remember your family?” Cheerilee asked.

“I can…see them,” Benjamin replied. “But I can’t remember things I think I should. Like time they might have spent with me and stuff.”

“I’m sorry Benjamin,” Cheerilee said. “As much of a gentle stallion as you are though, I would like to believe that your parents were good at raising you.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Benjamin chuckled.

“What do you say we call it a day?” Cheerilee asked. “We’ve been walking around Canterlot for a good portion of the day.”

Benjamin nodded and followed the mare to the train station. Given her experience as a teacher, Cheerilee could tell that he was still dwelling on their conversation. Under their student, teacher relationship she felt just as protective of him as she would any of the foals that attended her school, even with the size and age difference.

When they finally boarded the train, Cheerilee didn’t waste time climbing into a seat. Her legs were tired from walking around Canterlot all day, as all she wanted to do now was sit down for a bit. Tending to the soreness in her legs, she tried her best to rub one of her hind legs to relieve some of the tension.

Benjamin took a seat next to her, letting out a sigh of relief as he stretched his legs. Cheerilee looked down at her own legs, still impressed by how large they were compared to hers before her tired muscles screamed at her for relief, metaphorically of course.

Cheerilee let out a surprised gasp as she felt Benjamin’s warm “hands” start to run across the leg she had been tending to. A part of her was opposed to the contact, but the human’s hands felt way better than hooves ever did. Benjamin was in close competition with the Spa Ponies as far as she was concerned.

“You okay?” Benjamin’s question brought Cheerilee out of her thoughts.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” Cheerilee asked.

“I didn’t know if I was hurting you or not,” Benjamin replied.

“Oh not at all,” Cheerilee quickly shook her head. “It felt…kind of nice, actually.”

“Oh well, do you want me to keep going, stop or...” Benjamin trailed off waiting for her answer.

“Maybe just a little bit more,” Cheerilee smiled.

The human nodded and started rubbing once more. Ponies were much more open to contact than other tribes around the world, but Cheerilee never guessed Benjamin would be so calm, or bold, as to just start without being prompted to. Still, it was better than no contact at all, far better than it had a right to be. Before Cheerilee knew it, she was starting to drift off under the trance like sensations.

Cheerilee slowly opened her eyes when she no longer felt Benjamin’s warm touch. She was still in the train car, but her human student was no longer in sight. She assumed he had gone to the bathroom or gotten up when she fell asleep. Something the mare did find odd was how quiet it was on the train, with light streaming through the window, blocking out any of the trees that should normally be there.

A snort broke the eerie silence in the train car, causing Cheerilee to turn her head in the direction of the sound. She tensed up when she saw Big Mac sitting across from her, just staring at her. The stallion wore his normal neutral expression as she locked eyes with him. It was that same expression that frustrated Cheeerilee as she tried to read his body language.

“Big Mac?” Cheerilee finally spoke up. “I didn’t know you were on the train.”

Big Mac remained quiet, his emotionless eyes just staring at her, making the mare uneasy. Only when a series of soft hoof falls came from the right of her did Big Mac’s expression change. Cheerilee felt cold when she saw the stallion smile at the mare that had stolen his heart from her.

Cheerilee realized now that he hadn’t been staring at her, he had just been waiting on her. He had just looked right past her without even a courtesy nod. A cold feeling crept over the mare making her shiver as she watched the two ponies express their affection for one another.

That should be me, Cheerilee thought. That was me.

Marble Pie was younger, in shape, and strong. She was everything Cheerilee wanted to be, a thought that only sent her deeper into a masked depression. Benjamin had helped to take her mind off of them, but like a weed the memories and thoughts simply refused to be ignored. IT was as if her insecurities were lying in wait, forcing themselves to the front of her thoughts whenever she felt happy.

The chill she felt spread across the rest of her form as she sulked and looked away, trying to ignore them. Cheerilee started to shiver and tucked her legs beneath her as best she could; trying to get warm again. Her efforts did little to stave off the cold that penetrated her coat of fur, until an odd warmth seemed to embrace her.

Cheerilee could no longer hear the soft laughter of the two ponies that plagued her inner thoughts with pain, now focusing solely on the source of heat that seemed to be warming her from the inside out. She felt surprisingly happy in the warm embrace, soft tingles of electricity dancing along her back and tried to seek out the source of the warmth, wanting to get closer to its source.
The heat seemed to wrap around her now, becoming a bit uncomfortable. She tried to wiggle away from the once comforting warmth, but it only intensified the more she tried to get away from it. The shifting heat was enough to chase her from the comfortable sleep she had slipped into on the train.

Cheerilee found herself surrounded by red, and was worried for a second she had done something wrong. She rolled her eyes when she realized it was only her bed comforter that she had tangled herself in. Why she had even used a comforter at all was beyond her. Given the season she had simply removed it, adequately shielded from the cold by her fur.

The last thing Cheerilee could remember was riding the train home with Benjamin. She also remembered the way he rubbed her sore legs, which must have sent her to sleep.

“That means that somepony carried me home…was it really Benjamin?” Cheerilee asked.

Cheerilee tried to reason that another pony had just brought he home and off Benjamin’s hands, but she would have woken up if she had been carried by one, and they certainly wouldn’t pull sheets over her with the weather as warm as it is. She blushed at the realization that the human had seen her room. Thankfully, nothing worth mentioning was out in the open. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, making sure everything was still in place, assuring her that nothing had been moved or disturbed.

“Well, he certainly is a gentle stallion for bringing me home,” Cheerilee smiled.

----

Vesper smiled as the last out going train left Ponyville station. The letter she had been anxiously waiting for had finally arrived from Princess Luna. While the bat pony hadn’t fooled herself in thinking it would be a quick fix, she never thought it would take her home. The answer to walking in daylight was not where she thought it would be, and wouldn’t be easy to obtain either.

Deep in the gnarled forest of near Hollow Shades there was a special fruit that thestral warriors had used hundreds of years ago when they realized that the other ponies intruding in Equestria were active during the day. After the sisters had come and stabilized the relationships between all ponies there was no reason for it to be harvested, since no bat pony really wanted to be out in broad daylight…until now.

At first, Vesper was a bit surprised and hesitant to go home. She had a job to do, albeit one that offered a great view, but the thing that made her stop and consider her options was going back to her family. The one pony she knew who wouldn’t approve of her reason for returning, however briefly, would be her father.

He shunned the light and all that walked in it. Even though she joined the Night Guard, he still disapproved because Celestia ruled over both sets of guards until Luna returned. Even after Luna’s return to power, he still labeled the others who lived in the major cities as weak, and praised those that caused mischief and havoc during the night.

Vesper didn’t doubt for a second that he would curse her name if he found out about Benjamin. Despite his off putting opinions, he was still her father. There was no doubt in her mind that her parents loved her, even though he made his disapproval of her career choice known. It was her fear that her love for Benjamin would put a massive strain on their relationship.

Vesper spent a good portion of the train ride psyching herself up for the conversation they would inevitably have regarding the stallion of her affection. Hopefully her mother would be more understanding of her plight than her father, and perhaps her brother would be willing to cover for her as well for the time being.

Her family would find out one way or another, especially if she was able to have foals with Benjamin. The thought of foals was enough to distract her from thoughts of her father, and brought a small smile to her muzzle. If she could have foals, what would they look like?

Vesper closed her eyes, trying to envision a small foal that had traits of both Benjamin and herself in their offspring. Would they be more human or pony in appearance? Would their little bundle of joy have a solid mix of both? If it was a solid mix, would it be accepted by others, or mistreated?

The mare shook her head, chasing the last unpleasant thought from her mind. She was getting ahead of herself, there was till the matter of winning her human’s heart. After she had finished that task, then she could worry about foals.

Vesper was pulled back to reality by the loud whistle of the train as it started to slow down. This was the moment she had been dreading, stepping back into the darkness of night and leaving the world outside of the forest behind. What made Hollow Shades special was the canopy of trees that surrounded the town, which blocked out almost every trace of light from the sky above. To a nocturnal creature like Vesper, it should be paradise.

After she had seen the outside world she couldn’t bring herself to go back except on special occasions and the odd visit. While Hollow Shades was beautiful, it couldn’t compare to the world outside the dark forest village.

The first thing that came into view from the windows of the slowing train were the light polls, since the odd unicorn or earth pony called Hollow Shades home. They gave off a very gentle glow, not bright enough to harm a thestral’s eyes, but not too dim to not provide any visibility for those who couldn’t see in the dark.

The houses that the train passed brought a smile to her face as she saw both those of normal ponies and thestrals beside one another. It was easy to tell the difference, as the door to a bat pony’s house was elevated to what would be considered the first, or in some cases, second floor of a normal house. A few of the Night Guard officers referred to them as “bat boxes” when speaking of their homes with ponies of the Day Guard.

The train finally stopped at the Hollow Shades station, the doors sliding open to reveal a familiar looking bat pony. The filly was in her teens, and looked just like Vesper for the most part, except for the color of her eyes which were a beautiful bright red.

“Us’tal!” the bat pony chirped excitedly. “Be’s’unodtalinVesparaanteo?”

What sounded like gibberish to an outsider, Vesper picked up on the meaning behind the excited teen’s words. To her, it was the friendly greeting of her younger sister, Ruby, which brought a smile to her muzzle. Even if a regular pony were to master their language, the hardest part was picking up on the separate words in a sentence.

“Sister, what have you been doing all this time?” Ruby asked, Vesper’s mind shifting from the customs of the outside world to that of her culture.

“Keeping the kingdom safe, watching out for bad ponies,” Vesper nuzzled her little sister.

“We got your letter the other day,” Ruby said as the two mares left the station. “How long are you staying?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Vesper replied. “I just wanted to do a little soul searching outside of the castle.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re back, and so are mother and father,” Ruby smiled.

“I would hope so,” Vesper fought to keep her emotional mask up at the mention of her parents, knowing this could potentially be a horrible trip, even if she did find the fruit.

“Wraith also missed you,” Ruby added. “He’s been a bit grumpy lately, but I bet seeing you will put him back into a good mood.”

Vesper nodded as Ruby continued to bombard her with questions about the rest of Equestria. Being too young to venture out on her own; and with a family that had little desire to see the outside world the chances of her seeing anything but the dark before she was an adult was slim.

After traversing the dark streets, the two mares finally found themselves in front of a large house that had the door set on the third story. Vesper could fly up to the door, but was feeling a bit tired after her train ride home. While her sister flew up to the door, Vesper proceeded to place one hoof against the wall, and then another, slowly walking up the side of the house as if it was second nature to walk on walls.

She had been told countless times that it was unladylike to enter the house in such a manner, but never listened. Only later in life did she realize why entering the house in this manner was unladylike, as it gave a nice view to whomever happened to be looking out the window that she might walk over.

Vesper walked in the door and was bombarded with the smell of blood oranges and bananas. Following her sister into the living room, she saw her father sitting in the chair she had seen him in when she was younger, reading the newspaper as he always did after work.

“Welcome Vesper,” her father said without looking up, his ears easily picking up the distinct difference in his daughter’s hoof steps. “What brings you back home?”

“Oh you know, just wanting to get away from everything for a bit,” Vesper replied with a wave of her hoof.

“Hmm,” Her father responded as he turned to the next page of the paper. “Given the infrequency of your letters, news of you coming home raises suspicion.”

“I just wanted to leave the daylight behind for a bit,” Vesper chuckled nervously.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Her father replied, putting the paper down. “But I’m glad you’re home all the same.”

Before Vesper could respond or move, she felt a powerful set of hooves wrap around her, picking her up in a hug. She winced upon being taken into the powerful hug of her father, but did her best to smile and pat him on the back.

Vesper could already tell this week was going to be a difficult one. Her father was already onto her, and a part of her dreaded the possibility of some sort of mind power gifted only to parents would see through any excuse she had to offer.

----
I sat in silence as the ponies that had gathered in Dee Em’s basement spoke about monsters and lovely maidens. Dice of all sides and colors were scattered about the sizeable table alongside identical looking books and sheet that had several numbers on them. One of the sheets sat in front of me with what appeared to be traits adorning most of the page.

"So, is that everypony?" one of the other ponies asked.

"Nope, waiting on Twig," Dee Em replied.

"Twig?" I rather audibly thought out loud. "What kind of talent do they -"

Before I could finish my thought, the door to the basement opened and quickly closed. The sound of descending steps didn't match that of a ponies clopping hooves. Instead it was a weird mix between scratching and thumping.

"-have?" I squeaked when I saw the source of the odd combination.

A griffon walked up to the table and took the free seat at the table, which happened to be right next from me. It was the same griffon i had seen the other day, I was sure of it. Aside from the griffon population being small in Ponyville to begin with, the fact that he had a prosthetic leg was confirmation enough.

"Ah, Twig's here," Dee Em said. "Benjamin this is Twig, our paladin that's been off and on when he's visited."

"Now that I live here, I don't see why I can't be the regular paladin," Twig said, his voice reminiscent of a frat boy’s which surprised me a bit.

"And you're going to have a newbie warrior under your wing," Dee Em said, earning a few chuckles from the gathered group.

Twig and I locked eyes for a moment, which did little to settle my nerves. His eyes were predatory, despite being at peace with the rest of the room's occupants. I could only assume both of us were familiar with the events that took place hundreds of years ago.

“Alright,” Dee Em said, gaining everyone’s attention. “Last time we left off your party had learned of the Order Serpentina, an evil group who charmed all manner of cold blooded creatures…literally cold blooded.”

“So like reptiles and stuff?” I asked.

“Yeah, more or less,” one of the other ponies said.

“You’ve found your way down into a cave that is oddly illuminated by strange vines and other fungi,” Dee Em continued. “You notice the path narrows slightly, leading to a door, and to the left of the door is a cage that contains a tied up pony.”

“Can it be over a pit of snakes?” asked the mage of the party.

“Can’t I be something a bit more…bipedal?” I sighed.

“Sure, and no, that’s what the default warrior is,” Dee Em replied. “ It’d take too long to make something from scratch, now as I was says, you see an earth pony tied up in the cage. Shady, you won the initiative roll off, it’s your move.”

“I check to see if there are any traps,” the stallion said.

“You only see the pit of snakes that the captive pony is dangling over, the cave doesn’t look very sturdy,” Dee Em said.

“This is kind of boring,” I mumbled.

“Try to picture what’s happening in your mind,” Twig said. “It’s better if you play along.”

I nodded and tried to picture the cave as best I could. A dark, gloomy cave that had glowing fungi and torches slowly became clear in my mind’s eye. I could picture a pit of snakes, and a group of ponies with…a griffon.

“I call up to the earth pony, and ask him if he’s okay,” Cerulean said as his turn came around.

“Oh, um, I’m doing good I guess,” I replied, picturing the scene unfolding in my mind. “Aside from the looming death by snake.”

“Well, like move back or hold onto…something, I’m going to try to shoot the rope,” Cerulean replied.

“Wait won’t that just drop the cage into-“

“You need a fifteen or better, since it’s a small target,” Dee Em said.

Cerulean rolled a twenty sided dice and got a eighteen. I was hoping that he would miss, but the thought occurred to me that if he missed spectacularly it could probably hurt me, or my character anyways.

“The rope snaps and begins to fall towards the pit of snakes, all of the reptile’s eyes locking onto their potential meal,” Dee Ems said.

“I try to catch him with my magic,” a unicorn spoke up.

“You catch him with your magic, only a few feet before hitting the pit of pony eating snakes,” Dee Em nodded. “Levitating him in front of your group.”

“I guess I pass action, since I’m tied up and stuff,” I said when it came to my turn.

“I crack open the cage and untie him,” Twig said. “And then ask what he’s doing here.”

“Getting captured for the sake of the plot?” I shrugged.

As the session progressed I started to feel more comfortable with the group and with the other players. While there was still a bit of awkwardness between Twig and I, it didn’t distract me too much from the fun through the game. I was actually sad when Dee Em brought the game to a close, leaving us right in front of a hydra’s cave.

We all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways for the night. I could hardly wait to get back to the castle and tell Vesper about the evening. As playful ass she’s been, I assumed that she would want to join in as well, since it would give her something interesting to do.

I was surprised to find a stallion in my room, flipping through the paper. Like Vesper he was a thestral with dark grey fur and a purple mane and tail. His eyes were a typical yellow with green pupils. He looked up at me with a bored expression and waved before returning to his paper.

----

“Umm…hi?” I said, not receiving an answer. “Where’s Vesper?”

“Vesper went to see her family, so I Was asked to fill in” The stallion replied as he turned the page. “Just call me Fang and we’ll be good…and yes I know it’s a generic name, but I didn’t have any input at my birth.”

“Oookay, well, nice to meet you Fang,” I said walking over to pet the stallion on the head.

“Whoa, whoa!” Fang jumped back with alarming speed.

“Sorry, did I do something wrong!?” I asked, a little surprised by the stallion’s response.

“You can’t just do that to a stallion, human, especially one that doesn’t swing that way….not that I’m judging you or anything…” Fang replied.

“What are you talking about, that’s how Vesper and I have always been, she said that’s how you guys interact,” I said.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but not all stallions are as hugy feely as mares,” Fang said. “Though if I’m being honest, I don’t see why Vesper would be drawn to you, again not my place to judge.”

“We’re just friends, I tho-“

“Friends?” Fang raised an eyebrow towards me. “Tell me something, how do you guys interact…normally.”

“This is already off to a weird start,” I commented. “Like petting and stuff, she lays on my stomach sometimes while I scritch her ears and stuff…there was one time where I woke up with her snuggled up next to me.”

“And you’re still just friends?” Fang asked. “Have you told her this?”

I was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had only met this stallion two or three minutes ago and already we were off to a rough start. Thankfully this wouldn’t be a permanent arrangement, but I was starting to worry about Vesper and why the stallion was asking so many questions.

“I don’t see why I would need to tell her,” I replied hesitantly.

“If you two are that comfortable with each other, Vesper might think of you as a bit more than a friend,” Fang shrugged.

I was about to dismiss him until I actually stopped to dwell on the possibility that Fang was right. The late night talks, her being protective of me, and the other night….she wore makeup for the first time around me. She looked beautiful, but I thought she had just been putting all of that on because Rarity and Starlight were.

As I dwelt on the possibility that the stallion was right, another dilemma popped into my mind. If Vesper really did have feelings for me, could I return them? Did I want to return them. To complex the matter further we were two completely different species and on different time schedules.

“I get the sinking feeling that there’s some stuff we need to talk about…you might want to sit down and make yourself comfortable.” Fang said to which I only nodded.

A Forest and a Festival

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Cheerilee let out a loud yawn as she began the morning struggle of crawling out of bed. Her to do list was rather lengthy today before she had her summer school student arrive for his lessons,. With the rate of his progress she assumed it wouldn’t be long before he could become a productive member of Equestrian society. Even though it was just a teaching bit, she had grown to enjoy Benjamin’s company.

The mare enjoyed the feeling that she was useful, even after the school year had ended. Her talent didn’t feel wasted or unappreciated. Cheerilee would rather be active than sitting around all day with nothing to do to keep her occupied. Teaching a new species the ins and outs of Equestria kept her mind sharp, and had even given her a few ideas when she returned to her normal crowd of students.

“Perhaps it’s time for the more complex issues…” Cheerilee said walking towards her closet. “I think they were up here.”

The closet was sizeable, and she had a stool that she used to reach the top shelf where she tucked a few of her school books and supplies away. Finding a box that she assumed contained the advanced history book, Cheerilee gave it a sharp pull, which threw her off balance. Thankfully she landed in her dirty laundry basket, cushioning her fall.

The box’s contents scattered about the floor upon impact revealing the books, and something she wished she had never seen again. There on the floor was what appeared to be a valentine with the initials BM. Cheerilee knew what it was before she even picked it up with trembling hooves and opened it.

Just as she thought, it was a card given to her by Big Mac, when they were still together. Cheerilee let the card slide out of her hooves as she closed her eyes with a sigh. Big Mac had been a ray of light when it came to romance. She was certain that she could never trust another pony with her heart after her previous experience that ended with a hate in her heart for the thestrals.

Big Mac had taken that hope and smashed into tiny pieces, and to make matters worse he had done so at night, which brought back horrible memories she thought she had buried in her subconscious. Cheerilee tried not to dwell on the past, but she found herself unable to focus on anything but the unwelcome memories.

Quietly, she tried to resume her regular morning routine of showering, eating, and getting ready for Benjamin. Cheerilee was still unable to think clearly as she poured a cup of coffee. She sat down at the table and stared into the dark, reflective surface of the liquid. Looking back at her was a steadily aging mare who wore an expression of defeat.

The coffee started to cool as events played back through her mind like a horrible movie. She had been a foolish filly, gullible enough to trust a pony because he was exotic. Her parents had warned her about him, that he was no good. Cheerilee had assumed they were just discriminating against him, but he eventually proved them right. He had taken something from her that could never be replaced, and was an unwelcome wakeup call about the reality of Equestria.

Cheerilee closed her eyes as she tried to force the rest of the memories back to the depths of her mind. She wanted to bury them permanently, but the damage was still done, made worse by having her heart broken by the stallion she thought was perfect for her. She felt a few more tears fall from her eyes as she brought the mug closer to her.

A tear drop disturbed the smooth surface of the coffee, causing Cheerilee’s reflection to shift. When the liquid settled once more she saw a new mare staring back at her. She recognized the image of Vesper, the guard that had come to Ponyville withBenjamin and swatted the coffee mug away. It shattered into several pieces, cold coffee spilling out onto the floor.

“Cheerilee?” Benjamin called from the other side of her door.

Cheerilee was unable to reply, her focus occupied by the mess she had made. She didn’t even acknowledge the door being forced open or Benjamin entering the kitchen until he crushed a piece of the broken mug beneath his shoe.

“Cheerilee, are you okay?” he asked, slowly kneeling down to her level.

“I’m fine,” Cheerilee said wiping a stray tear from her eye. “I just got startled is all.”

“I think you kicked the coffee mug’s ass pretty hard,” Benjamin chuckled.

“I suppose a bit of stress got the better of me,” Cheerilee mused, standing up to begin cleaning the mess she had made.

Benjamin, had opened up a cabinet and pulled a roll of paper towels out, already a few steps ahead of her. Her student made quick work of the mess, his speed taking Cheerilee by surprise.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Benjamin asked.

“I’m…I’ve got a lot on my mind right now, I’m sorry,” Cheerilee sighed.

“I know the feeling,” Benjamin commented. “I actually stayed up pretty late last night dwelling on a few things.”

“A student should get as much rest at night as possible,” Cheerilee chided playfully.

“A student also needs time to reflect on things,” Benjamin countered. “Besides, it was kind of hard to go to sleep with Fang hanging over me.”

Cheerilee shuddered at the mention of-wait, Fang? “I thought Vesper was watching you?”

“Vesper…went to go visit her family, Fang agreed to take her place for a bit,” Benjamin replied, looking away from his teacher.

Cheerilee tilted her head slightly, trying to figure out what he was hiding. She had been around foals long enough to know when they were hiding something. While Benjamin was no foal, his body language told her there was something heavy on his mind. The mare’s mind wasn’t much better, and so she pushed it to the back of her thoughts.

“Was there some kind of festival today?” Benjamin asked, derailing her thoughts.

“Festival?” Cheerilee looked up at the calendar and sure enough, it was Ciderfest.

“Celestia knows a bit would do me good…” Cheerilee commented.

“Come again?” Benjamin asked, picking up the pieces of broken coffee mug.

“Oh, it’s Ciderfest today, I almost forgot about it,” Cheerilee replied.

“Want to go with me then?” Benjamin offered. “I don’t think either of us are in the right mind to try to learn or teach anything.”

Cheerilee thought for a moment, but nodded in agreement. She didn’t really feel confident in ability to teach much of anything to Benjamin at the moment. Besides, a festival is always better when you have company.

---------

As we explored the ins and outs of the festival Cheerilee’s mood seemed to brighten a bit. Whatever had been on her mind seemed to be forgotten, or she was really good at hiding things. Having to be around foals all day, she had probably developed a pretty good mask to keep her own concerns to herself, which wasn’t the healthiest of practices.

I wish I could have taken my mind off of the revelation of Vesper’s affections, or what Fang believed were more than friendly gestures. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how oblivious I had been to simple hints. The night I found Rarity in my room helping her with makeup made sense now, she was just trying to get my attention.

I felt, confused, sad, and just a little bit frustrated all at once. It was a strange cocktail of emotions that I had never experienced before. Cliché thoughts like ‘did I love her back?’ or ‘why didn’t she say something?’ and the standard ‘we’re totally different’. I could remember an old saying from Earth that opposites attract, but being totally different species was pushing the boundaries.

“You’re side walking again,” Cheerilee’s voice brought me back to the real world.

“Side walking?” I asked.

“Just something I’ve noticed you do when you think while walking,” Cheerilee replied. “I mean you’re only two hooves away when you were six hooves away before.”

“Oh…sorry,” I chuckled. “I guess I never noticed I do that.”

“Something on your mind?” Cheerilee asked.

“Just pony stuff, trying to wrap my head around it all,” I replied. “Friend issues and all that good jazz.”

“Mmhmm,” Cheerilee hummed. “Anything you want off your chest then?”

I was about to answer when I heard my name called. I looked up to see Applejack waving at us from her stand. I saw several kegs filled with what I could only assume was cider, since that was the name of the festival, and kegs always seemed to be associated to either booze or water. Such stereotyping of kegs was uncalled for in my opinion.

Ya’ll enjoyin’ the festivities?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, I think so,” I nodded. “So it’s an entire celebration about cider?”

“That’s tha short of it, there’s lots of drinks out here,” Applejack replied.

“So…is all of Ponyville going to get drunk then?” I asked .

“Unless ponies lost their tolerance all ah sudd’n Ah reckon not,” Applejack gave me a funny look. “Now folk that ain’t ponies might not make it through the day.”

“Ponies don’t get hung over…that doesn’t make any sense,” I crossed my arms.

I watched as Cheerilee purchased a mug and downed it as quickly as Applejack had poured it. She wiped her muzzle off on her foreleg and looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. She didn’t even flinch as she drank it, like it was nothing for her to take it all in one go.

“It can’t be that strong then,” I mumbled as I put a few bits down for a drink.

Applejack nodded and poured me a glass. “Good luck sugar cube, hopefully ya won’t need it.”

I studied the gold liquid in front of me, noting the pleasant scent it gave off. I noticed Cheerilee’s amused expression, perhaps she assumed I would puss out of partaking in a drink from a pony, one that could knock out things that were much stronger than me. Aside from the unicorn’s flub up at Canterlot, nothing they had done so far had been “harmful” per say; but a small nagging part of my mind was telling me not to do it.

Pissing away my gut feeling, I tried to down the glass like Cheerilee had done, but stopped after three gulps and slowly pulled the cup away. The taste was incredible, and it felt like my mouth was having a chain reaction of orgasms. It took me a few seconds to register Applejack waving her hoof in front of my face to get my attention.

“Ya okay in there?” Applejack asked.

“Perfect…” I mumbled as a tear slid free from my eye.

“Does it really taste that good to you?” Cheerilee asked, receiving a raised eyebrow from the farm mare. “I mean, it is too me, I just don’t think I’ve ever seen some pony react to it in such a way.”

I returned the mug to my lips and continued to steadily drink the intoxicating liquid. If the mares continued their conversation, I couldn’t hear them, my mind enraptured by the taste of the cider. Earth’s cider tasted nothing like this, its taste completely changed my perspective on alcohol.

When the mug was empty I whimpered slightly. Cheerilee reared up on her hind legs and managed to tap the bottom of the mug hard enough to release it from my grip. The now empty mug landed on her back, and in one smooth motion, she rolled it off onto Applejack’s stand.

“It tasted so good,” I said.

“I know, but there’s more to the festival than booze…even though that’s primarily what it’s about,” Cheerilee giggled. “C’mon, I bet we can find other things to do.”

“I’ll be back for the goods later,” I whispered to Applejack who gave me a wink.

----

Vesper stood at the edge of the long abandoned forest. Faded danger signs dotted a few of the trees, a few being no more than a single board held on by a nail or two due to exposure to the elements. All she had to go on was a weathered map that she had borrowed from the library.

“No sister of mine is foolish enough to venture into the Gnarled Forest alone,” a deep voice startled her. “Oh has all that time spent in the guard dulled her sense of danger?”

Vesper turned around to see her brother hanging from a branch. Wraith was very handsome and strong, and he had many mares vying for his attention. She was certain he would have found a welcome place among the Night Guard, but like their father he saw the ponies of the day as lesser beings.

“Of what business is it of yours if I do go alone?” Vesper chuckled.

“Brotherly concern for one’s little sister,” Wraith replied dropping down from his perch to stand between her and the forest. “Surely nothing in there is worth risking your life over.”

“I can handle myself, I’m sure the drill instructors can vouch for me,” Vesper said walking past him. “Perhaps you should send for their answer, of course by then I’ll have already returned with what I came here for. Alas, such is the contrast between our professions.”

“What is it you seek in the forest…other than the Dawn Fruit?” Wraith asked, his smile growing wider as a mortified expression crept over Vesper’s muzzle.

“Your expression speaks louder than any lie you intend to tell me,” Wraith continued. “Tell me, is it for love perhaps. Only love would drive a pony to such drastic measures, but you never struck me as the type to fall for a stallion that father would disapprove of.”

“He’s not a stallion at all though,” Vesper replied smugly. “Well, in the traditional sense at least.”

“Whatever your game is, just know what it may cost you,” Wraith snorted.

Vesper didn’t reply as she flew into the forest, the sounds of the night to night activities growing softer and softer on her ears. The sounds of her home were the farthest thing from her mind as she continued to mentally chew on what her brother had said. She wanted to be with Benjamin, but did he want to be with her?

Here she was, dodging sinisterly twisted branches as she flew through the Gnarled Forest, all for a human. She was willing to give up her very way of life to be with him. Worst case scenario was that she would be the first thestral to walk around in broad daylight without being exhausted after Luna’s return, as the fruit had been forgotten by the masses.

Her thoughts came to a grinding halt as the path that she had been following ended abruptly. Time had corrupted the path with tall grass and weeds. Vesper looked around for any sign that indicated where the path was leading but could find none. She considered flying above the forest, but it had already been attempted before, and there were terrible creatures that dwelt in the upper canopy, waiting for a pony like her to try and fly through them.

As if to confirm the rumors from the book she had found, her acute vision picked up a round shape sifting through the branches. No pony had been in this forest for hundreds of years, which meant that whatever was stalking her was more curious than hungry…for now anyways.

Not wanting to tempt fate Vesper hovered over the tall grass, only to find the path resumed a few feet ahead of her. It was then she noticed that the grass was moving behind her. The massive mound slowly crawled away from the path; the small gust created by her wings beats disturbing it.

“It’s okay Vesper,” the mare told herself. “It’s just a moving..patch of grass…”

Cautiously, the mare continued to follow the rediscovered path, determined to not leave until she gotten what she came here for.

---

Night had fallen, and the festivities were becoming more enjoyable as more ponies got off work and attended. There was no booth left un occupied, and the illumination from the lights against the darkness of night only added to the already enjoyable atmosphere.

Watching the drinking contest between Applejack and Rainbow Dash had started off rather predictable, until both rolled out of their seats, kissed, and then proceeded to pass out. Big Mac managed to drape both mares over his back before presumably returning to the Apple Family farm.

Cheerilee really seemed to be enjoying herself, forgetting whatever was troubling her when I found her earlier in her house. Perhaps it was the drink finally taking hold, or perhaps it was just being with her friends. Whatever the case, it made me happy to see her spirits lifted. I had almost completely forgotten about the looming ordeal I would have to trudge through with Vesper.

I liked her, and I’d be lying if I said we weren’t close. Staying up when she would normally sleep suddenly made sense, she was willing to give up her very nature to try and spend time with me. While I had forgotten plenty of things about Earth and my own life, something told me no one had ever thought about me so much, aside from my parents.

Still, she was a pony, a nocturnal pony no less, and staying up all the time couldn’t be healthy for her. The species gap was the biggest problem though, one that was hard to just sweep under the rug. The argument against this though made me pause. There was no other human alive, no one around to DO anything about it. Perhaps it was the drink stringing my thoughts along, but why not give her a chance?

Cheerilee tripped as we tried to cross a small stone bridge, giggling as she tried to pick herself up. I looped my arm under the mare and helped back onto unsteady legs, finding her laughter infectious. We found a spot on a hill that gave us a great view of the stars that seemed to stretch on forever, and seemed to be swaying back and forth.

“Ttthe sky looks awesome,” Cheerilee said.

“I know-right?” I nodded one too many times. “It’s…it’s…like all big and stuff.”

“Mmhmm,” Cheerilee said, falling backwards in a fit of laughter. “Bigger than Big Mac.”

“Wh-who-what’s with big horse?” I stumbled over my words.

“Big whorse is a whorse,” Cheerilee huffed with flushed cheeks. “He’s sssstupid, and I don’t like his…his…buck, I can’t think.”

“Cheerilee…Ch-Cheerilee, y-yu’re dronk,” I slurred.

“I-I-I am..amm…you’re drunk,” Cheerilee said. “All on your butt and….” Cheerilee poked my chest with her hoof. “I have my key, in…on…in my carpet..”

“Pfft, in your vag?” I chuckled.

“It’s nott a vag if it’s a vagiiine….buck me,” Cheerilee laughed.

“S-so do you like…need to go shit or home?” I asked the mare.

“I d-don’t need to shit, I maybe need to home,” Cheerilee said. “…kay I think I might be a bit drank.”

I nodded, and somehow managed to stumble to my feet, picking the mare up. I felt warm fuzzy things wrap around my neck which made me smile. There were several ponies that had already passed out, some falling in the street, snoring. Oddly enough Berry Punch was the only one that still seemed remotely sober.

My vision started to grow dim as we got closer to Cheerilee’s house. It was clear that the drinks were having an effect on my motor skills. Everything seemed so far away, and seemed to move at constantly changing speeds. Finally I grabbed the door know and stopped it from moving before my vision went dark.

---

A sharp pain broke the tranquil of my sleep, the normally pleasant chirping of birds sounded as if it were being blared through a loud speaker. I wanted to throw something at them, but I didn’t want to break the crystal windows. Twilight would probably kick me out or something, and I wouldn’t have my pink cov-wait, pink? Another troubling thought, why was I naked?

I rubbed my eyes only to find the same unfamiliar bed coverings. My brain tried to register what was going on, but..wait, why was my head hurting…and why did I smell like alcohol? Yesterday had been…something…a party? …No, a festival, that’s it. It was something about cider, and some mix that a berry pony made.

My thoughts we drawn from the conundrum my mind was currently working on by movement beside me. Reluctantly, I pulled the covers off my head to see…Cheerilee’s room? This day was starting to get weirder, how shit faced was I? My question was soon answered as a lump moved beneath the covers.

I felt my heart skip a beat as a familiar head poked out from under the sheets. Cheerilee and I were in the same bed…waking up together…and I was nude. Given the circumstances we both found ourselves in, I wasn’t sure whether to rejoice about possibly living out my fantasy of banging a teacher, or be scared shitless.

Aaaand You Goofed

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I stared into Cheerilee’s eyes, which oddly enough didn’t appear angry or upset. If one were to settle on an expression for the mare, it was one of mild confusion. I assumed a bit of grogginess was still working its way out of her brain, and soon she would have total clarity of the issue at hand. I felt frozen and unable to move as our eyes remained locked.

“Um..Che-“

“What the buck!!” Cheerilee’s mind had finally caught up to the situation. “What-why-how!?”

The mare was frazzled and I quickly rolled out of bed, confirming my suspicions about last night. I looked down like an idiot and tried to cover myself before Cheerilee could notice. Much to my dismay she did and screamed once more, pegging me in the head with a pillow with enough force to knock me to the floor.

I heard the sound of swift hooves fleeing from the room, followed by the slam of a door. As I stood up, I heard sobbing coming from the bathroom. My shoulders drooped with guilt as I slowly made my way towards the crying sounds of my teacher, who had locked herself in her bathroom.

“Chee-“

“Please, just go!” I managed to pick up between her sobs.

“….I don’t know where my clothes are…” I said.

There was no intelligible response from Cheerilee. I sighed and walked away trying to find what I could of my clothes, succeeding for the most part, save for my underwear. It felt awkward leaving Cheerilee in the shape she was in, and this had more than likely ruined any chance of getting help learning from her; not to mention ruining our relationship.

To top off the horrible morning, my head was still pounding. I left without another word to the mare, whose sobs had started to dwindle slightly. The pain from my hangover kept the guilt at bay as I started the long walk home. I was amazed Fang hadn’t come looking for me, but given the festivities he probably assumed I was with somepony.

I finally made it to the castle, greeted by two guards on either side of the door. One nodded knowingly and motioned for the other to open the doors. I nodded my thanks and kept going, not wanting to talk to anypony at the moment, which thankfully wasn’t a problem as I reached my room without bumping into any of the staff or guest.

I found Fang in his usual hanging spot and had the mind to wake him up and ask him to leave, but thought better of it. After all, it wasn’t him who had fucked up, quite literally. I stumbled my way into the shower and proceeded to recline in the tub, opening my mouth to catch the falling water.

The receding gross feeling that had permeated throughout my body was quickly being replaced by guilt and anger. I must have been horribly drunk to have even considered going that far with Cheerilee. What made it worse was that if there was some truth to Fang’s statement, then I had possibly ruined something between me and Vesper.

I had been considering it, despite how taboo such a relationship with Vesper was. I had to remind myself that I was the only one here of my kind, and come to terms with the fact that I may not see another human ever again. Things that were normally forbidden or frowned upon were often times a social norm. Sometimes, Equestria felt like one big opposite day to me; animals talked, and the sun actually rotated around this planet instead of the other way around.

Now, I wanted to crawl in a hole away from everything and never come out again. How could I possibly show my face around town after making a mare cry? Not just any mare, the school teacher, my teacher. I couldn’t show my face around town again after something like that.

“You’re awfully noisy today,” Fang said causing me to jerk up out of the tub. “You smell too…”

“Why are you up?” I asked sinking back down before I used my foot to shut off the flow of water.

“Kind of hard not to be when you slammed not one, but two doors,” Fang replied drowsily.

“Well, go back to sleep, I’m fine,” I said shortly.

“Uh huh, fucked last night and woke up next to a stranger huh?” Fang asked rhetorically.

“How did-“

“Like I said, you smell,” Fang shrugged before rubbing one of his eyes.

“Oh god,” I hung my head in shame as I realized what he meant. “I walked past some town ponies…the guards…”

“Yep…hope you had fun at least,” Fang said, comforting as ever.

“I don’t even remember it,” I sighed. “I ruined something nice that I had with her…she was my friend.”

“She’ll be back,” Fang said with a roll of his eyes.

“Why would she ever want to talk to me again?” I asked. “How can you be so nonchalant about stuff like this?”

“I just know how mares work….I couldn’t call myself a stallion if I didn’t,” Fang smirked. “See, I know something you don’t know about a good two thirds of the population of Ponyville right now.”

“What would that be?”

“It’s season for more than half of the mares here, I can smell it, those average Joe Blows at the front doors can smell it, that big red bastard I saw last night can smell it,” Fang chuckled.

“…oh god…” I whimpered.

“Did you really think a mare would just climb into bed with you just because you were both drunk?” Fang tried his best to subdue a laugh at my circumstances. “Nah, there’s got to be some type of spark there, or you’re both just wasting your time. Pony mares aren’t like minotaurs or griffons that way; I thought you were being taught all of this stuff by an earth pony?”

“That’s the one I slept with,” I said, my embarrassment growing by the second. “We were trying to be mature about things and keep stuff like that on a need to know basis.”

“Well now you know,” Fang winked. “So, how do you think Vesper will take it? I mean, you can’t just leave the mare that you banged like some heartless animal, and thestrals aren’t keen on sharing their mates, which Vesper has pegged you as.”

“It’s too early in the morning for this shit right now,” I huffed.

“And you woke me up,” Fang said. “It’s early for me too and now I may have to save you, or your teacher when Vesper gets back.”

“Can’t I just puss out and kill myself?” I asked as I got out of the tub.

“No,” Fang yawned. “What kind of story would that be? ‘Oh no, I’ve gone and made a mess of things, and now I want to run away’”

“Fine, what would you do?” I huffed.

“Iunno,” Fang shrugged. “But I’d be figuring out that pretty soon.”

With that Fang left me to wallow in my guilt and shattered life status. I used my foot to turn on the shower again, turning the water up a bit as I slowly stripped out of my clothes that I had the sudden urge to burn after knowing what had happened last night.

“Fuck…season…” I felt my mind spin as I realized the ‘other’ consequences of last night might be. “…fuck me sideways, heat season? Wow Ben, you’re a complete dumbass, great job! Not only did you fuck your teacher, you might have made some unholy abomination last night!”

I sat in the shower of shame for what felt like an hour or two before I took a deep breath and sighed. Benjamin, you have to adult now, whether you want to or not. The pesky voice of reason had finally started to speak up. It was right though; I did need to stop being a baby about this whole ordeal.

---

“So tired…” Vesper mumbled to herself.

The bat pony had been traversing the woods in search of the fruit that she felt confident would help her walk alongside Benjamin during the day. That goal was the only thing keeping her on her hooves now, especially since the sun was up over the permanent darkness the forest provided, her mental clock assured her for that.

Vesper’s body was screaming at her to stop, but her will continued to push her forward along the long abandoned path to the tree she sought. She was so focused on her mission that she didn’t even notice the unearthed root in her path, causing her to trip in a mud puddle.

The mare sighed as she struggled to pick herself back up, but her muscles were refusing her commands. They twitched weakly, registering the signals sent to them, but doing little in response. Vesper felt her eyes grow heavy as she lay in the mud, a part of her wondering if all of this was worth it. Would Benjamin would even say yes to her advances after seeming to be completely oblivious to her interest in him.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered shut and she began to drift off, completely oblivious to the creatures from the darkness looming over her. There was a reason why only the strongest of thestrals were sent to the tree, and were never sent alone; that being the shades that lurked behind every tree and under every rock. The bat ponies before her had always traveled in pairs. When resting, the ponies would take shifts keeping a look out for the cursed denizens of the forest.

As the shades crept about the sleeping mare, her mind buzzed with images of her love. Vesper could see him sitting in his room, alone, until her turned to her and smiled. His smile alone filled her heart with joy and renewed her determination.

Vesper’s eyes shot open, forcing the shades to retreat. Through otherworldly eyes, they watched as their target rose from the puddle she had fallen in. Mane caked in dry mud, she pressed onward, her second wind taking over her tired muscles, unaware of how close to death her brief nap had brought her.

As she continued on her path, it eventually brought her to an old cabin. It was in very bad shape from the elements and she would have assumed it was abandoned, if not for the faint glow of what she could only assume was a candle in one of the faded windows.

The sight left her a bit baffled, as she had assumed that this forest was uninhabitable by ponies. It was supposed to be abandoned; save for the shifting shadows that she occasionally caught a glimpse of from the corner of her eye. She had also seen a few hallucinations that resulted from the forest getting darker, even though her eyes were adapted to the darkness, she found herself relying more and more on her echolocation, but this dim light made her pause in her quest.

As Vesper pushed open the door, she heard a light chuckle, which caused her to leap into the air on her already tired wings. It sounded feminine, and was accompanied by soft hoof steps and disarmed the combat ready bat pony slightly.

“My, my, it’s been a long time since I saw another muzzle here,” an old mare said.

The light Vesper had seen was coming from and ebony colored horn, that matched her coat. Her eyes were a faded light blue that seemed to be glazed over. Her mane was grey but contained patches of black, much like her coat.

“Who…are you?” Vesper asked quietly.

“I’ve gone by many names, but you may call me Mother Midnight,” Midnight replied. “And to whom am I speaking?”

“Vesper”

“Vesper…Vesper…ah yes, Vesper,” Mother Midnight nodded with a smile knowingly. “I was wondering if you would come or not.”

“Y-you knew I was coming?” Vesper asked in disbelief. “I’ve never met you before…have you been watching me?”

“I watch all of my kin from under the moon,” Midnight said motioning for Vesper to follow her into her house.

Vesper hesitantly followed the unicorn, a part of her still on edge and leery of the mare. While she wasn’t sensing any malicious intent from her, she hadn’t dropped her guard completely. A part of her was still expecting some sort of attack from the aged mare, after having dealt with a few public disturbances involving the elderly back in Canterlot.

“So, how have my woods been treating you?” Midnight asked as if she were talking about the weather, and not an abandoned forest of death.

“Uh…it’s nice,” Vesper smiled nervously. “A bit scary at times.”

“And you seek the tree in the middle, yes?” Midnight asked. “Why else would you come, unless your aim was to visit me?”

“It’s the former, I’m afraid,” Vesper replied. “But I am surprised to find some pony all the way out here…how have you been living in a place like this?”

“I find the privacy peaceful, but enough about me lets-“ Midnight stopped when she heard Vesper’s stomach growl. “Goodness, when was the last time you ate something?”

“Uh…a day or two?” Vesper answered sheepishly. “I’m fine, really.”

“Nonsense, you need something in you,” Midnight said retreating into the house. Vesper heard what sounded like several doors being opened, accompanied by the clanking of pots and pans from what she could only assume was the kitchen. Not long after the noise stopped the elderly mare returned, carrying what looked like two bowls of soup.

“Ma’am, you really shouldn’t have-“

“I don’t celebrate having company over often, if that wasn’t obvious already,” Midnight stopped her, offering her a bowl.

Vesper’s nose twitched as she caught a whiff of the sweet aroma coming from the bowl being offered. Her stomach sounded it’s approval, temporarily overriding her self-control. Her stomach won out and she tried to take the bowl as calmly as she could, only to tilt the bowl towards her open mouth.

“My goodness, somepony was hungry,” Midnight chuckled as she slowly sipped on her bowl.

“Heh, sorry,” Vesper grinned sheepishly.

----

“Are certain of this, Wraith?” asked the stallion’s father.

“On my life, Tenebris,” Wraith replied. “Though I wish it were an elaborate lie.”

Tenebris sighed as he clacked his hooves together in thought. His own daughter, whom he had cherished as a foal had fallen, just as he predicted. Some stallion of light had seduced her to the point that she shunned her heritage. Their blood line was strong and influential with the inner workings of their tribe.

“It’s one thing for other thestrals to leave home to fall for stallions of the day,” Tenebris lamented. “It’s an insult for my daughter to leave home and reverse her very nature for one. Especially when it reflects poorly on those in The Moon’s Circle.”

“She’s our family…however misguided she may be,” Wraith countered. “If given the chance-“

“You would stick up for a black sheep?” Tenebris asked. “You know the ponies will seek to cause her harm and misfortune if they can. We’ve both seen it time and time again, you should know first-hoof what happens to those that try to mingle with our line...and what it takes to redeem one’s self.”

Wraith felt a chill travel down his spine as his father brought up his past. “That was a long time ago. Is it wrong to ask a chance for my sister?”

Tenebris closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, his head rocking side to side every so often. His daughter had left to server Luna, which he had let slid, neither giving her his blessing or curse. His reputation was at risk now, with her romance interest involving a day walker. Perhaps her brother was right though, her status as a guard would complicate things as well.

“Fine,” Tenebris relented. “But, this is all on you, since you pressed the issue. I’d start by finding out who it is that lured our daughter into the light. Oh, and one more thing, make sure our little plan goes off without a hitch.”

The Road To Dawn

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Two days, it had been a full two days, and I still hadn’t seen nor heard from Cheerilee. I thought for sure she would at least be out around town getting things for her home or…something. Fang had been right about one thing though; the mares were a bit more flirtatious around some of the single stallions I had come to know. It only reminded me of my fuck up and drove a nail into my heart.

“Still thinking about her?” Twig asked as we ate lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. “Yeah…never had this problem before so I’ve got no idea what to do,” I sighed.

“Talk to her?” Twig suggested.

“What would I say ‘hey Cheerilee, sorry you woke up next to your student” I replied with an eye roll.

“Just trying to help,” Twig shrugged taking sip from his drink.

“I know, it just sucks feeling this way,” I said.

“You might want to say hi first,” Twig smirked.

I was about to comment until I noticed he was looking past me. I turned around to see Cheerilee, standing there awkwardly on the other side of the street. Her expression seemed to fluctuate between neutral and nervous. I assumed seeing me in public probably didn’t help, but if she was upset, why didn’t she move on?

As I watched he, I saw her put a hoof forward cautiously, but quickly retract it from the road as if it had harmed her somehow. All the while her eyes were locked on me; the usual confidence they carried within was now missing. Yet I sat still in the chair, not sure of what to do myself after our awkward break from one another’s company.

“Well, I think it’s about time I started making my way back home,” Twig said, rising from his seat.

“You can’t leave me here,” I said, trying my best to prevent my voice from wavering. “I don’t know how to deal with this.”

“It looks like neither of you do,” the griffon commented before taking off into the sky.

I looked over to see Cheerilee on my side of the street now, her ears folded back against her head. Both of us were unable to really make eye contact with the other after what had happened. I took some comfort in knowing that I wasn’t the only one feeling conflicted.

“Hi,” Cheerilee said, barely audible over the background noise.

“Hi,” I replied, forcing myself to keep my eyes locked on her.

Cheerilee let out a sigh as she took the seat Twig had occupied a few minutes ago. There was no avoiding her now; this had to be addressed one way or another. Perhaps things could just go back to the way they were before we both got drunk.

“So…about the other day…” Cheeriee started.

“I’m sorry,” I said before she could finish.

“I am too,” Cheerilee’s expression seemed to shift into one of relief for a split second before being swallowed up by fear once more. “I wish I could say we weren’t being ourselves…but, all alcohol really does is tear down one’s mental filters.”

I sat up a bit straighter in my seat as she finished her sentence. While there was a bit of teasing between friends, I hadn’t actually considered it truly “romantic” and was curious if I had really been so dense as to not notice any subtle hints that had been dropped. I would be lying if I didn’t get a bit turned on trying to envision what that night had looked like, living out a fantasy I had when I was young.

“So what happens now?” I asked. “I’m still learning your pony norms.”

“Well, if you were a stallion…you’d have to decide if you want to keep things…mutual, or…or,” Cheerilee gently rubbed a hoof against the table. “Or see where this takes us…since you’re the first…and that’s how it’s supposed to work…”

“Are you saying you want to give this an honest shot?” I found myself stunned that she would even be considering this after the way she had chased me off. “And…I’m really your first?”

“Big Mac and I…never did anything, even though a lot of ponies thought we did,” Cheerilee confessed.

“How have you kept your sanity?” I asked.

“A mare has ways of getting by…though there are some hard times,” Cheerilee seemed to be fighting back a very, very small smile as we talked about things that I didn’t think we ever would.

This brought back the bigger question of if there was anything there between us, emotionally. After a literal fuck up Cheerilee saw us as attached, or so she claimed. I would have probably tried to work through this and see if it went anywhere, but I knew Vesper had feelings for me as well, and she had been around a lot longer than Cheerilee had.

I was no pony, but I wasn’t comfortable to just leave Cheerilee hanging. She had done so much for me, and endured silly questions that only served to prove how ignorant of their ways I was. The thought of abandoning her was repulsive the more I thought about it.

I closed my eyes in thought as the mental tug of war between the two mares continued to pull my heart back and forth. Vesper would be home soon, and Cheerilee was probably not in the mental state to wait…unless…

“Cheerilee,” I said opening my eyes. “I’m willing to give this an honest shot,” I said, my heart aching a bit less when I saw her eyes gain a bit of their former confidence.

“I didn’t think you’d say yes,” Cheerilee smiled.

“That being said, there is another mare that has been vying for my attention and I don’t think I have it in me to break her heart,” I said, bracing myself for an upset mare.

“Oh, I see,” Cheerilee averted her gaze. “Well, I’m not going to go behind her back so-“

“I wasn’t asking you to, I was wondering if you would be up for the whole herding thing?” I asked.

“Herding,” Cheerilee seemed to mull on the word for a bit before replying. “I guess I could give it a try, I’d at least like to meet this mare first, but if you’re willing to find room in your heart for us, I’m willing to work with you.”

Fang’s words came back to the forefront of my mind. IF what he said was true, then this would be a very tricky process that had a high probability of failing. Still, Cheerilee had said she was willing to try, and I was too. The only variable now, was how Vesper would react, and if I could get the two mares to see eye to eye.

----

Vesper had slept well during the day, or perhaps the night, she couldn’t be sure. The forest blocked out the light on a supernatural level. Thankfully, Vesper’s echolocation spared her the grief of stumbling around in the dark, but it did slow her down slightly as she tried to navigate through the dense vegetation.

Waiting for her when she had stirred, was the unicorn that had identified herself as Mother Midnight. The unicorn’s presence and condition raised several questions about the forest such as this mare’s place of origin or story behind living in the forest.

“I was wondering when you’d wake up,” Midnight said. “You must have been extremely tired to sleep half the day away.”

“Half the day?” Vesper asked surprised. “Oh, I’ve lost so much time then!”

The thestral was about to dash out the door until she was stopped by a strange aura. Midnight shook her head and put a hoof up against her lips. Vesper watched as the mare went from pleasant to chillingly serious in a matter of seconds.

Vesper was about to question her, until the faintest sound of twigs snapping made her eyes go wide in realization. It became louder and louder as Midnight extinguished the glow of her horn. Hoping that whatever was out there hadn’t seen them yet.

The noise stopped only a few yards away from where the two mares were taking cover. The only sound that indicated whatever was out there hadn’t left was the deep breathing Vesper’s ears could pick up. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, whatever was outside started moving again, the sounds of its passage growing quieter and quieter.

“What was that?” Vesper asked.

“A colossal shade, one of the many beings that roam the forest, lost to the sands of time,” Midnight explained. “You can’t stay here much longer, they’ll find you eventually. We have to get you to the tree, follow me.”

Vesper nodded silently as the light from Midnight’s horn appeared once more. Vesper followed the light as the blind mare easily navigated the forest, stopping every once in a while to let Vesper catch up. Hissing for the mare to keep up, despite her age and disability, she was able to outpace the tired thestral, even after a good day’s sleep.

Soon, even the light from Midnight’s horn started to fade in the inky darkness. Vesper relied once more on her echo location, dodging branches and brier patches to keep up with the mare that was proving difficult to detect, even with her echo location.

Suddenly the mare stopped, causing Vesper to almost crash into the mare. She briefly wondered if she had become lost, but as she continued to make subtle clicking sounds she saw the mare moving into what appeared to be a clearing. There was a single tree in the middle of the clearing. Above it was a very small stream of light coming from the sky that was blocked off by the gnarled, seemingly dead branches of the other trees.

“This is it,” Midnight said. “The tree that can give you the life you want…”

Vesper’s heart started to beat a bit faster as she approached the tree. Finally, she was looking at the answer to the obstacle keeping her from Benjamin. With this, she could finally do things with Benjamin without the pain of exhaustion. There would be no more earl alarms, no more glasses that kept her eyes safe from the sun.

“There’s something you should know about this fruit,” Midnight spoke up just as Vesper reached the trunk of the tree. “If you eat it, there will be no going back to your former life. Something to consider before you partake of it. It’s something I learned long ago…I felt I should warn you.”

Vesper carefully considered her warning. This whole time she had thought of nothing but being able to walk beside the other ponies in Ponyville. Now that she was here, she realized the magnitude of what she was about to do. She was about to leave behind her family, the ones that loved her first.

“Do I have to choose now?” Vesper asked looking at one of the small seeds that had spilt from a rotten fruit of the tree, the lack of sunlight funneled into a single stream which was just barely enough to keep the large tree alive. Its seedlings would never be able to sprout without the light. She picked it up and studied it, dropping it when she heard several branches breaking behind them.

“Time isn’t a luxury you have,” Midnight said, her ears swiveling towards the disturbance.

“What about you?” Vesper asked as she flew up towards a ripe looking fruit.

“I’ve dwelt in this forest for years now…I’ll be fine,” Midnight said with a bit of sorrow in her voice.

“I won’t forget you,” Vesper said as she pulled the fruit free from the tree. She sank her teeth into the skin and started to drain the fruit of its juices. It was a sickly sweet taste, it almost tasted like liquefied jelly beans and suckers.

Before she could even finish the fruit, she noticed her vision closing around her, causing her to panic as foreign sounds echoed around her. She could no longer see around her, even the light that had found a way past the dark canopy of the forest was becoming dimmer. The darkness was beginning to disorient her.

“Vesper, you have to fly!” Midnight shouted. “Fly up!”

Vesper shook her head in a vain attempt to focus her rapidly deteriorating vision. She flew up, her hoof brushing against a thick tree limb. She swept a foreleg from side to side, trying to find any tree limbs that she might bump into. Her actions didn’t go unnoticed, and she could hear several pops and cracks amongst the tree tops.

The thestral began to panic as the sounds started to grow louder from all sides. Still, she flew on, occasionally bumping into the odd branch in her frantic bid to get to the top. As she flew, she thought she could hear whispering around her. Occasionally she could make out words like “stop or “stay.” She could only assume it was her pursuers that were speaking in a hushed voice.

Vesper feared that her quest was about to end horribly when she suddenly found herself unable to move. She began to lose consciousness as the warm darkness surrounded her in a pleasant heat; brought to an end by a sudden rush of cold across her coat.

The thestral began to cough cold water from her mouth as she got to her hooves. Her vision was limited for some reason; her eyes only picking up a few dim lights ahead of her. In her dazed state she started to walk towards one of the lights in the hopes of trying to get her bearings.

“What happened?” Vesper asked herself as she regained a bit of her visibility. “I was…dead, wasn’t I?”

Vesper couldn’t comprehend how she was still alive, or why she had been brought to the edge of the forest where she had begun. She briefly considered the possibility of all of her experiences being a dream, but a quick lick of her parched lips told her otherwise, the sickly sweet taste of the fruit lingering behind.

It had been real, but what had become of Midnight? Was she still trapped in the woods? Had she been attacked by the creatures that lurked within the dark woods. The thought of her guide suffering a horrible fate was one she dwelt on long, as a familiar scent graced her nostrils, she was home again.

“But…” Vesper struggled to process her surroundings with a lingering haze.

“Vesper?” the sound of her sister’s voice seemed to bring her out of her dazed state slightly.

“Ruby?” Vesper mumbled, only able to see a set of shimmering eyes approaching her.

“Vesper, where did you go?” Ruby asked, studying her sibling.

“I went to find a tree…how did I get back?” Vesper asked.

“Sweet Celestia…what happened to your eyes?” Ruby gasped.

“My eyes?” Vesper raised a puzzled eyebrow at her sister’s question.

Vesper noticed another puddle near her and looked down at her reflection. Where there had once been a pair of beautiful yellow orbs with slit pupils now sat two copper colored eyes with circular pupils; just like those that the other three tribes possessed.

“By the moon…” Vesper mumbled as she stared at herself.

“So it’s true, you did eat the fruit from the tree,” Ruby said.

“I didn’t think it would do this to me…” Vesper recalled the warning Midnight had given her, still unsure how she had escaped the forest.

“What will mom and dad think when they see you?” Ruby asked rhetorically. “Dad won’t be pleased with what you’ve done.”

“I know…that’s why I need you to get my stuff while I head to the station,” Vesper said. “Just tell them I got called back to duty at the last second.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay sis?” Ruby asked.

“I’ll be fine, I just need to be a lone for a while without ponies hovering over me and asking questions,” Vesper replied. “Please just tell them that I had to leave.”

Ruby nodded silently before taking off into the darkness of Hollow Shades, past Vesper’s field of view. Doing her best to make out her surroundings with her new vision, the mare stumbled through the darker spots of town, before managing to find the train station.

Vesper could see a glowing pair of eyes every once in a while as she moved about town. She was alarmed when she first saw them, but realized that they belonged to other thestrals, normal bat ponies. She could hear hushed whispers in the darkness, presumably about her new eyes.

By the time Vesper had worked her way to the train station Ruby was waiting for her with a small bag beside her. She seemed nervous about something, and wondered if she had told somepony, or if her father knew. That would possibly be the breaking point, given how much her father despised the light of the outside world.

“I grabbed what I could, before dad could begin his interrogation in depth,” Ruby said, giving Vesper her ticket and bag. “I doubt he’ll be satisfied for long with what I told him.”

“I’m sorry Ruby, I didn’t think you would get caught up in this,” Vesper hugged her sister. “If something happens, you know where to find me.”

“I know, I’m more worried about you than I am about me,” Ruby commented. “I’ll be in touch soon, please stay safe.”

Vesper nodded as the whistle from the train sounded through the town. She gave Ruby one last hug before boarding the train and made her way to the bunk train car. The lights were dimmed and only a few ponies were on the train, due to the time of night it was.

Night, it was something that made Vesper reflect on the choice she had made. She had just fled her family, in fear of what her father might think. Perhaps she could blame it on an accident, or something else with enough time. Deep down, she knew her father would just label her as weak, or worse. She hadn’t expect the change to be physical. Now, she was stuck looking like a strange thestral that couldn’t even find her way around in the dark.

Vesper found herself yawning as she reclined on the top bunk she had chosen, struggling to push the thoughts out of her mind for a while, choosing instead to focus on the positive change that would come from this transformation. She felt drained and groggy after being in the forest for so long, and just wanted a bit of sleep before she would see Benjamin again.

As the train started to pull away, a pony with a black coat watched from the tree line. A soft smile spread across the unicorn’s muzzle as she slowly faded into the dark woods; pleased that she had been able to help another who had encountered the same problem she had so long ago; having a lover that dwelt in darkness while she dwelt in light. A leathery wing fidgeted beneath the cloak she wore, before she disappeared into the forest.

The Herd

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Cheerilee sighed as I continued to pet her; happily cooing when my fingers would scratch the right spot here and there. It had been a long day of catch up lessons and we decided to take a break. Watching and listening to her made me smile a bit. I was grateful to get to see the lighter side of the mare that the public didn’t know about.

I looked up at the clock knowing that Vesper was on her way back to Ponyville. Fang had left during the night with a note wishing me luck and providing some legal papers for relief I had to give to Twilight. The stallion had wished me well with my endeavor of trying to form a herd with mares that were literally separated by day and night.

With a sigh, I stopped petting Cheerilee and tried to get up off the couch. My movement prompted the mare to leave the comfort of my lap, and watch as I stretched a bit. I could hear the clip clop of hooves behind me as I went to the door.

“Where are you going?” Cheerilee asked.

“I think it’s getting close to time for Vesper to come back home,” I replied. “She’ll probably be tired and want help getting back to the castle.”

“Oh, I see,” Cheerilee sounded a little disappointed, but shook it off relatively quickly. “I don’t suppose I could join you?”

“I mean, if you want,” I shrugged, noting how close Cheerilee had been sticking to me for a while.

Cheerilee gave a small nod and followed me out the door. I wasn’t quite sure how well she would react to Vesper’s return, especially since that was her potential herd sister. I was afraid that I would just chase Cheerilee away again, or that she would be hurt worse than when Big Mac had left her. The first time the two had met, I could tell there was a bit of hostility between them.

I tried to stay optimistic as we walked through town to the train station. Cheerilee looked up at me occasionally, as if wanting to say something, but stopped herself before she could. Perhaps we were both afraid the smallest thing would scare the other away.

The sound of a whistle pulled me out of my thoughts, and I was a bit surprised at how fast we had reached the station, especially since the station from Cheerilee’s house was a decent distance away. Something that had been a trend throughout my life was that I seemed to reach destinations faster when I left myself on auto pilot as I sank deeper into whatever thought or daydream I was fixated on at the moment.

Cheerilee and I walked up the small set of stairs to the station dock and waited for the train to come to a complete stop. I was prepared to go in after Vesper, assuming she would be fast asleep somewhere in the train. She had recently been rebelling against her nocturnal nature, but nature is not easily denied its due.

We waited for Vesper to emerge from the train once the doors were opened. While I hadn’t expected a hasty appearance from the bat, I didn’t expect her to take this long. With permission from one of the workers, I boarded the train to look for her, but came up empty handed. The rational side of my mind concluded that she had missed her train…or perhaps there was a night train she was taking.

“Hey, is there another train on the way?” I asked one of the workers. “Like, later on today, possibly at night?”

“One will roll around a little later, yes,” the worker replied before resuming his inspection of the interior of the train cars.

I remained optimistic about Vesper’s return; it made sense for her to travel at night anyways. She was probably still home, resting before trying to make it back. Whatever the case, she couldn’t stay gone since Fang had already left, and she had volunteered herself to be my body guard, which was a commitment not to be taken or made lightly.

“I guess she’s catching the next one,” I said as I approached Cheerilee.

“Well, maybe it’s for the best,” Cheerilee replied. “I…don’t think we see eye to eye.”

“Why would you say that?” I asked as we left the station.

Cheerilee seemed to tense at the question, almost struggling to come up with a response. “It’s a long story really. A bully made life hard and when I moved I didn’t have to deal with bat ponies.”

“It sounds kind of interesting, actually,” I commented.

“I don’t share the same view point, I’m afraid,” her tone of voice seemed to as her eyes fell to the ground. “But, can’t dwell on the past forever.”

---

Vesper waited anxiously in Benjamin’s room at Twilight’s castle. She knew he would be looking for her today, but she wanted to surprise him. Her eyes no longer stung when she opened them in broad daylight. She didn’t feel sleepy at all, despite the sun shining brightly which emboldened her in approaching Benjamin.

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the door knob turn. Vesper’s entire body tensed as the door opened to reveal the tall figure of the human she planned on making hers. Her smile grew as the two of them locked eyes for the first time in what felt like an eternity apart.

“V-Vesper?” Benjamin stammered. “What…happened?”

“Ben!” Vesper exclaimed, tackling the human, nuzzling him affectionately until Benjamin managed to hold her up.

“Vesper…your eyes-“

“Isn’t it great?” Vesper squeed. “Now I can be with you during the day, and we can do things together!”

“That’s…amazing…how did you do this?” Benjamin asked.

“I told Princess Luna about-uh, about a dream I had,” Vesper stopped herself before she said too much. “And so I went home after she found a way to help me…”

“You did all of this because of a dream?” Benjamin raised an eyebrow, still admiring her eyes.

“Well, m-my dream was…about somepony special, but I felt like it was hopeless until Luna told me about the fruit,” Vesper’s voice started to break slightly. “But, I’m still nervous…nervous about if it can come true…and I’m not sure how to go about it now.”

Vesper stared into Benjamin’s eyes. She felt her body heat up as she was pulled in two different directions as to how to tell the human how she felt. She had tried the normal way, but she realized that she couldn’t treat him like a normal stallion. She would have to make it known that she cared about him.

The mare felt his hand stroke and rub one of her tufted ears, sending shivers down her spine. Before her mind could catch up, her body had moved forward of its own accord, wrapping her forelegs around his neck, pressing her lips against his with a ferocity that surprised even herself.

Only after her brain had caught up with her body did she realize what she had done. Here she was, kissing Benjamin, straddling his chest after knocking him off his feet. Vesper braced herself for rejection, until she felt Benjamin press back against her lips as his arms coiled around her small form.

The mare whimpered as she felt her love interest return the passion she felt in her heart. Vesper’s tail swished happily as Benjamin’s tongue probe its way into her mouth, tracing her fangs as his hands rubbed her back and ears. A noticeable bulge began to press against the thestral’s stomach, which made Vesper sit upright.

Thin trails of saliva broke when their mouths separated as the two lovers caught their breath. Vesper surrendered to her body and instincts as she started to tear at Benjamin’s clothing. She wasn’t about to be denied her prize by annoying fabric, and had no qualms in making a large tear down the middle of his shirt.

Benjamin didn’t seem to mind, in fact he seemed to enjoy the sudden ferocity, stroking her wings, ears, any part of her that he could, earning moans of pleasure from the bat pony. Vesper felt triumphant pride swell within her as she came closer and closer to claiming what was hers.

Vesper paused upon reaching the human’s pants, struggling to get them off of her human. Benjamin chuckled softly as she became frustrated with the garments despite her best efforts to remove them. When Benjamin reached down to try and help her Vesper nipped his hand slightly, making it clear this was her task alone.

Vesper smiled as she finally worked the button free, and pulled the zipper down with her teeth. The needy mare pausing as Benjamin’s scent hit her nose. Benjamin’s smell was strong, masculine, and made her heart beat faster as she looked up at him lovingly.

Cautiously, Vesper peeled away the last layer of clothing between her and Benjamin. The bat pony licked her lips as she crawled up her human’s chest, letting her tail play with her prize while she tended to Benjamin’s upper body with teasing licks and light nips, stroking the flames of his arousal into a burning inferno.

The two lovers slowly fell deeper and deeper under love’s spell. For Vesper, the union of their bodies wasn’t the most important thing tonight as she stared into Benjamin’s eyes. Usually she would seem him in dull colors as her eyes utilized what light was around her. Now, she could see him fully, feeling sorry for her past self for never being able to see him as her present self could.

The fruit had given her what she wanted, her human’s heart. So what if she was an oddity to her tribe now? She had captured the heart of the most unique creature in Equestria, and that was all that really mattered. Vesper knew she had to have him the moment she saw him, holding fast to her tribal beliefs and convictions when it came to finding a mate.

Even after they had finished, and both of them lay limp in each other’s embrace, she still couldn’t rid herself of the rush she had when he held her, even if she had wanted to. She knew this is what love was supposed to be, and her trip had been well worth the effort and trials she had endured.

------------------------

Vesper sighed as she snuggled up against me, her tail gently brushing against my waist in slow, loving sweeps. The mare had draped a protective wing over me as she recuperated from our first time together. It was an awkward, and rather forward way to tell somepony you loved them, but I had already decided to give this a try.

“I was worried for a moment,” Vesper said before nipping my ear lobe playfully. “I didn’t know if you’d want me or not.”

“I don’t see how I could turn a pretty mare down,” I replied, surprised at how sappy I was starting to sound.

“I’m glad you’re mine,” Vesper mumbled as she drifted off to sleep.

He words tore me from the comfort of afterglow; reminding me that I now had two mares who were wanting to be with me. I had already talked to Cheerilee about a herd, but Vesper would be another story entirely. Now that she could walk about in broad daylight without being tired or loopy this changed how the two might feel about each other…or so I hoped.

---

Vesper received a multitude of strange glances as she walked about Ponyville, enjoying her new view on life, literally. Everything seemed to be going her way for once, which was a nice change of pace after enduring the trials of the forest. She had come out on top, and felt better now that she could walk unhindered with her human.

The mare had been told to meet him at Sugar Cube Corner, but had been unsure as to why he wouldn’t have joined her in walking to the pastry shop, now that she could do so without fear or pain. Vesper assumed it was some sort of surprise. If it was, that would be the icing on the cake for her return to Ponyville…at least it would have been, anyways.

Vesper saw Cheerilee walking into Sugar Cube Corner, and started to feel a bit uncomfortable. She knew the mare didn’t have the fondest of feelings for her, and the last thing she wanted was for her first daylight outing with her human to end on a sour note with that teacher around.

Taking in a deep breath, Vesper put on her most cheerful smile and walked through the door. She immediately zeroed in on Benjamin…waving to his teacher. Surely, this was a coincidence; there was nothing between those two, or was there?

The thestral was having a hard time controlling her instincts to cut the mare off and let her know that the human was spoken for. Still, she had been trained to snuff out her instinct to chase Cheerilee away from her prize. She knew that the mare was helping her human, and logic won out over her emotions.

“Vesper!” Benjamin said happily, lifting the bat pony’s spirits.

“I got your note,” Vesper said noticing the inquisitive look from the earth pony beside her. “Y’know, if you had wanted to take me out, you could have just waited for me~”

“Take you out?” Cheerilee spoke up. “Why would he take you out, and what note?”

Vesper was surprised when she picked up on how defensive she sounded. Her tone and stance actually made Vesper rethink her words. If push came to shove, there was a very realistic chance of Cheerilee doing some damage, crediting it to her earth pony heritage of superior strength.

“I got a note from my human to meet him here,” Vesper replied, dropping her normal mischievous personality when conversing with other ponies.

Cheerilee opened her mouth to speak before turning to Benjamin, who had been unusually quiet as they quarreled over his affection. Vesper studied him as well, noting that he seemed nervous now, something she hadn’t picked up on when she had first arrived.

“I think an explanation is in order,” Cheerilee dead panned.

“Cheerilee, remember when I talked about the herding thing?” Benjamin asked after a defeated sigh.

“Herding?” Vesper tilted her head in confusion.

“Yes…oh no…you can’t be serious…” Cheerilee backed away slightly as her eyes danced between Benjamin and Vesper. “This is some joke, right?”

“No, it’s not,” Benjamin replied.

Vesper connected the dots as to why both she and Cheerilee were present at the same time with her human. The mare felt as if her heart had just been torn away from her, by her human no less. Still, a string of hope lingered, that this was just some sort of bad joke.

“Cheerilee, this is her,” Benjamin pointed at the bat pony. “Did you not say you would try this?”

“I did, but…her?” Cheerilee whined.

“I thought I had you to myself…” Vesper hung her head. “Did you….with her?”

The bat pony’s grief was replaced by anger in a matter of seconds and she shot the earth pony a horrible glare. No, it wasn’t her human’s fault, it had to be the other mare. She must have done something to him.

Cheerilee turned towards the bat pony, matching her harsh stare with one of her own. Thestrals seemed to historically plague her with bad memories and experiences, and she’d be damned if one was about to screw up something else.

---

“Both of you stop it!” I exclaimed, bringing an end to what was escalating into a cat fight.

The idea that bringing the two mares to a public location would discourage any potential fights was lost now, no thanks to their clashing personalities. Both of them seemed to cast a sideways glance at the other as they stared at me. I could feel my heart wanting to leap out of my chest, unsure if I could reason with the two.

“I brought you both here today to try and talk this out as a civilized group, not have you two tear each other apart,” I said.

“The only thing torn apart is my trust,” Vesper huffed.

“Your trust?” Cheerilee glared at the bat pony. “He was going to try to bring you into the picture.”

“Well, I want to BE the picture,” Vesper retorted.

“Ugh, this is why it’s impossible to get anything done with thestrals,” Cheerilee rolled her eyes.

“We keep your fuzzy flanks safe at night, I’d consider that something,” Vesper said.

“Are you two done yet?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, I’d love to hear some sort of explanation,” Cheerilee said, along with a nod from Vesper.

“Alright, so before I ever started having feelings for either of you, Vesper was there to keep me company, talk with me, encourage me to try and get involved with the outside world,” I explained which made Vesper smile. “Unfortunately, Vesper couldn’t be there for me all the time, even though now I know she wanted to, badly. That’s where Cheerilee took over, and taught me a lot about reading, writing, and was one of the few friends I had in a town full of strangers.”

Cheerilee’s expression softened a bit at the praise, which in turn made Vesper’s sink slightly. The situation had become a very delicate balancing game with the two mares now. If I couldn’t manage to make them establish some common ground, then I could lose one, or both of them.

“Vesper, I failed you because I was ignorant to how you really felt,” I confessed. “Fang is the one who told me about your customs; how you kind of “mark” those you care about.”

Vesper’s usually expressive muzzle was now uncharacteristically sphinx like. It was extremely hard to pick up on how she felt, save for the occasional twitch of her ear which indicated she was unsure of something. In all the time I had known her, she had held a neutral expression when something was very close to her heart as she spoke or listened.

“Cheerilee, I’ll admit I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together,” Cheerilee’s ears drooped slightly as I spoke, perhaps bracing for disappointment. “All the jokes, teasing, helping me better myself so I could try to live like you guys…you made all of that fun. You told me yourself you would try this, to try and make things work. I don’t want to hurt the two of you, but I can’t leave one of you either.”

Cheerilee’s ears slowly started to become erect again as she closed her eyes. Her muzzle scrunched up slightly, as she presumably mulled over what had been said. Vesper looked down at the floor, her head occasionally rocking from side to side as she delved into her own internal debate.

“This is still strange and new to me too, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit worried,” I confessed. “But I’ve got two arms to hold both the ponies I love…can you give it a shot?”

“…does this really mean that much to you?” Vesper asked, surprisingly the first to speak up.

“It does, yes,” I replied.

“As long as I get to have you to myself sometime, I think…I think I can try,” Vesper said. “I’m already an oddity to my tribe anyways.”

“An oddity?” Cheerilee asked.

“Vesper found a fruit that allowed her to walk around during the day,” I explained. “It changed her eyes to match what you would consider “normal” by the other three tribes.”

Cheerilee looked Vesper in the eyes, confirming what we said was true. It was hard to tell what was going on inside her mind, but I could only assume it was an internal conflict with her promise and her feelings towards the mare I had brought before her as my choice for a herd member.

“You gave up the night…for him?” Cheerilee asked quietly.

“Wellll…I wouldn’t say gave up, just made some adjustments,” Vesper failed to hide a small smile that spread across her muzzle.

Cheerilee took in a deep breath before speaking. “Okay…I’ll try…”

Back In The Sun

View Online

Wraith stalked the outskirts of Ponyville, quietly observing the city his sister now called home. He never imagined that his own blood would willingly choose this type of life, especially knowing what her father was capable of. What he had nearly done to him. That memory alone was enough motivation for him to try and correct whatever course Vesper might have set herself upon.

“Knowing my father, he probably already has eyes on this stallion she has her heart set on…I simply need to come up with an idea, and find the other threstals in Ponyville.” Wraith said to himself as he thought aloud. There wasn’t much he could do tonight, as the train ride had taken most of the night, and his goal was to remain as low key as possible, which would be hard enough given the population difference.

Wraith was determined to make his sister see the moonlight, by force if he had to. A confrontation he didn't look forward to, especially against his own kin. Perhaps a much simpler solution was what he needed?

As he walked his face lit up as an idea came to him, and the gears began to turn as to how he could set things as they were once more, but would need to find some place to stay low first. Then once his plan was ironed out, Vesper would come crawling back to the darkness.

--------

As dawn's morning rays danced through the window I groaned and shielded my eyes in protest, not quite ready to wake up yet. Even if Celestia was letting everypony know it was time to get up, I wanted no part of it at the moment. Unfortunately, it wasn't up to me as a set of hooves clacking against kitchen linoleum drug me further from the recesses of sleep.

Annoying as the sound might have been, I knew it was Cheerilee going about with her morning routine. Now the question was, where was Vesper amidst all these new adjustments?

"Rise and shine!" Vesper chirped out enthusiastically as she jumped and landed on me.

"Why?" Ben asked in return.

"The sun's up, duh." Vesper said, sitting on me.

"Just because the sun is up, doesn't mean the rest of us have to be awake yet." Cheerilee commented as she walked past us with a cup of coffee.

Ever since Vesper had gotten her new eyesight, shift? Honestly I couldn't think of a good term for it, but ever since the change had occurred in the bat pony, she was super active in the morning.

Neither one was still about the idea of moving in together, but they had reconciled, for the most part. Though I heard the squabble like street cats from time to time.

Perhaps that's where I needed to focus today. No lesson, no running around, I was the one who proposed this middle ground, now I needed to find a way to maintain it. I owed the two mares that much.

"So what was today's agenda looking like?" I asked.

Cheerilee sipped quietly on her coffee, thinking for a moment, as if trying to recall everything that needed to be done. "Well, there's the usual lesson. Other than that there isn't much today that comes to mind."

"What if we did something today then?" Vesper offered.

"I was thinking the same thing actually...get out and see a bit more of Ponyville?" I shrugged.

Cheerilee took another long sip of her coffee as if to ponder the offer. She was the more mature of the two mares, this also meant she was the more cunning of the two, and her feelings about Vesper weren't the warmest, but if this was going to work I was going to have to find a way to make the square peg fit in the round hole.

"I guess it couldn't hurt. It'd be interesting to see how good those eyes of Vespers work in the daylight," Cherrilee said.

Benjamin gave the mare a skeptical look at her response. It couldn't be this easy, there was something else going on in her mind. Cheerilee was too smart to just give in.

"No conditions, no prerequisites?" Ben asked.

"Can't I agree to an outing?" Cheerilee asked in return.

"You two are normally at teach others throats." Ben replied.

"Well, it's clear you want this to work so I'm putting an honest hoof forward." Cheerilee said.

"Hah, like the time you replaced my mouthwash with lemon extract?" Vesper asked causing the earth pony to grow a bit red in the face.

"I only did that because you broke into my stash of lemon cookies after I told you to stay out of them!" Cheerilee huffed.

"And here we go." Benjamin sighed as the two mare devolved into bickering.

Their voices seemed to blur together as they got madder and madder. The noise grated on his nerves something terrible, Finally, Ben snapped and picked up both mares, scooping them each up by their barrel under an arm and holding them against him. The sudden height change and shift in balance was enough to silence both of them.

"That's enough out of both of you!" Ben shouted making both mares recoil slightly. "I don't care who ate what last week, or who replaced what the next day, what I want is for both of you to stop fighting...right now."

"But-" Cheerilee started.

"No buts, now you said you wanted this to be an honest effort, then make it one." Ben said.

"How then?" Vesper asked, almost so quietly that she wasn't heard.

Benjamin thought for a moment before lowering the two mares. He had certainly gotten their attention, now he had to strike while the iron was still hot. That's when an idea came to him, it was so simple he was surprised he hadn't thought of it before.

"How about this, since we're all in agreement on what we want to do, let's make a picnic out of it. Each of us will have to make something to bring to it." Ben said.

Both mares seemed to ponder on his offer, Vesper nodded in agreement quickly, and Cheerilee soon gave a nod of approval as well. Benjamin knew getting them to see eye to eye would never be easy, but he'd to start some where.

"That means no sabotaging each other either." Ben added, causing both of their shoulders to sink.

Feeling confident that the ground rules were in place, Benjamin went upstairs to get ready in peace, leaving the two mares alone together. When he was gone they glared at each other hotly, each wanting nothing to do with the other, and silently cursing their fates for having drawn the other mare into their life.

"So-" Vesper started.

"My house, my kitchen first." Cheerilee said.

"I hope the teacher isn't so quick to forget what he said~" Vesper taunted in a sing song like voice.

Cheerilee gritted her teeth briefly while her back was turned to the bat pony. "Of course I hadn't, I just felt I had that right before we started fighting over it."

"Okay teach," Vesper chuckled. "Lets be honest, if I really, really wanted to, I could fight you for it, I was going to let you have it. Just don't take forever is what I was getting at...but if you want a fight-"

"Go ahead and take a swing then." Cheerilee challenged, catching Vesper off guard.

"What?" Vesper asked wide eyed.

"Swing, if you think it will do you any good." Cheerilee repeated.

Wordlessly, Vesper took a swing at the earth pony, and was stunned when she simply leaned back and wrapped both hooves around her still extended foreleg. Cheerilee then proceeded to twist lightly, until Vesper was against the couch. her wings extending out of instinct.

"You screech, you fly, you do anything else and I twist again." Cheerilee said putting pressure on Vesper's foreleg.

"Okay,okay you win!" Vesper exclaimed.

Cheerilee relinquished her hold on the bat pony, taking a few steps back from her as the two continued to stare each other down. Vesper's expression was caught somewhere between disbelieve, and burning rage. If she really wanted to she could just screech, but the that would ruin everything with Benjamin.

"You're no guard pony, so how?" Vesper asked.

Cheerilee simply smiled and walked into the kitchen. She knew that would bug the bat pony more than anything, but it truly was none of Vesper's business. Cheerilee had simply learned how to take care of herself, and others if need be.

With Vesper quiet and out of her mane for a bit, Cheerilee tried to think of something that she and Benjamin would enjoy. While Vesper would be with them, he had never said anything about her...but if she was a betting mare, she could practically hear the scolding he might receive from him if she did short change the bat pony.

Deep down she just couldn't forget what happened to her. Every time she tried, it just made the pain worse. Eventually Vesper or Benjamin one would have too much of her being so against this and then, where would that leave her? She pondered all of this as she prepared something.

-------

Vesper wanted nothing more than to storm into the kitchen and show the earth pony who was boss...but what after that? Benjamin wouldn't approve of that. The real kicker was the teacher might actually do something about her sudden intrusion. With a heavy sigh Vesper sat on the couch, resting her head on her hooves dejectedly, until a loud pop filled the air, followed by a groan from the kitchen.

Slowly, Vesper peeked around the corner, just to make sure the earth mare hadn't done anything...rash. Instead, what she found was a comical scene of an earth pony trying to scrape dough off the ceiling.

"How'd that get up there?" Vesper asked, doing her best to contain her laughter.

"It just did." Cheerilee huffed. "Go on, get your laughs in."

"I could," Vesper chuckled. "Or, I could do this."

The bat pony proceeded to walk towards the wall, and kept walking up it, as if it were no problem for her. She kept going until she was upside down on the ceiling and simply peeled the defective dough off, letting it fall in the sink. Her task done, Vesper released her hold on the ceiling and glided down landing near the kitchen entrance and was about to leave when Cheerilee spoke up, gaining her attention.

"Umm...thank you." Cheerilee said quietly.

"Teach, whatever you think I am, I'm not," Vesper shrugged, using the nickname she knew annoyed her.

Eventually, it was Benjamin's turn to try and make something, but unfortunately while his intentions were good this was a case of his mouth getting him in way over his head. He didn't know how to cook, anything. He looked nervously at the two boxes the mares had prepared and now he felt trapped.

"There's no shame in just getting something on the way there." Cheerilee offered, the logical choice.

"But then it won't mean as much." Vesper spoke up, hitting on the more emotional spectrum of his thinking.

"C'mon guys, let me think a moment..." Ben mumbled.

This was going no where fast, he really wished he knew how to make something, but he couldn't think of anything. Anything he tried to draw on was just blank and void. His memory frustrated him, especially at moments like this.

Cheerilee bit her bottom lip, not wanting to speak up for Vesper, but she cared about Benjamin more, and knew that this meant something to him. "What...what if we helped." she spoke up.

"Sorry, I think my bad ear caught that," Benjamin said in disbelief.

"You heard me right." Cheerilee sighed. "Now, what's something from your world?"

"Yeah, about that...I have no idea how to make any of that stuff." Ben confessed.

"None what so ever?" Vesper asked, to which she received a head shake in response.

"Well, I guess that can be where start, with both of you," Cheerilee said pulling out a few bowls. "No stallion of mine is going to be helpless when it comes to the kitchen."

Vesper snickered slightly until Cheerilee sat a bowl in front of her as well. "And you can learn a little bit about our culture, hmm?" Cheerilee asked rhetorically.

---

Vesper looked up at the sky as the afternoon clouds passed her by; back resting on a soft patch of grass. Benjamin sat beside her, with Cheerilee on the opposite side of him. What an odd bunch they made together, but maybe some day she could get over her ingrained jealousy of the earth pony. It was simply part of her nature, a part that was hard to deny.

Their lunch had been an interesting one, even though it consisted mostly of the two mares trying to impress upon Benjamin which culture's cuisine was better. He seemed to like both well enough, even if his was borrowed from Cheerilee. While making it hadn't taken that long the earth pony had insisted on keeping a clean house, causing their departure to be delayed. Benjamin's poor cooking skills didn't help either.

Vesper still felt a bit sensitive when others would give her the occasional odd look, obviously not used to seeing a bat pony like her around, especially one with her eyes. Still, as long as she could be close to Ben, it didn't matter too much. She settled against his side with a happy sigh, a dopey smile forming on her muzzle as she felt Ben's hand work slowly along her back and neck, soothing her.

"See this wasn't so bad was it?" Benjamin asked.

"I guess not." Cheerilee replied, before she was brought in close thanks to a strong arm from the human, making Vesper chuckle.

The sudden motion made the mare blush slightly, until Ben started petting her as well. Even though her coat was already a nice shade of pink, it was easy to tell her cheeks were flushed from their stallion's actions.

"What am I going to do with you two?" Ben asked aloud.

"I have a few ideas." Vesper keed her bat like laughter.

"Nothing like that, honestly with the way you two have been at each other today I'm amazed neither one of you took a swing at the other." Benjamin remarked, snapping both mares out of their bliss like states of being, casting each other knowing glances.

"So, what did you have in mind for us next?" Cheerilee asked.

"Well, I was thinking we could stress test Vesper's new found love of the light, and see how long she can really go for." Benjamin replied. "I mean sunset is in just a few hours after all."

"So glad you specified what you meant." Cheerilee sighed.

"You know I don't bite, right?" Vesper flashed Cheerilee a smug expression. "Unless you ask of course."

"I'll let you know if my sexual fantasies ever take a turn towards the vampiric." Cheerilee rolled her eyes.

"Maybe I'm going about this this the wrong way..." Benjamin thought aloud. "I mean, the only reason you two haven't killed each other is me."

"So what else have you got up your sleeve then? You're trying to override generations of built in competitive behavior...some of it...we just can't help." Cheerilee shrugged.

"I get that, to a certain point...but then I see what Vesper was willing to do." Ben said.

Vesper beamed from the praise, but a part of her was still hurting. She had given up her beautiful moon just to be with Ben, her stallion, only to find that she had to share his heart, something that she didn't think was fair. The worst part was that Cheerilee wasn't a typical pony that took the hint when to leave, and they had something special as well.

"Ah, there we are," Ben commented, pulling Vesper from her thoughts.

The bat pony looked up at the sky and saw the sun starting to set over the horizon. Her vision no longer adjusting like it once did. Vesper smiled brightly as she watched the beautiful hues of colors form over the clouds as if a master water color artist had graced the sky with their talents.

"So, any regrets?" Ben asked.

"A few," Vesper replied. "But trust me, the price was more than worth it."

---

The evening sun's rays had triggered Wraith into action. Having slept most of the day off, he didn't feel like he would find much, but he needed to try and make some progress, anything would be better than nothing, which is what he had so far. Thankfully, most of the town ponies were beginning to head home, making his job easier.

Wraith was aware of Vesper's occupation, but wanted to avoid gaining the castle's attention as much as possible. While it eliminated the most likely spot she was staying at, it also removed a large area he had to monitor. That left the outer rim of town which he took to exploring for any sign of his misguided sister.

Just when was about to begin losing hope, Wraith saw them, or rather, her. There, beside a strange large creature and earth pony, was his sibling, of her scent there could mistaking it, but her eyes lacked the glow a full vibrancy of a normal bat pony. It was as if something had drained the life from them, only...they weren't dead, empty eyes either.

"By the moon's light...Vesper...what have you done?" Wraith asked before glaring hatefully at the large creature.

Loyalty

View Online

"Tenebris watched the fire dance and spark against the gathered wood. His hoof slowly tracing the crescent moon medallion that hung from his neck. Two other bat ponies stood near him in red leather armor. Their design was a far cry from the lunar guard’s design, and offered less protection.

“That son of mine…he’s taking too long,” Tenebris grumbled.

“Perhaps we’ll hear from him soon,” an elderly bat pony spoke up, his voice hopeful.

“Perhaps…or my traitorous daughter has found him already and committed an act unforgivable,” the gruff stallion snorted as he started to pace.

“So quick to see the faults in others, here I thought I had taught you the value of mercy,” the other bat pony sighed.

“I do see the value of mercy,” Tenebris was quick to retort. “But I am not led blindly by sentiments and feelings of the heart.”

“So what is to become of your daughter then?” the elder asked with a chuckle.

“I will purge the light from her, if Wraith is successful, make her see the error of her ways-“ Tenebris said. “And if not, I will rob her of that which she believes connects her to the light.”

The elder bat pony nodded his head in satisfaction. “And what might that be?”

“I’ll pluck out her eyes, better Vesper go through life blind than tainted,” Tenebris said, turning as another bat pony rushed urgently into the meeting room.

The stallion was accompanied by three others, the third, quickly slamming the doors closed behind them without any warning. Tenebris snarled at this sudden action, his eyes glinting briefly in the fire, but he tried to remain calm for now. He knew the guards wouldn't bother him unless it was for a good reason, especially with the stench of a day walker.

"What is the meaning of this, you know our code," Tenebris words came low and harsh, like a whip.

"I know, but w-when you sent us out into the forest to try and find the tree, we captured her," The small squads leader spoke up, pulling a hood off of a somewhat aged unicorn, whose eyesight had clearly left her from a glance, yet her head danced from pony to pony as if she could see them clear as night.

Tenebris stepped forward and placed a hoof under her chin in disbelief, taking note of the null ring his tribe had managed to slip onto her horn. He could feel the feeble attempts of her resisting him, but it was of little use as he glared at her with red, content eyes that almost seemed to bore into her soul if he stared hard enough.

"So, you're the one who convinced my daughter to chase this foolish fantasy of light?" Tenebris asked coldly.

"I did nothing but help the child find happi-" Midnight's voice was choked from her before she could finish as Tenebris applied pressure to her neck.

"Spare me the lies of a fallen deity, I know who you are...Midnight. When the civil war was at its peak, they made you a fake goddess of the night, but it seems even your life has an expiration date at some point, even with the spell." Tenebris snapped, pushing the mare to the ground as he circled her.

"You're as hardhearted as her memories revealed, it is not I who set your daughter on this path, but you," Midnight said.

"If you value your life, the next words out of your mouth will be how to undo whatever Vesper has done to herself. No child of mine will be a day walker," Tenebris' voice rose over the mare's.

"You still don't understand...she didn't come to the forest for herself, which is why the shadows could not harm her, she came for another, she is a bridge between the day and night," Midnight explained.

Tenebris' ears flattened against his head as he took in an angry breath. He then opened his mouth as if he was shouting, making only the quietest of noises, causing his guards to shudder, but Midnight collapsed on the floor, screaming in agony. Blood poured from her ears as she writhed in pain.

"If what you say is true, then I'm not waiting for Wraith. My daughter died in that forest, now it falls upon me to correct our course yet again." Tenebris spat. "Take her away, we'll deal with her after this bridge of hers has been burnt."

"Tenebris, you'll need all seven's permission before you can make an open assault." the elder bat pony spoke up.

"Secure it then, get them whatever they want, a line has been crossed." Tenebris said.

---

Benjamin held his head in his hands as he tried to sink into his thoughts. Cheerilee and Vesper had been passively aggressively bickering again, he needed time to think. The more he thought about it though, he served as a living barrier of sorts, and any time he spent away from them was an excuse for one to take a swing at the other.

“So, the harem’s not going so well, huh?” Twig asked, distracting him.

“I thought we agreed not to refer to what I have with Cheerilee and Vesper as a “harem,” Ben air quoted the griffon sarcastically with his fingers.

“Well it’s more than what I'd get myself into, that much I can tell you," Twing chuckled.

"Your overwhelming faith and confidence in me is duly noted," Ben rolled his eyes. "I think I need an expert on this."

"Well seeing as how only two stallions in our group are married, the rest are in varying degrees of school and I'm a griffon, I'd say that narrows your search pretty quickly," Twig said. "Who's this expert you had in mind?"

At that moment a charcoal colored stallion flew over the two of them as they discussed the human's herd delima. He was busy busting clouds for his weather shift and speeding through the task with ease. More importantly, Ben knew a small tidbit about his personal life thanks to Cheerilee.

"Well, speak of the devil," Ben mumbled.

"Thunderlane...that's your expert?" Twig asked skeptically.

"What's wrong with him?" Ben asked in return.

"The guys a complete jock head, and a pegasus to boot, those two rarely make for an over friendly personality," Twig replied. "I mean, I could be wrong, but he just doesn't strike me as the talkative type."

"I think you're putting too much into his occupation, and sure he's a pegasus, but so is Rainbow Dash and she's...pleasant for the most part," Ben shrugged.

"Hey if he can help you, more power to ya, I'm just trying to be a realist, I mean aside from our group how many ponies have you really talked to?" Twig asked earning a hesitant mumble from Benjamin. "My point exactly, and you're about to ask about threesomes."

"Twig!" Ben growled.

"Just calling it like I see it." the griffon laughed. "Know what would have made all of this a lot simpler?"

"Please enlighten me, oh wise and elder griffon." Ben mocked.

"It would have been better if you picked one when you had an out given to you. Now, you're trying to force two mares from two different walks of life to live together all because you didn't want to hurt anypony's feelings...are you seeing my point?" Twig asked.

"Yes, I realized all of this later on," Ben sighed. "Maybe...maybe you're right, but I still want to talk to Thunderlane."

Unbeknownst to either of the two friends, bits and pieces of their conversation had been picked up on by a large set of fluffy tuffed ears.

---

Vesper quietly opened the door to the loosely shared house of her herd. Ordinarily the thought would make her cringe, but today she was too deep in thought, even after leaving a fuming Cheerilee for a bit to go take care of some things she needed to, and perhaps spying on a certain human that had her interest, to ensure his own safety of course.

What had her bothered was that despite their obvious differences, and their certain incompatibility with each other Benjamin was still determined to find a way to make the three of them click. Vesper had to admit, she admired that trait in a stallion, even if it was borderline stubbornness. Still something was bothering her about the teacher, something that just didn't seem to normal about the way she reacted around her specifically.

Vesper saw the mare in question quietly reading in a chair, an odd peace that would probably be ruined the moment she walked anywhere within ten feet of Cheerilee. While her playful side just wanted to tease and poke fun, Cheerilee didn't seem to want any part of that. She was almost all business and no jokes, they were like two exact opposite ponies. Certainly Vesper could be serious when she needed to be, but being like that all the time was no fun.

That's what she and Cheerilee needed, some fun but the tricky part would be getting the mare to go out and cut loose, if only for a while. The earth pony always treated the threstal like a criminal, despite being in the guard and proudly serving Equestria when the call was put out to bring order to chaos.

Even as she was formulating her plan in her mind, Vesper approached Cheerilee slowly, earning only a brief glance before the earth pony's eyes were back on her book with a sigh. She steeled herself, knowing that she would probably be met witha bit of resistance no matter what she threw at Cheerilee, good or bad ideas.

"Hey, Cheerilee," Vesper said her voice struggling to summon its normal enthusiasm. "What book is that?"

Cheerilee seemed disinterested in any conversation with the bat pony, but managed to pull herself from the pages long enough to make eye contact with Vesper. "It's for an assignment I had in mind next year, I always read what I'm giving my colts and fillies."

"Pretty impressive you put that much time and thought into them." Vesper said.

"I don't think I could call myself a teacher if I didn't...I believe you get out what you put into something after all." Cheerilee commented.

"Speaking of that," Vesper spoke up making her move. "I think its time we had a serious chat, while Ben's out and about."

"Oh?" Cheerilee's expression was a mixture of mock amusement with a hint of annoyance, really one that was hard to replicate. "Well, I'll try, but taking anything you have to say-"

"I mean it, this isn't just about you and me, it's about all three of us," Vesper cut her off.

"Okay, what's eating at you?" Cheerilee asked, her voice still harboring a bit of frustration.

"How hard have you been trying with this herd thing?" Vesper asked.

"Again with this question?" Cheerilee moaned. "Look, it's not my fault that-"

"We come from different back grounds, and aren't compatible"
"We come from different back grounds, and aren't compatible" Vesper matched her word for word. "I've heard that excuse, now I want the truth, why do I bother you so much?"

Cheerilee suddenly felt as if she had been put on the hind leg with no defense to be found. Her expression told the bat pony all she needed to know as she side stepped all of the teacher's mask and stabbed the heart of the problem. Vesper couldn't relent like she normally did though, she had to find some common ground with the mare.

"Why do you care so much all of the sudden if I like you or not, every part of you should want me dead for even touch Benjamin." Cheerilee quizzed.

"I'll be honest with you if that's what it takes to get the truth out of you," Vesper sighed. "I would rather be alone with him, I would rather have him hoarded away somewhere right now cuddling him and never letting him out of my sight again because Equestria is full of magic and he...well, he's not very sturdy and I worry about him, but he's a grown stallion and I can't keep him chained to a bed, and if he wants to try this herd thing then I need to respect that."

Cheerilee sighed "You probably think I'm a crappy mare, huh?"

"Well, I don't know what to think until I know more about you, that's all I'm asking for." Vesper replied.

"So, you're asking me on a date then?" Cheerilee raised an eyebrow.

"If you want to look at it that way," Vesper shrugged.

"You are without a doubt the strangest bat pony I have ever met," Cheerilee said.

"I'll take that as yes to wanting to spend a night out," Vesper said.

Cheerilee shook slightly almost as if she were mad or frustrated, but her expression was one of confusion. It admittedly had Vesper a bit confused but eventually the earth pony gave an exasperated sigh before leaving her chair.

"I'll be ready in a few minutes, don't screw this up," Cheerilee cautioned.

---

Benjamin entered the bar he'd watched Thunderlane fly into only moments ago. He had taken to heart some of Twig's criticism, and now felt uneasy about his questions. It was true, he was about to try and barge into the personal life of a pony that he really didn't know that well, for herding advice. Still, he felt that if he tried going to Twilight it would be a lecture and less help, this required a stallion's input.

It didn't take long for Ben to find him, since he stood out like a sore thumb. His coat was probably dark enough that if he wanted to he could probably hide in a thunder cloud. Brushing his childish speculations aside, he approached him, which Thunderlane immediately took note of with a ear swivel and raised eyebrow, but never turned his head or looked from his drink.

"Thunderlane?" Ben started, before the stallion held up his hoof.

"You can drop formalities, I know you were waiting for me to land," Thunderlane spoke up. "There's only two types of ponies that do that, loan sharks and creepos...so...which are you?"

"Neither, I just wanted your help with something...well, your opinion really," Benjamin replied.

"Oh..." Thunderlane replied, seeming a bit bored by the human's answer. "Well, out with it then."

Ben felt nervous all of the sudden, he had expected to be rejected out right, but instead he had been invited to sit with the stallion in question. "So, this may seem like a personal question, but did you...have a hard time when you started your herd?"

Thunderlane's expression shifts to an unreadable one as he takes another drink his head staying knocked back a bit in thought. "That is kind of personal, but I think I understand your woes, and why you came to me....because of Flitter and Cloudchaser, right?" he asked.

Ben nodded making the stallion take in a deep breath before he continued. "It wasn't a light heated decision, it was one made by all three of us. Naturally there was some headbutting going on for a while, some feelings got hurt, hooves still get stepped on to this day, but we made it as a family. For the record, I'm not the stallion ponies make me out to be, just because I go home to two mares."

"Hey I don't judge," Ben said. "I came to you because the two mares in my life can't stop fighting and I feel like I'm trying to force something, even though herding seemed like a solution to everyponies problems."

"I can't make them stop fighting, and I don't have a magical solution I'm afraid. They'll have to come to some sort of understanding on their own, it's just the order and balance of things...I don't think I got your name." Thunderlane said.

"Benjamin, and I figured as much, but I'm willing to try anything, you know?" Ben replied.

"Have some faith in your mares, I know that seems hard, I mean mine have told me I like to rely on myself too much, but I think they'll pull through," Thunderlane commented.

"Thanks for talking with me about it at least," Benjamin said rising from his seat only to feel a hoof keep him in place.

"Not gonna just chat and dash without a few rounds with your new pal now, are you?" Thunderlane smirked at Ben mischievously.

Benjamin didn't want to leave Vesper and Cheerilee alone together for too long, but maybe Thunderlane was right. They needed to sort shit out for once and this gave them time to do that.

---

Cheerilee was partially convinced she had been duped somehow by Vesper, but she couldn't quite figure out how. Here she was walking side by side with a bat pony. She wore a calm, collected look, but internally she was screaming as her mind triedto rationalize how Vesper had preformed some kind of mental gymnastics around her, her of all ponies, it shouldn't be happening, but here they were just outside a decent restaurant.

"Y'know, I'm surprised you have ran away yet," Vesper spoke up.

"Why? You think I'd back out now?" Cheerilee blurted out, covering her muzzle with her hoof when she realized how loud her voice was.

Vesper didn't respond and just held the door open. The earth pony walked through with a sigh, it seemed Vesper was committed to whatever she had planned for the teacher. Cheerilee found herself more nervous now than anything, as if this was some how secretly a punishment for something she did, since she felt she didn't deserve the nice treatment from the bat pony mare, it was un wanted to begin with, but now that it was here she was forced to deal with it.

Once they were seated and everything seemed to be flowing normally, Vesper looked Cheerilee up and down a bit, almost as if she were admiring the stock at the fruit market. The earth pony wasn't quite sure if she should feel flattered or slightly offended.

"So," Vesper started again. "Tell me about Cheerilee."

"Are you serious?" Cheerilee asked, to which Vesper nodded happily. "Well, as you know I teach for a living, making one fourth of my year boring, until a few weeks ago when a certain bat pony and human decided to change all of that."

Cheerilee laughed nervously at the end of her explanation. Benjamin was a delight in her life. It was Vesper that had been a bit unexpected and the variable that made things...interesting, on a good day.

"I know about that stuff," Vesper remarked with a wave of her hoof. "Tell me what her favorite music is, what books she likes, that stuff."

Cheerilee wasn't sure if she should be impressed or offended. Vesper seldom had the patient to think things out this well. Then again, the mare could tell she was genuinely trying, even if she was being a bit awkward, but Cheerilee chalked it up to her culture.

"I used to like heavy music, when I was younger, but now I prefer calmer tunes. As far as books go, any that will stop and hold my attention, I have a love hate relationship with cliffhangers," Cheerilee giggled slightly. "There was this one about a racer from Ponyville-"

"I don't believe it," Vesper mumbled.

"Don't believe what?" Cheerilee stopped.

"That's the first time I think I've heard you laugh," the bat mare replied, causing the teacher to blush.

"Oh don't go putting the walls backup, I can see you doing it now," Vesper groaned.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," Cheerilee replied.

"Of course you do, it's no secret you don't like me. I brought you out here to get to the bottom of why so that maybe we could try to be happy together with Benjamin," Vesper motioned with her hooves as she spoke, clearly passionate about the subject.

"You really want to know what happened?" Cheerilee said darkly, but quietly so as not to draw attention to them. "Fine, I hate bat ponies because of what your kind did to me, does that simplify things?"

"So this...all of this is because of your past?" Vesper struggled to keep her voice level. "Well I'm not giving up on you."

Cheerilee was anticipating something, anger, rage, tears, sorrow, but not...hope? It was as if her only tool had just been taken and tossed back at her. It would have been easy to react to any other response, but how could she respond to hope. Somepony took her anger and simply pushed it aside.

"Why..." Cheerilee asked. "Why do you not hate me?"

"Even if you see me as that pony who wronged you, I know I'm not. You have to let the past go Cheerilee," Vesper replied.

"You don't understand, that hate is something I've held onto," Cheerilee shook her head as quiet sobs started to come from the mare.

"All it's done is cause you pain though, I know you think your hate made you strong, but all it does is tear down," Vesper said. "You're a strong willed mare Cheerilee, and I'm no slouch either...Ben wants us together."

Cheerilee hated to admit it, but Vesper was right to a certain point anyways. How could she expect Vesper to understand what happened to her when they had never found the stallion, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't being unfair in holding all of them accountable just to try and find some justice in all of it, perhaps that was why she couldn't let go.

"Why do you care if I like you so much?" Cheerilee asked.

"Because I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of being judged, and being yelled at." Vesper replied "We're supposed to be herd mates, not enemies."

"Vesper, I want to tell you I can just forget about my past and we can start clean, but it's not in me to fib," Cheerilee sighed. "I can't guarantee you any of that."

"I'm just asking for us to both start trying, for real this time, because lets be honest neither one of us has been wild about this whole process...but I can never go back to my family after what I gave up, you two are all I have," Vesper said.

"I guess we have been silly about this, huh?" Cheerilee laughed lightly, rubbing her eye.

The two mares continued their talk well on into the night, bridging the gap in some places, and coming to terms with differences in others. It was clear this wouldn't be a problem worked out in a single night, but at least they were on the right path now.

---

Wraith watched as the tall figure talked with a charcoal coated stallion. The sun had set now, making this the perfect setting for his plan to unfold, even if he had to rely on unwilling help to see it through. He cast a quick glance to the bat pony stallion beside him, a lunar guard no less, that he had responded to the call for aid was somewhat fitting.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, why does it have to be such a drastic method?" The guard asked.

"We both know that the quickest way to ruining a herd is to get rid of the stallion," Wraith replied. "While our tall target is no stallion, he is none the less the cause of my problems, and there for to be taken out."

"But..." The guard hesitated.

"Do I sense hesitation in you? Is there some uncertainty as to where your real loyalties are?" Wraith asked, his voice almost threatening.

"No, no, my loyalty is to my kin...it's just...never mind," the guard said.

"Good, then come on, he's alone now. It's time to wake my sister from this self induced dreamland she's put herself in," Wraith spat following the human quietly, with the reluctant guard close behind.

Their approach was masked by their silent wing beats, and the night, only briefly illuminated by the moon's soft glow, but their dark fur helped make up for any laps in hiding. They kept their approach steady, until Wraith was sure if he wanted to, he could easily tackle him to the ground and end the strange being.

Wraith reasoned that there was no sense in dragging this out, and that the human wasn't armed or dangerous. A shame, for him anyways, because that would have made things a bit more interesting. Even so, one swift ram to the back was all it took to knock him off balance and into the dirt.

"Hey, what gives?!" Ben shouted , making Wraith recoil slightly as his ears stung from the out burst, but a quick slap across the face with his hoof silenced the human.

"You stole my sister, I'm simply here to take her back," Wraith replied, doing his best to pin Ben to the ground, but found it difficult as he struggled to get up.

"Vesper? That's what this is about?" Ben sounded annoyed as she shoved the bat pony off him and against a tree. Strong as they were, they were still surprisingly light weight.

"Now!" shouted Wraith before letting out a terrible high pitched cry from his throat directed at Ben just as he got back on his feet.

A ripping sound could be heard over Ben's cries briefly as the other bat pony flew past, wearing a talloned hoofguard that tore at the human's clothes and left two deep cuts in his back.

"Nicely done, I knew you'd pull through on this," Wraith commented as the two approached the writhing figure of the human.

"F-Fang?" Ben said quietly as he got a good look at his attacker.

Fang froze for a moment, but narrowed his eyes at Ben. "I warned you that you had no idea what you were getting yourself into."

"Oh...that explains it, he's your friend, well, now it's a test of loyalty then, Fang, prove where your loyalties are." Wraith grinned.

"No...Fang, you don't have to listen to him!" Ben pleaded as he tried to stand once more, but whatever Wraith had done to him with his voice had left his body in disarray.

"I'm sorry Benjamin, but that's the price of a double life. I took an oath to defend the night, and keep it pure," Fang mumbled, almost in a spellbound fashion. "I don't have a choice."

Benjamin heard the weapon click into place on the hoof guard as Fang was poised to strike for the killing blow. He was paralyzed by fear and betrayal, knowing he should do something, but against two of these ponies, what could he do, and his arms and legs still didn't want to cooperate.

Suddenly, Fang was knocked to the side by a blur of darkness against the moonlight, the tallon-guard flying free from the bat pony's hoof from the impact. There in the moonlight was Vesper, her wings fully flared, her fangs on full display.

"Sister, how good of you to join us. Though it was a bit reckless to come alone, you're sparing me the trouble of tracking you down later." Wraith said stepping forward.

"She isn't alone though," Cheerilee said approaching Wraith from behind.

Wraith foolishly tried to take a swing at the earth pony, unaware of what he was getting himself into. Cheerilee was in no mood for mercy this time and grabbed the stallion's foreleg, twisting it along with her hole body until two loud pops could be heard. This made Wraith scream in pain until a sharp jab from Cheerilee silenced him.

Fang was back on his hooves and was going to retreat until Vesper flew into his chest, knocking the wind out of him. "What kind of soldier attacks civilians, you coward!" the bat mare screamed angrily hitting Fang hard enough to dislodge his helmet from his head with a loud thunk.

Cheerilee stood over Wraith who looked up at her with a knowing smile as Vesper rushed over to Ben. "When did you learn how to fight?" he asked coldly, blood oozing from a wound on his muzzle.

"When I decided not to run any more," Cheerilee replied. "I have others to look after now."

"Damn waste, teaching," Wraith mumbled.

"Shut up before I break your wings too," Cheerilee rolled her eyes. "Hey Vesper, hurry up and arrest your brother so we can get Ben out of here."

"So he's really your brother? I feel like I've missed something, and...why are you two being nice?" Benjamin quizzed as feeling started to return to his limbs.

"Be thankful Thunderlane hadn't flown too far away when he heard the commotion and came and found us." Cheerilee explained.

"I still can't believe Fang would do something like this..." Ben said in disbelief.

"I'll be turning the both in, Cheerilee can you get him home? Then we can talk about all of this and get him taken care of." Vesper's ordinarily upbeat nature was shrouded in a serious mask, but given the circumstance it wasn't hard to figure out why as she read both Fang and Wraith their rights.

Sins of the Father

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The door to Cheerilee's house slowly opened once she finished unlocking it, allowing a sore human to walk past her. Ben had been given the once over at the hospital, already and his back now sported two sets of stitches along the cuts made by Fang's bladed. Why a Lunar guard would attack a civilian to begin with baffled Cheerilee, but she had more pressing matters at hoof.

"Come on, let's get you in bed," Cheerilee said trying to usher him up the stairs.

"It's just a few cuts, I'm fine, really," Benjamin chuckled lightly at her insistence.

"Even so, I still think you should be resting now. I mean, you were just attacked and-" Cheerilee started, her voice continuing to rise in volume as she carried on until Benjamin gently cupped his hand around it.

"Cheerilee, sweetheart, I love you, but everything is okay now, Vesper took them away, and she'll be back any moment now. Then we can put all of this behind us like a bad memory." Ben said before releasing the mare's muzzle.

Cheerilee didn't yell, didn't scream or shout after what he had done. Instead she started to sob and threw her forelegs around his neck, nearly knocking Ben over. Ben didn't question her sudden crying fit and instead only held the sobbing pony close to him,slowly stroking her mane and trying to sooth her with gentle whispers.

"I really thought I was going to lose you back there..." Cheerilee was finally able to squeak out, triggering Ben to hold her a bit tighter.

"But you didn't though, I'm still here," Ben replied slowly petting his mare.

Cheerilee felt Ben move with her in his arms, her frame light against his in comparison. The temperature around her shifted as they entered the bedroom, and practically fell on the bed with each other. The lights remained dim in the room as the two snuggled together, until the light snores of the human brought a small smile to Cheerilee's muzzle.

The sound of hooves against carpet made her jerk her head towards the door. Thankfully it was only Vesper, having returned from putting the two assailants away. There was a moments hesitation before she approached slowly, obviously afraid the situation between them was now worse thanks to the two bat ponies that had tried to harm Ben. Much to the mare's surprise, she received a welcoming smile from Cheerilee.

"Is he okay?" Vesper asked cautiously flying over to the bed, and landing on the mattress, managing to leave it undisturbed.

"Just a few cuts thankfully, but if Thunderlane hadn't managed to find us when he did-" Cheerilee started.

"But he did, and Ben's safe," Vesper placed a reassuring hoof on Cheerilee's shoulder, offering a fanged smile.

"I'm sorry...about your brother...do you know what will happen to him now?" Cheerilee asked.

"He's in better hooves now. Princess Twilight is dealing with those two as we speak." Vesper replied. "I just don't want what my brother did to hurt...us...to hurt you."

"Vesper, I'm done letting the past hurt me, especially after tonight." Cheerilee replied. "You're not your brother, you're my herd sister."

Vesper let out a happy gasp before wrapping her forelegs around Cheerilee in a hug, catching the mare off guard. The teacher was a bit slow to return the gesture, but eventually both mares found themselves in a warm embrace in the dim light of the room. Vesper, feeling bold decided to take it a step further and press her nose against Cheerilee's making her blush.

"Don't tell me the strong willed teach is going all soft around the bat mare now," Vesper whisper in a low, husky voice.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Cheerilee's cheeks turned even redder.

"I thought we talked about being honest with your feelings." Vesper whisper as she sidled up to the earth pony, her chest fluff pressing against hers as she gently nibbled on her ear.

"B-but, Vesper," Cheerilee had to stop herself from giving into the light shivers the bat pony was sending up her spine. "Ben's right there."

"I don't mind," came the human's voice, startling both of the mares, causing them to hug tighter briefly out of fear. "Now kiss."

"You should be asleep," Cheerilee pointed a hoof at Benjamin.

"Hard to sleep when you two decide to start cuddling in the same bed that I was sleeping in," Ben chuckled, wrapping his arms around both mares, pulling them close to him. "Seriously though, you have no idea how long I've waited for you guys to come together."

Vesper, not missing a beat took Ben up on his challenge and pressed her lips against his briefly, before switching over to Cheerilee before she could protest. Ben's hands steadily stroking the necks of both mares even as the bat mare pulled away slowly from Cheerilee. The earth pony didn't have time to recover as their human kissed her next, making her breath catch as he gently cupped her cheek.

"Careful you don't start something you can't finish, you are still injured," Cheerilee said.

"Cheerilee, let me cope with nearly getting stabbed how I want to...with the ponies I love," Ben said resting his head against hers as Vesper slowly rubbed against both of them.

---

Vesper watched Cheerilee through an open eye as she rested her head on Ben's bare chest. The guard and teacher's gaze met occasionally in the dim light after they had ensured that Ben was now out for the evening. Vesper couldn't help but notice something seemed to trouble the earth pony.

"Y'know, I would hope that after all that you'd have a smile on your muzzle." Vesper whispered.

"I am happy Vesper, happy that I shared that moment with you...but I'm worried," Cheerilee replied, gently stroking Ben's hair with her hoof.

"Worried about what?" Vesper tilted her head slightly.

"Wraith is your brother, and he came to take you back...tell me honestly is this really over?" Cheerilee asked.

Vesper was quiet for a while, not sure how to answer. Cheerilee was smart, sometimes too smart for her own good. This was something that Vesper had meant to solve herself, but now that her herd sister had hit the metaphorical nail on the head, there was little she could do about it, especially after the speech about honesty.

"I don't know...there is my father," Vesper confessed.

"You have to tell somepony, you have to tell Twilight, Celestia, Luna, some-" Cheerilee sat up in bed.

"It doesn't matter who knows." Vesper interrupted her.

"What...why not?" Cheerilee asked dumbfounded.

"This thing my father is over, it's a remnant of the civil war faction between the three main tribes and bat ponies," Vesper explained.

"And you just handed over their leader's son..." Cheerilee mumbled.

"Even some of the Lunar guard are on his side, the deception runs deep," Vesper sighed. "I can't risk either of you getting hurt."

Cheerilee climbed out of bed as carefully as she could and motioned for Vesper to follow her. The bat pony did so, both remaining wordless until they were downstairs and out of earshot of the bedroom, ensuring that Ben wouldn't be woken up this time.

"If what you're saying is true then the risk is already here, and clearly taking swings at us. Waiting and playing good mare are over, we have to do what's right." Cheerilee said.

"I plan to," Vesper said solemnly. "Which was why tonight now means so much more."

"What are saying?" Cheerilee did he best to mask the uneasiness in her voice.

"They say that evil triumphs because good ponies do nothing....nopony else will suffer because I remain silent," Vesper said. "I'm going back."

"Vesper, you don't have to do this alone," Cheerilee said placing a hoof reassuringly on her shoulder.

"Him coming back into your life, and mine, it's my fault, all because I wanted to be like you. They won't stop until something is done about me, because I broke their perfect little mold." Vesper said. "Besides, this is what you really wanted, right? Ben to yourself?"

"That's not fair...not after tonight." Cheerilee was still trying to remain rational as Vesper told her that she was planning what almost ensured her end if what she said was true.

"If you do tell somepony, I ask that you wait until morning." Vesper sighed stroking Cheerilee's foreleg.

"Why?" the earth pony asked.

"Because by then I'll have a head start, and all of this will hopefully be over, and then maybe somepony can do something...but you'll probably never catch them all. They've been at this for a while." Vesper replied.

"So you really plan to leave to just...go die to them? After all that talk about not giving up, you're about to walk out?" Cheerilee scolded.

"I'm not giving up, I'm taking a page from your book, I'm done running from my problems," Vesper replied, pulling Cheerilee into a hug. "Ben is in your hooves now." she whisper, hugging the mare a bit tighter, until Cheerilee went limp against her from a sharp hit to the back of the head. Something she had, unfortunately, learned from being around her father's co-horts.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way," Vesper sighed, lifting the mare up onto her back and carrying her back upstairs to where Benjamin was still fast asleep.

Vesper let Cheerilee slide off her back and onto the bed, with Benjamin none the wiser as to what had taken place. Cheerilee of course would wake up with a bit of a headache, but she hoped she could forgive her. She was a good mare at heart, and Vesper knew that no matter what happened to her, she would be there to take care of Ben.

The bat pony then focused on her human, slowly stroking his hair and drinking in his details for what she was sure would be the last time. A sad smile crept across her muzzle only to darken as she heard a heavy set of hooves behind her. Her back bristled in anger slightly, as did her ear tufts, but the other pony knew it was all for show and approached anyways.

"How easy it would be to send a wave of my finest down on these two...to think this is what I was afraid of." Tenebris commented in a gruff voice, his form almost translucent as the moon waxed full through the window.

"Does it bring you some sick form of satisfaction to torture others?" Vesper asked.

"I never torture anypony, it's beneath us," Tenebris replied.

"But making them suffer emotionally that's just below the line I guess?" Vesper huffed.

"I am not here to be lectured in my methods by a child, you know why I've bothered using this much magic." Tenebris said.

"I know, just keep up your end of the deal and never set hoof in Ponyville." Vesper growled.

"Oh don't worry, I've no interest in your friends...and Wraith...well, his heart was too soft, like yours." Tenebris chuckled. "This isn't the first mistake I've had to fix."

"You....you attacked Cheerilee...not Wraith...." Vesper's eyes widened in realization.

"...a necessary evil, to try and put Wraith back on track, but I see now I've failed with two of my children, which is why soon two of my inner circle will be there to bring you home." Tenebris replied, unmoved at his daughter's accusation.

"You're a monster." Vesper shook her head, unwilling to believe she shared any part of this being.

"No, you are now my dear daughter, a bat pony that lives as day walkers do...you are a monster. Just remember, if you try to resist, those guards that are on their way to get you, will instead be there to kill your lovers, then your life will be an empty, meaningless husk of what it was." Tenebris sat on the floor as Vesper's breathing picked up, both out of fear and rage.

"I hate you," Vesper whined.

"Good, hold onto that feeling, because long after you realize these two have forgotten about you, that is what will fuel you...for a while," Tenebris said, undisturbed by the statement like any normal father would be.

"For a while?" Vesper asked.

Before Tenebris could entertain an answer a soft knock came at the door, making Vesper jump. Tenebris's form walked down the stairs and towards the door, stopping just in front of it. Vesper could hardly believe that this stallion was turning in his own daughter, let alone had even offered her this kind of deal, her life, for theirs. The mare was no idiot, she knew that her father wouldn't stop trying to kill Ben or Cheerilee until she gave up, just because she had shamed him.

Vesper opened the door and there were four normal looking Lunar guards, save for one difference, a crescent moon necklace was just barely exposed, signifying their traitorous status, Vesper knew it well. Without so much as a struggle from the mare she raised her forelegs and felt cold heavy shackles clasp around them.

One of the bat ponies nodded the ghostly form of her father before it faded away into the night. Then, as if given the cue to do so, another pulled a scroll from their armor and tore it clean in half before the two others pulled Vesper close to them, uncomfortably close. She knew the scroll was for emergency telephoning as green flames wicked around them, and soon, they were engulfed in darkness, save for a few dim lights.

"Welcome back home, traitor." One of the guards sneered.

---

Benjamin slowly woke up to a rather chilly morning. Pleasant memories of last night still danced through his mind as he felt Cheerilee against him, but there was a curious lack of a certain fluffy bat pony. Figuring she was already up, Ben cautiously got out of bed so that he wouldn't disturb Cheerilee to try and find Vesper.

Despite his best efforts, he was presented an empty house, void of any sign of the mare in question. Ben was about to assume she had just gone out for breakfast until a very groggy Cheerilee. The mare was clutching her head as she struggled to stay balanced, Ben had to run and catch her before she fell forward on her muzzle.

"Ben...Ben...Vesper's...gone," Cheerilee struggled to get out.

"Calm down, it's okay. I'm sure she's fine," Benjamin smiled down at the earth pony.

Cheerilee cursed his good nature and herself for letting her guard down like that as she shook her head. "No, Vesper's gone!" she shouted, finally finding her voice.

"Gone where? What's the big deal if she's in Ponyville?" Ben asked.

"Not...Ponyville..." Cheerilee replied, tears forming on the corners of her eyes now that he was starting to realize what she meant.

"...no...they got to her." Benjamin breathed out quietly.

"We have to tell somepony," Cheerilee said.

"Who, the guard, the princesses, we did that and they still got her, what good will that do us now?" Ben asked, wanting to pull his hair in frustration.

"We can't just sit here, she's..she's part of our herd, we can't leave here there!" Cheerilee exclaimed.

Benjamin thought for a moment about what he could realistically do. He could tell Twilight, but they had already done that and look where it got them, they were now weighing their options anyways. By the time anything sent to Celestia or Luna was done it could be too late for Vesper, time wasn't their friend, and Benjamin was already injured thanks to somepony whom he thought was his friend.

This thought made him stop as an idea began to formulate in his head. One that was just crazy enough it might work.

---

Fang sat idly in his cell, tapping his hoof tiredly against one of the bars. Despite his nocturnal nature, sleep escaped him as flash backs of Benjamin's look of terror just before he was about to deliver the death blow. He was supposed to be his friend, but instead he had thrown all of that away.

He tried telling himself he should be proud that he was acting like a true bat pony, but if that was the case, why did he feel so rotten? Fang found himself wishing he could forget ever meeting anypony related to the ponies so stuck in the past they were willing to harm others. It was nothing like what he had been told or promised.

Fang's ears perked up when he heard irregular hoof steps coming towards his cell. His ears knew the sound well enough, but he couldn't believe what he was hearing, not after what he had done. Then the noise stopped, right in front of his cell, prompting Fang to actually look up and pay attention.

There at the bars were two...feet? If he recalled correctly, which supported the being he both wanted to see and avoid at all cost right now. Over whelmed as he was, he simply sat motionless, save for a few blinks as he and Benjamin stared at one another.

"They got her..." Fang said simply.

"Yeah...they did." Ben replied.

"...you want me to help you find them." Fang's tone was almost bored, as if he had expected something more entertaining.

"Consider it redemption...the Fang I know is better than this." Benjamin said.

"And just how do you plan on getting me out?" Fang quizzed.

"I know a stallion," Ben smirked.

Finale

View Online

Vesper’s head snapped to the side as Tenebris struck his daughter across the muzzle in the presence of the elders of his order. A disappointed expression staring down at her balefully as he drew his hoof back for the third time but put it down seemingly changing his mind.

“What’s the use, your disdain for what I’ve tried to do for our family…our tribe, that flame can’t be extinguished,” Tenebris admitted.

“Amazing, something we agree on,” Vesper spat back.

“Fortunately, I know of…other ways of making you more cooperative,” The stallion grinned.

A look of realization crossed Vesper’s eyes and she struggled against her bonds, but it was no good, the guards were thorough in ensuring she couldn’t leave until her “punishment” had been carried out by her father.

“Father, you don’t have to keep doing this…if you really were trying to do this for us, then why?”

“Because we were here first, those day walkers drove us into the dark woods, claimed our lands were untamable, and banished our leader. When are you going to grow up and learn that the world doesn’t revolve around friendship all the time?” Tenebris scoffed.

“You have to let the past stay the past,” Vesper said quietly.

“Look where that’s gotten you, alone like you feared, like you were warned after Wraith’s separation-“ Tenebris started.

“That you caused,” Vesper interrupted. “I know I’m still loved, and there is nothing you can do to take that from me.”

“Is that so?” Tenebris smirked a fanged smirk as he slowly approached Vesper. “Then let’s see if I can’t fix that, shall we?”

----

“I think your plan is crazy, it’s going right to the heart of bat pony country!” Twig exclaimed as Benjamin relayed the information that Fang had given him to the griffon.

“You’re exaggerating, look, all we need to do is sneak in grab Vesper and get out. And with the guards no doubt going there to investigate then this will be the perfect time to slip in and take her.” Ben argued.

“You’re still asking for problems wanting Fang to be free. I mean how do you plan on getting him out?” Twig asked, rubbing his beak as if it would relieve the stress he was getting from taking in what he considered a terrible idea.

“So I was thinking we could get some help from Silver Lining and he could teleport a dummy Fang in long enough for us to use the real one to get in and out.” Ben replied, bringing up another member of their role playing group.

“Silver Lining…you want to bring Silver Lining in on this?” Twig asked skeptically. “The stallion is cowardly enough in the game, why in the world would he agree to this?”

“Oh I’m sure you’re exaggerating, besides this will be done so fast we’ll be in and out, a forty five minute adventure tops,” Ben put on his best salesman face.

“Yeah, to Shady Hollows maybe, what about the return trip?” Twig asked, noticing a sinking expressing fall upon the human. “That’s what I thought, you don’t have a way out in case things go south, do you?”

“Alright, fine you win,” Benjamin huffed. “At least I’m trying to think of something, I can’t just leave her there...I can’t do this without you Twig.”

“Why me?” Twig asked raising a skeptical eyebrow at the human.

“Because you’re the closest thing to a best friend I have,” Benjamin replied. “Please Twig…I can’t remember a lot about my old home, I can’t even remember what my mom and dad’s names were. All I know is that she’s my family now.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Twig sighed shaking his head.

“Thanks Twig, I don’t think this could work without you,” Ben smiled.

“Thank me when Vesper is back in Ponyville…now, any other surprises or plans you’d like to fill me in on?” Twig asked.

----

Fang opened his eyes as the last few rays of light were slowly beginning to disappear from the cell window. His ears twitched as he picked up the sounds outside the window, before he found himself being pulled through reality itself and dropped outside the building.

Fang cast a quick glance through the window to a ponyequin head and a few pillows beneath the sheet. While the disguise was hardly perfect it would be enough to satisfy the guards who had taken more of an interest in Wraith than him, since it was determined early on that the stallion, wouldn’t or better yet couldn’t, shut up about how great his order was.

Fang felt five long, but firm appendages wrap around his neck, catching him off guard. Benjamin held him up with a look of raw anger in his eyes, but the stallion didn’t move to stop the human, he had played a part in all of this.

“No tricks this time, understand?” Ben asked in a hushed voice.

“I told you I was done with that stuff,” Fang replied, his hind legs dangling slightly.

“Your words means shit to us right now, bat!” Twig spat.

“Guys, can we not do this now?” Silver Lining asked.

Benjamin released Fang who rubbed his neck lazily. “I was expecting your other mare to be part of your merry crew for this, guess she’s too shook up?” he asked.

“Leave Cheerilee out of this, she’s been through enough as it is. I don’t want her involved.” Ben replied.

“As fascinating as catching up with your would be killer is, I do need to remind you we’re on a dead line,” Silver Lining reminded them somewhat condescendingly.

As the group began to formulate their plan of attack, Cheerilee was already ahead of them unbeknownst to Benjamin. She had left shortly after he did, neither one willing to reveal their intentions to the other for fear of the other’s safety. Since she was traveling alone, the earth pony was already a good hour ahead of him by train.

Cheerilee knew that Benjamin would have insisted on coming with her, but she felt as if this was her fault. If she had just been a bit nicer to Vesper, if she had just been happier with the herd they had formed, if she could have loved the two who now occupied her thoughts the most, maybe she wouldn’t be in this predicament.

It was this train of thought that made Cheerilee’s sadness lift momentarily. All this time, she had been plagued by her past, and by past relationships, but now a human and a bat pony had reached past the walls she had put up and shown her that she could love again.

The train’s whistle blew as it approached the inky darkness of Shady Hollows. A look of determination washed over Cheerilee’s muzzle as one by one the light from the windows was snuffed out by the darkness of the forest, almost as if it was a living being and feasted on the little remaining light.

“Hold on Vesper, I’m coming.” Cheerilee said as she was cast in darkness.

Cheerilee became eerily aware of the sound of her own heartbeat as darkness filled the train car. It wasn’t long until she felt it start to slow down and come to a halt with a hiss of steam. For the first time since she had left Ponyville, the mare felt a creeping fear slowly come over her.

She was in bat pony territory now, and aside from the few bioluminescent lights that dotted the area Cheerilee was at a cruel disadvantage. There seemed to be quite a few lunar guards out, but the scene seemed…wrong to Cheerilee somehow. It was as if something was off about the entire town, of course she had thought the same about Vesper, but it had mostly been culture related.

Cheerilee could see eyes slowly bobbing through the darkness that reflected light, the fluttering of bat wings seemed to surround her, as her ears twitched nervously atop her head. She was out of her element and had dove unthinkingly into theirs, but she hadn’t come all this way to give up. With a held breath she took her first steps towards one of the lights she could see in the distance.

The forest whispered around her in a language unfamiliar to her, only after she rationalized that this was a bat pony’s native tongue did she understand what she was hearing, and not some dark being. Still, she couldn’t shake the awkward feeling that she was the subject of their conversation.

Cheerilee had no idea what she was looking for, truth be told she had expected things to be more straight forward than fine buildings, and well established roads with a few lights dotting the streets. The more she explored, and the longer she was exposed to the limited light, her eyes and other sense slowly started to adapt to the unfamiliar environment.

It wasn’t until her hoof hit something hard and what she could only assume was metal that she stopped her aimless exploration. Though she couldn’t make it out with her eyes, she could feel out that the object she had nearly tripped over felt like a train track. This confused Cheerilee as she was certain the station was in the other direction and it was well lit.

With no better leads to follow she decided to grope the ground until she found more of the strange track that seemed out of place, and felt somewhat fresh. While Cheerilee’s talent wasn’t based on the soil or farming, she still had earth pony magic in her hooves and could feel something wasn’t quite right about the tracks.

As Cheerilee followed the tracks her ears twitched at the sounds of shouting and cruel laughing. Then there was a light around what appeared to be some kind of structure. It was a hideous orange that carried a thin mist in the air like steam. The scene before her was enough to make her question her choice of coming in the first place, it wasn’t too late to get some of the guards after all.

This thought made Cheerilee’s skin crawl. If those suspicious tracks had been there, even with the guards, how had they missed them? Unless they were ignoring them on purpose. Cheerilee’s realization was starting to chase away her bravado.

“I can’t let her down,” Cheerilee whisper to herself.

“No, I suppose you can’t,” came a voice that sent chills down the mare’s spine. “But, then again, you should have probably brought back up.”

Cheerilee spun around quickly to see a frightening bat pony stallion flanked by several others, each cackling with glee as they glared down at her, a few upside down in trees. The one whom she assumed had addressed her had a smug expression on his muzzle that let all who see him know who was in charge of things.

“Cheerilee, I presume, Vesper’s memories have revealed a bit about you…” The stallion said acting cordial. “You know we’ve never been formally introduced, my name is Tenebris.”

“Where is she?” Cheerilee demanded, trying to hide her fear.

“She didn’t tell you? She came back home of her own free will, to save you and that simple primate you both sullied yourselves with.” Tenebris replied with a shrug. “Though when one has already been tainted as you have, I can see why you picked him.”

This insult spurred Cheerilee into action, causing her to take a wild swipe at the stallion, which Tenebris was able to dodge with ease, as well as her follow up. His coat blending into the darkness that was only broken up by vague trails of light here and there, and his glowing eyes.

“My my, she did pick a feisty one didn’t she?” Tenebris taunted, earning a round of laughs from his companions.

“Shut up!” Cheerilee shouted trying to land another hit only to be pushed to the ground this time by the stallion as he maneuvered past her. It was clear that the bat pony was merely toying with her, like a cat plays with a mouse before finishing it.

“You’re out of your league earth pony, I’ve been at this for a long time. What makes you think you’re any different?” Tenebris asked.

Cheerilee picked herself up, refusing to let this stallion know that his words had cut deep, and that even if she wasn’t as strong as him, she was going to try. “I came here for Vesper, I’m not leaving without her…” she said coldly.

“Now I believe you…and I might be worried, if Vesper hadn’t had a recent change of heart about a few things.” Tenebris smirked.

Tenebris motioned with his head and the jeers from the others fell silent as a lone figure began to approach from the inky darkness. A set of ruby red eyes were staring into Cheerilee’s as if they were searching her soul. When the light touched the figure the mare gasped at what she saw.

There, beside her father was a savage looking Vesper. Her eyes were wild and carried no hint of familiarity to them. A collar was fastened around her neck with a crescent moon symbol which seemed to be stained red and glowing. It looked as if she had been put through Tartarus and back.

“V-Vesper…what have you done!?” Cheerilee nearly lost her composure at the sight of her herd sister.

“I did what any father would do, I did what was required to protect my family from the wrong influence, to make things right again. I failed with Wraith, but here I have succeeded. You day walkers have lived off our land and taken enough.” Tenebris replied.

“Vesper you can’t believe this…” Cheerilee said quietly.

“She didn’t, at one point, but during the civil war between us there was a procedure that gave us an edge when dealing with the super strength of you earth ponies, the cost being one’s mind…I’ve simply refined the process and used it on her.” Tenebris bragged. “But perhaps showing is better than telling…make daddy proud.”

Vesper grinned wickedly as she slowly approached Cheerilee, her figure seemed to ooze dark magic. The earth pony could feel it as she drew closer, and practically smell its sickly presence. In an instant, Vesper was in front of her striking the mare in the leg. Cheerilee retaliated out of instinct but she was too slow this time as the bat pony flew up just high enough to avoid her buck before releasing a painful, unseen soundwave at point blank range.

Cheerilee stumbled around in the dark in a daze as the world went out of focus. The last thing that she saw was an angry bat pony flying towards her with a hoof coming right at her.

“Stop!” Tenebris ordered.

Vesper froze, her hoof inches from Cheerilee’s muzzle. The gathering of bat ponies laughed as the would-be rescuer fell to the ground in a dazed state of being. Her eyes unable to stay focused on anything or anypony for very long.

Tenebris approached Vesper, giving her a few pats on her head before rolling Cheerilee over roughly. “So, now the only question is when is your lover coming?”

Cheerilee didn’t respond, not that she didn’t have a witty retort, but she was too stunned to give it. Tenebris seemed disappointed when he didn’t receive an answer and motioned with his head for the earth pony mare to be taken away.

“Having the princesses breathing down my neck was bad enough,” Tenebris commented as Vesper approached him. “Not another soul is to get close to our project before it’s ready, the sun is about to set on our light loving counter parts.”

------

Benjamin stared at Fang as the train brought them closer and closer to their destination. His mind was heavy with thoughts of both the mares he cared for, the friends that had agreed to help him, and the former friend that could still very well betray them.

“You don’t trust me.” Fang said, breaking Benjamin’s train of thought.

“I’m putting just enough in you to get this done.” Ben replied.

“And then?” Fang asked.

“What happens after is up to you, I would hope you’d do the right thing.” Ben said looking past the bat pony.

“Look I get it, I messed up, but you can’t say that we were never friends. I mean, c’mon it’s not like giving me the cold shoulder forever is going to get your mare back.” Fang commented.

“Fang, you tried to kill me, I have two scars on my back because of you, what in the whole wide world of Equestria makes you think that this just throws all of that under the bridge like it never happened?” Ben’s voice struggled to stay under control as he lashed out at the bat pony.

Twig and Silver Lining were silent during their exchange, both watching the two grow slightly heated as the lingering distrust of Fang was brought to light. Fang’s aura of confidence seemed slightly deflated after conversing with Benjamin. Truth be told he didn’t know what he expected of the human, so much of what they were was still a mystery.

“I don’t know what I thought…maybe a part of me wants redemption, maybe I’m just tired of not having my own voice and having to pick between a lifetime of servitude under one banner or the other. I can’t take back the things I did, I can only try to make it right.” Fang said.

“I hate to break you two up, but I think your chance to do so is coming up fast.” Twig said, pointing towards the dark woods the train was starting to enter.

“When we get there we’ll need to be careful, anypony could be associated to Tenebris’ order.” Fang said, his mind turning to the task at hand.

“All we need to do is get Vesper out,” Benjamin huffed.

“Assuming he hasn’t already thought of that.” Fang rolled his eyes.

“What do you mean by that?” Silver Lining asked cautiously.

“This isn’t your ordinary bat pony you’re crossing paths with here. Tenebris is ruthless, and once he has something he isn’t just going to let it go.” Fang warned.

“I’m not here for him,” Benjamin said as the train car was bathed in darkness. Fang’s eyes seemed to be the only unnatural source of light as the train brought them closer and closer to their destination. When they finally did arrive, it was almost as if the place was deserted, save for a few lunar guard.

Not missing a beat the guards approached the group, spears at the ready. Fang seemed unsure of what to do, but Twig studied both bat ponies momentarily before clicking his tongue against his beak’s roof in discontent.

“You’re not lunar guards.” Twig said as a matter of factly.

The bats paused at this, giving Twig enough time to grab their heads in his clawed hands and smash them together. Both were rendered unconscious, proving just how strong Twig was despite his injury. Benjamin and Twig grabbed the spears dropped by the guards while Fang borrowed a set of armor. Silver Lining started to ignite his horn but was stopped by Twig.

“Chances are they know we’re here already, no magic unless absolutely needed, got it?” Fang instructed, receiving a head nod from Silver.

“Fang, this is your turf, if they took Vesper where would they be keeping her?” Benjamin asked.

“Assuming he hasn’t done something to her by now? He had a meeting place that was pretty out of the way, it used to be the old train station, until Celestia ordered a better, more up to date one be built.” Fang informed the group as they followed his form from what little light they had.

“What would Tenebris want with an old train station?” Silver lining asked.

“I wasn’t part of his inner circle, so I never got included in on what he used it for, I just know that if you went there for punishment, chances are you didn’t come back.” Fang replied.

As the group made their way towards what appeared to be the remains of a dilapidated building, four more guards swooped down. They weren’t waiting this time and started to attack immediately. Twig was able to dispatch two of them, while Fang fought with the third. The fourth came in low for Benjamin but got too close and found himself in the arms of the human.

While the lunar guar was struggling to get free, Benjamin knelt down and nodded to Silver who bucked the bat stallion in the head, causing the stallion to go limp in Ben’s arms. After his brief victory Silver recoiled at what he had done and started to panic.

“Oh jeez, did-did I kill him?” the unicorn asked.

“No, he’s just going to be asleep for a while…and have a nasty headache I don’t even want to think about.” Benjamin replied.

“Keep moving, more will replace them if we don’t!” Fang hissed.

The group followed his lead until he stopped just in front of an old worn down building. Light was streaming out from holes and boarded up windows. A fog was heavy on the ground that stunk with the smell of something awful, something that didn’t belong. It affected Benjamin the worst making him blink several times to ensure that his vision wasn’t failing him when he saw the mist swirl.

“I think there’s something here with us.” Benjamin said cautiously.

“Yeah there’s something here…” Twig grumbled, digging his talons into the soft soil, his muscles tensing as he prepared himself for whatever might be beyond the fog.

“It’s a shade,” Fang muttered as his ears twitched, following some unseen force. “Unicorn, do you know any fire spells?”

“A few,” Silver Lining replied, quickly picking up on what fang wanted at the mention of fire and levitated a few dead branches from the ground. One by one the ends of the branches were set ablaze and quiet shrieks could be heard from the fog.

“There!” Fang pointed into the now illuminated murky darkness.

There, cowering and snarling at the group was a pony shaped shadow, independent of any body. Its void like eyes glared hatefully at the four travelers who dared to shine a light on the building it had been tasked with guarding.

“Wonder who he used to make it?” Fang mumbled, as he cautiously approached. The shade hissed in return.

“What do you mean by that?” Ben asked.

“Bat Pony voodoo isn’t like your typical magic that Silver there used to give us these torches. No, Tenebris stole somepony’s shadow to use until morning.” Fang explained.

“What happens when morning gets here?” Twig asked.

“Well, the soul dwells in the shadow…whoever that is will die if they aren’t reunited.” Fang answered bluntly. “Or kill us the second these fires go out.”

“There has to be some way to tell it to go back into its body, I mean…what is this place anyways?” Silver Lining asked.

Twig approached the slowly rotting door to the building and raked his talons across the door, turning it to splinters with ease. Inside, were several lights on crystal power generators, tools, ominous looking barrels and a brand new train engine with the number 000 on the front plate.

“What in the wide world of Equestria…” Silver Lining’s words failed him as his light shined on the inky surface of the big metal engine.

Ben, ever curious walked over to one of the barrels and shifted one, hearing a liquid weight slosh about inside. All eyes focused on him as he slowly pulled the lid off and found a black liquid inside.

“Cover it back up, quickly!” Twig barked snatching the barrel lid from Ben and slamming it back down on the container. He was then swiftly spirited away across the room and slammed against one of the windows, a black miasma like being in front of him.

“Twig!” Ben shouted darting after him.

Silver starter to follow but was stopped by Fang. “Don’t be a fool, keep the light up. That thing will tear you apart if you don’t!”

Ben shouted at the shade getting its attention, causing it to drop Twig to the floor of the building. Before it could get a solid location on where Ben was, he ducked behind an over turned desk and did his best to still his breathing, knowing the others were safe as long as they kept their torches up.

Soon, the desk creaked above his head and what looked like a hoof firmly rested on the edge. The dark beast scanned the area, letting out a hateful snarl once it couldn’t find him. Ben slowly made his way towards Twig, hoping that he wouldn’t groan or make any other noises to draw attention to himself.

In the darkness Ben could hear things fly and flit about him, he knew it was the shade darting past and trying its best to find them like an old man groping in the dark for his glasses. Ben found this odd, why would a shade be unable to see in the dark, especially if Tenebris used a bat pony?

Just as his eyes lit up in realization, a horrible cry came from behind him. Ben turned to see the shade diving for him. He had no idea if his plan would work or not, but something was telling him to try in the back of his mind. He could feel the cool breath of death from the creature as he raced towards Twig before turning around in a less cluttered part of the building.

“Vesper!” Ben shouted making the shade stop momentarily, before slowly approaching him menacingly.

“Vesper, this isn’t you, the bat I know would never hurt others, she protects them.” This made the shade stop its advance. “The Vesper I know would never give up, even if she knew things looked bleak. I may not be able to stop you, but that doesn’t make me love you less.”

Twig looked up and saw Ben and the shade he weakly got to his claws. “Ben, that things a killer, run!” Twig grunted in pain.

“It’s Vesper’s shadow Twig, it won’t hurt us anymore.” Ben said calmly as he slowly stretched out his hand to the shade.

“That thing tried to kill me…you, how can you be sure?” Twig nervously watched as Ben’s hand grew closer to the shade which merely tilted its head.

“Fang said the shadow holds the soul, think, why can’t this one see in the dark if it belongs to a bat pony?” Ben felt a cool aura wrap around his hand as it breached some unseen force, the warmth quickly exiting his body as the shade locked eyes with him.

Despite the sudden shock of the temperature dropping he held his hand still. The shade floated closer, as if inspecting his hand before slamming into him, nearly knocking him over. This was no attack though whatever the shade had smelt it seemed to like it, and as Ben slowly wrapped his arms around the black mist like creature, his body started to heat up once more.

“I don’t believe it…”Fang said as he watched the strange scene unfold.

The shade almost seemed to be cuddling Ben, but it was a much baser instinct that seemed dictate its actions, while it couldn’t be called love, it certainly seemed like some sort of connection existed between them, was this Vesper’s shade? While the others cautiously considered it, Benjamin smiled as he held what he firmly believed to be some small part of Vesper as close as possible.

“Well, color me surprised.” Came an unfamiliar voice. “Though I’d expect nothing less from the mate my daughter picked.”

“Tenebris!” Fang hissed as Ben shielded the shade with his body. Twig was on much more stable footing now and glared at the bat and his minions that seemed to pour in like liquid through the cracks and holes of the building.

“Why it was you and not one of her own kin I’ll never understand, but to tame a shade…you have my respect, colt.” Tenebris commented.

“Funny, I get the feeling respect isn’t why you felt the need for all the back up.” Benjamin retorted.

“Careful colt, I’m in a generous mood right now, we wouldn’t want to say anything that changes that.” The bat stallion snorted. “I’m still a bit miffed that you found my train ahead of schedule, since it was going to be all over the news in due time.”

“The news…those barrels…you wouldn’t!” Twig shouted as realization dawned on him.

“Ah, but I would, the question is where to send my little message?” Tenebris chuckled.

“All this will do is start another war!” Silver Lining exclaimed.

“And here I was thinking they brought you along as the token Unicorn of their little group. That is exactly what I want to happen, I want another civil war.” Tenebris proudly stated.

“Pfft, because the last one went so well,” Fang rolled his eyes.

“All over Equestria, bat ponies are waiting for the signal to strike, both friend and foe, powerful and weak. This will not be a war of divided territories, but of neighbor against neighbor. We were here long before those who walk in the light and we have a rightful claim to this land.”

“Maybe you do,” Ben said. “But you weren’t the only ones living here, what of the deer? Did you ever drive them out from any land they owned?”

“You dare try to lecture me about my history?” Tenebris hissed.

“No, just making sure you keep all the facts in there, even the ones that don’t support your cause.” Ben smirked. “You may have held land, but you took it too, you’re as guilty as the ones you want gone.”

Tenebris growled and flew towards Benjamin, losing his cool, prompting his minions to follow suit. Silver Lining saw the sudden surge of bat ponies and panicked, releasing a sudden surge of magic from his horn. In a bright flash, the building was illuminated, blinding most of the bat ponies present, and chasing away the shade in Ben’s arms.

Tenebris swatted at the air, unsure if he was even hitting Ben, until a sharp hit to the gut informed him that he had missed his target. “That was for Vesper!” Ben shouted as loud as he could, giving the bat stallion a miniature head ache, which was followed by another sharp pain coming from his left leg suddenly as Ben continued to capitalize on the momentary shock his unicorn friend had thrown him in.

Twig was not as merciful as his human companion. He ruthlessly tossed the dazed bat ponies about like rag dolls, those that were unlucky enough to be fit enough to strike back at him found a set of talons digging into their skin and tearing into them, horrifying screams sending panic through the rest of the ranks as the griffon tore them apart.

Fang blended in easily enough and was quick to begin turning on his kin. While they looked like him, and shared the same tribe, he knew what another civil war would do to the land, and there would be no recovering from it.

Silver Lining, not being one for fighting did his best to hide. He assumed he would get in the way more than anything and tried to make himself as undetectable as possible. He watched as his friends fought off the hoard that had come crawling from seemingly nowhere and a part of him felt invigorated, but it was drowned out by the logical side of his mind telling him he wasn’t a fighter.

Tenebris gritted his teeth and surged forward blindly, making contact with Benjamin’s chest. The impact knocked the wind out of him and gave the bat stallion the momentary edge he needed to get away, but not before Ben reached blindly and grabbed the necklace around his neck, tearing it as he flew towards the train’s controls.

Tenebris didn’t have time to concern himself with it and pulled on several levers, filling the room with engine smoke as the train’s engine fired up. A loud whistle reverberated through the building, causing the stallion to laugh as the train started to lurch forward, a few of his cronies throwing open the doors for the engine to pass through.

“You lose human!” Tenebris taunted as the train started to gain speed.

Benjamin didn’t have time to curse his luck as two of the bat ponies jumped him at once. He felt crowded and tired as a mob began to form around him. He thought he could hear shouting and for the briefest moment a warm wave passed over him as a ringing in his ears blocked out everything else.

----

Vesper stood in total darkness, unable to see but she could still sense things, to a certain degree. She could hear screams and cries of pain, the familiar sounds of those she cared about around her and then, warmth for a brief moment before it was gone. Now, there was nothing, nothing but an odd sensation throughout her form.

“Get away from her!” a voice cried out, one that sounded as if it was underwater.

Vesper wanted to open her eyes but nothing she ordered her body to do obeyed. It was like being in a personal hell, held just on the edge of death, but kept from dying so that she was aware of what went on around her. It cut into her heart deeply that her father would resort to such cruel tricks.

As Vesper struggled internally, Cheerilee, tried to keep the shade at bay from her friend’s husk of a body, even though she was chained to a wall, while Vesper’s eyes remained red and glowing as they locked onto the shade as a curiosity more than a threat.

Cheerilee pulled as hard as she could, knowing what a shade was, and struggled even harder as the two grew closer. “No Vesper, don’t touch it, it’ll kill you!”

The earth pony watched in silent horror as the two raised a hoof towards the other, slowly bringing them together until they fit perfectly together. Much to Cheerilee’s shock Vesper wasn’t dead, instead she seemed to be smiling, softly at first but the smile grew as the two grew closer and eventually the shade washed across her herd sister, casting a previously missing shadow on the floor.

Vesper closed her eyes as a few shivers traveled across her frame. When she opened them, gone was the ominous red. They were their sweet, playful brown once again, putting hope in Cheerilee’s heart as she watched with a held breath.

“V-Vesper?” Cheerilee stammered, gaining the bat mare’s attention.

“Cheerilee!” Vesper exclaimed, throwing her forelegs around the mare in a hug. “Don’t worry I’ll get you out of here, just give me-“

Before Vesper could complete her thought, an explosion sounded nearby, illuminating the dark woods of Shady Hollows. Vesper rushed to the window to see a building ablaze in the distance. Her observation was cut short when several hoof steps could be heard approaching before an elderly looking bat stallion opened the door.

“What in bloody blue blazes is going on? And why aren’t you on the front line?” the elder demanded, pointing a hoof at Vesper.

“Last time I checked…I didn’t take orders from traitors.” Vesper turned, glaring at the stallion, who stumbled backwards, realizing his mistake.

Vesper was upon him before he could cry for help, the impact alone being enough to end him. She felt bad momentarily, but she had no idea what she had been manipulated into doing, no idea what had transpired, but all of that had to wait, she and Cheerilee had to escape.

“If I remember correctly I think he had a key on him.” Cheerilee says motioning with her head towards the fallen elder.

Vesper searched the dead bat pony and found the key in a pocket easily enough. She quickly released Cheerilee and the two began their escape as cult guards scattered and scrambled in panic and disarray without their leader to direct them. It wasn’t hard for the two mares to escape with all the confusion but Vesper didn’t follow Cheerilee in the direction of the train station.

“What are you doing? Train’s this way…” Cheerilee said almost out of breath.

“Ben is here, we can’t leave without him.” Vesper replied in an unusually serious tone.

“Ben?” Cheerilee followed the bat pony’s eyes to the burning building. “Ben no…”

Both mares took off towards the building as the towns ponies began to panic, a few of the guard now trying to blend in with what they were supposed to be, but that wouldn’t work now. Vesper gave them knowing glances, a few of them glared back but most got the message and disappeared into the shadows.

Near the burning building were several injured bat ponies, a unicorn with blackened fur, a crippled griffon and a human, clutching his side in pain. The two mares didn’t waste time approaching him, his form badly bruised from the fighting.

“Sweet Celestia, Ben are you okay?” Cheerilee asked.

“You have to stop him…” Ben said through pained breaths his voice urgent. “He’s…on a train, lined with explosives…”

“Tenebris already left, he could be anywhere by now.” Cheerilee said.

“If he isn’t stopped…then the country falls into civil war again…it’s what he wants…death and destruction.” Benjamin said.

“I’ll do it, there’s only one set of tracks in and out of Shady Hollows before it can branch out to other sections of Equestria.” Vesper said shakily.

Ben gently wrapped his hand around her leg. “You can’t look at him as your dad, he’s the enemy…come back to us in one piece.”

Vesper took a deep breath and nodded before taking off into their night air. Her wings propelling her as quickly as they could. Despite all that her father had done her heart was still torn in two, this was the stallion that taught her how to walk, how to write, fly, everything a father should do, but he had also betrayed her. All of the emotions came to a head when she heard the sound of wheels clacking against metal tracks.

----

Tenebris sighed in satisfaction as the train raced through the clear night field. Though Shady Hollow might be in shambles, he would at least succeed in his plan. That was all that mattered to him now, ensuring that the future of Equestria was one cloaked in darkness, as it should be.

The sound of four hooves suddenly touching down on one of the train’s flat cars got his attention. He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was they had sent after him, he simply grinned as he picked up his daughter’s approach.

“So they sent you, above all others, to try and finish the job?” Tenebris chuckled.

“I can’t let you hurt anypony else.” Vesper shook her head.

“You really should be more concerned about yourself right now.” Tenebris snorted before taking a swing at her, which she was able to block, followed by his next blow. The stallion hovered briefly with his wings to get in a better kick on Vesper, scoring a hit that knocked her into a barrel.

Vesper moved to out of the way in time to avoid being hit again, this time getting in a hit of her own but it was a short lived victory as Tenebris quickly went on guard and blocked whatever she seemed to throw at him, landing a few counter punches of his own in retaliation.

“Come on Vesper, I taught you everything you know, how could you ever hope to beat me?” Tenebris mocked.

“You’re right,” Vesper replied as Tenebris drew back and tried to hit her once more, only this time the bat mare took an unfamiliar stance and grabbed his foreleg. “How about something new!” she pulled with all her might on his fore leg, making the stallion cry out in pain before she starter to land blow after blow to his chest.

Vesper released her father who stumbled a bit before trying to attack her again. This time though, she jumped over him, grabbing him by the neck and slung him over her shoulder before planting him on the wood floor of the train.

“It’s over father, you can’t win.” Vesper said catching her breath.

Tenebris merely smiled “But you haven’t beaten me, or have my lessons about finishing your enemy never stuck with you?”

“Why can you not let the past die?” Vesper stomped her hoof angrily against the floor.

“All a stallion does and should ever do should be for the betterment of his herd, his family, if he does then he can hold his head high no matter the cost…even if it cost him everything.” Tenebris said.

“…this is a suicide train!” Vesper exclaimed as it dawned on her what he was talking about.

“Now you understand…you and your friends had lost before they even started fighting me, this is simply the move to put all of Equestria in checkmate, the night of gnashing teeth and weeping will end in flame.” Tenebris chuckled.

“Stop the train, stop it now!” Vesper screamed, pressing her hoof on her father’s chest, causing him to grunt in pain.

“Y-you’re too late, kill me and you forsake your oath, don’t kill me and thousands die…” Tenebris gasped for air before his daughter removed her hoof and paced briefly as she thought. “A shame you came so close, and yet you still can’t do what is required to win.”

“Life is more than a game to me,” Vesper huffed reaching up and slamming on the break as they neared a corner. “I don’t care about winning or losing, I care about my family and friends…and I will break those that hurt them.”

Vesper turned her back on the stallion for a moment as she tried to reach down and undo the latch that held the train cars to the engine pulling them. Despite her best efforts, it remained locked in place, refusing to give no matter what she did. Vesper was suddenly knocked to her hooves by a jolt through the train as it picked up speed once more.

Tenebris was leaning on a tool of some kind before proceeding to swing it at Vesper. “I didn’t do all of this tonight just to have it ruined by some impudent mare!” he shouted attacking her again, this time breaking and locking the break in place just as they rounded the corner.

The ropes holding some of the barrels in place broke causing a few to go over the edge while one sailed towards Vesper. The mare ducked in time for the container to hit and pin her father against the boiling hot engine as the train was derailed.

Vesper flew higher and higher, feeling a sudden heat beneath her hooves as an explosion tore the train apart. The bat mare panted quietly as she hovered alone in the flame licked night. A part of her was glad that she could finally rest easy knowing that there would be no signal, no war, no strife between the tribes like her father wanted.

The more she thought about her father, the more bitter tears started to flow from her eyes. He was right in the end, she hadn’t been the one to kill him, his own ambition had been his undoing, but she felt responsible all the same. There was no bliss in her heart for winning this fight.

---

Cheerilee sighed as she closed the door to her school house behind her. The first one to arrive and the last one to leave, which was how her days were beginning to run together again. It almost felt like the same old routine…almost. The mare smiled when she turned around to see Vesper waiting for her.

“How’s school prep going?” Vesper asked as the two walked home together.

“Well enough, how goes the hunt for Tenebris’ private army?” Cheerilee asked in return.

“They keep coming out of the wood works, it’s like there’s no end to them. Some aren’t even bat ponies…it’s scary to imagine what could have happened if his plan had been successful.” Vesper replied slightly dejectedly.

Cheerilee started to regret asking but placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “I bet Ben would appreciate some company before we head home, I know he’s probably been bored out of his mind.”

Vesper nodded enthusiastically as the two mares picked up the pace towards the hospital. Ben had been put in the same room as Twig had for his wings, so at least he wasn’t too bored, but both of them together could cause trouble for the nurses which made Vesper laugh and Cheerilee roll her eyes in frustration more often than not.

Soon enough, they were at Ben’s bedside, the sight of his injuries still made Vesper’s heart ache, knowing her own family did this. Yet, despite his pain, he place a loving hand against her muzzle. Three of his ribs and his left leg had been broken in the fighting, and when Silver Lining ignited the barrels in the building, he was lucky to be alive.

“You need to hurry up and get better so we can teach you how to actually take care of yourself.” Vesper said.

“Hey, I didn’t do that bad…right?” Benjamin tried to laugh weakly.

“Leave it to a stallion to laugh at a near death experience.” Cheerilee sighed.

“What’s important is that you’re okay and alive…both of you.” Vesper smiled at her herd.

One of us walked in light, one of us in darkness. We never should have met, but a bridge brought us together, and we found something more in the middle.

The Bat and the Teacher

by Ximer

Restless Night

Welcome to Ponyville

Enrollment

The Teacher Meets the Bat

Changing Winds

Emotions

A Forest and a Festival

Aaaand You Goofed

The Road To Dawn

The Herd

Back In The Sun

Loyalty

Sins of the Father

Finale