Choosing of the Guard
Night Flight looked up from her desk. The sound of somepony coming down the hall was exactly what she wanted to hear. “Good timing, I was just looking over the paperwork concerning you.”
The cadet snapped rigidly to attention. “I came as soon as I got the message, ma'am.”
“Cadet, you can pull the stick out now.”
“Ma'am?”
“At ease.” Night Flight rubbed a hoof against her forehead. “Do you have any idea why you are here?”
“I’m going to be disciplined, ma'am.”
One of Night Flight’s eyebrows rose. “Oh? Why exactly do you need to be punished?”
“Because I’m too soft and did not meet the Lunar Guard standards on my latest tests, ma'am.”
“I have your latest test results right here. Flexibility, strength, and endurance marks came back fine. Your flight speeds need to increase a little, but it’s nothing worthy of having a demerit, in fact, you're average in your score in that category.” Night Flight leaned back in her chair, trying to assume a casual posture that would help him feel at ease. “You really don't have a clue why you're here?”
“I don’t have a single idea, ma'am.”
“You’re being transferred to Ponyville for a month.” Night Flight was shocked as she watched the cadet’s face slowly fall. Even with his vain attempts to hide his reaction, it was clear to her that the cadet thought his world had ended.
“May I have permission to speak freely, ma'am?”
“Permission granted.”
“What did I do wrong? Was it something I said? Was it weapons training? I know I’m not the best with the lances; I’m much better bare hooved in a fight. I swear I’ll improve, whatever it is, just give me a chance!” His voice sounded as if his soul had been crushed.
“Cadet, stop! Breathe! This is not a punishment; you’ve been selected for a very important task. You’re going to be the personal guard of Twilight Sparkle.”
The cadet’s eyes widened. “There must be some mistake; I’m not the best in my class.” He motioned back towards the barracks. “Cold Shadow is at the top. I can’t have jumped up that far from the latest tests, it’s mathematically impossible.”
Night Flight smiled as she looked over his shoulder. “Perhaps you need somepony else to explain why you have been chosen?”
“Cadet Horologium Nocturnum, why are you in such a state of incredulity?”
Nocturnal froze.
Night Flight grinned at him. “Princess Luna just asked you a question. You should answer her.”
Nocturnal spun around. He bowed so quickly he had to use a hoof to keep his helmet from coming off his head. “Princess Luna, please excuse my rudeness. I was not expecting anypony else.”
Luna fought a smile. “Do you not feel that you should be given such a task?” Luna levitated Nocturnal’s records from Night Flight’s desk and flipped through them. “I see nothing amiss here. You are not the best where speed is concerned, but your navigational skills during night flights and ground training exercises are considerable.”
“I’m not the best for this assignment,” he nervously voiced. “There must have been some mistake.”
Luna smirked. “Are you implying that I, Luna, your ruler and commander, have chosen poorly?”
After a few seconds of complete silence, and no movement from Nocturnal, Night Flight brought a hoof to her face. “Princess, I don’t think he was quite ready for that kind of joke.”
Luna reached out a hoof and lightly bopped Nocturnal on the nose. “Cadet, I would have your reply.”
Nocturnal blinked and told her, “Princess, I would never think such a thing.”
“I am pleased. You were chosen, not due to your combat prowess, but because you are the most amiable of the cadets in my Lunar Guard.” She slowly put each page of Nocturnal’s records back in their folder. “Deftness with weapons, flight skills, survival knowledge, physical condition, all are well and good. However, Cold Shadow lacks something, as he lives up to his name. He is cold in his treatment of all ponies, not discourteous, just cold.”
Night Flight nodded. “He’s has the personality of a rock. For this mission, we need someone that can get along with ponies from a small town. I’ve seen you with civilians. You’ve always polite and eager to help them, even with the smallest thing. You even put up with foals asking you all kinds of questions about being a bat pony.”
Luna looked into Nocturnal’s eyes as she told him what his assignment would entail: “You are going to be the representative of the Lunar Guard for a month. You will travel there along with a cadet from the Royal Guards, and one from the Crystal Guards of the Empire. At the end of the month, Twilight is to choose from which branch of the military her guard shall come from. You are to ensure that her choice is to be the Lunar Guard.”
He swallowed. “That’s going to be quite a challenge.”
Luna gave him an encouraging look. “Yes, but I know that you are the one that can accomplish this task. Shining Armor’s presence in the Empire put it under the jurisdiction of the Royal Guard, with the Crystal Guard being nothing more than a branch of sister’s forces. I do not want to see Ponyville and Twilight under such protection.”
Nocturnal could not prevent a number of worried thoughts from passing through his head.
As if able to read his thoughts, Luna gave Nocturnal a reassuring smile. “No, Cadet, the Nightmares’ influence has been driven from me. It is not out of personal gain or due to malevolent influences that I wish to do this. Ponyville is too close to the Everfree Forest, and far too valuable, being the home of the Elements, to be without adequate defenses. Twilight’s presence there eases my concerns, but there are threats in this land she cannot and should not face alone.”
Night Flight pointed at Nocturnal. “We aim to ensure she never has too, and you’re the key to our success. If she chooses us, she will have the best defenders of Equestria at her side day and night.”
“Well spoken,” Luna said to her captain.
Nocturnal bowed. “I will do all that I can to make sure she picks us Lunar Guards as her protectors, Princess.”
“I expected no less. I know you will succeed.”
*****
Nocturnal stepped off the train and immediately felt like he had made a mistake in accepting this mission. The sheer number of ponies that stopped and openly stared at him made him more than a little self-conscious.
He gave the ponies a weak wave. “Hello, could one of you fine ponies point me towards the Golden Oak Library?”
His vision was suddenly filled with a smiling pink face. He tried to pull back, out of shock, only to have a matching pink pair of forelegs lock around his neck.
“You’ve got to be the new pony! I’m so excited! Not only are you a new pony, but you’re a bat pony too! There hasn’t been a bat pony in Ponyville since Nightmare Night and that was ages ago!”
Not sure how to respond, he hugged her back. “Thanks for the welcome. It was starting to feel a little weird with all the ponies just looking at me.”
Pinkie released him and turned to admonish the ponies gathered on the platform. “You should be ashamed! You’re supposed to be nice to new ponies, not make them feel bad! You should apologize to…” She stopped in the middle of her berating and turned back to Nocturnal. “What’s your name?”
“Horologium Nocturnum.”
Pinkie tilted her head. “Hooligan Nocturnes what?”
“Nocturnal works.”
Pinkie turned back to the still gawking ponies. She ordered them, “Apologize to Nocturnal, you made him feel bad!”
A chorus of apologies followed Pinkie’s demand.
Pinkie curtly nodded at them. “Sorry about that. They can be silly fillies and colts sometimes,” Pinkie said, addressing Nocturnal once again.
“It’s not a problem, the same thing still happens in Canterlot.” He paused, realizing something. “Miss, I never did get your name.”
“It’s Pinkie Pie and don’t call me miss, I’m not that old.” She bounced up and down. “You wanted to know where the library is. I can show you just follow me!”
Nocturnal quickly grabbed his travel bag and started to follow her.
Pinkie’s simple command proved to be a difficult task. She bounded through the town’s streets with endless energy. She never broke the rhythm of her bounces as she greeted every pony on the streets.
Nocturnal watched Pinkie in amazement. Not only did she effortlessly dodge everypony on the street, she also never stopped her friendly banter.
His watching Pinkie distracted Nocturnal from looking where he was going, and he ended up running into, and tangling hooves with, another pony. They both fell in a heap. His travel bag slid away from him, and ended up coming to rest against a wheel of an apple cart.
Nocturnal leapt to his hooves and offered to help the mare up. “I’m so sorry! I was trying to follow a pony to the Golden Oak Library and I wasn't watching where I was going.”
“No problem, if a little bump like that and some dirt were going to kill me I’d have been done in a long time ago.” She noted he was strong as he helped her to her hooves.
The mare stated, “You’re a bat pony.”
“That I am.” He picked up her saddlebags, dusted them off, and helped her put them back on. “Again, I’m sorry. I should have been watching where I was going.”
“I reckon this belongs to you.” The owner of the apple cart held Nocturnal's travel bag out to him.
“Yes it is. Thank you kindly.” He took the bag from the apple seller and slung it across his shoulders.
The apple seller looked him over with a critical eye. “You must be one of the ponies sent for Twilight to take a gander at.”
“I am. How did you know that?”
“Twilight and I are good friends and she told me that three ponies would be comin’ to town sometime today. I think you’re the first to get here. What’s your name?”
“His name is Hockey Notorious or something like that,” Pinkie said, as she appeared seemingly from thin air. “He’s a pretty nice pony. He even gave me a hug.”
“That’s movin’ a midge fast there, Hockey.”
“My name is Horologium Nocturnum. Please, just call me Nocturnal. As for the hug, she hugged me first and it would have been rude not to return the gesture.”
“I know sugar cube. Pinkie is a touchy feely pony. I was just pulling your tail.” She tilted her hat to him. “I’m Applejack, and the pony that you ran into is my cousin, Apple Cobbler.”
He took off his helmet and bowed to both mares. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
Cobbler poked him in the shoulder. “You better get going. Twilight does not taking being tardy well at all.” She turned and heading off to complete her shopping. “I’ll see you around.”
Nocturnal watched her go, noticing her distinctive two-toned tail.
“Remember that’s my cousin you’re gawking at.”
Nocturnal blushed. “I’ve never see a tail like hers.” He quickly did his best to clarify, as Applejack raised an eyebrow. “I just meant the colors of her tail!”
Applejack smugly grinned. “Sure you did. You better just follow Pinkie and get goin’ before you stick your hoof in your mouth again.”
He did as he was told and followed Pinkie. Pinkie made the task a little easier, in one sense, as she stayed by his side the whole time. However, to his chagrin, she gave him pointers on how he could impress Cobbler. He found Pinkie’s almost encyclopedic knowledge of Cobbler’s like and dislikes impressive and a little creepy at the same time.
Pinkie led them into the library and went to get Twilight from the basement. “I’m sure she’s up to something super-duper magical.”
“Pinkie, is that you?”
Nocturnal looked up to the second level of the library. His jaw dropped as he watched a young dragon descend the stairs.
The dragon did not notice him, until the young reptile reached the bottom of the stairs. “Whoa a bat pony! I thought Luna was going to send one of the Shadow Bolts. Twilight’s going to flip.”
Nocturnal could not keep himself from stating the obvious. “You’re a dragon.”
Spike drew himself up. “Yep, I’m the whole package: scales, claws, fire, and a mean bite.” He brandished the feather duster he had been carrying at Nocturnal. “You better not disappoint Twilight; she’s been in knots over this inspection thing since she got that letter from Celestia about having to make a choice of guards.”
The sight of the diminutive dragon threatening him with a harmless cleaning instrument almost made Nocturnal laugh. “I’ll do my best not to.”
He turned, as Twilight entered the room from the basement. He bowed. “Princess Twilight, I, Horologium Nocturnum, am at your service.”
Twilight grinned from ear to ear upon seeing that he was a bat pony. “Please stand, you don’t have to bow, and you can drop the honorific. I’m not Princess Celestia or Luna. I’m just Twilight.”
She walked around him, inspecting the physical differences between him and most ponies. “Spike,” she asked, “would you get my parchment, a quill, and some ink?” She stood in front of Nocturnal and closely examined his eyes. “I have a lot of notes to take, and a lot of questions to ask.”
“I’ll do my best to answer whatever questions you have.”
Twilight suddenly shook her head as if fighting with an inner voice. “Thanks, but I’ll have to talk with you later. I have to be impartial; I can’t spend more time with you than with the others. They’re not even here yet.” She turned to her ward. “Spike, don’t worry about the note taking materials. Take him to the basement and make sure he’s comfortable. Get him a book, food, whatever he needs.”
Spike snapped off a salute.
“Just a place to put my travel bag would be more than enough, thanks.”
“Follow me… What was your name again?”
“Horologium Nocturnum, same as his cutie mark,” Twilight explained as she ascended the stairs to her quarters. “It’s a tool used to tell time and navigate by the stars. It is a bit of a mouthful to say.”
“Nocturnal works just fine.” He told them both.
Spike led him to the library’s basement where a guest room had been set up.
It reminded Nocturnal quite a bit of home. “Comfy bed, underground, secure, nice and cool too. I like it.” He glanced around, and realized that there was only one bed. “Do we have to fight for the bed or something?”
Spike chuckled. “No, Twilight’s got something planned with you and the other guards. I don’t know what it is, or I would tell you.”
“Thanks for the offer. Even if you did, I’d ask you to not tell me.”
Spike looked at him, surprised by Nocturnal’s statement. “Don’t you want to get an edge on the competition?”
“If Twilight is going through as much trouble as she is to be unbiased I can play by the rules.” He took off his helmet for a moment and scratched his head. His long, midnight blue mane fell to his shoulders.
Pinkie looked over his dark blue mane and grinned. “Rarity is going to have a fit when she sees your mane. I bet she'll try to style it first thing.”
“Rarity?” Nocturnal asked. He put his helmet back on and wondered why a mare would be excited over his mane.
“Fashion designer, the loveliest mare in Ponyville, and Element of Generosity.” Spike looked over Nocturnal again, this time with the look of a dragon discovering he may have possible rival. “Don’t go getting any ideas; she’s already got someone after her heart.”
“Don’t worry Spike. Nocturnal here likes Cobbler,” Pinkie informed the dragon. She acted as if she were a school age filly spreading playground gossip. “He even complimented her tail to Applejack.”
“That didn’t take long,” Spike prodded him.
Nocturnal did not take the bait. “We ran into each other in the market, she seemed like a nice mare.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “You’re saying you didn’t look at her tail?”
Nocturnal decided to keep his mouth shut, but his blush answered for him.
“I thought so.”
“The other new ponies are here!” Pinkie exclaimed. She raced up the stairs to the library’s main floor.
“Is she always like that?”
“You have no idea. She’s on her best behavior right now. Twilight asked her not to overwhelm you guys too quickly.” He led the way back up the stairs. “You have one thing going for you that the others don’t. You were on time.”
As Nocturnal emerged from the stairs, he quickly took note of his rivals. The Royal Guard was a unicorn about the same age as he was. The unicorn was under assault from Pinkie who was doing her best to introduce herself and ask questions all in one jumble of words. The cadet from the Crystal Empire surprised him in that it was a mare. When she moved, the Crystal Heart’s magic made her body seem as if she were a living stature of smoky quartz passing by a candle.
The heavily armored mare gave Nocturnal a warm smile. “You must be the Lunar Guard.” She walked over and offered a hoof. “Tourmaline Quartz, pleased to meet you.”
She moved with the grace of a manticore about to pounce its prey. He accepted the offered hoof and shook. “Horologium Nocturnum.” Seeing her look of disbelief, he added, “Just Nocturnal, please.”
“Yeah, I’ll stick with Nocturnal.” She looked over to where Pinkie was still harassing the unicorn. “She certainly doesn’t act like one of the heroes of Equestria.”
“Who?” Nocturnal asked her.
“The crazy mare over there,” Quartz said, pointing towards Pinkie. “She’s the Element of Laughter.”
Nocturnal felt as if he had been doused with ice water. “Luna help me. I didn’t know.”
Quartz looked at him in shock. “You can’t be serious. Have you been living under a rock?”
“It’s a nice cave, I’ll have you know,” he replied with false indignation.
She laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “We’ll probably get to meet all the Elements. This is their hometown. Surely your superiors briefed you about the Elements?”
“Captain Night Flight thought it best if I didn’t know too much about them so that my reactions to them would be natural.” He waved over to Pinkie. “Why didn’t you tell me you were the Element of Laughter?”
Pinkie turned her attention away from the unicorn, much to the guard’s relief, and bounced over to Nocturnal. “I didn’t think it was important. Would you have treated me any different if you knew?”
“Actually, I might have bowed. You Elements are the saviors of our nation many times over. That deserves the highest respect.”
Pinkie grinned. “Then it’s a good thing you didn’t know. We’re all just regular ponies, and we like to be treated just like regular ponies.”
Twilight came down from her living quarters, and shook hooves with the each of the chosen representatives. “It’s good to have you here. I’ve talked with my friends and we’ve devised a way to make the selection process as even as possible. Spike, if you would be as so kind as to bring the box.”
Spike brought the prepared box over and had each pony draw a slip of paper. On each piece of paper was one of the Elements names.
“You will stay with the Element whose name you drew for the next few days. They will note your behavior, good or ill, and tell me what they think of you at the end of your stay. I will drop by and see how everything is going at least once a day.” She motioned to the unicorn. “Mirage, who did you draw?”
“The lady Applejack,” he formally replied.
Twilight sighed at his reaction. “I’m not going to be able to get you to drop the Royal Guard formality am I?”
“I’m under strict orders that as long as I’m in uniform I am to abide by the Royal Guard code to the letter.”
Twilight grinned. “Then I have a simple solution. Take the armor off.” She looked over to the other guards. “You two can take your armor off too. That goes for the remainder of your stay. I want to know the ponies under the armor, not you as guards of any particular type.”
Quartz shrugged. As she took off her helm, she shook her short cut mane, stunning the other ponies. Her pale blond mane had natural dark highlights that seemed to dance as the shimmer worked on them. She took her armor off with practiced, deliberate motions. Its combat design seemed to make it cumbersome to remove.
Nocturnal’s own armor was not designed for heavy combat. It was a lighter suit of lacquered pads with metal guards that shielded his vital points. What the armor lacked for in protection, it allowed for quick movement and long distance flying. He easily unbuckled and freed himself of his armor.
He offered to Quartz, “I can help you, if you’d like.”
She nodded appreciatively. “Getting in these things with help is hard enough. Trying to get out of them without help is a real pain in the flank.”
Mirage slid out of his flimsy ceremonial armor without effort. He grumbled about the various ways it was useless and pointless as he removed each piece.
Twilight smiled at him. “There, now you’re officially out of uniform. I can’t believe Celestia had you wear that. Shining Armor told me those things were worthless in a fight and uncomfortable too.”
“Celestia was not the one that ordered me to wear it. It was the new captain, Tough Love.” Mirage gathered his armor together. “Where should I put this?”
Spike extended his diminutive arms. “I’ll take that.”
Freed of his uniform, Mirage’s true personality began to show. “I don’t think so. I don’t want to have it on my conscience that I’d buried you alive. You can help me with my helm though.”
Twilight nodded to Quartz. “Who did you get?”
Quartz held out her slip of paper. “I got Fluttershy.”
“And you?”
Nocturnal read aloud, “Rainbow Dash.”
“Somepony call my name?”
Everypony, and one dragon, turned to the library’s door. There stood Rainbow herself, striking a pose.
“Yes, Rainbow, Horologium Nocturnum drew you first.”
“Gesundheit.” Rainbow looked the guards over. She was not sure which guard Twilight had named.
Nocturnal extended a hoof. “You can call me Nocturnal if you’d like.”
Rainbow’s wings snapped open in excitement. “You mean I get my own bat pony! Twilight, that’s so awesome!”
Twilight slapped a hoof to her forehead. “He’s a guest. Not a pet, a toy, or servant, please be nice to him.”
“I was joking, sheesh.” Rainbow shook Nocturnal’s hoof. “You can land on clouds, right?”
Nocturnal assured her, “Of course.”
“Then let’s get going. I’ve got weather duty to do, practice to get in, naps to take, pranks to pull, and a bat pony to take notes on.” Rainbow pointed to Nocturnal’s armor. “How heavy is that?”
“I don’t know exactly, but it’s not too bad. Why?” He stood there disbelieving, as she began to pull his armor on.
Rainbow struggled with the armor’s fastenings. “I need to add some weight when I’m training. Armor designed to fly with is perfect for that. Help me put it on.”
Nocturnal did as directed and helped her into the armor. As she put the helm on, he told her, “It’s a little big. Still, it looks good on you.”
“I tend to make anything I wear more awesome.” Rainbow waved to the other ponies. “Catch you guys later, we’ve got to fly.”
Twilight waved them out the door. “I guess I’ll introduce you to the others later then. You two get going. I’d hate to make you late for weather duty.”
Rainbow led Nocturnal out of the library and into the sunlight. She paused, looking at him expectantly.
After an awkward moment, he asked, “Is there something on my face?”
“You didn’t flinch at the sunlight.” She leaned closer to him. “Smile for me.”
He pulled his lips up in a smile.
She huffed, not getting what she wanted. “Teeth, I want to see teeth.”
He smiled again, this time showing his teeth.
“What a letdown. I thought you guys had fangs.”
“No fangs. I don’t burn away or turn to dust in sunlight. I have no desire for blood or meat either. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m just a pony a little better equipped to live at night.”
“You’re not going to fall out asleep on me are you? I thought you guys were nocturnal too.”
“Most of us are. Just like some non-bat ponies work at night, I work during the day. There should be no problem.”
“Good, I plan to push you. A good guard has to have endurance and skill. You think you’re going to be able to keep up with the one and only Rainbow Dash? I’m the best flyer in Equestria, winner of the Best Young Flyer Competition, and only pegasus alive to be able to pull off the Sonic Rainboom.”
“I might not be able to, but I’ll give it all I’ve got trying to,” he promised.
She smiled. “That’s what I want to hear. Follow me. We’ve got a lot to do this afternoon.” She took off, heading towards Cloudsdale.
“What have I gotten myself into?” Nocturnal asked himself, before taking off after her.
*****
“You’re supposed to be faster than that! I’m the one wearing the armor.”
Luna help me, I thought my flight instructor was bad, he thought. “I’m doing all that I can! I can’t go any faster!”
“Cloud! Now!”
From Rainbow's tone, he knew she was not pleased with him at all. They quickly landed on a cloud.
She lit into him, stunning him with her almost drill sergeant like attitude. “You do not say ‘can’t’ when you’re training with me. It’s a four-letter word, and I won’t have it. If that’s the kind of attitude you’ve got, you better get your tail back on the train to Canterlot, because I won’t let Twilight and Ponyville be guarded by a bunch of wimps.”
He held up a hoof, silently pleading for a moment to get his wind back. He gasped for a couple seconds, and explained, “You’ve got the wrong idea.” He unfurled a wing, and pointed to it. “I literally can’t go faster. We bat ponies don’t have the same kind of wings that you do. We have membranes. Pegasi have feathers.”
“So? Sounds like an excuse to me.”
He puffed up a little at her remark. “Alright, hot shot. Follow me then.” He leapt off the cloud, waited for her to get to a proper following distance, and then went through a ‘basic’ training routine. He pulled off sharp turns, sudden changes in altitude, and did quick directional changing tricks that left Rainbow looking like a foal just learning to fly.
He guided her to another cloud after going through the routine. “Now you understand a little better. We are much more like bats in our flying. Pegasi are like predator and long distance migrating birds. Bat ponies are the hummingbirds and swifts of the flying ponies.”
“I get it. I get it.” Her confidence shaken a little, she acknowledged, “You beat me.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t ‘beat’ you. We fly differently. If you were a bat pony you would leave me stuck in a cloud somewhere; you’re so much better skill wise.”
She plucked up quite a bit. “So I’m still awesome?”
“You’re still awesome. I'm a little slow, even for a bat pony. If you help me again a little more in that area, without killing me, I’ll show you some tricks to turn faster. Deal?”
She spit on her hoof, and offered it to him. “Deal.”
He spit on his, shook hers, and the training began in earnest.
*****
The next drawing had Nocturnal staying at Fluttershy’s cottage. He thanked Luna for his luck, as he needed to recover from the days training and working with Rainbow. It took Nocturnal almost a full day to get Fluttershy to talk. After getting her to open up, he found she was a very intelligent and knowledgeable mare. He helped her with the animals, did odd jobs around the cottage, and even put up with Angel’s antics with patience. Quartz, he learned from Fluttershy, had threatened to feed Angel to a hydra after he had thrown a carrot at her one too many times.
After his stay with Fluttershy, he drew Pinkie Pie. The contrast between the reserved pegasus and the outgoing party mare was jarring for him at first. After spending days helping her with the shop, taking care of the Cake's twins, helping pull off parties, and playing with Pinkie, he found he was almost as wiped out as he had been after training with Rainbow.
His next draw was not as lucky when it came to his physical recovery. He drew Applejack.
He presented himself at the gate to Sweet Apple Acres at the specified time and waited. To his surprise, three fillies were the first to greet him. They rushed up the path from the homestead and stopped just on the other side of the gate.
“Whoa, a real bat pony! He’s cool looking! You’re so lucky he’s staying with you!” The pegasus filly looked him over intensely. “You got to train with Rainbow Dash for days; did she teach you a lot of cool stuff?”
He smiled at her enthusiasm. “Yes, she did. We showed each other new tricks to tell the truth.” He muttered to himself, “I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever get my armor back though.”
“You young’uns get,” Applejack yelled, “you’re supposed to be helpin’ Fluttershy, not pesterin’ Nocturnal.”
“See you later!” The earth pony filly called over her shoulder as she and her friends ran towards Fluttershy’s cottage.
“Sorry about that. I wish I had that much energy to use around here.” Applejack looked him over. “Speakin’ of that, how are you at buckin’ apples?”
“I’ve never tried.”
Applejack grinned wickedly. “Then I’ve got lots to teach ya.”
By the end of the afternoon Nocturnal hurt in places he did not know could hurt. Learning to apple buck had been tough. After he got that skill half way down, the real work began. He bucked trees, hauled apples, fed the farm animals, and helped Big McIntosh repair a wheel on the Apple family's market wagon.
He slowly stretched, using some of the techniques taught by the Lunar Guard to try to relax his tired and weary muscles. After completing the last stretch, he rolled to his side into a cool off posture.
“You’re quite flexible. Are all bat ponies able to stretch like that?” Cobbler asked.
Nocturnal quickly rolled to his stomach and then leapt to his hooves. “Sorry about that. I didn’t hear you coming.”
“That’s because I snuck up on you. I was hoping to surprise you, but you seemed a little too worn out for that. Would you care for a glass of water?”
He gratefully took the glass and drank it down. “Thank you! I thought training with Rainbow was a workout. Applejack and Big McIntosh are really something if they can do this all day every day.”
“That’s why I specialize in baking apples, and not farming them.” She walked over to one of the trees, and gave it a solid two-legged kick. The majority of the apples fell from the tree. “I’m not half bad at harvesting them either; I’m just not as good as my cousins.”
“Cobbler, quit showing off,” Applejack yelled from her spot in the orchard. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to help you. Just tell him what you need.”
Cobbler stuck her tongue out at her cousin and shouted, “You’re no fun!” She turned back to Nocturnal. “I think I knocked down most of the apples that I need. I just need two baskets worth for the bakery.”
After returning the glass to the house, Nocturnal fetched a couple of baskets and helped Cobbler gather the fallen apples. He helped her hook the baskets to the specialized harness she brought that allowed her to carry them two at a time.
Cobbler tested the weight of the load of apples. “Nope, I’m going to need three.” She called to Applejack, “Can I borrow him for a few minutes?”
Applejack walked over. “I don’t see why not. We don’t have anythin’ else that needs doin’ today.” She winked at Cobbler. “I need him to work with McIntosh in the market tomorrow so don’t send him back with too many bruises.”
Cobbler blushed, but said nothing to Applejack in reply as she headed towards town.
Nocturnal shouldered a basket of apples of his own and caught up with Cobbler. “How exactly does a pony get bruised up carrying baskets of apples?”
“Have you met a pony named Caramel?” After receiving a shake of the head from Nocturnal, she continued, “Caramel used to work for my cousins.” She looked towards the sky and smiled. “He has the oddest streaks of luck. Sometimes no matter what he tries, it turns out golden. Other times he couldn’t boil water without causing a catastrophe. He was helping me during one of his bad luck streaks.”
“I take it things didn’t end well for him.”
“To make an odd, long, and convoluted story short, he ended up falling down the bakery stairs, hit his head on the lowest shelf in a rack, and had the entire rack’s worth of supplies fall on him.” She winced at the memory. “It took us a couple of minutes just to get him out from under the pile.”
“I think I’ll stay away from those stairs then.”
They talked all the way to Cobbler’s family bakery. Nocturnal helped her unload the apples, met a few of the Apples he had not met before, and was given a small sack of apples for his trouble.
Nocturnal had apples of all kinds on the brain. As he made his way back to Sweet Apple Acres, he even chewed on an apple.
As he neared the gate, Applejack came to meet him. “I see she didn’t beat you up as badly as Caramel. I trust you behaved yourself?”
“I did.” He smiled and offered her an apple from his sack. “Care for one?”
She waved off the offered apple. “As much as you’ve jumped in to working on the farm, and your liking of our apples, you might end up an apple yourself if you don’t watch it.” She waved him towards the house. “Come on, dinner’s ready. Granny’s about as bad as Twilight about bein’ late, when it comes to meals.”
Nocturnal looked at the leftover core in his hoof. He smiled and thought, Maybe being an Apple wouldn’t be bad at all.
*****
Nocturnal worked his tail off the entirety of his stay with the Apples, but he enjoyed it. His own family was not nearly as close and he felt grateful for being included in the family’s life so completely. Cobbler managed to find a reason to ‘borrow’ Nocturnal from Sweet Apple Acres every day. While technically they did work and worked hard at times, he found that enjoyed the time with her quite a bit.
When it came time for him to leave, he almost regretted having to have to move on.
For the last time, the trio of guards found themselves in the library waiting to draw from the box.
Twilight told them, “This is the last time you will have to draw.” She smiled. “I’m actually going to miss doing this.”
When it came his turn, Nocturnal reached into the box the final time. The only question for him was whether he would be the guest of Twilight or Rarity.
He drew Rarity. After working for the Apple’s for nearly a week the thought of being able to help a designer seemed like it would have been a comparative vacation.
After living in town for nearly a month, he knew his way around Ponyville. He made his way over to Carousel Boutique without missing a turn. As he entered the store, he was greeted by a singsong voice.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique where every garment is unique, chic, and magnifique!” Rarity looked over at Nocturnal and gasped. “You, you are just what I needed!” She ran around him, using her measuring tape with stunning speed. “A couple of adjustments and you’ll work just fine.”
“I’d rather not be adjusted if at all possible,” Nocturnal let it be known.
Rarity paused in her work. “Beg your pardon?” As the possible meaning of what she said came to her, she blushed. “I was not thinking of doing anything to you. I was thinking about changing a suit I had been working on. I’ve needed a model with wings so that I can ensure that my designs can be flown in.”
“In that case, I’ll be more than happy to help you however I can.”
He quickly came to realize that staying with Rarity was going to be far from an easy assignment. Rarity had him model, run errands, help with Opalescence (which was a painful affair for him each time), work around the shop, and countless other things at all hours. Rarity was a creative soul and when her muse struck she acted, pulling him into whatever she was doing no matter what hour. Four days into his stay with her, he got a break, but not the type he was hoping to get.
Nocturnal brought in Rarity’s mail and placed it on her workbench on one of the few uncovered spaces available.
“Thank you dear. I don’t know what I would have done without you helping with this order. You’ve been a gift from Luna herself.”
“Just glad to help,” he told her.
Rarity went through her mail. While Nocturnal was turned, putting away a roll of cloth Rarity had decided she did not want to use, she suddenly squealed.
He whipped around to her. “Are you alright?!”
Rarity pointed to the letter she had been reading. “I’m better than alright, Photo Finish wants to use my latest designs in a shoot with the Wonderbolts! She wants me there to watch the shoot, and to be available in case any alterations need to be made.” Rarity glanced at the letter again, and the excitement drained from her. “She wants me there, in Canterlot, this afternoon!” She glanced at the envelope that the letter came in. “She only sent this two days ago?!”
Nocturnal tried to get her to calm down. “Don’t worry about it. You can still make it by train. I can go get the departure times. After I get back, I can help you get everything you need ready to go.”
His words had the desired effect and she calmed down a little. “You’re right. There's no need to panic. I’ve faced tight deadlines before.” She took a deep breath and told him, “If you would be so kind as to get those departure times, I would be most grateful.”
“No problem at all. I’ll be right back.” He made the trip to the station quick as he knew she would be wound tighter than a clock and needing his help. After returning to the shop, he headed directly to the workroom. “I have the schedule; it looks like you can catch a train in half an hour, if you hurry.”
“We will be catching a train you mean.”
“I’ll fly. It would save you the bits.” He did not even have a chance to flinch before Rarity was all but nose-to-nose with him.
“I thought I heard you say that you were going to fly back?”
“I did say that, ma'am.” He automatically added the ‘ma'am’ at her tone.
“First, don’t you ‘ma'am’ me ever again. I am not my mother. If you must insist on adding such titles, miss will do. Second, you are riding on that train with me even if I have to tie you up with ribbon and levitate you to your seat myself.” She smiled and playfully threatened, “Wouldn’t that make a lovely picture I could send to Luna?”
“No need to get nasty! No ribbon needed! I’ll get on the train. I promise!”
She enjoyed his reaction for a second and then told him, “You’re my guest; I would be a horrible hostess if I made you fly.”
The sound of the shop’s door opening stopped their conversation.
A familiar unicorn filly raced into the room, followed by Apple Bloom and the pegasus filly that Nocturnal had spoken with the other day.
“Hey sis, you ready for tonight?
“Tonight? What do you mean?” Rarity covered her mouth as she realized what her sister was asking. “The sleepover, I forgot all about it!” Seeing the filly slump at her words, Rarity hugged her tightly. “Sweetie, it’s not like that, let me explain.” Rarity told Sweetie about the letter from Photo Finish, which brought the filly’s spirits up a little. “I have to go Sweetie. You understand don’t you?”
Sweetie nodded. “I understand. I guess we’ll have to call of the sleepover. Applejack’s busy with Quartz and Fluttershy has Mirage over. Twilight is too busy to keep us, Rainbow’s place won’t work, and the Cakes don’t have enough room for us for us to stay with Pinkie.” She patted her saddlebags. “We even got Twilight’s book on sleepovers too.”
Apple Bloom pointed at Nocturnal. “What about him? He could stay with us.”
Scootaloo hummed her wings in excitement. “That would be awesome! How many foals can say they had a sleepover with a Lunar Guard?”
“Excuse me. I think I know who you are, but we’ve never been introduced.” He extended a hoof to the filly. “I’m Nocturnal.”
“I’m Scootaloo.” She shook his hoof with both of hers.
He turned to Sweetie. “You must be Sweetie Belle. Rarity has told me a lot about you.”
Sweetie half-smiled and asked him, “Did she tell you good or bad things?”
“Only good things, I promise.”
Scootaloo turned to Rarity. “Is the slumber party still on?”
Rarity looked over to Nocturnal, a pleading look in her eyes. “Would you keep them? They’ve been looking forward to this for over a week. I would so hate to disappoint them.”
Nocturnal shrugged. “How hard could it be?”
Rarity thought to herself, Here is the real challenge for you this trip. If you can handle these three, you can handle anything.
*****
After catching a midnight train back to Ponyville from Canterlot, Rarity made her way back home in the early morning coolness. The sun had not even risen and she was looking forward to getting a little more sleep before starting the day. She quietly snuck into the shop and smiled at what she saw. The three fillies were in sleeping bags close enough to each other that the fabric overlay a little. Various items of Noturnal's were scattered around the room, including his namesake navigational instrument.
Nocturnal was dead asleep on her Chaise lounge. He had been the victim of a ‘makeover’ and various other sleepover activities. His face had been painted in makeup and his mane looked like each of the fillies had tried to make a section of it into a different style and color.
The only sound that broke the silence was that of a camera shutter taking several shots.
*****
Nocturnal's stay with Twilight finished the last span of his visit to Ponyville. He did not have to do much work beyond helping Twilight and Spike around the library. However, he was examined like a specimen at times and had to sit through long sessions of answering the plethora of questions Twilight had for him.
Twilight examined his eyes once again. “Are you looking forward to going back?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve really enjoyed my time here to tell you the truth.” He tried to stay as still as possible for her as he answered.
“You can move now.” She jotted down a couple of notes, and then had him extend his wings. “Interesting physiology, it’s so different from pegasus wings.”
Nocturnal gave her a more detailed version of the explanation of his wings' attributes than he had given Rainbow.
She took more notes as to what he said than of her own observations. “That makes perfect sense. A different wing structure would allow for different flight characteristics.”
Spike brought in a couple of cups of tea for them.
“Thanks Spike. You read my mind.” Twilight appreciatively took a sip of her tea.
“Yeah, yeah, just trying to help you guys out, you’ve been at this for hours.” After giving Nocturnal a look, he wandered back into the kitchen.
“Did I do something to offend him?”
Twilight smiled. “Beyond staying with Rarity for the last few days, nothing I can think of.”
“I forgot he has a crush on her.” Nocturnal looked towards the kitchen door. “I’ll talk to him about my stay later. His claim on Rarity goes uncontested.”
“You didn't like Rarity?”
He shook his head. “That’s not it at all. I think she is wonderful, but not the kind of mare that I could see myself in a romantic relationship with.”
“And yet you let her cut your mane.”
“She had to do something to it. It was a disaster! I know my mane is short now, but it’s better than having to go through town with four different colors of hair and a mane cut that looks like it was done by a blind diamond dog.”
Twilight put aside her first pile of notes and started another. “Now that I’ve examined your physical differences from other ponies, I would like to know more about your personal history.” She dipped her quill in ink and then poised it over a fresh sheet of parchment.
“Where would you like me to start?”
“At the beginning, of course.”
He poured out his life to her without reservation. Highs, lows, successes, and failures, he them all laid bare to her. Twilight gathered about as much information on bat ponies as she did on him. She would often stop him and ask for clarification on one detail or another.
By the end of his tale, she had used up all but the last scraps of her parchment and the very last drops of her ink. “Thank you. That was quite a lot for one sitting.”
“I hope I didn’t bore you.”
She pointed towards the pile of notes she had created. “I promise you were anything but boring. I’m going to have to pin Luna to the wall one day and get more information about how bat ponies came to be part of her guard.”
“I could tell you if you would like."
She looked at the clock, which indicated it was a quarter past three in the morning. “Not tonight. I have something planned for you tomorrow. You can tell me about it then. Right now we both need a little sleep. We’re going to have to get up early to make our appointment.”
“What appointment?”
Twilight smiled with mischief in her eyes. “You’ll see.”
The ‘appointment’ for them was that he was to make an impromptu presentation to Cheerilee’s class while she took notes. The foals of the class watched him intently as Twilight introduced him. He did his best not to fidget, but a couple of nervous ticks showed through.
The three members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders silently mouthed encouragement to him.
He smiled and nodded to them in equally silent thanks.
“Now, Nocturnal will tell us about how the bat ponies came to be part of Luna’s guard.” Twilight directed him to the front of the class. “They’re all yours.”
He dove directly into the story:
Long ago dark powers roamed the face of the world. Nightmares, monsters, and terrible forces constantly threatened the lives of ponies during all hours of the day and night.
Then two sisters appeared and fought back the darkness and evil. Their names were Celestia and Luna. Celestia used the power of the sun to defeat any threats to ponykind during the day, and Luna would use her own magic of moonlight and starlight to drive back the terrors of the night.
They struggled for years alone against their foes, trying to make the world safer for the ponies they loved. Luna became the bat ponies’ favorite of the sisters as she used her powers to drive away the forces of the Nightmares who had hunted and tormented bat ponies for so long. Inspired by her bravery, bat ponies began to join in her fight with the Nightmares.
For hundreds of years Luna and bat ponies fought side by side to rid the world of the threats that came during the night, then came a foe that bat ponies could not help her with, Discord. Luna and her sister had to fight the fiend alone as no mortal pony could match Discord’s power. Using the Elements of Harmony the Sisters sealed Discord’s powers, turning him into a stone statue.
While the Sisters were victorious, the cost for Luna was high. Her strength had been drained and her constant battle with the forces of the night took its toll on her both physically and mentally. Her Lunar Guard did all that they could to help ease her burden and for a time it seemed that Luna would recover.
Then the threat of Sombra appeared which the Sisters had to face on their own. Luna’s already drained strength was tried to its breaking point during the battle, but she and her sister prevailed.
Soon after came the lowest point for bat ponies. We failed to protect her from the things that she had shielded us all against for so long, the Nightmares. Even with our constant vigil and support helping her at her weakest moments, Luna fell victim to an insidious attack on her dreams and fears by the forces from the moon. She succumbed to the Nightmares’ deceptions and rose against Celestia as Nightmare Moon.
After Celestia was forced to banish Luna to the moon, we bat ponies shied away from the other types of ponies out of shame. With Luna’s return, we have taken up our duties as protectors of the realm again. We hope to regain the trust of both Luna and the other ponies of this nation.
After he finished his tale, the room was silent. For a moment, he thought he had done poorly in his recitation. Then the room exploded into applause.
He looked over to Twilight, shocked by the response.
She smiled radiantly. “That was perfect.”
*****
The guards’ departure from Ponyville was a bittersweet affair for the Elements and the three guards. They gave hugs all around and promises were made that they would see each other again.
Nocturnal was surprised to see one other pony came to see him off.
“Here, these are for you.” Cobbler gave him a bag of apples and some of her famous apple cobbler.
“Thank you.” He looked to the ground for a moment. “I know this is sudden, but would you mind if I came back to see you sometime?”
“Just me?”
“Of course I would see the others too, but you would be the reason for my visit.”
Cobbler smiled. “I wouldn’t mind at all.”
*****
A little more than three weeks later, Nocturnal was once again ordered to report to Night Flight’s office. This time Luna was waiting for him, along with his captain.
“Reporting in, ma'am,” he told her, as he came to attention.
“Stand at ease. Where is your armor cadet?”
Nocturnal was wearing his formal uniform in place of his armor.
“The Element of Loyalty has it, ma'am. The requisitions officer has not presented me with another set.”
“You have a clue why you’re here this time?”
“Twilight has made her decision, ma'am.”
“Drop the ma'am for now.” She pointed to what appeared to be a thesis worth of paper on the corner of her desk. “Twilight sent back her notes on you and how you did during your stay with Elements, along with her answer.” She leaned forward on her desk. “Who do you think she picked?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t even guess.”
Luna was astounded. “Thou art saying that you do not have confidence that you succeeded in your venture?”
“I have confidence in my efforts, but the others were hoof picked as well. I was not allowed to spend much time with them, or compare notes.” He pawed the floor. “The Elements would not talk about the others and even the Cutie Mark Crusaders were Pinkie Promised to secrecy about what they thought. I have no idea how well I did compared to them.”
Luna nodded sagely. “Caution is valuable thing to have, but I want to hear your answer. Who did she choose?”
“None of us.”
Luna’s smile was dazzling. “Very close to the truth. She chose all.”
Nocturnal was shocked. “I don’t understand. How could she pick all of the branches?”
Night Flight patted the stack of papers. “Because she did a whole cost benefit analysis for the situation for her, her friends, and the town. Ponyville can’t handle an influx of guards from an infrastructure standpoint and she wants to preserve the town’s atmosphere which she elegantly argues would completely change with a detachment of guards being stationed in town. She is going to accept the posting of a few guards in town only. However, she gets to choose from a pool of applications regardless of what branch of the Guard they come from.”
"Celestia, Cadence, and I could not find fault with her argument and have agreed to her suggested solution." Luna walked over to him and presented him with a letter that was addressed to him. “She wishes that you would consider becoming one of the first three to be stationed in Ponyville.”
Nocturnal smiled up at Luna. “I can guess who the other two are.”
Luna put the letter on Night Flight's desk. “Both Mirage and Quartz were extended the same invitation. Do you accept?”
“I do.”
Night Flight smirked. “Why am I not surprised?” She offered her quill to him. "There were a couple of things in this report we would like to comment on.”
He gave her quill back to her, after signing the required paperwork. “What were they?”
“First, making remarks about one of the Element’s cousin’s rear end is not the best way to make a good first impression.”
Nocturnal blushed and began to stammer an explanation.
Luna held up a hoof, stopping him before he could start. “That was a trivial matter.” She presented him with a photo. “How did you allow yourself to be reduced to this state?”
“It was a sleepover, and it was three on one.” He looked to the floor. “I lost.”
Luna smirked. “So it would seem.”
Author's Note
Thank you for reading my story. If you were kind enough to add it to your favorites, please consider giving it a positive vote as well.
Remember, comments are like authors' food, they give us the fuel to keep writing. Constructive criticism is always welcome. It's what allows me to improve my writing skills.
This story was limited in scope due to the contest having an entry limit of 10000 words. If I get positive feedback, I might take some of the ideas that I dabbled with here and write a more fleshed out story with similar themes.
