The Music of the Night
On the outskirts of a small village called Ponyville there lived a mysterious young colt. He was a young Pegasus colt whom went by the name of “Night Shroud”; his coat was a dark and deep blue color, as deep as that of the night sky. His mane, was slightly drawn upwards on the top of his head, and was longer with a bit of a wave as it went down his neck. His tail was long, and held the same wave as in his mane. The colors of his mane and tail were as black as midnight, save for a blue streak, which held the same color as his fine coat. The red eyed colt was a few inches taller than the average pony, something that may set him apart from his other neighbors, of which he didn’t have much contact with.
The truth was, very few of the Ponyville residents had ever laid eyes on Night, most of them weren’t even aware of his existence. Perhaps the colt himself was partially to blame for this. Just as his name suggested, he spent very little time active during the day, and preferred the presence of darkness. Some might think that he was prudish or selective, but in truth, Night simply didn’t feel like he belonged very much into such a town. It was a beautiful town, he did admit, but with all of the brightly colored and bubbly ponies (which for some odd reason seemed to consist mostly of mares), he didn’t feel like he’d fit and that he would be rejected. Night Shroud was naturally a more solitary pony, but he was very sensitive to the scorn and judgment of others, which is one of the reasons why he had kept his distance from most ponies, and went out rarely save for his occasional night fly, or trot through everfree.
The colt in truth had not had that much time to adjust to his new home. He had moved here not long ago, due to a flying accident with his parents, something which he did not like to talk about, and was another factor that gave him his solemn and reclusive personality, even more so than he naturally was. The Pegasus was shy, but he was equine, just like any other pony, and the solitude was getting to him, he craved the company of other ponies, soon, enough to break his usual routine and make a journey to the crowded Ponyville square. The annual “Nightmare Night” was upon Ponyville, and being a nightly celebration, Shroud saw it was a time he could perhaps come out of his shell, and get to know some ponies.
Night Shroud sighed, perhaps he shouldn’t have picked such a crowed event to make his appearance; he shook his head, knowing he’d have to break his lonely cycle sooner or later. He put on a black vest and cape, not “dressing up” as many ponies did, but simply putting on something comfortable, and suiting to the night. He withdrew his wings and flapped gently, close to the ground, making his way down to all the commotion. He walked down, looking around with a bit of wonder in his eye as all the costumed ponies played games, and feasted on various sugared treats. A couple of little fillies giggled by him in a group, escorted by a wrinkled older mare, he couldn’t help but smile a little bit at this as he watched them go by. As he walked by he noticed a pony named Applejack helping some little phillies bob for apples. Although it was true, most likely nopony knew who he was, Shroud himself knew who most ponies where, due to his acute observations and he knew that Applejack was a rather popular individual. He thought that she might be a good window to get to know some ponies around town. He trotted up to her slowly as she tossed at apple to the group of fillies waving to them as their hurried off to find their next source of candy and fright. She seemed to look right through him for a moment, then she gasped lightly jumping some, he pulled back some, fearing he had frightened her. But she set her hoof on herself giving a sigh of relief as now she looked at his eyes, “Whoa nelly! You gave me a quite a scare there, heh heh, could hardly see you, your color matches so well with the night!” she said in her southern accent. Shroud smiled nervously, scratching his leg with his hoof a bit, “Oh, oh sorry I didn’t meant to scare you…” he said quietly. She flicked her hoof at him, “Don’t worry ‘bout it partner, plenty of ponies looking for a good scare on nightmare night anyhow! What can I do you for, looking to bob for some apples?” she said cheerfully. He continued his friendly smile, “Well actually I was…” A group of fillies screeched, as a lightning bolt hit the ground near him, a giggling Pegasus pony, which Shroud knew as Rainbow Dash was chuckling manically above them. Applejack snorted, frowning as she trotted towards them, “Rainbow dash! How many times do I have to tell you…” her voice faded away as she ran off after the fleeting, masked Pegasus. Night Shroud sighed as he watched her run off, he kicked the ground some but then moved along, surely there would be plenty more opportunities for him to meet ponies this night?
Night continued to walk throughout the festive ponies that night, casually trying to jump into some of the pony’s conversations, but failing to do so. The young colt’s hopes were beginning to dwindle, as he huddled around one of the warehouses in town, much farther away from the commotion now. Just as he was beginning to consider heading home and giving up, he heard a screeching stallion, and saw a bright chariot in the sky. The other ponies apparently noticed too, as the all gasped and looked towards a sky that now had a single swirl of dark clouds, with the chariot protruding from the center of the swirl. He looked on curiously, wondering just who this mysterious guest could be. The carriers of the chariot caught his eye at first, they had bat like wings, and pointed ears; to say that there were like no pony he had seen before would be an understatement. Then his attention was draw to a hooded figure that made its way down to the ground, somepony, or something that was slightly taller than the colt. As the figure uncloaked itself, Night Shroud’s jaw dropped, as he found himself gasping at the sight he saw before him.
Once again the colt would find himself standing out from the ponies around him, as they all were knelt down, most shivering or cowering before the figure in front of them. But at the sight, Night Shroud held a much different reaction. Underneath the cloak, a magnificent winged unicorn of the night revealed herself. She had a similar coat color to his own, save for maybe a little lighter and her mane and tail was flowing, sparkling and wondrous, much like princess Celestia’s, but in a dark blue coloring that matched the night. Most ponies would know this creature as Princess Luna, the younger sister of Princess Celestia, even though Shroud himself didn’t have first hoof account of her; he had only seen poor artist concepts of her in old books. Shroud was enthralled at the sight of the winged unicorn, his eyes wide with wonder, and admiration. He backed up into the wall of the warehouse, staying out of sight, so the princess, and nopony would see him blushing. To the stricken Night Shroud, the Princess held a young look about her, even though he knew she was at least a thousand years older than any pony living; she held a maturity to her, and moved with authority to be sure, but there were still a certain innocents in her face that he detected. Shroud felt too embarrassed to move, almost too guilty to even recite his thoughts in his head, that he had just seen the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria.
It was probably a good thing that the colts head was a bit in the clouds at the moment, as this saved him from hearing the princess’s “Royal Canterlot Voice”. As he watched her cautiously from the side, he noticed her looking a bit upset, and then she began to trot off, away from the group of ponies. Eventually the crowd of ponies stood up from their groveling chatting amongst themselves about what had just happened. He also noticed a costumed pony, under which he would recognize as one called Twilight Sparkle, slowly following the princess. This caused Night Shroud to perk up an ear; he slowly faded off from the crowd, and followed Twilight, with the hopes that he might just catch another glimpse of the Lunar Mare.
It wasn’t hard for the winged pony to hide in the sky as he flew low and slow, following twilight as she made her way a short ways into the woods. Night gasped as he ducked behind a tree, his eyes catching Twilight, as well as the princess, kneeling just in front of a statue that depicted the infamous “Nightmare Moon”.
“…and to you THIS MUCH VOLUME WHEN ADDRESSING OUR SUBJECTS!” Night could clearly hear from the princess, even from his distance away. He flew a bit closer, spying on the two as he hid beneath the thick brush. Twilight looked shocked and a bit frazzled at the princess’s loud and powerful royal voice making Night smile and hold back a chuckle at the scene. He noticed that even when the princess spoke, without using her royal voice, she still seemed rather loud, and a bit awkward. Most ponies thought it to be rather offensive and, scary, but Night found her awkwardness strangely… cute. He listened closely, but couldn’t make out what twilight was saying, however, soon he noticed they began to trot off elsewhere. Night looked around a little, he noticed his own “spying” and felt a bit ashamed of him, thinking that he should simply work up the courage to approach the princess. He gingerly started to fly after them again, thinking that he would make his appearance to her soon, the thought of meeting her made him blush, but also gave him a strange feeling inside himself, happiness.
He caught the two knocking on the door of a small hovel. Later which he would spot a shivering yellow pony come out, looking rather pathetic below Luna. Night recognized this filly as Fluttershy, whom was looking very pale as the princess spoke to her in her booming royal voice. Slowly the princess voice began to mellow, just as Night Shroud’s hooves hit the ground, just across the bridge leading to Fluttershy’s house. His eyes perked up as he heard the princess speak, “And… how about now?” it was much softer, and had a young, innocent ring to it. The sound of Luna’s true voice was like a song to Nigh Shroud’s ears, it made him trot with more confidence as he made his way towards the small hovel. Just as he was he noticed a group of small fillies, led by a pony in a chicken costume walking up to Fluttershy’s house from another path, “Fluttershy you gotta hide us! Nightmare moon is here and… *gasp* she’s stolen Fluttershy’s voice so she can’t scream when she gobbles her up!!” The chicken pony yelled, causing all of the other small ponies to shriek and go running off. The princess beckoned to them, and trotted after them in town, Twilight Sparkle sighing and trotting after her. Night Shroud made a half-hearted attempt to ask for her, opening his mouth to speak and raising his hoof to get her attention, but she was of course long gone, and he hung his head drearily.
The Pegasus sighed, he furrowed his wings some, and he took off, climbing higher and higher until he was blending into the occasional dark cloud. Night sighed, landing on a dark cloud and lying down woefully, folding his wings back up as he rested his chin on cloud fluff, looking down at the rustling town far below. It was also a bit disheartening for him to see the princess having a rather bad time, which was indicated to him by her occasional bouts of her booming voice, and lightning, which was usually followed by screeching ponies. Although this disheartened him, he thought that perhaps this wasn’t the best time for him to approach Luna anyway, seeing as what a terrible mood she appeared to be in, plus the constant screaming was starting to annoy him a bit. As he sat there with his head drearily on the dark cloud, he drifted off into a short nap, only to soon be awakened by the sound of thunder, presumably cast by the princess once again. He looked up to find the princess floating lowly on the cloud by the statue of her former self. His ears perked up, and he jumped off of his cloud, floating down towards them, the sight of the princess with a friendly smile on her face bringing hope to his eyes. As he soared down, he heard the most wonderful sound, just before when he had heard the princess voice, it sounded like music to his ears, making his heart feel lighter, which was the sound of the Princess of the night’s laughter. Much softer and playful than her royal voice, this was indeed a voice that would win the princess the hearts of her subjects that she much desired.
He landed a ways away, following a winding road behind some trees before he came to where the princess once stood, as she was now gone, Night just catching the glimpse of Twilight Sparkle, whom he assumed was following her. He heard the sounds of playful and happy ponies now, giving him a little smile. He sat next to her statue, taking a moment to look up at study it. This thing, that was Nightmare Moon did not look like his beloved princess, this was a wicked mare with eyes of hatred and destruction. Night Shroud felt awful for the princess, he couldn’t image the timid, kind princess being trapped inside of that awful monster. He looked away thankfully from the statue and began to trot towards town. Looking around he saw that the town square was beginning to dissipate; ponies talking about the peculiar night, admiring one another’s costumes, and bidding their farewells. Night came to a bit of a trot until he stopped by Twilight Sparkle, and halted. She turned to see him, smiling, “Hey there, did you enjoy the night?” she asked, greeting him momentarily. Night nodded, attempting a smile back at her, “Oh, yes, um, the princess…” he began, looking a bit questioningly at her, she looked around for her assistant for a moment before she turned to him, “She’s not half bad is she?”, Twilight said, scratching her head some grinning sheepishly, “I guess being locked away for a thousand years can sometimes make a pony forget about all of her… social graces… but it looks like ponies here will look forward to seeing her again next Nightmare night!” she said nodding, before she called out to her dragon assistant, finding him scooping up leftover candy. The dragon hopped on her back and the two began to trot back home, Night Shroud caught up to her quickly though, “She… left then?” he asked a bit solemnly. Twilight sparkle noticed this, and her ears sunk a bit, “Oh, you must not have gotten a chance to see her…“ She turned her head to the ground for a moment before she looked at him with a lifting smile, “Well don’t worry, she’ll be back next year, and she’ll probably have learned how to fit in a little better by then” she said with a little, “Have a good night!” she called out to him as she trotted away with the restless dragon on her back. Night opened his mouth to call out to her once, but simply sighed, turning his head down as he turned around, looking up towards the sky. Just as he did though, his ear flicked as he heard something from Twilight, “Take a letter spike… Dear Princess Celestia…” she began. He turned towards her again, an idea suddenly coming to his head, and then he turned away, remembering that it was that time of night for most ponies to sleep. First thing in the morning then, he said to himself, he would find out if the Sun Goddesses personal prodigy had a way for him to contact the mare he had fallen for at first sight.
Night stepped out of the shade of the tree and into the bright sun squinting his eyes some as he looked forward at the Library built into a large tree in town. This was the home of Twilight Sparkle; Night Shroud trotted to the small rounded door and he knocked his hooves on the door a few times. “Spike, could you get the door please? Spike? Are you still sleeping spike?! SPIIIIKKEE!” he heard through the door, before hearing Twilight sigh. Sung the door open looking to the side a bit, presumably at her draconic assistant, she looked over at him, “Hey there, what can I help you with?” she asked casually. He looked towards the ground a little bit, “Hello my name…” he began, “Oh I remember, we met at the Nightmare Night Celebration! My name is Twilight Sparkle; I don’t think I caught your name?” She said with a bit of a smile, reaching a hoof out to shake his. He shook hers timidly, before he cleared his throat, trying to speak a bit more confidently, “Yes I remember, my name is Night Shroud” he said lifting his head some. She nodded at him, “Well it’s good to meet you, heh, again… why don’t you come on inside, I was just doing some tiding up around here” She said as she trotted inside of her cozy tree home. Night walked in slowly, not sure he’d be greeted with some warmth. Twilight’s magic shone from her unicorn’s horn, allowing her to lift and move some of her vast collection of books around, “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you around Ponyville except for that one night, were you just visiting for Nightmare Night?” She asked curiously. “Um, no actually, I have a place just on the outskirts of town…” he said quietly. Twilight looked at him for a moment before setting her books down, “Huh… I wonder why I haven’t seen you around more… maybe I’ve been too busy with my studies lately, I should make a point to get out more often” She said chuckling a bit at him, throwing him a friendly smile.
Twilight got caught up in her books for a bit, he almost thought that perhaps she had forgotten he was there. He looked up stairs to see a groggy dragon slipping out of bed, to which Twilight noticed and said, “There you are, do you know how late it is?” she said slightly flustered, to which the dragon simply replied with a grunt as he headed towards the kitchen. Twilight turned to him and gave him a little smile, “So, what does a Pegasus like you do around here sir?” she said in a friendly manner. Night looked to her trying to return the smile, “Well… I um… I sometimes go on flights around everfree at night, other than that I… don’t really do a whole lot…” this seemed to peak Twilight’s interest, because she looked to him without interrupting, wanting to let him finish, “I moved to Ponyville a while ago and… I usually just sort of keep to myself…” he said clearing his throat and looking to her with a bit of concern on his face. The Pegasus a bit unsure about revealing his past to her.
A sympathetic look, and also a look of concern came across Twilights face, “Do you know very many ponies here?” she asked. Night gulped, “Well, I know them, I mean you know, I’ve listened and flown around and stuff, but I don’t think any knows me…” Twilights jaw dropped slightly as her concerned deepened, “But that… that must get so lonely…” she said looking into his eyes now. Night looked away for a moment, scratching his shoulder with his other hoof, “Oh it’s not so bad I guess… It does get lonely sometimes though…” To his great surprise Twilight reached a hoof forward and set it on his, making him flinch slightly. “Nopony shouldn’t have to live so lonely…” she gave him an encouraging smile, “Why don’t you hang out with me and my friends? We always have more room for another friend!” she said smiling warmly at him. This made Night Shroud smile a bit at her, “I would like that actually and… well, I dunno if they’d like me though, I mean… I’m just…” he turned his head down for a moment, but she followed it with her eyes to let him continue, “…I’m just not very good at getting to know other ponies…” Night closed his eyes, huffing as he looked to the ground. Twilight Sparkle touched his hoof again, “That doesn’t mean you’re a bad pony Night, and it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve good friends like any other pony.” She said, this time more diligently, as she patted him. Twilight looked around the room for a moment, before she smiled and her eyes lit up. She closed her eyes and walked over to a shelf, using her magic to place her satchel over her back. And then she opened the door, looking to Night Shroud, “Come on, let’s go meet some friends, and have fun…” she says warmly to him. Night Shroud looked at her with a smile, his tail flicking some as he felt his first glimmer of hope friendship in Ponyville.
The two walked down the center of town for a while, watching various ponies buy goodies at the town square, but then stopped as they heard a rumbling in the distance. They looked up, and saw something, some Pegasus swirling around a small thundercloud, spinning and shooting rapidly through the sky, lightning bolts were shooting in every which direction. Behind the charging and spinning cloud flew Rainbow Dash, trying to catch the cloud, and the Pegasus, she yelled, “DERPY… DERP, PUT IT OUT!” to which they heard the spinning wall-eyed Pegasus cry, “I’m… try…ing…” she said disorientated by her spinning. A little ways on the other side of town, Rainbow Dash eventually caught the electrified cloud, and Pegasus, stomping out the cloud with ease. But looking through the town they had seen that the electricity had caused a few small fires in the town, one of which was just in front of Night and Twilight. They hurried to the small stall that was scored, and stomped the fire out. As they looked around, they had seen that although frightened, the other ponies had done the same. A couple of them looked over angrily at the dizzy Pegasus, Rainbow Dash included; “I just don’t know what went wrong…” said the blonde pony, scratching her head some. Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but giggle at this as she shook her head, “Never a dull day in Ponyville… Come on, I wanna take you to my friend Fluttershy’s house.” She said as she began to trot down the road again, once they had seen the fires put out. Night Shroud looked at her, “Fluttershy?” He asked, the name seeming familiar to him, although he couldn’t pin point a pony to the name. Twilight nodded, “That’s right; she’s a shy pony, just like you. I think maybe she’d be good at helping you make some friends, well, and of course she’s a kind, and caring friend herself!” said twilight happily. Night nodded to her and gave her a smile, curious to meet this Fluttershy, and relieved that he wasn’t the only pony in town that was shy around others.
Soon the two approached Fluttershy’s cottage, which seemed to be plenty abound with various small animals and birds. Twilight Sparkle scratched her chin for a moment, and she pointed to a tree a few feet away with some birds on it, “Why don’t you go see if you can get along with some of her animal friends for a moment, I’ll see if Fluttershy’s home…” she said. Night nodded; perhaps she didn’t want Fluttershy to be startled by the new face. As Night trotted away, Twilight went and softy knocked on the cottage door in front of her. A few moments later she would be greeted by the little Pegasus, whom was smiling for a moment, until her eyes peered around her and caught sight of Night Shroud looking up at a tree. This made her gasp quietly as she pulled back into her house slightly, “Twilight… there’s a strangepony at my house…” she whispered, Twilight shook her head smiling, “That’s not a strangepony Fluttershy… that’s my new friend, Night Shroud!” . This made Fluttershy peek her head out a bit more, “Oh… oh he’s your friend?” she asked timidly. Twilight nodded, “That’s right…” a bit of a disheartened look came across her face, “…he’s been in Ponyville for a few months now, but he’s been too shy to make any friends… he’s just been all alone in his house on the edge of town…” she said looking down. Fluttershy looked concerned as well, “You mean he hasn’t made any friends at ALL?” she asked, looking around twilight to peer at him, “Why do you suppose not?” she wondered. They both turned around as they noticed a few of the birds tweeting and peering down to Night Shroud, they apparently were trying to have a go at singing with him. This rather impressed Fluttershy, as she knew her birds wouldn’t sing with just anypony. Twilight looked back at Fluttershy, “He says he’s not very good at making friends, and he looks very nervous and shy around others… I can’t imagine what it’s like, living in Ponyville this long, and being all by himself…” she sighed and looked at her, “I was kind of hoping… maybe you two would get along? I mean, since you both are pretty shy ponies, maybe you could help him be more comfortable?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy looked around, she smiled a bit as she saw him smiling and singing with her birds, he actually did have a wonderful singing voice, and did seem to enjoy her birds, perhaps they would get along. Fluttershy nodded gently at Twilight Sparkle, “Of course I will, I mean… I don’t know how good I’ll be but… I don’t like to see any pony be lonely…” she said, looking at Shroud with concern. Twilight nodded, and then she began to trot off diligently, “Ah great! I know you two will get along just fine, unfortunately… I have to help spike rebuild our observatory…” Fluttershy looked a little surprised, “You’re leaving?” she asked. Twilight simply nodded as she bounced away, she looked at Night Shroud as she turned, curious to see her leaving, “Sorry to leave on such short notice, have fun you two!” she said, the unicorn eventually trotting out of earshot.
The birds gave their final tweets, and flew away, leaving Night Shroud facing the other Pegasus pony as she slowly some gentle steps out of her house, and walked up to him a short ways. Fluttershy expected to be more helpful, but as she approached him her shyness kicked in and she simply sunk her head low, looking to the ground. Night Shroud kicked at the ground nervously. Eventually it was Fluttershy who spoke, “I um… I’m Fluttershy…” she said, almost inaudibly. Night nodded gently, then paused for a second, “Oh, Oh I’m um, I’m… Night Shroud…” he said quietly. Looking up, and trying to give her a little smile. They stood there silently for a bit, before eventually Fluttershy sighed in a gently frustrated manner, “Oh no… I told Twilight I would try to be a good new friend… I guess I’m not doing a very good job…” she said looking down disappointingly. Night Shroud looked sad for a moment as he spoke, “Why do you say that?” She looked up slightly, “Well… I’m not even talking…” she said, scratching her hoof on her leg slightly. Shroud shook his head a bit trying to stand up a bit taller, “You don’t have to talk to be a good friend” He said encouragingly. This made Fluttershy lift her head up some more, “I don’t? But…” She looked at him for a moment, noticing him smiling warmly at her; she shot him back another smile. They stood together a bit less nervously now, and eventually it was Fluttershy that spoke again, “What were you singing before? It was a beautiful song… if you don’t mind me saying…” she said quietly. Night nodded, closing his eyes some, “It’s called, ‘dragon born comes’” She nodded, she peered around to look at his flank, “Is singing your special talent?” she asked, when she noticed his cutie mark. Night Shroud’s ears dropped as he too looked at his cutie mark. His mark was that of a white draconic shape. “I… I don’t really know what my special talent is to be honest…” he said nervously. This intrigued Fluttershy, “But… you have a cutie mark, do you know what it means?” she asked curiously. Night shook his head, “To be honest no, I don’t… I don’t even know what sort of creature this is...” he took another look at his mark, “… I guess it looks like some sort of lizard, but I don’t know for sure, nor do I know what that means…” he said, looking a bit disappointed, and perplexed.
Fluttershy looked down a bit again, not quite sure where to take the conversation from there. Then she perked her ears up slightly, “Oh um… would you like to come inside?” she asked quietly. Night smiled a bit, “O-ok…” he said simply. The two trotted inside of the Pegasus’ simple cottage, which appeared to have a few critters of its own wandering in and out through various doors and holes, seemingly specifically designed for them. There was a little table just outside of her kitchen, “Oh, please, have a seat… would you like some tea?” she asked quietly, but in a friendly manner. Night plopped himself quietly on the chair, he nodded, “Thank you, I would love some”, he said politely. Fluttershy put some water in a kettle, and set it over a small burner. She smiled as she pulled up a seat across from him. Fluttershy looked at him, then looked down nervously, “So um… can I ask you something… if, if it’s ok with you that is…” she asked, fiddling with her hooves some. Shroud nodded, “Of course.” He said simply. Fluttershy sighed before she eventually looked up to him, a bit of a look of concern in her eyes, “If you’ve been in Ponyville this long… how come… how come you haven’t tried to make any friends?” she asked quietly. A look of sadness came across his face as he looked downward, this made Fluttershy gasp, “Oh, no I’m sorry! You don’t have to…” Night interrupted her by lifting a hoof. “No... no it’s ok. I um…” He rested his chin on his hooves, trying to gather his thoughts, “Well, you know I’ve never been very good with making friends. But other than that… Um… before I came to Ponyville… I um… I…” he couldn’t believe that he was actually considering talking about the accident with another pony, especially one that he had just met, but there was something so kind, so trusting about this mare. She looked at him with wide, curious and caring eyes. Night Shroud sighed, “Before I came to Ponyville, I lived with my parents… they were traveling weather ponies, worked to keep the rain coming to the dryer regions like Appaloosa and Dodge Junction…” he sighed again, “… one day they were on their way to Canterlot, as there had been word of an unusual storm there that was threatening the whole city. They, along with several other Pegasus ponies tried their best to try and stomp out the deadly rain clouds, but it was too much, the rain kept coming, threatening to flood the city. Eventually, the Pegasus decided that their efforts in trying to stop the rain were fruitless, and their efforts would be best put in evacuating the city.” Fluttershy almost didn’t notice the whistling of the tea kettle; she rushed off to make the tea, setting it down in front of him. He nodded to thank her, and she looked back at him, clearly enthralled in his story. Night shroud cleared his throat before he continued, “The Pegasus worked long and hard through the night, getting most of the citizens to safety. But what they didn’t know is that just above the mountain, the terrain had been weakening, and a massive mudslide was imminent. A school of phillies just at the base of the mountain, in the city was full of students who were hunkering down, as they had been caught in the storm. While all the other Pegasus had fled the city, my parents were still desperately trying to stamp out the clouds when they noticed the full school, and the weakening mountain side. They managed to get all of the foals out of the school house in time, but as the last one left, the mountain collapsed, and crushed the school house. My parents… they didn’t make it…” Fluttershy squeaked in a gasp, her eyes widening. Night shroud looked down, “… I used some of our savings to buy this little house in Ponyville… I guess… after I lost them I just… I haven’t been up to doing much around Ponyville, or getting to know other ponies. I just… I don’t know…” He said as he looked down at the table, the Pegasus shivering as she looked almost pale. This was the first time he had shared his story with anyone else.
Night Shroud’s heart sank and his jaw dropped as she saw the sight before him. The yellow Pegasus before him was crying. She was such a soft and kind pony, with a soft and kind voice, and she was crying. It was the most sorrowful thing he had ever heard. It wrenched his heart, he felt like a monster for making her cry and it only made him sadder, making him think of his parents, and making him remember how he was without them, “Oh no… No Fluttershy… please don’t cry…” he said, for a moment he felt himself growing emotional, a little stutter in his voice. She looked to him teary eyed, “How… how could I not cry? That’s the saddest thing I ever heard, your parents…” she continued crying, “Why aren’t you?” she asked, looking a little upset with him, even as she sobbed, she looked slightly angrily at him, but clearly not greater than her sorrow, “Don’t you miss them? Didn’t you love them?!” she asked as she sobbed harder. This took Shroud back, he looked down into himself. It had occurred to them. He couldn’t help himself; the usually reserved Pony began to well up with emotion and sadness. He reached his hooves up and held Fluttershy’s face, “Fluttershy… I love them… and… and I miss them so much…” he said with passion, tears welling up in his eyes. Fluttershy let her anger away, replaced by her sorrow as she fell forward, wrapping her arms around his as they both cried. For the first time since the accident, Night Shroud let the sadness pass over him; in a wave he remembered everything about his parents, everything about the two ponies who loved him more than any ever would.
After what seemed like an eternity, the sobs of Fluttershy began to die down. They sat back down into their chairs, sniffling some. Eventually Night shroud looked up, and he smiled warmly at Fluttershy, “Thank you… thank you so much Fluttershy… I’ve… I’ve never faced what happened…” He said looking into her eyes thankfully. She tried to hold back some of her tears as she smiled at him, “Night… you’ll always have ponies in Ponyville who love you…” she said. He looked at her and smiled again, nodding saying warmly, “Thank you”. The two ponies sat there silently now, as their sobbing ceased and their tears would soon dry. Their awkward glances and turning away also stopped, as whenever they met each other’s eyes they would give a gentle smile. Soon they finished their tea, and Fluttershy happily got up, taking their cups away. Night opened his mouth, trying to say something, but just as he did he heard a loud knocking on the door. Fluttershy eked a bit in surprise, and Shroud looked over at the door, he casually got up to answer it, Fluttershy peeking behind him. As he opened up the door he was a bit surprised, there were several stallions, all dressed in yellow uniforms and red hats, they looked at him a bit solemnly. Behind the group of ponies was one, wall eyed Pegasus pony, as well as Twilight Sparkle. He head stallion spoke up, “Sir, are you the owner of the house just outside of the Ponyville frontage road?” He asked, in a deep and serious voice. Night Shroud tilted his head a bit confused, wondering why they’d need to know that, he might have been able to make a better guess, if he would have known that the uniformed ponies were actually Fire Ponies. He nodded as Fluttershy came forward a bit closer. The chief firepony hung his head, “There’s… been an accident…”
For a moment, Night Shroud couldn’t really believe his eyes. His once cozy little house was now in smoldering ruins. He took a moment to walk around the thoroughly charred wooden house. Only a few objects were even recognizable through the mostly collapsed frame. He could make out the sink, the toilet, and his metal bedframe among the ashes. Other things like the couch, his wooden furniture, and his wall paintings where completely destroyed, burnt to dust. Night Shroud sat down in front of his destroyed house, and then he lay down. He began to choke on his breath, the stallion trying to hold back his tears, as he could feel the emotion welling up in his chest, making it hard for him to breath. He kept hearing those words, over and over in his head, like someone was whispering them right into his ear. The house isn’t what concerned him so much, it was just a house, and it could be rebuilt. He remembered when he was just a young colt, clear as day, he could see the Police Pony coming into his house, looking down at him with his hat removed and saying, “There’s… been an accident…”, just like the Chief firepony had said. He couldn’t help himself as he tried desperately to choke back his tears, it’s like he was hearing the news all over again, that he had lost his greatest loves, his whole world, his everything, his parents. Fluttershy, however, didn’t attempt to hold back her tears; she moved forward and set a hoof on his shoulder. The fireponies looked down at him with sympathy, not sure what to say or do.
Night sat there for a few minutes, sniffling and holding back sobs as Fluttershy simply remained by his side. Eventually he took a deep breath, standing back up, looking more resolute. One of the fireponies cleared his throat, and approached him. He pushed a large case over to him, “This survived the fire…” he said quietly. Night looked up and nodded at him with a slight smile. This case not only held his own personal savings, but also held some memorable photos and items from his parents. He spoke up again, “We did everything we could too…” Night lifted a hoof and interrupted him, “I know, It’s ok… thank you… thank you for saving this.” He said with a nod. Night heard a bit of a sniffling behind the fireponys, and they stepped aside. Crouched, shivering, and looking very distressed was a blonde haired, wall eyed Pegasus; the very same one whom he had seen earlier that day spinning with the out of control lightning cloud. From that he had pieced together what had happened. The blonde pony gulped and shakily approached him, she too was crying it appeared and she opened her mouth to speak rapidly, “Oh… mr… sir… I’m so sorry…. I…I didn’t mean to…” she had to take a moment to collect herself, the Pegasus mare loudly crying and sobbing, “I… I don’t wanna make you sad mr… I just… I’m so… so…” she was stopped by Night Shroud, whom had gently set a hoof on her shoulder, looking down sympathetically at her. He was upset at the loss of his house, to be sure, but he didn’t want to upset the mare. She had the same innocent look in her eye that Fluttershy, and he didn’t dare want to be responsible for making her cry, as he could tell that she was truly sorry for what she had done, and the whole ordeal was putting quite a lot of stress on her. “It’s ok… I know it was an accident….” He huffed and turned his head away for a moment, “I… I wasn’t crying because of the house hun… that was something else… I’m not mad at you ok?” he asked, smiling at her softly. The Pegasus nodded but still hung her head low, “I’m sorry still sir… I um… Oh… I promise I’ll build you a new house! A… a better one!” she said, looking to him, desperate to seek his approval. He shook his head as he patted her head some, but she hopped excitedly, “Ohhh but I have to, I HAVE to… its um… well It’s the least I can do and I mean I don’t really know how to build a house but I’ll do my best sir!” she said, trying to look happier. Night Shroud smiled at her before he sighed, “Ok Derpy, just do your best…” he said. The Pegasus looking around before she decided she needed to get to work as she flew off clumsily.
Night Shroud let out a sigh, taking another look at his charred house. Fluttershy tapped him on the shoulder. As he looked to her she mumbled something, but then looked to the ground blushing. Night didn’t quite know what she wanted to say, “What is it?” he asked quietly. By now most of the fireponies had trotted off, but it made the rest of them, as well as twilight look down at her, making Fluttershy blush even more. “Um well… I was um…” she paused again; Night looked up and nodded to the fireponies, “Thank you… I think I’ll be fine from here…” he said. They all gave him a solemn look as they trotted off, leaving him alone with Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle. He sat down lowering his head to Fluttershy, “It’s ok Fluttershy, what is it?” he asked quietly. Fluttershy looked up at him with her big eyes, still blushing a little and she spoke in almost a whisper, “Well I was just thinking that… you know, until your house gets rebuilt, you can… if you wanted that is… I mean... I have an extra room in my house and…” This made Twilight Sparkle smile and she interrupted her, “Fluttershy, are you offering to let Night Shroud live at your house for a while?” she asked peering down at her. Fluttershy cleared her throat, and simply uttered, “Yes…” Night Shroud smiled and he lowered his ears, blushing himself for a moment, “Fluttershy… I can’t thank you enough for this… I… I mean, only if you’re sure, I don’t want to intrude…” he started, Fluttershy stood up now, looking at him a bit more excitedly, “Oh no no, it’s no problem at all… I might like to have a guest around!” she said, grinning cutely. Night Shroud nodded to her, and stood back up, “Thank you… thank you Fluttershy… you are a good friend…” he said gently.
With the yellow Pegasus at his side, Night made his way down town to the essentials store to get a few things he’d need for staying over at Fluttershy’s. Twilight, as well as Fluttershy carried satchels on their backs that would allow them to carry whatever supplies he should need, this left himself free to carry his rather heavy chest, which was the last of his worldly possessions. After picking up a few items at various stores across Ponyville, the tree finally arrived at Fluttershy’s house, Twilight turned to him, she smiled solemnly at him, “Goodnight Night Shroud… I hope you have better days here in Ponyville…” she said, gently placing a hoof on his shoulder, before she bowed lightly, and trotted off back to her library. Fluttershy waved goodbye to her before opening the door into her brightly lit hovel. Once inside, she led him upstairs, to the other side of the hall, across from her bedroom, where the spare room was. She lit the candles on, and turned around smiling at him, “Well, here it is… if it’s ok for you that…” she said, a little less shyness in her voice this time. He returned the smile to her, “it’s perfect…” he said simply.
After she helped him get unpacked, and get his new things set up, they stopped and found a moment to stare at each other. It was Night Shroud who first let out a sigh; it had probably been the most emotional day he had ever had. He smiled to her and knelt, “Thank you… Fluttershy. I think you’re the first real friend I’ve made and… that means a lot to me…” he looked up to her, “Thank you…” he said again. She didn’t speak; she simply smiled to him, nodding her head. Night stepped over to the window, opening it gently as he looked outside, breathing in the cool night air happily. He rested his chin on his hoof as he sighed. Looking at the beauty of the stars, he saw a reflection of the beauty of the Princess of the night and wondered if he would ever get to meet her. Fluttershy wondered for a moment what he was thinking about, but she didn’t want to bother him too much, after his long and stressing day. She simply padded out to the door, “Goodnight Night… I’m glad I could be your first friend in Ponyville…” she said with a light joyous blush. He closed the window and turned to her, returning the smile before Fluttershy closed the door behind her. Night Shroud would stair outside at the night sky for just a little while longer, ensuring that later his dreams would be filled with the starry darkness of the midnight hours.
He awoke late in the morning, being the night pony he was; he was usually a late sleeper, and an late riser. When he awoke he smelled something delightful coming from downstairs. He smiled at the sight; Fluttershy was serving oatmeal, for two, while singing along with a few of her birds. Night trotted down the stairs and Fluttershy greeted him with a smile, “Oh you’re awake! Breakfast is ready!” she said. He shook his head still holding his smile, “Fluttershy… you didn’t have to make breakfast for me… you’ve already helped me out so much by offering me a place to say…” he said tilting his head some. Fluttershy shrugged, “What kind of hose would I be if I didn’t even offer my guest breakfast?” she asked with a little giggle. He nodded to her and they both sat down and begin to sip on the delicious cinnamon and brown sugar coated oatmeal.
It was Fluttershy who spoke first with a grin, “I’m glad Twilight Sparkle found you, if she didn’t, we might not have had a chance to be friends!” Night Shroud dabbed the side of his face with a napkin, “Actually… I was the one who came to Twilight Sparkle…” he said quietly. Fluttershy tilted her head curiously, “Oh? So you must have been trying to make friends with her first!” she said not thinking anything strange of it. Night Shroud cleared his throat after taking another sip of the oatmeal, “Well… I am certainly glad I met her and that I met you…” He turned his head away slightly, “…but I have to admit… that’s not originally why I was going to see Twilight that day” He said, hoping not to upset the Pegasus. This however, furthered her curiosity, “Hmmm… why were you going to see her then?” she asked plainly. Night didn’t exactly want to fully reveal his intentions to her, “Well… I uh, I heard that Twilight knew the princess and…” suddenly Fluttershy interrupted him, something that she rarely did, “Ohhh, you must have something you want to write to the princess! Good thinking, Twilight Sparkle’s definitely the pony to talk to if you want to talk to the princess.” She said giving him a wink. Night gave a nervous smile and a nod to her, he felt bad having told her his little lie, but he still couldn’t get over the taboo of an average pony like himself, having such feelings for a divine princess.
The two of them finished their breakfast and Fluttershy quickly hopped up and began to clean their bowls, “I’ve got to feed my dear little animals, which might take a while… there’s a lot of them… but while I’m doing that you can go see if Twilight Sparkle is busy and maybe she can help you get your letter to the princess” she said cheerfully. Night Shroud took this opportunity, “Oh, do you need any helping feeding your animals?” he asked generously. She shook her head, “No thanks, a lot of them are kind of picky eaters anyway… let me know if you got your letter written!” she says to him before waving, heading around her house to carry various bags of seed, and foliage for her pets and woodland friends. Night Shroud gave her a wing wave goodbye before he flew off low to the ground to the library.
Night flew over the bustle of the Ponyville town square and over to Twilight Sparkle’s library. He landed just in front of her door, and gingerly knocked on the door. A little purple dragon answered her door, “Oh hey…” he turned away, “HEY TWILIGHT, SOMEPONY’S HERE FOR YOU!” he yelled before walking off, the little dragon apparently quite busy with his chores. Peeking inside he saw Twilight with a stack of books studying hard and she turned to notice him, “Oh Hi Night Shroud! Sorry about spike… I gave him quite a hefty chore list today…” she grinned, “He wasn’t too happy about it” She said chuckling. Night Shroud spoke up, “Ah Twilight… I was kind of hoping I could ask you something…” he said quietly. She looked at him a bit surprised at his suddenness, “Oh, what is it?”. Night Shroud rubbed his foreleg nervously, “I heard from your friends, and well… have heard around town, that you often write letters to Princess Celestia…” he said. Twilight smiled and nodded proudly, “That’s right! I’m her student on the magic of friendship, I write her letters whenever I learn an important lesson about friendship, which seems to happen pretty often around here” She said proudly. Then she lifted up her head curiously, “Why do you ask?”. Night Shroud lifted his head, trying to look confident, “Is it possible… that you could write a letter to… Princess Luna instead of Princess Celestia?” he asked, in a very straightforward manner. Twilight sparkle looked up, and tapped her hoof to her chin. She had never thought about this before, “Well… Spikes magic only sends my letters to Princess Celestia…” She pondered the problem for a moment, “…but if we had it marked for Princess Luna, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind delivering it to her sister!” she said smiling back at Night Shroud. Then a perplexed look came across her face again, “But… why do you wanna write to Princess Luna?” This was a question that truly perplexed her. Ponies here had always known she knew the princess, why would someone come and ask her to send her a letter just now?
Night Shroud wondered if this would be the first time he would have to explain his secret crush to somepony, and in fact he was very much considering simply saying never mind and walking away. He cleared his throat, and started to stutter quite a bit, “Well I…er… I wanna write her something…” he said, trying to be as vague as possible, all the while simply raising suspicion from Twilight. Twilight of course, was quite aware that he wasn’t telling her something at this point, which made her grow more curiously, “Ok… well… what exactly is it you want to write her?” she asked raising a brow, all the while, using her magic to bring over a blank scroll, and prepare a quill, “Go ahead… I’ll write what you say…” she said nodding. Night Shroud nodded back to her and closed his eyes clearing his throat, preparing exactly what he wanted to say, “Ahem… Dear Princess Luna, you probably don’t know me, but I was at your most recent Nightmare Night festival in Ponyville, I was relieved to see that the other ponies eventually warmed up to you, and you had made friends with the citizens of Ponyville. But I could not help but feel that I was missing your friendship. I realize that you are very busy pony, and may have no time on your hooves, but if at all possibly; I would like to meet you in person, to start a friendship that we missed. To be honest, this was my doing, for I was too frightened to approach you that night, and I now regret it. If your schedule permits it, please consider meeting me” he stopped speaking and twilight turned to him, “Is that all?” she said and he nodded in reply, “Don’t you want to sign it?” she asked. Night Shroud shook his head, “no… no just sign it as ‘your loyal subject’. She will know to find you.
Twilight finished up the letter, and rolled up the scroll. She still looked at Night Shroud in a very confusing manner. Indeed, she hadn’t quite worked out why this, or any pony would want so desperately to meet Princess Luna, especially in person. She recalled the Nightmare Night when she saw Princess Luna. Even though most of the ponies had gotten over their sheer terror of her, many of them still harbored a bit of fear of her, even though they had accepted her as a part of the nightly holiday entertainment. For a moment, an impossible notion weaseled its way in Twilight’s head and in fact it was so improbable, that she quickly brushed it off. She quirked an eyebrow at him again, “So… you just wanna meet Princess Luna… to be friends?” she asked suspiciously. Night Shroud put on a big smile to her nodding, making his efforts look less than sincere. “Well Um… okayyy…” she said, giving him another odd smile back. She wrote another letter herself, which was asking the following letter to be sent to Princess Luna. She wrapped the smaller parchment around the larger scroll with Night Shroud’s letter, and went off to find spike. After the dragon sighed from being dragged away from his work, he lit the scroll up, his magic fire sending it on its way to Canterlot.
Night Shroud was sure at this point as he saw Twilight Sparkle getting back to her work that he would get away with his awkward request, but just before he closed the door behind him she spoke, “Oh, I mentioned you were new here to my other friend Pinkie Pie, don’t be surprised if you get a visit from her too!” She said, nodding him goodbye while not looking up from her work. This was something that Night Shroud had some small fear of. Not because he disliked Pinkie Pie, or at least what he knew of her. But he knew that she was rather fond of large social gatherings, and throwing parties, neither of which were his strong points. He didn’t want to make a spectacle of himself, or draw attention, so he would do his best to avoid the pink pony all together. If he did know her better though, he would know that avoiding Pinkie Pie when you’re a new pony in town is a scientific impossibility.
“HI THERE AND WELCOME TOOOOO PONYVILLE!” burst out a pink, frizzy manned pony mere inches were from Night Shroud’s face. He jumped a little and gasped at this as he backpedaled away from her slowly. However there was no escape as Pinkie Pie popped up behind him, “WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME I’M SO GLAD TO SEE YOUUU!!!” she began to sing, and this began to draw attention from the other ponies around town, which is precisely what Night Shroud wanted to avoid. His eyes widened as he began to catch the eyes of all the other ponies looking in his direction, this made him quite nervous and he began to pant slightly, his head looking around for an escape route.
