Life; to each their own. Each lived in a unique way, yet all of them—no matter how uniquely they’re lived—always start the same.
This one started at the maternity ward of the National Baltimare Hospital, or to be more specific: at the two individuals who were waiting just outside. The larger of the two; a stallion with a white coat and a cutie mark of a grey textbook crossed by a wand, paced back and forth, occasionally turning in place. His name was Abyss Star. His scruffy black mane bounced in tune with his steps as he walked, his horn struggling to poke out from beneath the strands.
Every now and then Abyss’ grey eyes would glance at the door that led to the ward, every time he glanced at the door he stopped for a short moment before continuing his pacing. The reason for this nervous behaviour Abyss displayed was his wife, who was currently in labour with their second foal.
As mentioned earlier, Abyss was not alone; he was accompanied by his daughter, A filly unicorn named Rosebud Star. Unlike her father however, Rosebud’s coat wasn’t white but instead a soft shade of green, her mane, red and curly instead of scruffy and black. Her cutie mark a trio of roses, betraying her affinity for plant-life.
Casting yet another worried glance at the door to the delivery room, Abyss sat himself down on the couch next to his daughter, twiddling his hooves nervously. It didn't take long for him to stand back up and start pacing around again. One’s wife didn’t deliver her second foal every day after all.
''Would you stop worrying Dad? Mommy’s going to be fine,'' Rosebud said, her soft and melodious voice breaking through the anxious silence which dominated the halls just moments before.
''I know, it’s just... I can’t help but worry, she’s been in there for ten hours now,'' Abyss said as he turned to his daughter, pointing at the door that led to the delivery ward.
As if on cue, the door suddenly opened and a pearly white unicorn with a green mane, which blended with the garb he wore, walked out. The unicorn, a doctor by the looks of it, looked at Abyss, sizing up the unicorn as he did. ''You might want to see this,'' he said beckoning Abyss to follow him.
''Why? Is there something wrong?'' Abyss asked before following the stallion in a hurry, his eyes widening while several scenarios flooded into his mind.
''You’ll see,'' was all he said as he led Abyss through the hallway.
''What’s wrong Dad?'' Rosebud asked,having followed her father after overhearing their short conversation.
''I don’t know sweetie,'' Abyss replied,quickly looking at his daughter as he did. His face riddled with concern while he continued to follow the doctor. Wondering what might’ve gone wrong.
After a short walk they arrived at a door, before he opened it the doctor turned to Abyss and without saying a single word, brought a hoof up to his face signalling for Abyss to be quiet. Slowly opening the door, the unicorn walked through, followed by Abyss and Rosebud.
Of the four beds that stood inside the room, only one was currently occupied. It was in use by Abyss’ wife, Desert Rose. A unicorn mare with a sand coloured coat and a mane similar to her daughter’s. The resemblances didn’t stop there however, as proven by the single rose that was her cutie mark.
The reason why the doctor had signalled for Abyss to be quiet was because Desert was sleeping, lying on her side. Next to her lay a small form that was covered by the blanket.
''So what’s wrong?'' Abyss said as he stood by the bed and looked back and forth between the doctor and Desert.
Raising his hoof again, once more signalling for Abyss to be quiet, the doctor walked towards the bed. ''See for yourself,'' he whispered before pulling back the blanket, revealing the small form that slept within.
Abyss walked towards the bed in a slow and deliberate way before looking at the figure that was revealed. As he looked at his foal it stirred a little before lifting its head and gazing at his father with its beady yet distinctly golden, feline eyes. As it looked at its father it slowly stood up. As it stood, although somewhat unsteady, the foal expanded its miniature bat-like wings before tilting his head and staring at his father.
Staring back at his foal Abyss tilted his head left and right in an attempt to spot a potential flaw or defect, the doctor had seemed serious, but try as he might he could not find anything. ''I give up, what’s wrong?'' he said before looking back at the doctor.
''Well, as you can see, it’s not a regular pony, but a Nocturnal one, a pegasus at that,'' the doctor whispered with a curious undertone to his voice. After a short pause, the doctor turned his gaze towards the foal, he continued to phrase his thoughts. ''They’re extremely rare, as you may know. And I’d imagine we could learn a lot if we’re allowed to study him.''
‘’What?!’’ Abyss took a step back in response to the stallion’s statement. ‘’What do you mean study him? I’m not sure I understand.’’
‘’As I’ve said, they’re extremely rare. We have barely any knowledge regarding them, and having a live specimen could be of great scientific value. Science aside it’s beneficial for the foal as well,’’ the doctor said, smiling faintly.
‘’...What do you mean beneficial?’’ At this point Abyss, who managed to miss the fact the doctor had called his newborn ‘specimen’ due to his worries, looked at the foal who had lain down, there wasn’t anything wrong with him, right?
‘’Well...’' the doctor began. ‘’The Nocturnal have a high rate of mortality in early stages of infancy if they’re not within the proper environment.’’ As the unicorn spoke however the faint smile appeared again.
‘’But wait,’’ Abyss said before turning to the doctor. ‘’There’s something I don’t quite understand. Why did the staff bring them to a normal room if the foal needs to be in a special environment?’’ Slowly but steadily Abyss moved towards the bed before turning towards the doctor blocking the unicorn’s line of sight.
‘’If you’re trying to insinuate something you’re wrong. They were brought to this room because we can’t move the foal to a special one unless the parents agree to it. Now will you do the right thing and allow us to study the foal?’’ The doctor answered with agitation sneaking into his voice.
‘’That’s ridiculous. They never asked us for such a thing, not even once! They had their suspicions ever since that scan but never asked anything that sounded even remotely to what you’ve just suggested Doctor. Now speak the truth please!’’ Abyss retorted lowering his head slightly towards the other unicorn.
‘’You want the truth?! I'm standing in front of a stallion who would rather keep that little abomination he calls a foal—that little freak of nature—than save the lives of ponies all over Equestria!’’ The doctor's agitation reached tipping point as he took an aggressive step toward Abyss, getting up in his face. ‘’Do you even realize the scientific value of that... that thing! Try for a moment to wrap your tiny little brain around all the medical breakth-’’ He was interrupted by a hard shove from Abyss that nearly knocked him off his hooves.
A few stray sparks shot out of Abyss’ horn as he walked up to the doctor, jabbing at the stallion’s chest with a hoof. ''Don’t you even dare to finish that sentence!'' Rosebud had by now hidden behind her mother’s bed. She had never seen her dad this angry, it was a scary sight.
''What?! Are you saying you won’t allow us to study it? Think of the medical and scientific breakthroughs we could achieve!'' The doctor exclaimed with an irritated undertone.
''You ask me to hoof over my foal just because he’s a Nocturnal?! Just so you can study him!'' Abyss shouted back at the source of his aggravation.
Grabbing the doctor by his collar Abyss pulled the stallion towards him. ''I don’t want to hear another word coming from you!'' Letting go , Abyss gathered some of his mana, causing his horn to flare up with a dull grey aura. Crafting a simple telekinetic spell, Abyss shoved the target of his anger out of the room.
Being rudely shoved into the hallway, the doctor tried to get another word in only to get the door slammed shut in his face. ''And there goes my shot at a promotion.'' Instead of going back in and attempting to salvage what was left of his thoroughly shattered image, the stallion set off to the break room after letting out a soft sigh over a lost chance.
Having resolved the situation, Abyss let out a huffing sound. His approach had been devoid of any subtlety, however, and the ungodly amount of noise as a result of that had caused the foal to huddle up even closer against its mother, trying to shield itself from the noise. Its ears were folded flat against its skull, though oddly, it wasn't crying. In fact, it actually seemed like he was angry at his father.
Desert herself had woken up as well, which wasn't really surprising, and blinked her eyes. Taking a few moments to orient herself after having been so rudely awakened. Brushing a few strands of her mane out of her face, she turned her attention to her newborn. ''It's alright. He's your dad,'' Desert said softly, nuzzling her foal. ''He sometimes does silly things.'' Looking up at her husband, she added, ''awww look at him. Isn't he adorable?''
''Heh,'' Abyss chuckled before ruffling the foal's mane. ''He's a tough little guy alright.''
''What was all that noise about, anyway? I'm surprised he didn't cry.'' Desert asked while she looked up at her husband.
''Well...'' Abyss began, before clearing his throat and continuing, ''I might have shoved the doctor out of the room, I suppose...''
''And why would that need to make so much noise to wake me up? You're not telling me something.''
''I... might have used a little too much force,'' he admitted, trying to look sorry by laying his ears back. ''I had a good reason though!'' Abyss exclaimed quickly, his ears perking back up while his eyes widened.
Just as Desert was about to ask what his reason might be, Rosebud sprung up from behind the bed, where she had hidden herself moments ago when the situation in the room started to become tense. ''He’s sooooo cuuuute!'' she squealed in delight, hopping onto the bed and hugging her new brother.
Desert, who hadn't noticed her daughter's presence until now, was speechless for a few seconds, before her motherly instincts kicked in and she rescued her newborn from an almost certain death by suffocation. ''Careful sweetie, he's not a toy,'' she said as she gently loosened her daughter's grip, allowing the foal to cuddle back up against her side.
After a small moment, in which Desert had saved her newborn foal from his older sister, Desert realized where her daughter had appeared from. ''And how long have you been hiding there?''
''The doctor said some weird things,'' Rosebud said. ''And then Dad got mad. It was scary.''
Blinking once Desert turned to her husband. ‘’That reminds me. You didn’t tell me why you used telekinesis on the doctor. Care to explain?’’
Slowly, Abyss recounted the things the doctor had said about their foal, and more importantly, what he wanted to do with it.
Now that she understood the true reason of all the commotion, Desert her frown turned to a slight smile. She was glad Abyss stood up for the foal but, there was some truth in the doctor's words. But she didn't really want to think about it right now; None of them did, and it was Abyss who tried to cheer them up.
''So, what are we naming him?''
Abyss’ question instantly switched the mood to what it always should have been, a happy one.
''Well, since he is a nocturnal pegasus and all , I was thinking of calling him Night Star,'' Desert answered.
The way his face lit up told her everything she needed to see. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "what do you think Rose?"
''He can be our little star in the night sky...'' she answered, not looking at anyone in particular, seemingly lost in thoughts, before giving her mother and brother a hug.
With a bit of a laugh Abyss joined in on the hug, giving his daughter a kiss on the head before turning to his wife and kissed her on the lips, sharing an affectionate moment with his family.
After a few seconds, reality dawned on Abyss. ''How are we going to hide the fact he’s a Nocturnal pegasus?'' he blurted out before taking a look at Night. ''Those wings would leave nothing to the imagination.''
Raising her hoof to her chin, Desert looked up as an idea dawned upon her. ''How about a jacket and a pair of contact lenses? To hide his wings and make his eyes seem normal,'' Desert offered before glancing at her husband.
Abyss thought about it for a few moments, then nodded. ''That would be the best approach I think.''
Night slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the window across his bed he pulled the sheets over his head in an attempt to shut the light out. ''Ugh, too bright,'' Night mumbled from underneath the sheets.
''Night are you up yet?!'' A voice called from downstairs, the shouting voice belonging to Desert Rose. ''Hurry up! Today’s the first day of school, you have to get ready!''
Popping his muzzle out from under the sheets Night shouted back at his mother. ''I don’t wanna!''
''Night, I will have your father drag you to school if I have to!'' Night could tell by the tone of her voice that she wasn’t exaggerating, not in the slightest.
With a grunt Night threw the off the sheets and slid out of his bed. Blinking sleepily, he took a moment to become accustomed to the light.
Walking out of his room Night, went to the bathroom but found that the door was locked. He didn’t even need to guess who was using the bathroom since his mother and father were downstairs already.
''Rose! Hurry up I need to shower!'' Night rested his forehead against the door, not fully awake yet.
''Give me a minute, I’m not done yet!'' Night could hear the water was still running but he never did understand why she’d have to spend so much time in there. All that you had to do was take a shower, that shouldn’t take this long.
True to her word, Rosebud walked out a few minutes later allowing Night to use the bathroom.
After a quick wash Night went back to his room, grabbed his jacket and put it on, before walking to his nightstand and retrieving a small box. Popping the lid off, he reached in and cautiously grabbed a single transparent object, a lens.
With careful precision, he placed the lens over his eye, blinking twice before putting in the second lens and repeating the process. Turning towards the mirror, Night checked the lenses and his jacket. Satisfied with how they looked he left his room and went downstairs.
Once he got downstairs, Night walked into the kitchen and was greeted by the rest of the family. As he sat down at the table a plate with a sandwich and a glass of milk settled down in front of him, both enveloped in a soft green aura.
''Excited for your first day of school, Night?'' Abyss asked, lowering the newspaper that levitated in front of him as he smiled at Night.
''Eat up sweetie, can’t go to your first day on an empty stomach.'' Desert gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she walked by, before putting down her own plate of breakfast as well.
''I’m kinda nervous, I don’t know what to expect,'' Night said after taking a bite from his sandwich.
''You’ll be just fine, Night. Your class will have Green Leaf as a teacher.'' Abyss tried to reassure his son after a sip of his coffee.
''Mr Leaf was my teacher last year. He’s not that bad,'' Rose added, chipping in on the conversation.
Finishing his milk, Night put the glass back down, leaning over the table as he grabbed a napkin which he used to wipe away the milk that clung to his muzzle, along with any possible scraps from the sandwich.
''I hope you’re right,'' Night said as he got up and, with some effort due to his limited size, placed his plate and glass on the counter.
''You missed a piece, sweetie.'' Levitating a cloth, Desert used it to wipe a few more crumbs from her son’s cheeks. ''Don’t forget to brush your teeth,'' she added as she walked over towards the counter, Ruffling Night’s mane and giving him another kiss on the cheek. ''And remember to have fun.''
Closing his eye in response to the cloth suddenly being pressed against his cheek, Night looked up at his mother. ''I know,'' he said just before closing his eye once more when his mother kissed him on the cheek. ''I’ll try.''
After brushing his teeth and giving his mother a quick hug Night hurried over to the door, where his father and sister were already waiting.
''Don’t forget your lunch!'' She called sounded from the kitchen as three brown paper bags were floated towards them.
''Thanks!'' a trio of voices shouted back. Night put the paper bag into his saddlebag, as he did so however he felt something softly nudging him in the back. Turning around he saw his flute, suspended in the air by his father’s tell-tale magical aura.
''I know your mother said you couldn’t bring it along, but it won’t hurt anypony I guess.’’ Quickly checking his watch Abyss continued. ‘’We need to go now though or we’ll be late.'' A slightly amused Abyss looked at Night before opening the door and beckoning for both him and Rose to follow him as they began the walk to school.
After a short and uneventful walk, Abyss and Night had arrived at Night’s classroom. Rose had left at an earlier point to head to her own class.
Before opening the door, Abyss leaned over to Night whispering to him. ''Night, I’m sure you know this, but it’s very important you keep the jacket on, okay?''
After Night affirmed his father with a nod. Satisfied, Abyss opened the door to reveal the classroom behind it. As they walked in Night noticed there were already a few other fillies and colts in the room, along with a few adults; likely their parents.
After they had walked into the room an Earth pony stallion with a green coat and a brown mane walked over.
''Abyss! How’ve you been doing? This your son? I’ll say he certainly looks a bit Nocturnal, like you said, but his eyes are pretty normal looking.'' The stallion had barely reached them before he began firing questions at them. Taken aback by the sudden onslaught Night backed away a bit until he was reassured by his father.
''Hey Green. I’ve been fine and yes, this is my son. Come on Night, introduce yourself to Mr Green.'' As he spoke, Abyss gave Night a small nudge in an attempt to encourage him.
''Nice to meet you sir, my name is Night Star.'' While he gave Green his very short introduction Night walked forwards though he remained near his father.
''Nice to meet you Night, I’m Green Leaf. I’ll be your teacher, go ahead and talk to the others, perhaps you’ll make a friend.''
After taking a short look at the group of gathered foals Night walked towards them, albeit quite hesitant. As he did so however something, or somepony, caught his eye. One filly was keeping her distance from the others. Upon second examination Night noticed what the reason for her behaviour was likely, she was a Nocturnal Pegasus as well. Not only was the colour of her coat the same as his, her mane had the same colour as well, although hers was straight with silver highlights while his was messy with a few black stripes.
''Hi, my name’s Night,'' he said after he had gotten close enough, he was hoping to start a small conversation but, instead the answer he was given was a cold, hard glare before she turned her head away with a humph. In response Night turned his ears back and took half a step backwards before making another try.
''What’s your name?'' This time she didn’t react at all, choosing to ignore Night altogether.
''Ok, time to start the lesson gather around everyone. Parents can stay a bit longer if they like.'' The voice of Green Leaf interrupted Night as he attempted to converse with the mysterious filly who walked over towards the teacher, leaving Night by himself. With a slight sigh, Night followed with his head hung low.
''First we’ll have introductions and then I’ll let you each choose a seat, after that we’ll have recess and after that we’ll have an introduction into the subjects we’ll cover this year. Who wants the first turn at introducing themself?''
After the teacher asked the dreaded question a murmur went through the group, Night didn’t join in on the murmur; he decided to stay quiet as he usually did around strangers. After a few more seconds of murmuring a single clear voice broke through the turmoil.
''I’ll go first.''
A unicorn colt with a orange mane, yellow coat and golden eyes walked up to the teacher, before turning around and facing the group. Now that the colt faced the group they could see that his mane and coat were styled to resemble a flame.
''My name’s Golden Blaze. Unlike some of you, I already have my cutie mark, it’s for fire magic.'' The colt continued to jabber on, this time about his father Gilded Wand, But Night had lost interest when the colt started to brag about his cutie mark. Instead he wondered why the filly had behaved so hostile towards him earlier, was it something he said?
After Blaze was done speaking a new colt went to stand before the group. This one an earth pony with a brown mane, a coat in a slightly lighter shade brown, and green eyes. Night glanced towards the new colt and perked his ears, ceasing his wondering for the time being.
‘’My name’s Wood Chipper, or Chip for short.’’ After telling the group his name Chip looked down, scuffing the ground with his hoof. ‘’And I like helping my dad on the farm, the tree farm. It’s hard work, but fun at times. And, I’m pretty good at sports I guess.’’
Night faintly smiled as he listened to Chip introducing himself, he seemed nice, nicer than that unicorn at least. After Chip was done with his introduction he followed the example set by the colt that went before him and went to pick a seat, choosing to sit near Golden Blaze.
As Chip chose a seat near Blaze, introducing himself to the unicorn, a new foal walked towards the front of the class. This time it was the filly who had kept to herself the entire time, the fact that she suddenly walked to the front surprised Night but grabbed his attention nonetheless, as he hoped to learn her name. When the filly reached the front however, her first and only sentence dashed his hopes.
‘’I’m not telling you guys my name, just leave me alone and we’ll get along just fine.’’
Letting out a soft sigh Night summoned up his courage and walked towards the teacher before turning to face the group like the others before him. Standing in front of the group Night folded his ears back and slinked down a bit. Taking a deep breath Night took a few steps forward.
‘’Uh, hello everyone my name’s Night Star. And, well, I’m good at music, playing the flute I mean. And I uh, I like to read with my dad, he teaches me theory behind magic sometimes. And um, I hope we’ll be able to get along.’’
Finishing his introduction with an embarrassed smile, Night scratched the back of his head and went to pick his own seat, trying to ignore the weird look Golden Blaze was giving him. He chose to sit next to the unknown filly, but she only responded with a glare in his direction.
True to the tradition, another foal got their chance to introduce themselves. This time it was a filly who walked to the front. Her coat was a soft shade of pink, her mane curly and red and her eyes were red as well, though they were a softer shade of red.
After reaching the front the filly turned around to face the group, as the others did before her.
‘’Hi everyone, I’m Scarlett Gaze, just call me Scarlett. I’m not much of a sports pony or a music player I’m afraid, but I’m always up for a bit of gossip. I hope we’ll get along with each other.’’ The filly was quite cheerful, and clearly excited about her first day of school.
What Night didn’t expect however was that Scarlett chose to sit next to him when she picked her seat. Blinking once Night smiled at her before blushing heavily when Scarlett smiled back.
Looking at his desk with a noticeable blush Night managed to completely miss the introduction held by the colt who came after Scarlett.
Looking up hastily, Night tried to follow the last few introductions, though it did not take very long for him to start wondering about the filly who sat next to him. Why did she behave so hostile?
While Night was thinking, the introductions moved by one by one until eventually the last colt had introduced himself. Once he was done Mr Leaf got up and stood in front of the class with a smile on his muzzle.
‘’Now that all of you have introduced yourself I can’t stay behind of course. My name is Green Leaf, though some call me Mr Leaf or Mr Green. You can call me by either of those or just by Green or Leaf. The things I enjoy to do are sports like Chip, teaching and a few other things such as traveling but that’s not very important at the moment. Now as you might’ve guessed I’m going to be your teacher for this year and I look forward to teaching the lot of you. But you were promised a short break so before I bore you tykes with math and geography, lets go outside!’’
The chorus of cheers that erupted from the foals was more than enough of a confirmation that they thought this was a great idea. Night himself joined in on the cheer as well, sadly the mysterious filly did not seem to share his enthusiasm.
Similarly once the group got outside the filly secluded herself from the others. The other foals did not seem to care that she secluded herself but Night went looking for her, finding her after a short search.
Walking towards the filly, Night was met with another one of her glares, and though he recoiled a little by reflex he swallowed once and pressed on determined to sit near her. Just as he went to sit though, Night had a thought and reached into his bag. He took out an apple and set it down next to the filly before moving back.
The filly’s glance danced between Night and the apple for a few times before she finally spoke up.
‘’What do you want? Why’re you giving me this?’’ She asked, her words just as harsh as they were before.
Folding his ears back Night sat down while looking at the filly before him. He had given her the apple on a whim really; he didn’t have any goal in mind when he did. Or did he?
‘’Well, you kind of looked like you might’ve needed it more. I don’t really want anything, you just seemed a bit sad all by yourself so I hoped this would cheer you up if only a little bit. Though I would like to know your name,’’ Night said, his ears perking back up.
‘’Why do you want to know my name so badly? You’re just going to use it to pick on me aren’t you?!’’ The filly replied, flaring her wings and baring her teeth while rising to her hooves and taking a hostile stance towards Night.
‘’What? No! This is just the first time I ever met anypony like me and well, I wanted to be friends ok?’’ Night replied hastily while getting up himself, while folding his ears back again.
‘’Like you? What do you mean?’’ Slowly the filly began to lower her wings, but Night had no idea if this was because of her confusion or because of a something else. Regardless she seemed to calm down, even if only a little.
‘’Well a Noctur-’’ Night began, not noticing the rustling sound behind him, just as he got to the second word he was cut off rather abruptly by the voice of a third pony.
‘’Hey, blank flank!’’