Children of the Night

Chapter 4

Goldshield sat down at the round table of the Inn, Moonsinger had brought them to. Quick Arrow and Pin Cushion were ordered to guard room number thirty one, in which Princess Celestia rested. The other three guards rested in their respective rooms. A steaming hot jug of tea was placed in front of her, by a greycoated earthpony stallion, who was this Inns landlord.

"Here, that should ease your nerves a bit. I hope Moonsinger hasn't given you too much of a hard time, captain Goldshield."

"Just call me Goldshield. Moonsinger made it quite clear that my rank doesn't mean anything here."

"Well.... Even though this is true, you still are a captain of the royal guard."

He said while sitting down at the table across from her.

"Well, she was quite friendly the second half of the way, but I don't think it was quite necessary to lead us all the way out to Moonlight Farm, just to come back here in the end."

The landlort looked at her for a moment, wideyed, then burst out in laughter.

"So she gave you the "scenic" route then? Figures she would, but please don't hold it against her. It's just her telling you that she may like you, but has to get used to you for a while."

"Well with her eyes all glowing like that, it looked more like she was ready to pounce on me, then to invite me to her birthday party."

"Oh you mean this?"

He asked as, his eyes began to glow like the moon.

"Y...yeah..."

"This is not really a sign of rage, Goldshield. In fact, our abilities vary greatly from those would see in daylight Ponies. I am sure our mother has told you about it. Our glowing eyes come forth, when we call upon our dear mothers gifts. For me, as an earthpony, it is increased physical strength. Unicorns use it to strengthen their magic and pegasi fly faster then any of your daylight pegasi could ever dream of. The problem is that, continous use of these gifts, exhausts the user pretty fast. We are just mortals after all. Our bodies are not made to wield such powers."

He explained as his eyes went back to their normal chestnut color, and he took a sip out of his own jug of tea.

"So... Why is it that Moonsinger is so angry towards us that she calls upon those special powers?"

Goldshield inquired as she tried the tea, Bright Light had poured her. He put his jug down on the table and began to scratch his head with one hoof.

"I don't know if I should tell you... It goes back all the way to the time before we came to live here, so basicly it's a private thing for Moonsinger, but I guess you have a right to know since she can be missunderstood at times. I was, you must know, one of the foals who was in the same orphanage as her, so I know most of her backstory. Do you really want to hear that story? It's a sad one, but it has a good end."

"Yes.. please. I just want to understand why she hates us so much, and especially Princess Celestia."

He shook his head as he continued.

"She doesn't hate you. She just doesn't feel any sympathy for you either. You mean nothing to her, that's all. It's quite easy to tic her off though, since our mother made the only mistake I can remember, telling us about Celestias refusal to let her found the garden officially. You must know, that back in the day, there were many, many orphanages that burst with orphans. I myself lost my parents to a quarrel between Pegasi and Earthponies. Some others became discorded and just abandoned their foals. Moonsinger, or Cherry Scotch as her name was back then, was one of those.In our orphanage, there was always a shortage in food, toys and even books so we could learn something. All those things however were very expensive, and we orphans didn't get any allowances... Some, who didn't have the luck of being in an orphanage, sold their bodies to make some bits... Oh don't look at me like that! Foal prostitutes were quite common back then. It was illegal ofcourse, but no one really cared. Nor did they care for those who got... injured while doing so.... They simply died miserably in the streets."

He took another sip, watching Goldshield carefully to estimate her reaction. The only expression he saw however was one of utter suprise, and interest.

"Others begged for money and they also managed to get by, but some Ponies didn't take it too well if you asked them for a bit to spare... I heard of foals who were beaten up by adults, just for asking for a bit so they could afford a bite to eat...."

A tear formed on the corner of Bright Light's eye and rolled down his cheek.

"And the last sort of us, were those who did neither of these things. They either stole stuff from stores, or raided trashbins at night. In most the orphanages, there were those foals who we called..... attention whores.... They did everything to make our caretakers like them and as a result some of them were chosen. The chosen ones, were always well fed and cared for. They never recieved a single beating, like the rest of us. Why was that you ask? I see the question in your eyes... The answer is quite simple. In case of an inspection of course. They could always hide away the rest of us and only present the few chosen foals to the Inspector."

He took another sip from his tea, giving Goldshield the opportunity to throw in a question.

"But... if you said there were... foal prostitutes... Does that mean Moonsinger..."

"No! Never! She would never have done such a thing! Cherry was a gentle Pony and, even so you might not guess it nowadays, she was also rather shy towards other Ponies. She overcame that flaw however, when it came to taking care of us. She begged on the streets of Hoofington and raided trashbins at night, to provide us with enough food so we wouldn't starve. Judging from the look on your face, you have never been in the danger of starving. I can tell you that, if you had ever been, you wouldn't look that disgusted. If you are really hungry, because all you had all day was only a small bowl of moldy hay, then another persons trash seems like a five star dinner. Anyway, I'm trayling off. That is the only a part of this story I can tell you from my own account. The rest I heard from our mother. I never ever dared to ask Cherry Scotch about it, since I thought it might be a touchy subject. What happened that night was this: "

And he leaned forward on the table, looking Goldshield deep in the eyes.

"Our orphanage had gotten wind of an upcoming inspection by Princess Luna, as you refer to our dear mother. Since it was common knowledge back then that she slept during daytime, even so she can stay awake for weeks if she has too, our caretakers sent us to bed pretty early. They got their "chosen" out and waited for the Princess. Cherry took that opportunity to go out earlier this night, to get food from the trashbins in the nearby shopping district. It was, as she told me once, always a case of who was there first, cause other foals obviously had the same idea to get food. That night however, Cherries luck finally ran out.... There was this one storeowner... I think it was a bakery or something like that.... However, he was a really bulky one. Very strong and with a very short temper. I don't remember his name, since it's been so long, and I never fancied associating with him. Well, he was also known to be a regular customer to some of the foals.... It was also common knowledge that some of the deaths in the streets, went to his account."

"Then why did nopony do something about it? That's not only illegal, but that sounds like a case for a lifesentence in the spice mines! Surely the royal guard would have...."

Goldshield interrupted him, but Bright Light just sighed.

"The royal guard had only about twenty members back then, and they had their hands full guarding the palace and the princesses. An organized group of lawenforcers was just non existent in these times. Anyway... Where was I... Ah, yes. Cherry was about to get a bunch of slightly burned pastries and bread from his trash, as he came into the alleyway through his stores backdoor.... From what I hear, he was not to pleased by this discovery. He beat her within  an inch of her life, the whole time she was trying to escape him, but apparently his grip on her was too firm. Had she managed to break free, I am sure up to this day, that she could have outrun him. Sadly even her magic wasn't of any use at the time, since she couldn't even use telekinesis. So when he had finished venting his anger on her, he tried to have his way with her right there in the alleyway. Had he succeeded, he would most likely just have ditched her body somewhere and she would have been just one more prostitute that had died. Just before he could however, our dear mother passed by the alleyway and just happened to hear Cherry's muffled screams. She dashed in there, and tackled him off of Cherry Scotch. I don't know if the light wasn't enough for him to notice her wings, or if he just didn't care, but obviously he thought it was his lucky day. He thought he might get to mares for the price of none, but he had underestimated our mother. She has never even told us what she did before she became a council member in the old Equestria, but she disposed of him in a matter of seconds. When the royal guards, that had fallen behind, caught up with our mother, he was crouching in a dark corner of the ally. He was immediately  charged with attempted rape, uncalled for violence toward a minority and an attack on royalty. He didn't resist as one of the guards took him away to the nearest watch station to imprison him. I think you will never guess what happened next."

"Well... Ehm... She ordered the guard to take Moonsinger and bring her home?"

He laughed again and, this time, brought down his hoof several times on the table as if she had made a particular funny joke.

"No way! She levitated her on her back with her magic, and carried her all the way back to the orphanage. The remaining guard, she ordered to get a cart and confiscate all the products inside the shop, then follow her. When she reached the orphanage, she gently put her into a bed and fed her with some of the bread and milk the guard had brought with him. She completly ignored our caretakers while she did so. They were making to store away the food she brought, but as she noticed this, she snapped and pointed at us, who had gathered around Cherry Scotchs bed."

"Look at these foals! They didn't have anything decent to eat in weeks by the looks of it. Judging from the ones that stand around you, you were trying to fool me into believing that everything was going fine here, but that is far from the truth!"

"Then her voice became gentler and she gestured for us to endulge in the cartload of food. I don't think I have to mention that we did. Oh I had never been so full in my life after that cart was empty. In the meanwhile, she chewed out our caretakers even more and had then returned to Cherrys side. They talked all night in fact. Cherry told her everything, while she listend horrorfied. Before she left, she assigned the guard she had brought with her, an unicorn named Silver Helmet, to stand guard over us so we would never be mistreated again. Also she promised Cherry Scotch that she would come again and take her away from this awefull place... However, she didn't come for several days after this. On the fifth night after that incident had occured, a bright light shone through the window of our bedroom. I, as an earthpony, am unable to sense or tell the difference of magic. Cherry however woke up immediately, since she had sensed our dear mothers magic. She glided right through our window, embracing Cherry who had run up to her. However, she was quickly disappointed as our mother answered her question, if she had finally come to take her away, by shaking her head. Before she could show her disappointment however, she adressed all of us."

"I have come to take all of you with me, my children."

Bright Light broke out in tears as he remembered this line, from so long ago.

"And that is how we became the children of the night, since our dear mother is the ruler of the night, we entitled ourselves that way."

He sobbed in joyful reminiscence, as Goldshield had stood up and patted him on the back with her foreleg.

"And then she took you with her? I still don't really understand why Moonsinger reacted the way she did."

He turned on her, and his expression was one of a teacher looking at a really dense foal.

"Do you really not see it? We were living miserabel lives. All the adults were living in the light of day, while we had to scavenge TRASH in the night. They never were kind to us, nor cared if we were miserable or not. All they cared for were their own petty lives. We got laughed at, and beaten by some very mean ones, even raped as I just told you. Orphans... no one will miss them, was the general opinion. And there, our dear mother, ruler of the night, was willing to get into a hoof to hoof fight with a stallion twice her size, just because some streetmeat orphan was recieving a beating, and was about to be raped! It was the very first time an ADULT had shown any of us ANY kindness. AND it wasn't just any adult either, but a princess! She could have cared less about us. Most adults may have seen the scene, but they would just have moved on, without doing anything! That was when Moonsinger or, as I usually still call her, Cherry Scotch, started to act different towards Ponies who prefered the light of day. After our mother had told us about her sisters refusal to do anything about our situation however, she grew more then cold towards Celestia and her subjects. Our mothers banishment didn't help ease her opinion on that account either. It was shortly before that banishment, that, for some of us who already had our cutie marks, they changed. Mother always told us that it had something to do with the barrier, and I have no reason to disbelief her. It was then, by the way, that Cherry Scotch, after a discussion with our mother, changed her name to Moonsinger. For her it was the last tie to be broken to her former life in the light of day."

"But you can't grow your crops without the sun."

"No we can't, but we can harvest them at night. I am sorry Goldshield, but you still think to much like a daylight Pony and that will be so for a while. Your sun may be brighter then the moon, but you don't see the other differences... The sun doesn't only gives life, but it also burns. It can hurt Ponies if they are exposed to it for too long. The light of the moon is much gentler, and sufficient once you get used to the lack of my namesake.... bright light. I advise you to take a closer look at both Princesses, and you might find that their personalities resemble their celestial bodies."