"♫Hush now, hold thy tongue, thy night has yet to have begun/Caress thy wings with dapple snow, of midnight stars and moonlit glow/I wish, I pray, never for the light of day, when stars evade/And war doth fade...♫"

Sireen let her voice fall to a whisper as the melody carried off through the deep forest that encompassed her station. The park around her was still and quiet once more. She sighed and rolled her shoulders in an attempt to get more relaxed.

She failed to succeed.

Guarding the main Canterlot Park was one of the most relaxing and peaceful jobs she'd ever taken. Sadly, it was also one of the most boring jobs for a night guard to take up. Hardly anything ever happened! She closed her eyes, frowning and angling her spear up against her shoulder plate.

"What I would give for a good fight right about now..." Her gaze slanted to the nearby building she was 'guarding'. A small outpost building built in the center of the park, for any pony who got lost and needed to find a way out.

At three in the morning.

The only reason Sireen didn't feel like her current job was a waste of time was because she'd actually had to do her job on occasion. At times it was a lost drunkard trying to waltz their way home after a visit to one of the cities bars, in a few more mortifying occasions a couple of lovers that figured the park was the perfect place to...couple.

Those were the rare times she loathed having excellent hearing.

Scanning the surrounding pathways for signs of life and finding none, she opened a wing and slowly started to preen. Nibbling at the leather in between her bony limbs and creating a tingling sensation that made her back muscles ease up slowly. Her fangs were great for nipping at small clusters of the velvet fur and then using her tongue, she would lick it back into position.

A regular thing for her on these evenings, preening.

She finished the first wing and splayed it open to admire her work. Not bad, considering she had no products to make it look better. She purred and closed it, opening the other one.

As she preened, the night life around her continued on. Somewhere off in the city a firework went off, making her pause and flick her ears towards the loud noise. No doubt the guard was looking into that. It was the middle of spring, and fireworks weren't banned, but they were definitely restricted inside the city limits.

She cursed her luck. That, she mused, would be more fun than what I’m doing now, guarding a bunch of bushes and a couple of city pamphlets that nopony ever--

A noise caught her ears, drawing her from her thoughts.

Looking up, she spotted a pair of ponies trotting down the path towards her. She snapped her wing closed and stood at attention, hoping they hadn't spotted her blasé posture.

"But Daaaad, six won't be enough! I need like, fourteen to make it work!"

Sireen watched as the pair drew closer to her, still about fifty or so feet away. One was a foal, no older than five or six maybe, and the other was an adult. By the glow around the little ones horn, Sireen was able to make out that it was a unicorn, while the faint rustling of feathers from the adult, gave away that he was a pegasus.

Father and son. Sireen smiled at that. Families were a rare thing for bat ponies to have, as their visage struck fear into a large portion of the populace, even with Luna defending their reputations. Even so, very few of thestrals fellow tribes wanted a bat pony for a mate, and Sireen's smile diminished slightly as the thought hit her.

As the ponies drew closer to her, Sireen listened to their conversation with avid curiosity, eager for anything to break the monotony of her post. The dad held a rather calm tone, with slight hints at embarrassment as he looked down at the energetic foal.

"I know, I know, but fireflies aren't out this time of year, Crisp. You'll just have to wait and see if some appear later in the year, okay?"

The Colt sighed and mumbled something into the dark before looking ahead and spotting Sireen under the lamp light. Sireen inwardly cursed, hoping they wouldn't notice her so quickly, so she could hear more. She watched as the small colt came to a standstill and his eyes widened to the size of saucers. His dad had continued forward, only to notice his charge was no longer next to him. He halted and looked back to find his sons muzzle agape in surprise.

"What is it, Crisp? Is something wro--" He was cut off as the foal bolted past him and right up to Sireen, much to her surprise. The little bugger was fast! He stared up at her with an intensity in his eyes that made Sireen feel equal parts bemused and intimidated. Eyes not breaking with hers, the colt drew a breath…

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"

Eyes widening, Sireen willed herself not to step back at the colt’s outburst. The Colt walked left and right looking her up and down before jumping and bucking the air twice excitedly and zipping back to his dad. The dad had been spun full circle by the rush of energy that his son had used, and was now being dragged along by his hoof over to her. He had the decency, the mare noted, to smile sheepishly at Sireen in an attempt to silently apologize.

"Dad, dad! Look! It’s a living, breathing, bat pony!" the colt exclaimed. Sireen raised a brow slowly at the foal, unsure of how to react.

'U-um...Is there any way I can be of service, citizens?" The dad chuckled and scooped his son up in his wings, much to the foal's chagrin.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. What do you think, Crisp? Is there anything she can help us with?"

If looks could kill, Sireen would have just lost her pulse at the kid's adorable face. His nose scrunched up in disgust and annoyance at his dad's coddling. He wriggled out of his father's grasp and huffed up at the grown up.

"Daaaad! You’re gonna make me look bad!"

Sireen had to stifle a giggle as the foal turned and promptly sat in front of her, trying to look big with a puffed out fluffy chest. The foal cleared his throat, and produced a piece of paper and a pen from thin air. He tried to look up at her but shied away every time.

It was adorable.

"T-there is something you could help me with, um... Well," He blushed and pushed the paper and pen forward quickly.

"Um..wouldyougivemeyourautographpleaseohpleaseohplease!?"

Both Sireen and the father blinked in unison. The bat pony opened her mouth to speak, but closed it just as quickly and leaned closer. The foal blushed, trotted nervously in place, and held back a happy giggle as the bat drew her head closer.

"Um, I couldn't quite understand that little one. Could you repeat that please?"

Sireen watched as the foal blushed harder and nodded, before taking several deep breaths while Sireen stood back to her full height and smiled to the dad.

"Is… umm, is this normal behavior when he sees one of us?" The dad chuckled and re-positioned his wings.

"Aye, pretty much, although he hasn't seen a bat pony up close for some time, so the energy levels are a lot higher than usual. Oh, excuse me, my name is Iron Crest, and this is my son Crisp Words, what is your name, Miss?" Sireen couldn't help but blush as Iron crest bowed lightly whilst speaking.

"I--it's—oh, forgive me. It's Sireen Wind. It's a pleasure to meet you both." Iron smiled and nodded, while Crisp jumped and hooted into the air.

"Yes! She likes me!" He danced around in a trot before noticing the two adults giggling at his antics and stopped.

"Hey, it's not funny!" Sireen couldn't help but chuckle.

"Well, I suppose not to you. Now, what was it you wanted, Crisp?" she asked as she smiled, flashing her fangs to him, which caused the colt to murmur in awe for a moment.

"I... um, I wanted... oh! I wanted to know if maybe I could get um, you know...Your autograph?" After asking, he floated the pen over to her and held the paper in his teeth, looking up at her with the biggest eyes she'd seen him have yet.

She smiled and thought back to her previous statement about her post's lack of excitement, as she leaned down and grasped the pen in her mouth.

Perhaps with little admirers like Crisp Words and his father around, maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad to guard the park.

Author's Note

A story idea I've had for a while now, did some art for, and decided I should just post it as an actual story. If there are errors( i'm sure there will be) please feel free to notify me about them and I will edit them asap.

This story will be rated Mature for later scenes of sex and possible gore. tags will be added when they arise.

the cover art and the images in the picture are my own.