Princess Luna.
Her return from banishment, and subsequent reformation from the mare of darkness - The Nightmare Moon sent a vast array of ripples throughout Equestrian society. Not only did it return rule back to the traditional diarchy that it was always meant to be, Luna’s return also brought about the re-appearance of a few other creatures, many thought to be nothing more than sheer legend. Foremost among these returned creatures were the bat ponies; hybrid of pegasus and bat, they had long been considered extinct for centuries following Nightmare Moon’s banishment.
Within weeks of Luna’s return, that belief was proven wrong, when two bat ponies appeared in Canterlot, announcing that a colony still lived, and that they desired nothing more than to serve the Princess of the Moon, just as they ancestors did.
Luna had instantly taken them up on their offer, recruiting them as handmaidens, man-servants, and her personal night guard; the entire colony was shifted on mass to a disused wing of the royal palace. Re-integration back into mainstream Equestrian society had been a slow process; many ponies believed they were evil, and would steal their foals from their beds. The bat ponies took the assertions in stride, caring only for what their princess thought.
Over months, verging on years, trust began to form, though little was still known about the mysterious ponies of the night. When news that one was coming to live in Ponyville, it was little more than a curiosity at best for the majority of the town; they had seen them before as Luna’s honor guard on Nightmare Night after all. For one lavender unicorn bookworm however, it was the chance of a lifetime to research and study an entirely new species of pony, and was something she wouldn’t pass up for the world.
Nocturnal Melody, better known to his family and kinsmen as Night Song was still finishing his unpacking. He had only arrived in town a day or so before, and he had managed to work his way through a gauntlet of bureaucratic pleasantries from the appointed mayor of the town welcoming him to stay, a minty unicorn who had seemed fascinated by his wings and ears until the cream mare she had been traveling with gave her a solid whack on the back of her head with a hoof, and most bizarrely, a pink earth pony who appeared out of nowhere, fired off a cannon filled with cake batter and confetti, yelled ‘WELCOME!!!” and then vanished just as quickly. The batter had only clipped him on the shoulder, but a donkey walking behind him had taken the full force of the blast. That last one had shaken him up a little, and it had taken him longer than he thought to find his new house.
Now that he had found it, he was hoping to be able to settle into his new role as Guardian of the Everfree quickly and quietly. The Forest was a source of unstable magic, and the creatures that lived in it tended towards being large, foul tempered, and hostile to anything that wasn’t them. Ponyville had been attacked several times by such creatures – Timberwolves, Ursa’s, and Hydra to name a few, with confirmed sightings of Manticore, and a Cragadile. While the town had done an admirable job of looking after itself, Luna had expressed a wish that one of her envoys be on hoof in case of disaster. Night Song had been selected to go, and he was proud that the princess had chosen him for such an honor.
A soft, but insistent knock at the door caught Night Song off guard. Normally he could hear the hoofsteps of an approaching pony well before they got to the door, but he had been so focused on his unpacking that he had missed out entirely. Lightly grumbling to himself, he soared down from the second story of his home and came to a graceful stop just in front of the door. Despite the house being quite dark; heavy cloth drapes covered almost all of the windows, he had no trouble navigating the clutter of empty and half unpacked boxes. Like all members of his species, he had excellent night vision, though it did make travelling during the day a little blinding.
Pulling the door open, he saw a young unicorn mare standing on the doorway, hoof out and ready to knock again. Night Song recognized her at once; every one of his kind knew of Twilight Sparkle. She was the redeemer of their lord and mistress, and all owed her a debt of gratitude. Twilight looked a little shy and hesitant, as if she wasn’t sure if she should be there or not.
Instead, Night Song bowed his head to her, bending his knees as if he was bowing to royalty, which he may as well have been; Twilight was only one degree removed from Celestia and Luna. Service to her was service to them.
Twilight look confused at the display. The bow lasted for a few more seconds before the pony got up and took a step back, allowing her the space to enter into his house.
“Please, enter and be welcome, Twilight Sparkle. To what do I owe this honor?” Night Song asked, shutting the door as Twilight walked inside.
“How do you know who I am?” Twilight replied. “I never told you my name, Mr… uhhh, what is your name?”
Night Song gave her a second bow. “All Thestrals know of you, Miss Sparkle. You are the one who freed Princess Luna from enslavement, and we honor you for it. I am Nocturnal Melody, though you may call me Night Song if you wish. Now, how can I help you?”
Night Song’s answer left Twilight with more questions than before. Still, that was exactly why she had come here; to ask questions. The thought of being so close to an actual first hand source of information on bat ponies was intoxicating. So many questions all wanted to be asked at once. She was just about to launch into one of her many prepared lists of questions when she remembered that she hadn’t actually asked if she could interview him yet.
“Oh, right!” she gushed, “Well, you see, Night Song, I know you have just moved in and must be very busy getting yourself set up, but I was wondering if you could spare some time to tell me about yourself, and bat pony culture in general. Being so isolated, you must have developed some fascinating traditions that vary from our own.”
“Thestral,” Night Song said.
Twilight blinked, not quite understanding what he meant.
“We prefer the term ‘Thestral’ to bat pony. Bat pony has so many negative connotations. We would ask that you not use that term if you can,” Night Song said in explanation.
Twilight quickly levitated out a scroll and her quill. Not even one question in and she already had an entirely new piece of information to research. She could almost picture the blissful hours she could spend searching through her library for any mention of the term Thestral.
Before she could ask another question however, Night Song held up a hoof. “I would be honored to tell you of our culture, and of our long standing traditions guarding Equestria from the night. I only have one condition.”
With the information she sought so close, Twilight was on her tip-hooves, leaning forward. Whatever this condition was, she would accept it if it meant getting to learn more about these new ponies.
Night Song gave her a quick smile. “You let me take you out to dinner first. How’s tomorrow night sound?”
Twilight’s mind froze for a second and she spaced out. “Ahhhh,” was all she could say. Of the possible things Night Song could have asked her, asking her out to dinner was probably in the bottom three, right before deposing Celestia and cheating on a test. Despite having been living in Ponyville for several years now, she couldn’t actually lay claim to ever having been taken out to dinner by a stallion. It had seemed a detriment to useful study time, but here was the object of her scientific interest offering to do just that.
“Sure, I guess,” she said at length. “I suppose that will give me some more time to come up with questions to ask you.” Quickly, she retreated back into the comfortable embrace of academia. Observe the situation with clinical dispassion.
“Great!” Night Song was enthused. “I’m happy to answer questions for you, but I’m not doing it on an empty stomach and I want to try some of the local cuisine. Now, without wanting to sound rude, I do have a lot of unpacking to take care of.”
“Oh, of course you do,” Twilight backed up quickly. “I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time. I guess I’ll see you again tomorrow.”
Night Song showed Twilight to the door, opening it for her. “You are always welcome here, Miss Sparkle. Or,” he added with a second glace back at his cluttered house, the contents clearly lit from the open doorway, “you will be once I’m fully moved in.”
With the light coming in from outside, Twilight got her first good look at Night Song. His coat was a very dark grey, almost blue, while his wings and mane were a solid brown. The only trace of bright coloring came from his eyes; an almost luminescent teal. Night Song was squinting slightly in the light, but he didn’t show any other signs of discomfort.
Twilight nodded once to Night Song and exchanged a goodbye wave of her hoof. It wasn’t until she was a dozen steps away from the house and heading back to her library that she realized exactly what she had just agreed to. Regardless of it if was romantic or not, she was going on a date.
With a stallion.
A stallion that wanted to buy her dinner.
Changing her course, Twilight headed to Rarity’s home. If anypony knew what she needed to do to get ready for a date, it was going to be her. She just hoped that Rarity wouldn't make too much of a fuss.
Ahh, who was she kidding? She would be lucky to make it out of there alive.
The next day, Night Song walked through the main door of The Prancing Filly, Ponyville’s most highly regarded restaurant. On the way over, he had garnered more than a few stares from foals, and a couple from older ponies, but nopony had really made him feel uncomfortable. His read on the town was one of quiet acceptance. So long as he knuckled down and worked hard, a place would be made for him in the town’s social fabric.
The restaurant was open, and mostly empty, though this was hardly surprising as the morning rush would have just finished, and ponies would have to be heading off to whatever they called a job. The interior was done up in tasteful pastel colors with a thick carpet covering the floor. Taking pride of place on one wall was a picture of Princess Celestia seated in a booth, a cup of tea levitated in her magic along with a slice of triple layered chocolate cake.
At the sound of the door closing, the maitre d’ standing behind his welcome podium instantly perked his head up and swooped down on Night Song in a moment.
“Welcome, welcome to The Prancing Filly,” he said, lifting a hoof to encompass the restaurant. If he was surprised by the appearance of his current guest, he was far too professional to show it. “How can I assist you today? Are you looking for a meal, or a reservation for later? We can accommodate all requests.”
“Uhh. I’d like to make a reservation for tonight,” Night Song replied, taking a glance around the eatery. It certainly looked high toned enough, and the smells coming out of the kitchen were mouth watering. “If you have one available, that is.”
The maitre d’ gave him a wry smile. “But of course, monsieur, we have plenty of room. How many shall be dining tonight?”
“Just two. And could you arrange for a booth, or somewhere slightly more private?” Night Song had a feeling that Twilight wasn’t going to wait until after dinner to start peppering him with questions, so somewhere they could talk without bothering other patrons would be a wise choice.
“Ahh, a romantic dinner for two. Nothing could be easier, monsieur, I assure you. Will there be anything else?”
Night Song shifted one of his wings and produced a small bottle filled with a dark crimson liquid. It had no label, but he knew exactly what it contained. “When we come to order, the lady is to have whatever she wants, but for myself, I would like to have the contents of this bottle. It is important that it be served at exactly body temperature.” He handed over the bottle, along with a small stack of golden bits, which the maitre d’ pocketed smoothly. “Please ensure nopony opens the bottle before then. The contents do not breathe well, and would not agree with anypony else.”
“As you wish, monsieur,” the maitre d’ said, as if such requests were commonplace. He hadn’t gotten to his current position by being sloppy with the requests of his patrons. He didn’t know, nor did he particularly care about the reason why Night Song wanted this particular bottle served the way he did. The hoof-full of bits now lining his pocket were all the motivation he needed to ensure that the bottle was prepared exactly as requested. “You are booked in for seven o’clock tonight. I hope you enjoy your meal, and have a nice rest of the day.”
Night Song bid the stallion farewell and left the restaurant. He still had half the day before he could reasonably be expected to even begin preparing for dinner. He supposed he could use that time to consider some of the obvious questions Twilight was almost certainly going to ask him – differences between Thestral and Pegasi, how they had lived alone for so long, and how he was finding the reunification process.
Trotting back home, he instead decided that the best course of action right now would be to take a bat nap. After checking that all the windows were closed, Night Song flapped his way upstairs to his bedroom. Like the rest of his house, the room was poorly lit by the standards of any other pony, having no windows and being lit by a single candle, but he could easily wind his way through the few boxes still needing to be unpacked. His bed was quite hard, but he liked it that way. Blowing out the candle, Night Song plunged the room into near total darkness. The darkness was a comforting blanket; it was the natural element for a Thestral, and one that Night Song wholly owned as his own. If there ever was something that went bump in the night, it would have likely been a Thestral.
Grinning to himself, Night Song drifted away to sleep, thinking about the coming night. A good meal, and a chance to please the mare who had restored his mistress. Along with it being a full moon out, it was shaping up to be a wonderful night.
At precisely 6:30 that evening, Night Song knocked on the door of the library. It had occurred to him that he didn’t actually know where Twilight lived, but several ponies had been happy to point out to him the combination of tree house and library. It didn’t take long from then to find the Golden Oaks Library, though it didn’t look anywhere near large enough to contain both a fully stocked library of books and the space for reasonable living quarters.
Walking up to the front door, he knocked on the door a couple of time before hearing the patter of small feet on the ground. Taking a step back, he noticed the bottom half of the door open outwards and a small purple dragon stuck his head out of the opening. The dragon eyed Night Song for a moment before asking, “Yea, what do you want?”
Night Song was taken a little aback. “Uhh, I’m here to see Twilight Sparkle. Is she in?”
The dragon nodded once and unlatched the rest of the door. He beckoned for Night Song to follow him inside. As soon as he entered the library, Night Song noticed that the interior of the library appeared bigger than the outer tree would allow. Quickly he stuck his head back outside to check that he wasn’t imagining it.
The dragon laughed slightly at him. “Yep, you aren’t crazy. This tree has a dimensional displacement field around it; bigger on the inside. You just get used to it after a while. There is a kitchen, bedrooms, and lab areas upstairs, while the library takes up the ground floor. I’m Spike by the way.” The dragon, Spike stuck his clawed hand out.
Night Song shook it with his hoof. “I’m Night Song. Good to meet you, Spike. Are you Twilight’s familiar? I didn't realize she was a summoner.”
Spike shook his head, “Naw, I’m her assistant. I help her write reports and organize the library; keep her out of trouble when I can. What about you? You’re one of those bat ponies I saw at Nightmare Night, right?”
Night Song nodded. “Not me personally, but yes, you’re right. We aid Princess Luna as guards and servants.”
“Is that Night Song?” Twilight’s voice echoed down from upstairs. Both dragon and thestral looked up to the top of the stairs. “Tell him I’ll be down in a second. I’m just finishing up doing my mane.”
Spike gestured for Night Song to take a spot on the couch. Night Song did so, taking a good look around the library. A small wooden bust of an unknown pony took up much of the centerpiece. Night Song wasn’t sure if he liked it or not when he heard hoof steps on the stairs. Looking up, he felt his jaw drop.
Twilight looked stunning, clearly having spent a long time preparing herself for this dinner. Her coat and mane were sleek and shiny and moved with a bounce he hadn’t expected. A pair of amethyst earrings set in yellow gold dangled from the bottoms of her ears, with a matching necklace clasped around her throat. The jewelry complimented her natural coat and eye color, and it was clear that somepony had spent a great deal of time making sure that everything matched. Perhaps the most surprising was that Twilight had a set of expensive looking hoof shoes on her front hooves. She looked refined and far more presentable than he did. For his part, Night Song was dressed in a short sleeved black silk shirt with a couple of frills on the collar. His mane had been styled back with nothing more than water and a little effort. It wasn’t that he looked bad, but compared to Twilight, it was clear he hadn’t taken the time to clean up to the same degree that she had.
“You look amazing, miss Sparkle,” he said, getting up off the couch.
“Please, call me Twilight. Miss Sparkle sounds a little formal. I’d like to have a comfortable experience for both of us; no pressure or expectations.”
“Alright then, Twilight,” Night Song said a little hesitantly. He wasn’t sure he would be comfortable addressing Twilight on a first name basis just yet, but if it was what she wanted. “Now, shall we get going? I have a table booked for seven.”
“That would be lovely. Spike,” Twilight said, turning to her assistant. “Don’t wait up for me. Remember you agreed to help Fluttershy look after Scootaloo while her parents are out of town, and I don’t need you falling asleep on the job again.”
“When has that ever happened, except for that one time?” Spike said, putting his hands on his hips in a poor effort to look stern. It might have worked if he didn’t only come up to Twilight’s stomach.
“It happened yesterday, remember. You were meant to be recording my analysis on advanced applications of trigonometry as a means to recalculate…”
Night Song could see Twilight was going to go on for a while, so he discreetly coughed a couple of time. “Ahh, Twilight? Dinner isn’t going to wait for calculus.”
Twilight broke out of her mathematical tunnel vision and blinked at him a couple of times. “Of course, you’re right, and it was trigonometry, not calculus. Doesn’t anypony respect the branches of mathematics anymore?”
Night Song wasn’t in the mood to put up a fight, so he just smiled blankly and nodded a couple of times before leading Twilight towards the door.
Spike watched them leave before waiting for exactly ten seconds. When Twilight failed to reappear and the walls of the library didn’t come crashing down around him, he rushed upstairs towards his room, flipped over his basket to reveal the latest issue of the Daring Do & Mare-Do-Well crossover comic and a handful of rose quartz crystals, the latter being the dragon equal of junk food; bad for you, but they tasted so good.
‘Time for a little dragon time,’ Spike thought as he settled down to read. He had just been getting to the good part where they had been captured by the villain, who now had Daring strapped to a conveyor belt slowly inching its way towards a whirring saw blade, while Mare-Do-Well was being watched by three inept guards with their backs turned.
Night Song pushed open the doors to the restaurant and held them open as a true gentlepony would. Tonight was going to go exactly by the book; nothing less would do. The restaurant looked mostly the same as it had earlier in the day. There were a few more patrons seated at tables, and the place was lit by candles or by a few magical bulbs rather than from light coming in through the windows. The same maitre d’ was manning the reception area and he quickly waved them both over, smiling genially.
“Ahh, welcome back, monsieur. And might I say that the madam looks ravishing tonight?” He gave a courteous nod to Twilight, who blushed slightly at the compliment. “A booth is ready and waiting for you. If you would follow me.”
The maitre d’ led them over to a secluded booth over on the far side of the restaurant. Night Song noticed that while the place wasn’t exactly crowded with ponies, there was a definite ring of empty space around their booth. He hoped that it was just a result of the host following his request for a little privacy, and not that he was hoping to keep them out of sight. Night Song hadn’t detected any dislike from the maitre d’, but it would be hard to tell under all that stage acting.
Nonetheless, they both took a seat without incident and grabbed the proffered menus. Night Song barely glanced at the menu; he would be having whatever Twilight had. He had never been particularly picky with his food, and so long as the staff had followed his instructions regarding the preparation of his bottle of drink, he could care less about the actual meal.
The maitre d’ left them to return to the reception area and greet the next set of arrivals. He was replaced a few seconds later by an equally formal looking unicorn waiter dressed in a sharp suit and bow tie emblazoned with the logo for the restaurant.
Twilight looked over the menu, carefully considering the potential benefits to nutrition of each dish when balanced against taste and cost. Many of the dishes sounded like they would be delicious and from the sound of it, Night Song was willing and expecting to play a generous host. She knew that if Rarity were here in her place, she would have chosen the most expensive item on the menu simply on principle. While there were several very tempting meals on offer, she eventually decided to go with one of the simpler items on offer.
“I’ll have the stir-fried vegetables with noodles, please,” she said, just about to hand the menu over when she spotted something else further down the page, closeted away in a section of the menu marked as ‘unicorns only.’ “Oh, and can I get a small bowl of the larva mush?”
“Absolutely, madam,” the waiter replied smoothly. He levitated her menu away, saying, “an excellent choice. I can assure you we only use the freshest, purpose raised larva. You won’t be disappointed.” He turned his attention to Night Song, who was looking a little confused. “And for the sir?”
“Oh, I’ll have the stir-fried vegetables as well, thanks. But not the mush.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to have the larval mush, sir. Very few outside of the unicorn tribe find it to their tastes,” the waiter replied dryly. “I will inform the kitchen of your orders at once. Would you care for any drinks in the meantime?”
Twilight picked up the drinks menu, lingering over the selections of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. “Do you have any of the ’78 port left? I remember it was supposed to be a very good year.”
“A superb year, madam, but I’m afraid we have run out of that particular vintage. I can recommend the ’83 vinho do porto as an almost as fine selection.” The waiter sounded almost apologetic that he wasn’t able to give Twilight exactly what she wanted.
“No matter,” Twilight said cheerfully, “I’ll have a glass of the ’83 then.”
The waiter turned to face Night Song again. “And for you sir, I am pleased to inform you that the bottle you provided us this morning has been prepared in accordance with your request. Would you like me to fetch it for you?”
Night Song nodded once and handed his menu over for collection. The waiter took both and turned around to pass their orders over to the kitchen. Night Song noticed that Twilight looked a little puzzled with him. “Is something wrong, Twilight?”
“You brought in a bottle of wine yourself? That seems a little strange. Is there something wrong with the wines here?”
“Oh, no. Nothing wrong with the wine as far as I know. It’s more that I just have a… very particular taste in wine, so I prefer to bring it along myself; make sure that there is something suitable available. Ask me about it again after dinner. I wouldn’t want to put you off your meal with further details.”
“Oh, okay.” Twilight sounded a little disappointed, but she didn’t press on with any more questions just then. She could wait until after they had eaten to ask again.
“And what about you? Ordering mashed up larva as a side dish. You do know that you are eating beetles, right?” Night Song steered the conversation away from his drink choice to the odd item Twilight had ordered.
“Of course I know that,” Twilight said, a little too quickly. “I’ve eaten it plenty of times before.”
“Why,” Night Song asked. “Do they taste that good?”
Twilight tapped her horn with a hoof, “It’s all about magic. You see, unicorn magic requires energy, which is drained out from an internal magical reserve. In order to replenish that reserve, a unicorn has to burn a large amount of calories; the greater the drain, the more calories must be consumed. It's one of the reasons you tend not to see all that many unicorn athletes; our bodies are simply not as well geared for it as earth ponies or pegasi are Long ago, well before the unification of the three tribes, unicorns used to eat meat. Rodents and birds mostly, but occasionally larger game if times got hard. Meat has a very high protein level, and made for an excellent food source to power complex spells. How else did you think they could perform magic it now takes a goddess to do?”
Twilight had shifted into full lecture mode, eager to give Night Song a full rundown of unicorn history and politics. Before he could answer her question, she continued, “Nowadays though, since hunting animals for meat is considered barbaric and we have a far more stable food supply, many unicorns have shied away from the practice. Only traditionalists or those who use high level spells, such as myself still engage in the practice. Beetle larva are very high in protein, while having an almost nil fat count. I occasionally try to raise my own grubs, but mostly I have it imported from Canterlot. It doesn’t taste too bad once you get used to it and they really are an excellent source of energy for when I need to cast a difficult spell properly.”
Twilight had to pause for a moment as the waiter had returned with their drinks; a three quarters full glass of port for her, and the unlabeled bottle and an empty glass for Night Song. “Here you are, madam. An ’83, as you requested. Your meals shouldn’t be long. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you require further assistance.”
Night Song nodded and the waiter left them alone. Twilight levitated up her glass of port and swirled it around, taking in the nose before giving it a sip. Night Song poured himself a glass from his own bottle, noting with satisfaction that it was indeed warm to the touch. Clearly his instructions had been followed to the letter; a solid mark in this restaurant’s favor.
Twilight took another larger sip of her port, smacking her lips as she swallowed and put the glass back down. Night Song watched her with interest before draining about half of his glass, swallowing the crimson liquid with relish. He put the drink back down and looked at Twilight’s glass. “Didn’t expect you to be drinking that. I had pegged as—”
“As what?” Twilight interrupted, a little indignant. “You think just because I’m well read that I don’t like to have a little drink every now and then? I’m a fully grown mare; I can drink what I want, and I like port. Princess Celestia has a glass after each day, and she sometimes let me have a sip if I had been a good student.” Twilight froze for a second as she realized what she had just said. “Don’t tell my parents. They’d kill me if they knew I had been drinking when I was meant to be studying.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Night Song assured her, picking up his drink again.
“And what about yours? What kind of wine is that? I don’t see a label on the bottle,” Twilight asked. “Can I try it?”
Night Song put the glass back down. “I don’t think you would like it. This only looks like red wine, but it is something entirely different.”
Twilight was about to retort when he was saved by the waiter bringing them their food. Two steaming bowls of vegetables and noodles were paced before them, with Twilight taking a small plate of what looked like a slightly off-white mush. Night Song got one whiff of it and decided that he was fine not trying it. With one final compliment from the waiter on a fine choice, they both tucked into their food, and Night Song had to admit that it tasted good; Twilight clearly had good taste in food.
They both worked their ways through the meal, systematically devouring the well prepared food and their respective drinks. About halfway through, Twilight ordered a second glass of port, which the waiter was only too happy to provide. Night Song finished off just about all of his drink, leaving only a few drops left before excusing himself to use the restroom. Twilight nodded absently at his comment and turned her attention to the larva mush she kept off to the side.
Night Song made his way over to the little colt’s room and relieved himself in one of the stalls, before washing his hooves in a basin. After he dried them off, he opened the door and looked over to their booth. What he saw made him freeze. Twilight was holding his bottle upside down and collecting the drops that fell out into a small ball. Once she had enough, Twilight levitated the ball onto her tongue, and Night Song saw her quietly gag a little when she tasted it. Silently cursing himself for leaving her alone, Night Song made his way back over to her, prepping himself to answer some rather awkward questions.
As he sat down, Twilight’s eyes followed him with suspicion. Night Song didn’t meet her gaze, focusing instead on his nearly finished plate. After a few second of silence, he eventually caved in. “Ok, let’s just get this over with.”
“That wasn’t wine,” Twilight whispered at him. “That was… was blood. You were drinking pony blood.”
“Yes, yes I was,” Night Song said simply.
“Why?” Twilight hissed.
“Because,” Night Song said, grinning to show off two long and very sharp eye teeth, “these aren’t just for show. You wanted to learn about thestral culture? This is it. We drink blood.”
“Why,” Twilight asked again. Some of her suspicion was gone, replaced with scholarly interest at the mention of thestral culture.
“It’s a biological need, though our enjoyment of it goes deeper than that. Our bodies don’t process iron particularly well, and as such we can get anemic or have a low hemoglobin count. It won’t kill us, but it does leave us weak. Supposedly, thestral’s descend from a union of pony and bat, and like the vampire bat, our ancestors used the blood of other ponies to supplement our natural reserves. Through the years, our bodies adapted to become more efficient.”
“You’re a vampony!” Twilight quietly screamed.
“No, the vamponies were something else. They were evil, and were a threat to all Equestria. Please, don’t call me that.”
“Wait. Vamponies are real?” Twilight’s eyes widened in fear as she tried to process the idea that something that had so securely been legend may have actually been real at one point.”
“They used to be real. That… was a dark time for my tribe,” Night Song said, looking down at his nearly empty plate. “As the elders tell it, it started a few years after Princess Luna turned herself into Nightmare Moon and tried to overthrow Celestia. Our ancestors had retreated from public life and settled the city that we would remain hidden in for the next thousand years. Life mostly was good, but there was a small but vocal minority within our tribe that claimed that we should have done more to help Nightmare Moon; to help the nightmare conquer all of Equestria. That she was the new Luna, and we owed her our loyalty. They advocated the forcible removal of Celestia and access to the Elements of Harmony to undo Nightmare Moon’s banishment. The elders of the time couldn’t abide such action and offered the dissidents a choice – end the schism and renounce their uprising or be exiled from the colony. They chose to be exiled, and we assumed that would be the end of it.”
Twilight could see that it wasn’t going to be that simple. “What happened next? Clearly it didn’t go as planned.”
Night Song sighed. “All was good for about two hundred years. Enough time for us to fade away from public memory and begin to become legend. But then word reached us of strange attacks on ponies that were up during the night. Ponies would be found in the morning, drained of blood and with a pair of puncture marks on their necks. Occasionally, there might be a witness who claimed to have seen a bat-like creature in the area. Naturally, we investigated carefully, and discovered that the exiles had founded their own society based around worship of Nightmare Moon. They had co-opted a few unicorns to twist their bodies with dark magic and had developed a lust for the blood of ponies that far exceeded their base biological requirements. Our ancestors had no choice but to exterminate them when they wouldn’t listen to reason. They were a danger, not only to themselves, but to all of Equestria. We stopped them, but not before all of Equestria became terrified of the so called vamponies. That is the real reason we like the term ‘thestral’ over bat pony. Ponies hear bat pony and think of vamponies. We aren’t like that, nor do we ever want to be.”
“Have you ever taken blood from a living pony before? What was it like?” Twilight asked. Now here was a topic that she could approach from a purely scientific standpoint.
“Yes,” Night Song confirmed. “I have taken blood from living ponies on a few occasions, though such things are only done when there is no alternative, or if the donor is totally willing. We do not steal or take blood from ponies by force; it has to be offered to us freely. That is the thing that separated us from what the vamponies had become.”
“Does being bitten hurt? I imagine those fangs are sharp.” Twilight gestured to Night Song’s mouth.
“It can hurt if I am not careful where I bite, but mostly it is a very pleasurable experience, or so I’m told. My fangs are not just there to puncture the skin and draw blood. They also inject into the donor’s bloodstream a powerful analgesic to dull pain and a series of hormones designed to stimulate the release of endorphins and dopamine, resulting in a rapid onset of euphoria. It will hurt at first, but the donor will quickly find themselves floating away in bliss. Additionally, my saliva has enzymes that will enhance the body’s natural healing rate, and a coagulant to stem further bleeding. Within a day of having been bitten, all evidence it ever happed will have disappeared, save for two spots that look identical to bug bites.”
Twilight pulled out a scroll and started scribbling down notes on it as fast as she could move her quill. Everything Night Song was telling was fascinating; a first hoof account of a culture long thought to be nothing but legend, not to mention learning the truth about how the legends of the vampony came into being. All that knowledge, it was invigorating. She could write several papers on what she had learned over dinner alone. Just think about what could be discovered if other scholars did a more in depth study.
Dinner eventually had to come to a close. They had both finished off their meals and the waiters had cleared away the plates and glasses. Night Song settled out the bill by producing a small pouch of bits from under his wing. Twilight saw it was emblazoned with the signature draconic eye surrounded by a pair of bat wings that denoted the newly reformed lunar guard. She also noted that Night Song left a healthy tip for the staff.
Soon they were both out in the cool night air. While they had been eating, the sun had totally set, leaving the full moon hanging above their heads. Twilight noticed that Night Song seemed more comfortable out in the night than he had been during the twilight hours earlier.
“Would you care to come back to my house for some coffee?” she asked. Night Song had taken care of everything so far; it seemed only fair that she offer something towards the night. And truth be told, there were a few more things she wanted to ask him. One especially needed them to be somewhere private.
“I’ve love to, Twilight,” Night Song replied.
Twilight led the way back to her house, opening the door to find no sign of Spike. Twilight figured that he must have passed out somewhere upstairs reading one of his comics that he thought she didn’t know about. “Do make yourself comfortable. I’ll only be a moment or so,” she said, disappearing into the kitchen area and setting a kettle of water onto the boil.
Night Song settled down on the couch where he had sat earlier and idly picked up a book that was resting on the armrest. Skimming the title, he found it was something about contemporary magical theory vs. the predictions of some of the older models. Nothing that sparked his interest so he put it back down.
A moment later, Twilight walked back in, a tray of steaming drinks levitating before her. Night Song could smell the rich aroma of the coffee coming from the cups as Twilight set the tray down on the small table next to the couch.
“I had a great time tonight, Night Song,” Twilight started, “I’ve never been on a date before, but there was something special about this. I’ve learned so much more than I expected to about you and thestrals in general. I was hoping I could ask you to do one more thing for me, and please don’t just say no right away.”
“What is it?” Night Song asked, though he had an idea as to where this could be going.
Twilight lifted a hoof up and brushed away her bangs from her throat, exposing the purple fur underneath. “You have been such a gentlepony tonight; I want you to have a reward for being so kind. I want you to bite me. I want to know what it’s like to be fed on. Firsthand knowledge would teach me so much more than just hearing about it.”
“I don’t think you know what you are asking for,” Night Song said. Even as he said it, he could see the telltale throb of Twilight’s heartbeat pulsing through her neck. He could just imagine what it would be like to taste her; to feed on her essence. With the two glasses of port flowing through her, it would be a highly spiced cocktail. Shaking that thought away, he continued, “It’s a rather… intimate experience, and normally only shared between ponies who trust each other implicitly.”
“Would you stop treating me as if I don’t know what I want.” The indignant tone from the restaurant had returned. “I’m not some young filly anymore. I’m a grown mare who can make her own choices. You even said that you have taken blood from ponies who were totally willing. Well, I am willing. I want you to bite me. I want you to feed on me; to suck my blood for your nourishment.”
Night Song was about to protest when he realized that Twilight had him trapped. He had indeed said that before, and she clearly wanted this, or at least she thought she did. “Alright,” he relented, “If you are sure that this is what you want.”
Twilight nodded firmly.
Night Song got up from the couch, his coffee all but forgotten. Slowly, he made his way over to where Twilight was seated, walking around the couch until he was standing directly behind her. Leaning forward, he took an inhale of her scent, smelling roses or maybe some other flower. Bringing his mouth down to her throat, he let his fangs scrape across the side of her throat, searching out exactly where her arteries were located. He could feel Twilight’s heartbeat increase as he pressed the tips of his fangs against her throat, the needle sharp points poking against her skin. Before he bit down, Night Song took one last look at Twilight. He could see some fear in her eyes, but also something more akin to desire. She nodded once more at him.
Night Song clamped down, sinking his fangs into her throat. Warm, rich blood flowed into his mouth, and he quickly sucked at the wound, not wanting to waste a drop.
Twilight gasped as she felt Night Song’s fangs cut into her flesh. Twin pinpricks of pain that burned for a moment before rapidly dulling. The pain quickly gave way to a feeling of lightheadedness, and beyond that, a pleasant buzz. Warm feelings of wafting through clouds; or long nights beside an open fireplace embraced her. Soon, all her senses were numbed and Twilight simply existed. There was no up, no down, right or wrong. There was simply Twilight and this feeling.
The feeling consumed her whole, and after what could have been second, or could have been hours, Twilight felt no more, sinking away into inky comforting black.
Twilight broke the haze clouding her mind and brought herself back to reality. She could feel something warm pressing against her neck, but it took her a moment to realize that it was Night Song licking the two wounds he had opened. Coagulants, her mind said, slowly kicking back into gear. He said his saliva contained a coagulant to stop the bleeding.
The licking stopped, and Night Song walked around in front of her again. Twilight saw that his lips and teeth were now stained a deep crimson. Covered with her blood, she realized.
“How do you feel?” he asked her.
“Good,” she said at length. She tried to get up, but the world spun around her. Night Song put a hoof on her to steady her.
“You may feel a little dizzy for the next couple of hours; the first time is always the most intense. I’d suggest taking a nap here on the couch for an hour or so. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids tomorrow and you should feel right as rain again in no time.”
“How much did you take?” Twilight asked.
“Not much. Just a couple of sips, maybe a pint in total. Why?”
Twilight fought back a wave of dizziness to look Night Song right in the eye. “How often do you need to feed?”
“About every two weeks.”
“How would you like to have a regular donor?”
Night Song smiled at her. “Only if you let me take you out to dinner again.”
Twilight laughed. “It’s a date.”
Author's Note
