Night and Day

by Tom Ink

Chapters

Since i laid eyes on you...
Mission Ponyville
A place to stay
We'll meet again
Date
Love is in the air
We own the night
The Day After
The part where things get complicated
Escape

Since i laid eyes on you...

“Soldier, state your identity!”

“Midnight Storm, sir!”

“It’s your first day here, soldier?”

“Sir yes sir!”

“You think you can handle this job?”

“Sir yes sir!”

“You think you can handle the daily pressure placed on you, which will make every day harder than the last?”

“Sir yes sir!”

“Do you swear to protect the life of our Mistress, even if it means your death?”

“Sir yes sir! Hail Luna!”

“Hail Luna! At ease!”

The small office of captain Moon Dancer echoed with the voices of Luna’s Chief of the Guard and the young batpony in front of him: Midnight Storm, with midnight blue mane and dark grey coat, wearing armor that almost matched the color of her hair, recent graduate from the batponies’ school for guards and on her first day as Luna’s personal guard.

“Let me brief you quickly, soldier Storm,” Moon Dancer continued. “See, the changing of guard is, unfortunately, something we cannot escape, us and Celestia’s soldiers. I will not repeat that. No words exchanged between you and the royal guards. A salute and nothing else. Same for the morning change,” the captain explained monotonously, revealing that he’d already had this conversation many times before. “Clear?”

“As crystal, sir!” Midnight answered, raising her hoof to her tufted ears, the clinking of her armor echoing in the small room.

“You may leave.” Thereupon, the batpony turned up, and left the office, awaited by her team member for tonight, a stallion batpony named Starry Eyes. Starry was an incumbent for years, even since Luna’s return. When the door closed, a snicker could be heard from him, and Midnight turned her head to the stallion.

“Problem, lieutenant?” she asked while raising an eyebrow.

“Newbies. We always need to teach them how to work,” he answered, approaching her new team member. “They think they know everything by having the piece of paper they call degree, but it’s always the same. They can’t handle the pressure. The last one stayed a month before he broke. You think you’ll be different from him?” he asked, using a low voice to intimidate Midnight. Starry had a reputation for making life impossible for his team mates.

“Don’t be an asshole, Starry. We got a job to do, and I’ll do it the best way I can. It won’t work on me,” she replied almost immediately, turning her head to the clock in the opposite wall. “It’s almost seven. Let’s go.” The batpony started walking to the guards’ position in the castle, passing by Moon, who whispered in her ear.

“Welcome to Tartarus, rookie.”

****************************************************************************************

“What time is it?”

“Five to seven.”

Silence fell a few seconds between Golden Sun, pegasus guard in gold armor and mane and a white coat, and his friend and team mate since his teenage years in Canterlot, White Spear, almost the same except for the absence of a ponytail at the end of his mane.

“Eeyup. Another day without trouble. That’ll get boring fast,” White explained, his hooves sore after a day or work with Celestia. “You got something planned for tonight?” he asked, turning to Golden.

“Huh? No, nothing except getting some sleep to be ready for tomorrow,” answered the pegasus, stretching in his golden armor.

“Really? That’s your plan?” White raised an eyebrow. Golden rolled his eyes – he already knew what would follow.

“I know what you’re gonna say.” He cleared his throat, “Man, don’t you want to find yourself a mare or something like that? Seriously, you should think of yourself and let the pressure off from time to time. There are other things than your job in life,” he said while imitating the more high-pitched voice of his friend. “That’s it?”

“Exactly. Hey, even you know what’s best for you! Come on, it’s been too long that since we’ve spent quality time as friends outside the barracks,” White said, his mind already turned to the following night and the pubs of Canterlot.

Golden let out a tired sigh. “Another time, okay? I’m wrecked, and drinking shots won’t help me wake up fresh and ready tomorrow,” the guard replied. “And one of us should be up tomorrow morning. I’ll need to wake you up when you’re too drunk to put one hoof in front of the other,” he added, snickering.

“Seriously? How many times you gonna say that? It happened once! Once!” White exclaimed, looking offended.

“You sure? And the time when I had to drag you from the bar to our rooms on my back? You’re cool, but you’re heavy too, and I didn’t forget the time when you threw up on me. I swear, even Celestia smelled it!” he remembered, turning his head to White. “You’re lucky to have me, you know it?”

White groaned, but answered nonetheless. “Yeah, I know, I know.” He raised his hoof, waiting for something from Golden. “But you promise we will get some mares soon?”

Slowly, Golden turned his head and raised his hoof too. “I promise, buddy.” They did a hoof-bump, just before the clock rang for seven. Positioned at the entrance of the hallway leading to the royal throne and Luna’s observation post for the night, the two guards saw the relief team coming. “There’s a newbie with Starry Eyes?”

“Okay, since it’s your first time, you open your eyes and you register everything I do. You shut up, you salute, you get in position, and everything will be alright. Get it?” Starry Eyes asked, eyes staring in front of him, with Midnight by his side.

“Got it,” the batpony answered, the clinking of her armor echoed in the big hall, eyes glued to her goal: the guard position in front of her.

The batponies walked until they came to a stop in front of their position. With his experience, Starry Eyes was the first to salute, followed closely by Midnight and then White and Golden. The moment was brief, but long enough for the blue eyes of Golden Sun and the golden ones of Midnight Storm to meet. No time to waste, though, and the furtive exchange disappeared soon with the batponies taking over for the night, while the royal guards departed for the entrance of the castle. Without a word, the night was theirs.

“Hey, Golden?” White Spear asked in the changing room of the guards barracks, removing the golden armor pieces that hurt his body, one by one.

“Hmm?” Golden Sun hummed, taking off the helmet that held back his long golden mane.

“You saw the new guard?”

“Yeah. And?”

“If you want my opinion, she’s-”

“Stop.” White’s head turned by his friend. “Your opinion. I will gladly avoid it, especially about mares. The last one you made me meet dumped me for a mule.” Just thinking about that sent shivers down Golden’s spine. “So this time, don’t say a word.”

“Oh.” White went back to his locker, conscientiously ranking his armor. “I was just saying that if all Luna’s guard were like that, I would sleep with the enemy as soon as I could,” he said, ending with a wing in the mirror of his locker, which reflected Golden’s face.

His friend involuntarily let out a laugh before continuing. “When you do that, it will be military court and you’ll end up on the Moon for your betrayal. And then, goodbye to all the mares and hello to your hoof… you’re right-hoofed, right?”

They both burst out laughing in the loneliness of the changing room. “You’re such a dumbass, you know that, huh?” White asked, getting closer to his friend.

“I have a knack for teaching,” Golden replied, finally finishing taking off his hoof-shoes.

White breathed deeply before answering. “You’re really dumb. But that’s why I like you. Well, I’m out. If you’re asleep when I get back, then see you tomorrow, buddy.” They exchanged a bro-hoof before taking their separate ways for the night.

“See you tomorrow, White. And don’t come back with a hangover!” he added when White closed the door, letting Sun alone with his thoughts in the cold and quiet changing room. The pegasus enjoyed this quiet moment to rest on a bench, thinking back to the batpony that exchanged a look with him. Yeah, it’s true that she look nice. But she guards Luna, and she doesn’t seem to be my type. And I don’t want to be sent to the Moon for this bullshit. It’s my job, and nopony will destract me from it.

He rested a few minutes, thinking of the program for tomorrow, before raising himself and walk, silently, to the room near the castle when Celestia’s guards were staying. The camp had a cafeteria, a workout gym room, a meeting room and lot of rooms for all the guards sworn to the protection of Celestia during her trips, and for the security of Canterlot. He and White Spear were part of the personal guard of the Princess, the two never follwing her like her own shadow, in the capital or in the rest of Equestria.

Arriving to his room, Golden fell on the bed before quickly preening, not waiting on the arrival of his friend to go to sleep and travel to Luna’s land (the only place where batponies and royal guards could be together without risking something).
********************************************************************************************

“… right hoof, left hoof, and then, you salute with your right hoof. Get it, rookie?”

“Sir yes sir…,” Midnight sighed after the fiftieth demonstration of the protocol to use in Luna’s presence.

“Fine. It’s your first day here, the Mistress will call you before the end of the night. Don’t play it all smarty and everything will be okay,” Starry ended before taking back his post. Square shoulders, fixed and threatening stare, gritted teeth and shiny fangs to show every visitor and potential traitor that they’d come to the wrong place. Midnight mimicked his posture, which she learned during her long years in the school for batponies.

For a few hours, silence reigned, only stopped by the clinking of armors and some pony cooks, assistants coming to ask for a signature for an official paper and meetings planned since long at the Princess of the Night agenda.

And at 3 AM...

The door in the hallway where the batponies stood opened just a bit to allow a glimpse of Luna’s face. With a quiet voice, she asked, “Midnight Storm?”

For a moment out of her still posture, the batpony turned to the Princess. “Yes, Mistress?”

“Follow me. I would like to talk to you,” Luna continued. Without a word, Midnight left her position and saluted Starry, who did the same. The young batpony walked with a military rhythm and finally made it to the door of the Princess’s office, who was also used as a bedroom.

Right hoof, left hoof and… SALUTE! She repeated in her head before stopping in front of Luna.

“At ease, soldier. Please, enter,” the Princess commanded, blocking the door with her magic. The batpony passed her and made her way into the big room. The only light came from a small, glowing lamp on the table, letting the darkness in hide in almost every corner, which wasn’t a problem for a batpony like Midnight, more used to the night than the day. It was a small office where papers were piled up in a corner, the bed on the opposite side, while a balcony with a telescope faced the door. That was where Luna watched the dreams of her ponies.

Midnight surveyed the room with her eyes before her eyes fell back on Luna. She made a gesture with her head to indicate the balcony. The batpony obeyed and sat by her side, where all of Canterlot was just in front of her, and even beyond, to the dimming lights of Poneyville far away. Luna finished sipping her tea before speaking.

“Tell me about yourself, Midnight Storm. After all, it’s not every night that I can have a mare as my new personal guard,” Luna said, turning her head slightly toward her bodyguard.

Almost instinctively, Midnight repeated the speech she had trained to say at her first meeting with Luna. “My name is Midnight Storm, Mistress. It’s an honor to be at your service,” she saluted.

Luna gently smiled. “You can call me Princess. I think I can let you be less formal than Starry Eyes when it comes to protocol. But please, continue.”

“Oh, I…” A bit destabilized, Midnight regained her composure and went on. “Yes… Princess. I’m twenty, and my parents are from Canterlot. From the suburbs, to be clear, where the batponies live. I was in the school since I was five years old, and from that day, my only goal was to be at your service in your personal guard,” she concluded.

“Oh, so you’ve dreamt of this day for years now?” Luna smiled.

“Yes, Mi… err, Princess,” Midnight smiled too, trying to maintain her posture.

“Do you have any family? A brother, a sister? After all, even if I created the batponies, it’s been a long time, and your race has grown.”

“No, sadly. I’m an only child, and my parents died soon before my entry into the school for batponies. May they rest in peace,” Midnight explained, with a bit of sadness in her voice. The quiet face of Luna darkened a bit during her story. Hesitantly, she raised a royal hoof and placed it on Midnight’s, making her shudder a bit.

“I’m sorry,” Luna empathized.

“No, no, Princess, you don’t need to,” the batpony explained. “To be clear, my parents saw you coming back just before they died. They left Equestria in peace. They knew I was in good hooves.”

Silence fell for a few moments, and both waited for the other to talk, to break the heavy load that seemed to encompass the room. Luna finally spoke.

“Do you have any children? A coltfriend? A marefriend? After all, the world has changed in a millennium,” Luna smiled knowingly.

Midnight seemed to be a bit uncomfortable with the question, but she didn’t blush and kept her head high. “No, Princess. The life of a batpony guard doesn’t allow a lot of time for that, and we aren’t really known for being friendly to the Equestrians.”

“I know that all too well.” Luna tilted her head. “And I’m the only one to blame…” She sighed and closed her eyes, as if she wanted to restrain the sadness that threatened to flow out of her every time somepony talked about the social condition of her children in front of her. This time, Midnight raised her hoof and placed it on Luna’s.

“Don’t say that, Princess. We are all grateful for your return. We will need time, but you will see, everything’s gonna be alright in the end.” Her eyes fell on her hoof, and she pulled it back quickly. “Oh, sorry…”

Luna laughed. “Don’t be. I rarely have this kind of conversation with my dear subjects. Things are changing, but sometimes, I would like to change them faster. I don’t want your race to relieve what happened during my… change of attitude,” Luna explained, recalling her dark days.

Silence hung in the air again before Luna continued. “And how’s Starry Eyes?”

“True to his reputation,” Midnight answered immediately. “I know why the others guards doesn’t stay long with him.” She blushed a bit. “Don’t tell him that.”

“No need to worry. I know him well enough to know how he is. I hope you’ll be able to tame him.” Luna gave MIdnight a wink, and Midnight answered with a big smile. “And I hope I will see you stay in my guard for a long time. It’s so rare to see mares in it. Actually, I think you must be the only one… Well, I will not bother you any longer. Go back to your position. I will call you back if I need you again.” Luna got up and escorted the batpony to her door. “Have a good night.”

“You too, Princess,” Midnight saluted her and came back to her position, where Starry Eyes didn’t waste any time. He fired question after question at her.

“So? You did as I told you? You saluted? What did she ask you? She talked about me?” he asked without breathing.

“Yes, I did as you said. And we talk about mare stuff. You cannot understand, Starry,” she snickered.

“But–“

“In position, Starry! They didn’t teach you that in school?” she ordered to discourage him from asking other questions.

The batpony mumbled something under his breath before taking back his position, and no further words were exchanged during that night.
******************************************************************************

“White? White?”

In Golden Sun and White Spear’s room, it was time to wake up to get ready for the changing of the guard at seven.

“Mmm… Touch my muscles babe… Hmm….”

“White?” Golden get closer to the bed of his friend, still buried deeply in the sheets and in the land of dreams, contrary to of the white Pegasus, who was already up and in the middle of his stretching routine. Well, at least he’s here and he doesn’t smell like a drunken pony. That’s good, he sighed internally.

“Mmm… Kiss me babe… Mmm…”

Well, let’s do it the hard way, Golden thought. He brought himself close to the ear of his friend and shouted, “WHITE SPEAR, REPORT!” The Pegasus yelped and fell on the floor, taking the sheets with him.

“CAPTAIN! SORRY, I–“ He fell silent when he found he was still in his room, with his friend laughing like mad. “Fuck, Golden, I was in the middle of an awesome dream!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Golden managed to say between two laughs, “you’ll do a lot more dreaming if you get fired for not showing up. Come on, sleepy head, it’s time to get ready.” He stretched his hoof to help him, but his friend beat his wings, slapping his hoof.

“Keep your hoof, I can get up alone. Besides you probably jerked off thinking of that batpony last night,” he said, staggering to the bathroom to freshen up.

Golden Sun rolled his eyes. “See? That’s why I don’t want to hear your opinion about mares. If it’s listening to this kind of b–“

White Spear cut him off by turning on the shower. “Can’t hear you, I’m taking a shower! Hey, but you’re defending her, so you like her, right?” he smiled wickedly before sighing contently when the hot water fell on his coat, clearing the fog in his head.

“White, another one like that and–“

His friend cut him again by shouting from the shower, “Oh, you really want to fight for her? Dude, you really like her!” he laughed.

One facehoof later, and Golden knew the day would be a long one. “White, remind me, why am I still your friend with all the things you do to me?” he asked, making his bed. Squared, for sure.

His friend pulled his head out of the shower to answer. “Because without me, you’ll be lonely, and because you know, deep down, that we can’t be separate?” he asked, turning off the steam.

Golden finished making his bed and took his most high-pitched voice. “Wow, that’s almost a proposition! You sure you aren’t in love with me?” Golden laughed. White groaned and stepped out of the bathroom, just in time to launch his counterattack.

“Man, if I was into stallions, you wouldn’t be my type. I couldn’t stand to be with a pony who still thinks ponytails are cool.” White smiled triumphantly and started to gather all his stuff for the day.

Golden watched him for a few seconds, afflicted. “Seriously? That all you got? Originality: zero,” he whined. He sighed and also gathered his stuff. “I hope you’ll be smarter during work today. Come on, let’s go.”

“Eager to work? Wow, you really want to see her again, don’t you?” the Pegasus concluded, adding kissing noises and some fluttering of his eyelashes.

He hardly had the time to finish before White fell on the floor after a hoof-trip from his friend. This day will be very long.

The rest of the night had been quiet for the two batponies. Except that Starry Eyes seemed more annoyed than ever after Luna’s and Midnight meeting. Seven o’clock approached, and so did the time of the takeover.

“Midnight, you will go to see Moon Dancer for your report as soon as we will have finished. Understand?” Starry Eyes asked just minutes before the ringing of the clock.

“Clear as crystal. “ She hesitated to ask more. “It’s still so… quiet?”

Starry smirked before answering. “Wait till the next trip. You won’t ask me that question after that,” Starry replied, while White Spear and Golden Sun were coming from the end of the hall, the one giving a nudge to the other, who fought it off with a certain discomfort on his face.

Salute. Exchange of position. Eyes crossing. Bodies closer than ever. See you in twelve hours.

The pegasi watched the batponies disappear from the hallway. Today would be quiet after all.

“Did you see how you looked at her?!” White shouted to Golden as soon as the batponies were out of sight.

Almost quiet.

Author's Note

What to say? I'm glad to present you this story, who was my biggest sucess on MLP Fictions. People seemed to have love it... hope you too!

Mission Ponyville

Several days later…

“Soldiers, do you know why I called you here?” asked Sun Glow, chief of Celestia’s guard, as he turned to face Golden Sun and White Spear in the small office.

“I don’t think this will be an ordinary day, captain,” White answered.

“Exactly, White,” Sun started, crossing his hooves on the table. “Today, the Princesses – emphasis on the plural – will go to Poneyville for the opening ceremony of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s new library. You know, this is the first time that common travel for the Princesses has been organized outside of Canterlot. I’ll let you guess what’s next,” the captain ended, looking from one soldier to the other.

Golden Sun spoke first. “Common patrol with Luna’s guards?” he tried.

His captain stared at him for a few seconds, chewing his bottom lip, deep in his thoughts. “I wouldn’t say that, Golden. You know better than that. The relationship between our guards are still almost nonexistent and are limited to the takeover twice a day. No, let’s say…” He thought about it for a few seconds more. “…a limited-time cooperation.”

“And that means?” White raised an eyebrow, seemingly confused by his choice of words.

“You will stay close to them during the visit, because the schedule is the same. No talk between you and the batponies, except in case of danger. If something goes wrong, you take care of Celestia, and they will take care of Luna. Nothing more, nothing less. A quiet visit, with just you two and two guards for Luna. Questions?” Sun asked, reclining in his chair.

“Any particular danger?” Golden asked while the captain was already moving to the front door.

“Some ponies saw some changelings near Ponyville, but we already sent a squad there without any results. But keep an eye open. Soldiers, dismissed!”

They all saluted before leaving the office. On the way to the castle, Golden and White started to talk.

“A ‘limited-time cooperation’?” White quoted, before stopping in the corridor in the Solar Guard camp.

Golden did the same and turned his head to his friend, who smiled wickedly. “You know what that means?”

“If you tell me another joke about that girl…” his friend warned him.

“You’ll be able to spend more time with your marefriend!” White laughed. Before he had a chance to go further, he felt a hoof in his mouth to shut him down.

“Shut up! It’s not your place to talk about that, even if you’re joking. You don’t even know what could happen to us if somepony heard you.” Golden lowered his hoof before going back to his walk.

When they were outside, and far from the other guards, White spoke again. “Admit it. You like her. And don’t lie to me; I saw how you look at her when we were changing the guard. You’re so shy. That’s adorable!” White wrapped a hoof around his friend’s shoulder, staring at him. “My little Golden is growing up and falling in love!”

“White, I’m gonna make it quick, since that’s the only way you’ll understand it,” his friend explained, taking the hoof from his shoulder. “First, I’m not in love with her, and second, she’s. A. Batpony. A. Guard. Of. Luna. It’s true that she look good but–“

“AH-HA!”

“BUT…” Golden continued, raising his voice, “that doesn’t mean anything. We have nothing in common, we’re from opposite guards and races, and nothing will ever happen between us. You get it?”

“Sir yes sir!” White smiled, saluting before sigh. “Though, it would make for a good story.”

Golden watched him with wide eyes. “You really need to stop reading those stupid romances,” Golden sighed.

“Hey, don’t say anything bad about 50 Shades of Hay!” White replied. “If you think I didn’t saw you secretly reading…”

His friend blushed, despite himself, then groaned, before putting a hoof to his face. “White…,” he started.

“That’s me,” he cut in.

“You… you’re going to kill me one of these days,” his friend finally said with a smile.

“Oh no, you’ve discovered my secret plan to steal your Whooves vinyl!” White laughed, raising his hooves in the air.

Golden rolled his eyes before pulling himself together and focusing on the day’s mission. “So, White, we’ll try to be more professional today. Won’t we?” he asked, landing a hoof on his friend’s shoulder.

“Yeah. Especially if we need to protect the flanks on your marefriend.”

Golden got closer and whispered. “You can say goodbye to yours if you continue to talk like that.”

“Aw, you know I’m just teasing you. That’s what super-buddies do, right?” he asked, removing his hoof from Golden, who said nothing. He pouted. “We are super-buddies, aren’t we, Golden?”

His friend couldn’t help but smile before tapping him on the back. “Yeah. Always, buddy.”

One hoof-bump later, they were walking again to the castle.

“Soldier Storm, Lieutenant Eyes, you may leave!” Moon Dancer exclaimed after the morning briefing about Luna and Celestia’s trip to Ponyville. When they left their captain’s office, Starry Eyes seemed ready to burn up from rage. His anger didn’t stay hidden for long.

“How could he ask us to do this?!” he shouted from under Midnight’s calm gaze. “A ‘cooperation?’ You’ll see! I certainly won’t help them,I tell you!” His hooftseps were heavy and echoed in the hallway near their barracks. Midnight got closer to him, trying to calm him down.

“Starry, that’s the order. Wheter you like it or not, we’ll respect them. We have a mission, and we’ll do it,” Midnight said sternly, facing a Starry still blinded by the rage. “What do you want to do? If Luna wants to travel with her sister outside of Canterlot, then we can’t stop her, you get it?”

Starry groaned loudly. “Yeah. But don’t think I’ll save Celestia’s flanks if her guards get attacked. I only protect Luna. This kind of trip is useless and full of needless risks, and it’s just a way for Celestia to show to her sister that she won’t need us for future trips.”

Midnight stayed silent, trying to process the thoughts of this batpony.

They resumed their walk to the castle, with Starry mumbling all the way about the decline of the batponies and Midnight listening absent-mindedly, already focused on her task and the possible presence of changelings in Ponyville. She had to stay focused.

The trip to Ponyville was quite awkward. First because it was by train, while the others were done by royal cart when there had only been one Princess, but also because the four guards were face to face in the Princesses’ car. On every side, the tension was evident, and no words were exchanged during the trip. Midnight Storm and Golden Sun carefully tried to avoid making eye contact, while White Spear and Starry Eyes seemed to be in a staring contest (White won, after two and a half hours without blinking).

Ponyville finally came into view, and the guards took position on each side of the train’s exit to escort the Princesses to the new library, which sat in the Princess Twilight’s castle. The day went without trouble, even if the guards stayed on alert, not used to sharing the task with others outside their race.

The afternoon came to an end. The Princesses appeared from the library, where almost all the Ponyvillians seemed to have gathered to listen to Twilight Sparkle’s speech. The batponies’ and royal guards’ eyes stayed focused on the crowd, and Midnight’s stopped on a pony, before she whispered to Starry.

“Hey, Starry?”

“What?”

“See that green pony on the left?”

“Yeah, and?” Starry asked, looking for said pony.

“I don’t know, there’s a small group around him that seem… weird. Wait,” she sniffed the air, and her fears were confirmed. “Yeah, it smells like changeling,” she said, turning to Starry.

“Wait…” The stallion did the same and winced. “Yeah, I can confirm. Take it slowly so the Princesses won’t panic. Stay close to Luna, then warn her discreetly. I’ll intercept them,” Starry commanded.

“Do I warn the other guards?” Midnight asked.

Starry turned to her, eyebrows furrowed and fangs out. “Are you kidding me? No way,” he replied dryly. “We’ll show them who the professionals here are. Do as I say and warn the Mistress. Execute.” Starry stealthily snuck away from the stage and into the crowd.

Midnight moved closer to Luna and whispered in her ear. “Princess, I’ve spotted some changelings in the crowd. Starry Eyes left to intercept them. Stay calm. Everything is under control,” she explained as quietly as possible.

“Knowing Starry, I don’t think the situation will stay quiet for a long time. Stay on position and get ready to fight,” Luna replied, before passing the news to her sister, who widened her eyes upon hearing it.

As the speech neared its end, the crowd roared in panic. “CHANGELINGS!”

Immediately, the crowd shouted and scattered, while the creatures reverted to their bug form: a dozen of them, no more, some already fighting with Starry Eyes, who was quickly overwhelmed. The Princesses ran to the changelings, despite the protests of their bodyguards. Twilight and her friends soon joined them.

Hoof knocks rained down, and the guards did their best to win the battle. Starry Eyes received a blow to the jaw, leaving him unconscious for a few seconds while his young teammate beat back the creatures as they threatened to bite the batpony. One of the beasts came from behind and jumped on Midnight. Taken aback, she fell. Understanding the urgency of the situation, Golden Sun ran to her and knocked the creature with his forehoof. The Pegasus reached his hoof to help the batpony recover.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Midnight mumbled, reluctantly accepting the hoof. Around them, the changelings were captured one by one thanks to the work of the three Princesses and some inhabitants who had come to fight against the intruders. Midnight helped Starry Eyes to stand up while a changeling took advantage of the chaotic situation to fly towards the Everfree Forest. White Spear didn’t miss a beat.

“Princess, a changeling is escaping!” White shouted, moving closer to Celestia to protect her, “Should we go get him?”

The answer came quickly. “Yes, or else others will come.” Celestia turned to Golden Sun to give her order. “Soldier, follow him, and bring him back.”

“Yes, Princess!” After a quick salute, Golden launched himself and followed the changeling into the dark forest.

Luna saw the departure of the royal guard and turned to her batponies. Midnight was checking Starry’s body for any injuries. “Midnight?” the alicorn asked.

“Yes, Princess?” The batpony approached Luna.

“Follow that guard, and help him to get this changeling. This forest is too dangerous for a soldier alone,” the Princess explained.

Midnight raised an eyebrow, puzzled. “Princess, shouldn’t we send Princess Celestia’s other guard instead of me?” Midnight asked. She turned her head to White Spear, who was helping the alicorn assist some injured ponies. “Our missions must be separate, and batponies aren’t supposed to–“

Luna turned to Midnight, with a small frown in her eyes. “Are you discussing the orders, Midnight? One of the guards must stay with my sister, and Starry isn’t in shape to lead this mission for the moment,” the alicorn explained.

The batpony lowered her gaze, sighed slightly and raised her head to meet Luna’s stare. “No, Princess. At your command.” She saluted and flew to the Everfree forest, following the white Pegasus a few hundred meters in front of her.

After a few minutes of flying, Midnight arrived next to Golden, who needed a few seconds to realize who was following him. While keeping an eye on the changeling as it went deeper into the forest, he shouted to the batpony, “HEY! What are you doing here? This is my mission!”

“Princess’ order!” Midnight replied, still flying. “She knows you can’t do it alone, Pegasus!” she laughed, passing by him to approach the creature as it made for the ground.

“We’ll see who needs help!” Golden retorted, beating his wings faster to catch the batpony. “If you want to play that game, I’m IN!”

Their flight continued for a few minutes, and the changeling disappeared in one of the darkest corners of the forest. Because her eyes were more used to the night, Midnight found her way between the thorns and bushes in that part of the Everfree. The changeling seemed to enjoy navigating the trickier parts of the forest and slipped away easily, while Midnight and Golden were having more difficulties following him. They found an opening, and they both arrived at a swamp.

Without the changeling.

Realizing that he’d failed his mission, Golden took off his helmet and threw it on the ground, angry, before turning to Midnight. “Why did you come to sabotage my mission?!” he growled.

Midnight furrowed her eyes and approached him, raising her voice. “Are you deaf? Princess’ Order! You can only blame yourself for your failure, Pegasus!” she roared.

“It wasn’t a mission for batponies!” Golden shouted, facing Midnight, forehead against hers. “You should have stayed behind and let a professional handle this. I almost got him!”

Midnight sneered and pushed Golden off of her, rolling her eyes. “With your speed?! Sure. You’d have to travel all over Equestria, and you still wouldn’t catch him!”

Golden snorted and looked around. The night was starting to fall and the muddy swamp wasn’t a welcoming place to spend the night. “Yeah, that’s it. I won’t forget to put that in my report,” he mumbled, getting ready to fly. “Fucking batponies,” he said quietly. Midnight’s ears stood up, and she spread her wings while showing her fangs.

“Hey! If you have a problem, say it to my face, Pegasus!” she spat, landing in front of him.

“Yeah, I have a problem with you! It’s that the batponies always mess with our job!” Golden beat his wings and started taking off, before being thrown onto the ground by Midnight, who pinned him with her hooves.

“If you don’t shut up, I’ll suck your blood! Hiss!!” she said, showing her fangs.

Golden closed his eyes and whined, expecting to feel her sharp fangs in his neck. But instead, he heard a snicker. He reopened his eyes and saw Midnight burst out laughing and releasing him.

“Hahaha! Royal guards, all chickens!” she managed to say between snorts. “Seriously, you still believe to that myth about vampire batponies, like we eat blood and all that?” she asked, standing up. “Still, you seem… appetizing,” she added, licking her tongue across her fangs.

“Enough!” Golden came to his senses and noticed that darkness had already fallen on the swamp. “We need to go to the Princesses, now! I don’t want to spend the night here,” he said, shuddering due to the cold and the red eyes that he swore he saw in every dark corner.

Midnight looked around too and answered, “What? Afraid of the dark, Pegasus? Woooo, take care, or the headless horse will come to eat you!” she mocked while raising her hooves and spread her wings to add some effect.

“The headless horse, seriously?” Golden replied, rolling his eyes. “We’re in the Everfree forest, and it’s known for… for….” He shut himself up, like he was stuck.

“For what?” Midnight continued, raising an eyebrow.

“Shh. Shut up. We need to go, quickly and in silence,” Golden answered, eyes glued to a thing behind Midnight. The batpony slowly followed his gaze and saw…

“HYDRA!” Midnight shouted, taking off and leaving Golden alone, totally petrified. The creature started to roar with her four heads, launching atthe royal guard, who stand still. His mouth was wide open and his wings refused to unfold. The batpony turned around and saw Golden about to be attacked by the hydra. Save him? Fly off? She only had a few seconds to think, and choose the first option.

Midnight came down quickly and beat her wings faster and faster as the hydra’s heads approached Golden, who still stood motionless. When one of them opened her mouth to bite the stallion, Midnight flew close and screamed:

“HEY, PEGASUS!”

“Huh?” Golden finally turned his head before being hit by the batpony, while the monster’s jaw closed with nothing in it. The two guards fell a few meters away, and the creature ran towards them. Two ponies to eat? Much better! the hydra thought.

“Stand up, Pegasus! No time to lose!” Midnight shouted, helping Golden to stand up. He understood the gravity of the situation and spread his wings to take off, followed closely by Midnight.

The creature chased them through the swamp. In the thick vegetation, Midnight and Golden’s escape became more and more complicated in the dark, and it was even harder because they didn’t know the way back to Ponyville.

Shortly after, the hydra caught up to them and managed to bite Midnight’s wings. She fell in the boggy water while letting out a piercing cry. Golden saw it all. Panicked, the Pegasus quickly thought of an idea and flew between two narrow trees, so the creature wouldn’t be able to catch him. The Pegasus flew quickly from one head to another, so well that two of them knocked on each other, stunned, before the two others intertwined themselves like a knot. The hydra fell on the ground, knocked out and out of harm’s way, while Golden turned back to find the batpony that had saved his life earlier.

The guard quickly scanned the waters and saw some bubbles floating on the brown surface. He approached and put his head under the water, checking everywhere, trying to find a sign of life from Midnight. After a quick search, his eyes found her. She was sinking deeper and deeper into the water due to her heavy armor. She was struggling and starting to drown.

As fast as he could, Golden took off his golden armor to avoid the same fate. He dove and swam rapidly (thanks to his training in Royal Guard’s pool) to the batpony, who was unconscious. He took off her helmet and the rest of her armor (which thankfully had the same clips as his) before slowly ascending to the surface. The heavy armor fell to the bottom of the swamp.

After a long ascension , Golden finally managed to pull Midnight onto the bank and take a breath. Lifting his eyes, he noticed that the batpony was still unconscious. He got closer and put his ear on her chest to see if her heart was still beating. It was, but her breaths were shallow. At that moment, he was glad he’d passed his first aid training, even if the mouth-to-mouth with White was the hardest thing he had done in his life. He did as he’d learned, and after a last push, Midnight spat some water, coming to her senses.

She breathed heavily and took a few minutes to calm down.

Golden watched the whole time, stroking her back to help her breath. “You okay?” he asked after a few moments.

“Yeah… yeah…,” Midnight heaved, still breathing heavily. “Th… Thanks, pega… err, what’s your name?”

“Golden Sun,” the guard answered, reaching out his hoof to help her stand up.

“Midnight Storm,” she said, accepting his hoof.

“Nothing’s broken?” Golden asked again, still checking their surroundings. Midnight turned her head to check on herself. When she saw her wings, she noticed that one of them was bent at an awkward angle. She tried to unfold it, but the pain was too great, and she wasn’t able to hide the wince of pain on her face.

“I think one of my wings is sparined,” Midnight explained, turning to Golden. “I can’t fly with it. We’ll need to go by hoof or wait for the guards to find us.” She breathed deeply. “That sucks.”

Golden thought for a moment about his choices. In any case, they were too far from Ponyville to make it back by nightfall, and the sky was darkening with large, black clouds. Flying in them would l be suicide, and the rest of Celestia and Luna’s guards would end up sending a rescue team when they realized that guards were missing. The Pegasus made a decision.

“Let’s take shelter for the night,” he said, pointing to a nearby mountain with numerous caves. “We’ll go to Ponyville first thing tomorrow.”

Midnight frowned, groaned and started to walk to the city. “You kidding? A little walk won’t scare me. Come one, let’s–”

BOOM!

A big thundering sound followed closely by rain drowned her hopes. She turned slowly to the Pegasus. “…Okay. Camping time,” she said, passing in front of him.

They both ran as fast as they could under the pouring rain. Golden unfolded his wing, trying to protect the one Midnight had wounded, but she dryly pushed him off. “Wings off, Pegasus!” she shouted, and he only laughed.

In Ponyville, the wait for the two guards was getting unbearable, and the Princesses started to worry. Among White Spear and Starry Eyes, one of them was really worried and the other one really annoyed.

“Princess, Golden is still outside, and night has fallen. Shouldn’t we go to search for them?” he asked his ruler, who took shelter with her sister in Twilight’s castle. The Princess seemed to be worrying too, and tried to calm him.

“Unfortunately, we can’t do that. It’s too dark, and the Everfree forest is too dangerous at night. I don’t want to lose more guards,” she explained. “And requesting soldiers from Canterlot will take too much time. We’ll wait until tomorrow to search them. I hope they will make it through the night…”

“They?”

“Yes, that young batpony,” she pointed out her sister with her head. “She followed him, and she’s still outside, too. I really they will stay safe,” Celestia sighed. “I don’t need any more tragedies after what I’ve done to the batponies…”

Author's Note

Merry Christmas, everypony! Thanks for reading this story.

A place to stay

Deep in the Everfree forest, Midnight storm and Golden Sun took shelter in a cave. Lightning provided their only light. Soaked but safe, they settled down against the back wall of the cave, waiting for Luna’s moonlight to pierce the clouds.

Forced together, Midnight and Golden exchanged no words for a long time. Golden beat on his armor while the batpony rested her injured wing. Annoyed by her companion’s noise, she shouted, “What the buck are you doing?! Just let me suffer in silence!” she spat, finally turning her head toward the source of the noise.

“Wait… Just… a… second… Okay, it’s done,” Golden said. The metal plate was flattened, and the Pegasus used some lianas he found during their run to finish his work. When he was done, he approached Midnight, who couldn’t see what he was carrying in his teeth. She wasn’t able to understand what he’d made, but whatever it was, it seemed to be for her.

“What’s that thing?” she finally asked.

Golden sat next to her and put down the ‘thing’ before answering. “It’s a splint,” he explained. “Your wing may be broken, and we really need to keep it still so the injury won’t get worse. I made that thing,” he continued, pointing to the flattened metal. He had attached vines from outside to keep it in place. “...so your wing can rest and you won’t slow me down tomorrow. OUCH!”

Midnight had punched him with her hoof. “Ha! Even with two hooves broken, I could take you down,” she laughed, a strand of her wet hair falling gracefully on her eyes. She nodded slightly to force it back into place, which unsettled the pegasus just a little bit.

“Well, if you don’t want my help and would rather wake up wingless tomorrow…” he replied, rolling away.

Midnight understood. “Okay, pegasus–”

“Golden,” he interrupted.

“Golden, you’ve won. Come on, put your... thing on me,” she said, spreading her wing with great difficulty, “but I’m keeping an eye on you, so hooves off,” she warned him.

Golden laughed slightly and went to her right wing, losing no time. Gently, he did his job, taking extra care not to hurt the batpony, who occasionally moaned from pain. After a few minutes, Golden took a step back to admire his work. “Voilà! That’ll work. Not too bad, eh, Miss Chicken?” Golden snickered.

Midnight turned her head to see the splint and noticed that her level of pain was acceptable. The metal plate was fixed on her wing, and the weight forced her to rest it.

“Hey, remind me who was afraid to have his blood sucked earlier?” she asked, before bursting out laughing with Golden. “Nice work. Not so bad for one of Celestia’s guards.” Saying that raised a lot of questions in her mind, and she hesitated just a second before asking, “Why did you help me? I mean, I’m a batpony, and you, you’re a Sunbutt-“

“Celestia. Show us some respect, Moonbutt-lover.” Golden sneered.

Midnight laughed, but it was a bit forced. “Yeah, so, like I was saying, you’re with Celestia, and I’m with Luna,” she continued, playing with her hoof on the floor. “You weren’t supposed to help me… Err, I mean… isn’t forbidden on your side to help the enemy?”

Golden raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised and a bit puzzled, but he answered nonetheless after a few seconds of deep thought. “Well…” He tilted his head. “Yeah, that’s kind of… an unwritten rule, but well, I couldn’t let you drown in that muddy lake. Frankly, that would have been lame, going out like a loser.”

“The loser says thanks,” Midnight cut him off again.

“You’re welcome,” Golden said with a shabby smile. “Even if we’re kind of… enemies,” he said, making quotation marks with his hooves, “I wouldn’t be a very good guard if I didn’t keep the promise I made when I took this job.” He cleared his throat and said with his most beautiful voice, mane flowing and chest puffed out. “To protect and to serve, all the citizens, from the smallest to the most powerful, whatever danger they may face,” he finished, smiling and saluting.

Midnight smiled, too, and answered simply. “Thanks. And this time, it’s sincere, Pegasus,” she teased him.

“Hey, you want to have a second broken wing, batpony?” Golden joked, lying down next to her. Midnight laughed, too, and took a look to the stallion’s wings.

“You should take care of yours. You see how gross they are?” the mare asked, pointing to his disheveled white wings with her head. Between the lake and the humidity, they hadn’t dried correctly, and he desperately needed to preen them.

Golden unfolded his wings and noticed it too. “Aw shucks, really?” he questioned, as if the question was obvious.

“What?”

“Uh, duh? Preen myself? Right now?” he answered, rolling his eyes. “You don’t know what that is, don’t you, batpony? Preen your-“

“Feathers? Hey, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve got bat wings, feather-brain,” she explained, unfolding her only available wing. “Go on, do your stuff. After all, it’s not like I have anything else to watch,” she said, lowering her head onto her crossed hooves.

Golden didn’t wait any longer. Right wing, feather after feather, taking extra care to lick every piece of dirt on them. Meanwhile, Midnight cracked an eye open to watch the show. Seeing a pegasus preening himself in front of her was… fascinating, at least as somepony with bat wings. She surprised herself by staring longer than she would have admitted.

After a few moments, Golden moved to his left wing, but he felt a sharp pain on his neck, preventing him from reaching some of the more distant feathers. They started to scratch him, a sensation that would quickly become unbearable.

Golden had an idea. A really embarrassing idea, but an idea that became more and more unavoidable each minute. He couldn’t take care of this feathers, and the itching got worse and worse. Golden thought about it for a few moments, but his instinct got the better of him, and he spoke. “Hey, Midnight?”

“Mm?” She raised her head.

“Can you… err… lend me a hoof to, err… you see…,” he said, spreading his left wing. “I can’t reach them. I must have hurt my neck earlier…”

“Err… I… err… aren’t you worried that, you know, my fangs… I’m not really…,” she mumbled, uneasy, even if she was quite curious to know what she would feel touching them.

Golden blushed a bit, and his eyes shifted around the cave.

“Yeah, I know… but… I don’t really have a choice. They’ll scratch me all night and…,” he cleared his throat and spoke clearly. “Listen. I made a splint for your wing, so you can help me preen mine. Don’t worry, it’s just me and you here. It’s not like you need to do it in front of all of Equestria.”

Midnight thought about it for a few seconds, staring. She finally shrugged. “Okay, show me how you do it,” the batpony answered, standing up and walking to the pegasus. He unfolded his wing in front of her face and explained step-by-step how to do it safely.

“You pass your tongue under the dirty feathers, then do it again, you spit, and you put them back to the right position. Okay?” he asked.

“Okay.” The batpony started working instantly, passing her tongue gently on his white feathers while minding her fangs.

Until that moment, Golden hadn’t noticed how awkward the scene was, and the little moans of delight he let out reminded him how much he missed this feeling. Letting somepony else preen his wings was really amazing for every pegasus.

Midnight heard his low moans, and she took the opportunity to tease him. “You like that, huh?”

“Ooohh yeeeessss. Err, I mean, no! I…” he mumbled, “that’s a pegasi thing! We have sensitive wings, and we can’t help ourselves! What would you do if I licked yours?”

“That an offer?” she smiled teasingly.

It was clear that Golden was mortified and wanted to get buried six hooves under. “This is an extremely embarrassing situation,” the Pegasus sighed.

“No argument here,” Midnight replied, finishing a first set of feathers. “We just have to… I dunno… talk. It’ll be less… awkward,” the batpony explained. While searching a topic, her eyes fell on Golden’s flank which, even in the darkness, shined with a beautiful sun depicted on a shield. She hadn’t noticed it before, since it had been covered by his armor.

“…Maybe about our flanks,” she said, without noticing what she had just said.

“What?” Golden asked, turning his head to her, believing he hadn’t heard correctly, half-lost in the blissful state brought on by the mare’s tongue. “Of our what?”

“Of our cutie marks! Yeah, that’s it! Cutie marks!” Midnight corrected, blushing a bit. Golden didn’t miss it, even in the darkness. “How did you get it?” she asked, resuming her work on his feathers.

Golden joyfully recalled the special moment from his childhood. “Oh, that was in my school in Fillydelphia. One day, some big guys were bullying the little ones at school, and one of my friends was having a hard time, too. I came to defend him and… we fought,” he explained.

“Oh, you can fight? That’s not what I saw with the changelings,” Midnight made fun of him as she took the opportunity to spit some dirt out of her mouth.

Golden groaned and continued. “Yeah, laugh as much as you want, but that day, I stood up for a friend, and when those bullies left, I got my cutie mark. And my friend too!” Golden recalled with a broad smile. “We promised to defend each other, whatever the dangers we faced. And since that day, we’ve been like brothers.”

Midnight stopped her work and raised her head, lifting an eyebrow. “Wait, your friend: is he the other royal guard?” she asked.

Golden turned his head and smiled widely. “Yeah, White Spear. We went to the school for royal guards together, we’re roomies, and we work together to protect Celestia. Crazy story, huh?”

“Yeah, that was cool. And how is it to working with the Princess?” Midnight inquired, before resuming her work.

“It’s nice,” Golden started. “Sure, there’s Discord, the changelings, the evil guys who wants to take over Equestria, but except that, it’s– aaahhhhhhh!!” Golden’s tongue flopped out of his mouth, and he tilted his head back, panting.

“What, what did I do?” Midnight panicked, worrying she’d hurt the Pegasus.

“No, no, you… touched… a sensitive feather…” Golden moaned.

Midnight laughed. “I guess I’m doing a great job. I make you feel so gooood, huh?” she said, winking at the Pegasus, who couldn’t see it from where he was.

Golden didn’t answer and instead blushed more.

“Hey, you and your buddy, you seem very close. Are you…?” Golden didn’t miss her wink this time, which made him wince and blush even more.

“N-No! We’re just friends, nothing more! Super-friends, that’s all!” Golden stuttered, turning his head to her flank. “And you, how did you get your cutie mark?” he said quickly to change the subject and avoid further embarrassment.

Midnight stopped her work on his feathers, taking her time to tell her story. “That was the best and worst day of my life. I was fifteen-“

“Fifteen?” Golden questioned. “Isn’t that a bit old to get a cutie mark?”

“Us batponies aren’t known to be very civilized and friendly, as you might guess,” Midnight explained. “We rarely mix with the other ponies and we need time to learn what our special talent is. So, as I said, I was fifteen and there was a big storm on Canterlot. We lived at the end of the town and batponies were ordered to stop the storm clouds.”

“Why batponies? Isn’t that usually a job for pegasi?” Golden asked.

“Yes, but the storm came to where we lived, and… well, our reputation doesn’t make us the kinds of ponies that get saved when there’s an emergency. I think you already know that,” the batpony sighed.

Golden tilted his head slightly, looking gloomy. “Yeah, I… The exile, Nightmare Moon…” A heavy silence fell between the two, Midnight resuming her work on his wings, and Golden thinking back of the past. “And?” he continued, not wanting to stop the conversation at this point.

“My parents went to the clouds and tried to break them. But breaking a storm cloud… That’s kind of a suicide mission.” The word felt heavy in her mouth, and she felt her throat starting to tighten, but she did her best to keep her voice strong. “I don’t know what I was thinking, but I took off and we managed to stop the storm before it destroyed anything. I flew to the ground and…. The rest is on my flank.” She turned her head to the Moon accompanied by a bolt on her flank. “I was happy and all, but I discovered soon after that my parents… I… The storm took them…” Golden heard Midnight sniffle a bit, but she continued nonetheless. “I went to the school for batponies a few days after, and I swore to protect my people and Luna. You can guess the rest,” she concluded.

“Wow. That’s… that’s…,” Golden was a loss for words.

“Depressing? Yeah, I know,” Midnight laughed. “But us, batponies, we don’t have many beautiful stories full of rainbows and kisses. We aren’t chickens like… like…”

“Like Celestia’s guards?” Golden finished. “Remind me who was afraid that I’d hurt her wing earlier?” he snickered.

Mindight didn’t answer. Instead, she used a deadly weapon: a lick to the sensitive parts of the pegasus’ wings.

“What? You don’t know… AAAAHHHHH… Oooh yeeeeeesssss… Please, stop! I will, HAHAHAHAH!!!” The Pegasus couldn’t restrain himself, and he laughed, and his sides were starting to hurt him. “Midnight, stop!”

Hearing the Pegasus saying her name had a strange effect on the batpony. A warm sensation penetrated the freezing cave before a smile came on her face. She stopped her licking and couldn’t help but add, “Chicken.”

Golden folded his wings, thinking that this show had gone on for too long. “Well, that’s enough. Thanks for the help, though. You’re pretty cool for a batpony,” he thanked her. “You’re not like Starry Eyes. What an asshole. Nothing personal, I know you’re working with him,” he added quickly, facing her again.

Midnight raised a hoof dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry, I think the same. He’s always on our backs, wanting us to strictly follow the rules,” Midnight recalled.

“Yeah, he’s the kind of pony that’d report you for taking too long to get dressed. What a looney,” Golden laughed.

“Oh, you don’t have to work with him for twelve hours straight, six days a week,” Midnight complained. She started to rub her hooves on her body to warm it.

Hearing her raised a question in the stallion’s mind. “By the way, how do you sleep? I mean, you sleep during the day, right?” Golden inquired.

Midnight laughed and explained the lifestyle of batponies. “No, we sleep for a few hours during the day, and that’s all. Somedays we’ll go days without sleeping, or we’ll just take small naps. And no, we don’t sleep upside down,” she explained, guessing his next question. “And we have a day off per week. And you?”

Golden detailed what a usual day was for him. Celestia’s audiences, the trips, the enemies… And the working conditions, gained after a long struggle. “…and we have four days off per month, housed and fed,” he ended, stifling a yawn.

His yawn was contagious, and she started to open her mouth wider too. Golden admired her shiny fangs on the moonlight, so much that he hadn’t noticed it had stopped raining. They didn’t seem like a threat now, and think they had been close to his feathers a few minutes ago… which made his imagination run wild.

At the same time, a freezing gust of wind passed through the cave, brushing their bodies as they tried to keep their hooves warm. More adapted to the cold than his companion, Golden stood still, but he noticed that Midnight was shuddering, rubbing her hooves faster and faster on her body and curling up on the floor.

“Brrrr!!!” she shuddered. “I hope the wind slows down before we become ice cubes,” she declared, turning to the Pegasus, who seemed unbothered by the wind. “You don’t think it’s cold here?”

“Huh? Oh, yes…” Golden came back to his senses, a bit lost after an moment of observing the batpony’s shivering body. “But us, pegasi, we’re used to the cold, living in the clouds where the air is colder,” he explained.

“You’re lucky,” Midnight replied, sighing slightly.

“You want to stay close to me for the night?” Golden had asked it without thinking.

The batpony raised her head and widely opened her yellow eyes.

Seeing her puzzled look, Golden quickly added, “Err, I mean… for the warmth and all. That’s what we learn in survival training!”

Midnight thought for a few seconds and felt an even colder wind passed through her, which helped her make her decision. After some hesitation, she stood up and approached Golden, then sat next to him, flank against flank, immediately feeling some of his warmth spread through her body to her hooves. Her red cheeks warmed, too. After a few seconds of silence, she added, “And don’t try anything. You’re cool, but everypony has their limits, Golden.” She sent her head on her hooves in front of her and closed her eyes. “And if you talk about this to anypoy, I will know where to put my fangs.”

Golden said nothing and watched her for a few minutes, feeling his breath cool down as Midnight shivered slightly. After a few seconds of deep thinking, he unfolded his wings and gently covered Midnight’s body, waiting for a reaction. She smiled, eyes still closed, and Golden thought she was okay.

The pegasus’ eyelids started to get heavy, and he fell asleep shortly after, still imagining the cute batpony during his trip to Luna’s land.

He woke up with a jolt. “Wait, cute?”

Author's Note

Hey guys, thanks for sticking to the story!

We'll meet again

As soon as Celestia had raised the Sun, a group of royal guards and batponies took off – separately – from Canterlot for a rescue mission into the Everfree Forest. Celestia and Luna traveled back to Canterlot to keep their appointments, each having faith in the work of their respective guards and hoping the problem would be solved soon.

Even though the two groups of guards searched the same places, they stared warily at each other, each one taking care to not cross the path of the enemy. Each team thought the other was the responsible for the missing soldiers, and they glowered at each other with every stare.

The sun had been up for a few hours by the time the royal guards has spotted the discarded pieces of armor. Some dove into the water, thinking the missing soldiers could have drowned, but they floated back with nothing but some parts of a batpony’s armor. The search parties concluded that the missing soldiers had spent the night someplace dry. Each group headed towards the nearby caves, hoping find their team members quickly and unaware of what had really happened..

*****************

The first rays of Sun began to pierce through the cave and touch Midnight’s still-closed eyelids. Her eyes fluttered, still a bit dazed after that night. When they opened entirely, she looked at her surroundings and panicked slightly.

“Hey, where am I? This isn’t my room, what the–“ She calmed down after turning her head to the left and noticing the presence of a Pegasus. She recalled the previous day: the changelings, the swamp, the hydra, the rescue, the feathers, the cold… Had he really done all those things for her? It struck her how much she had been through in the past day, much more than she’d realized at the time.

Turning her head, she saw Golden’s white wing on her back, protecting the splint that tightly held her injured wing against her body. The pain wasn’t unbearable, contrary to what she had feared, and seeing this white feathery wing on her made her smile. In the sunlight, his golden mane shined, and she enjoyed that the quiet allowed her to stare at him for a few minutes. A small gust of wind passed through his mane and made him look majestic, and Midnight wasn’t able to take her eyes off this fascinating view for a long time.

Something rubbed against her rump, and she turned her head. Golden’s tail covered a small part of her flanks, and their tails brushed together. Midnight smiled even wider – and blushed, too – but she didn’t move her tail from where it was. This guard really wasn’t the same kind they had learned about at her school. He didn’t care about who she was. He protected her, as his motto said.

Golden started to wake up too, and his body shifted a bit. One eye after the other, he woke up and saw Midnight watching him. “Hi, Midnight. Sleep well?” he asked, yawning and already smiling.

“Yeah, Golden. I’m still okay, so thanks for…” the batpony replied, searching the words. Golden folded up his wings, which brushed against her back and caused her to shiver slightly.

Golden slowly started to stand and stretch.“Don’t worry, I get it. We will head back to Ponyville soon. Just let me… do my morning stretches…” he said between two movements. “How’s your wing?”

Midnight needed a few seconds to answer, stunned at how the light of day outlined the Pegasus’ athletic body and toned muscles. “Huh? Oh, it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt so bad…” she said, uneasily shifting her eyes everywhere.

“Sure?” Golden inquired. “Hold on, I’m gonna take a look.” He finished his morning routine and approached the batpony, who hesitated a bit and took a few steps back. He tried to reassure her. “Midnight, I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise. I just need to check if your wing is still okay.”

Midnight thought for a few seconds, then finally let out a sigh and sat up, carefully unfolding her wing. Golden reached a hoof out and blushed a bit while stroking her back, then the base of the wing, while the batpony sighed contently, feeling Golden’s hoof massaging her sore back. Unconsciously (and encouraged by the batpony’s closed eyes and smile he started to go lower. He traced her curves, well-built by her training, and her dark grey skin that shivered with his touch. She reopened her eyes and turned her head to him. They both looked to each other for a few seconds, smiling. Unable to control his blank mind, his hoof got closer to her cutie mark, and–

“HEY!! YOU!! HOOVES OFF!!”

A scream jerked them back to reality, and they turned their heads to the source of the sound, which came from the entrance of the cave.

“GET OFF OF HER, PEGASUS!!” The voice became even stronger, and Golden didn’t have time to react before getting pinned to the floor by another batpony, who showed his fangs, ready to bite. The two fought for several seconds before Midnight separated them. She recognized the stallion that attacked Golden.

“Starry! Leave him alone! I’m fine!” she shouted. Starry roared and glared at Golden before turning to Midnight.

“Are you hurt? Your wing! Let me see,” he said, seeing the bandaged wing. “Who did that to you? Was it him?!” he roared again, pointing to Golden.

“Hey! I made that splint, but we were attacked by a hydra!” he answered, getting closer to Starry.

“One more step, Pegasus, and you’ll regret it!” Starry barked, stomping. Behind him, Midnight seemed pained and asked for forgiveness with her eyes.

“I won’t play your game, Starry, so calm yourself and let me…” he shifted to avoid Starry and to check Midnight, but he was blocked again.

“Nothing! I knew it was a bad idea to work with you, Royal Guard! So. You. Stay. Back,” he spat, accentuating every word and punching Golden on the chest. The guard kept his eyes frowned all the time and strained to not punch this batpony, but he didn’t want to get angry in front of Midnight, not in front of anypony.

Golden and Starry didn’t lower their gazes for a few seconds until both royal guards and batponies entered the cave. One of them shouted: “HEY! THEY’RE HERE!”

Quickly, Midnight and Golden separated, surrounded by their respective team members, and they lost sight of each other. On Golden’s side, his friend White Spear quickly found him as soon as he was out of the cave. “Golden! Golden!’ he shouted, jumping on his hooves. A little surprised at first, Golden gladly returned the hug and patted his back while White started to sob a bit. “I’m so happy to see you again… I-I thought that..,” he said between two sobs.

“Come one… It’s okay… I’m here. Wow, do you really need to cry that much? You missed me so badly?” Golden smiled, taking a few steps back to watch his friend and see his red and puffy eyes.

White breathed deeply and wiped his tear before answering. “Hey, I wasn’t crying, I was just thinking of the hundred bits you owe me. I thought I’d never see them!” he laughed. “OUCH!” He received a punch in the shoulder, and Golden burst out laughing.

“You’re really dumb, you know that? But that’s why you’re my friend,” Golden said, being the one who gave the hug now. The others guards started laughing, all happy to see their friend back and safe. Taken aback, the batponies watched the scene, less amused.

“What a bunch of crybabies,” spat one of them. Midnight frowned but avoided answering, not wanting to create a scene in her company.

“Midnight, can you fly?” one of her teammates asked. She unfolded a wing to show the spline.

“I’ve only got one that workss, duh,” she replied, quite dryly.

“We’ll fly in a trio formation to bring you to Canterlot,” Starry Eyes commanded. “On position!” Quickly, two batponies surrounded Midnight, and each wrapped a hoof around her back, beating their wings in rhythm to take off slowly. Midnight used her good wing to take off too. She turned her head back around to check the speed of her wing, and saw the guards take off with them towards the royal city. Golden stole a glance at her before following his comrades, who never stopped to ask him questions and forced him to avoid Midnight’s eyes.

Midnight turned back and lowered her head, letting the other guards carry her all the way back home.

Later on, Midnight found herself in front of Moon Dancer's door. "You asked for me, captain?" she asked as she stuck her head inside. Starry Eyes stood next to Moon Dancer, as serious as usual.

“Ah, Midnight!” Moon exclaimed, raising his head from the papers. “Yes, come in. How’s your wing?” he asked, pointing to the chair in front of him.

Midnight walked up and answered to his question by raising her bandaged wing, which had real bandages this time. “The doctor said I was lucky, and it was a good thing to have put a spline. It kept it from breaking further. It’s just a bit strained. A few days rest and it will be fine,” she detailed. “I owe Golden my thanks.”

“Who?” Moon raised an eyebrow.

“The royal guard who saved me from the hydra and made the spline,” Midnight answered with a broad smile, thinking back to what they’d lived through together.

Moon’s eyes frowned a bit. Starry Eyes’ frowned even more.

“Oh, yes, this… guard,” Moon sighed. Silence hung in the air for a few seconds before Starry loudly cleared his throat and pressed him to continue. “Midnight, do you know why I called you here?”

A bit surprised, Midnight did not shirk and answered. “Err, you have some news for me, captain?”

Moon sat back in his chair and scratched his chin with his hoof. “Yes, of course, but…” He breathed deeply. “I wanted to know what happened between you and this… Golden. What were you doing with him in that cave?”

Midnight didn’t understand what her captain had asked. “What? Well, I was hurt when I saved him from the hydra, then he saved me when I was drowning, and then we took shelter for the night in that cave cause it was too dark and we couldn’t make it to Ponyville with the weather and my wing. Nothing more, that’s all,” Midnight explained.

“Nothing more?” Starry got angry. “You spent a whole night with the enemy!”

“He saved me from dying! And it’s not like I had a choice!” the mare answered immediately.

“Who said it wasn’t his fault in the first place?”

“What do you know about that? You weren’t there, and–“

“He put ideas in your head, is that it? Those bucking royal guards, you can’t trust them! You should have run away and let him–”

Midnight couldn’t stand it anymore. “Let him die? Are you crazy, Starry?! I wasn’t gonna let somepony die, enemy or not! He didn’t act like that, either!” the batpony roared. “Is it really our policy to let somepony die when they need help??”

“It was a royal guard, Midnight! A royal guard!”

“And? Equestria is still here, so what do you have to be angry about?!”

“SILENCE!!!” the third pony in the office shouted. Moon Dancer stomped his hoof on the table, making the walls shiver and instantly shutting down the two guards. He breathed out deeply and continued. “Midnight, what Starry is trying to say is that, even if the circumstances forced you, it wasn’t your job to get involved into his business. Do I need to teach you a history lesson?” he asked.

“I don’t see the connection,” Midnight explained, a bit puzzled. Starry rolled his eyes.

Moon Dancer sighed and stood up in his chair. “Midnight, you know very well that, for a millennium, we’ve been opposed to Celestia’s guards. We followed Luna after she became Nightmare Moon, and that led to the almost complete slaughter of our race after her exile to the Moon by Celestia and her royal guards. You know the whole story, right?” Moon asked, facing Midnight, who only nodded.

“You also know that, during the exile, we were ostracized, marginalized, even sidelined in Equestria, every day facing the insults and the batponies hunts led not only by the guards and Celestia but also by the citizens,” Moon continued. “It took time before we were slowly accepted here, even if the rancor against us never truly ceased.”

Midnight listened carefully, even if she’d already heard that story a hundred times before. Finally, Moon rose from his seat and turned around in the office, sitting in front of her. “Luna’s return helped us to recover our place at her side and to recreate a guard to protect her. And that made the royal guards jealous; they still didn’t accept our return to the Equestrian army...”

“Yeah, yeah, I know all of that, but does that really forbid me from talking to them or helping when one of them is in danger? He did the same for me,” Midnight replied.

Moon sighed again and massaged his temples, still under Starry’s stare. “Midnight, since Luna’s return, we’ve been engaged in a sort of… cold war with Celestia’s guards. The rules are clear: our exchanges are strictly limited to the take-overs, and a separation is made between us and them in the army. This is the first time that we’ve faced an incident like the one between you and that other guard. You understand that the situation is touchy, right?” Moon questioned, loudly setting his hooves on the table.

Midnight thought for some seconds, then breathed deeply. “Yes, I understand. I won’t let it happen again,” she answered.

“I hope so. Soldier, you may leave,” Moon concluded, saluting. Midnight rose up and did the same before leaving the office, all under Starry’s ferocious stare.

Shortly after her departure, Starry spoke. “That’s all? She needs to be excluded from the guard for her betrayal!” the guard roared, getting closer to his chief, who massaged his temples again.

“Starry, I know what you think, but under these circumstances, I can’t punish her. I’m sure she understands now,” Moon calmly explained.

“Bullshit! I don’t trust her. This Pegasus must have filled her skull with his hatred for batponies,” the guard continued, anger rising at every word.

The captain let out a long sigh and turned to him. “Starry, slow down, do you hear me? I don’t want to have a new war on my hooves, not without proof. So, you calm yourself, and everything is back to normal, okay? Midnight will still be your teammate, as soon as she’s ready again, get it?” he asked with his strict tone, frowning.

“But, captain, it’s–“

“Lieutenant Starry Eyes, was I clear or not?”

His tone left him no other choice. Starry stepped back and groaned. “Crystal clear,” he said between his gritted teeth while saluting. He left the office without a word.

Meanwhile, Golden and White had been given the day off to recover, and neither of them had to report for guard duty. Each had had a separate, short meeting with the captain, and Golden was ordered to not talk about what had happened in the Everfree forest and to resume his normal routine.

At the end of the day, Golden met White in their room. Just after he got in the door, he saw his friend with a smile showing his genuine joy from being reunited again, safe and sound.

“You waited here all day for me?” Golden asked, stepping closer to White, who nodded. They hugged again, and Golden laughed. “Hey, two hugs in one day? Careful. What will the mares think?”

White let him go and smiled wickedly. “How dare you say that to me? The guy who spent an entire night alone with a batpony? Come on, tell me everything,” he asked, slumping onto his bed. “And don’t forget the juicy details.”

Golden rolled his eyes and sat more calmly on his own bed before starting his story. He talked about everything, from the changeling to that morning, not forgetting the preening session, the dive in the swamp, or the batpony flank against his so she didn’t freeze. When he was finished, White’s smile threatened to tear his face in two.

“Seemed like a good night. You follow my advice?” his friend suggested, adding a wink.

Golden groaned and tried, without success, to explain to his friend what had really happened between him and Midnight. “I did it so I wouldn’t have a dead pony on my conscience. It’s our motto; do I need to say it again?”

“No need to,” White cleared his throat. “To protect and to serve, all the citizens…”

“… from the smaller ones to the powerful ones…,” Golden continued.

“… whatever the danger is,” White ended. “Admit it, you enjoyed it, huh?”

“What do you mean?” Golden asked, constantly surprised by his friend’s insistence.

“Well, there’s worse company for the night, right?”

The Pegasus thought for a few moments and then spoke. “Yeah, she’s pretty, sure. It was nice to have her with me, to have her to preen my wings, to feel her body against mine, to touch her wings. And…” He opened his eyes, realizing that he had closed them before, and discovered White in front of him, two hooves under his chin in a position that left no doubt about his intentions. “What?” Golden asked.

“You like her.”

Golden choked. “What… h-how… she… Midnight…”

“See? You even call her by her name. You like her. You’ve got it bad,” White insisted as he took a place next to him. “I hardly ever see you like this, especially when we talk about mares. Yeah, you’ve totally fallen for her.”

“Not at all,” Golden replied, slightly annoyed.

“Come on…” He threw his hooves around his shoulders and squeezed him. “Come on…” He squeezed him harder. “Come on… You can say anything to your buddy…” No response. “Golden, I’m serious. If you have something to say – and you clearly have something to say because my super-buddy-sense is tingling – you can tell me. Nopony else will know it…” He smiled, and Golden did the same.

“I don’t know. Last time you said that to me, it was hardly a day before everypony made fun of the plushy I slept with,” Golden remembered.

White rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but that wasn’t the same. We were young and dumb,” White explained.

“You haven’t changed much,” Golden laughed. “And that was just a phase!”

White didn’t answer and looked at him seriously instead. “Golden, I know we rarely talk about serious stuff, but now, I promise, I am serious. So, tell me what’s on your mind,” he said calmly.

Golden thought for a few seconds, then said, “Pinkie promise?” the stallion suggested.

White’s eyes beamed, and he answered right away. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” he said, mimicking the gesture. “So?”

Golden sighed deeply and slumped again on his bed. “Yeah. I really like her. She’s funny, she knows how to fight, she doesn’t mind speaking bluntly, she’s honest, and… you should have seen her last night. The wet mane, her eyes, her curves… Oh Luna, her curves… And when she preened my wings, well, I’ve never felt anything like that…” Golden closed his eyes and, without realizing, took White’s hoof to stroke it. When he opened his eyes again and let him go, he blushed deeply. “Err, yeah, she’s a really cool mare….”

“Oh dang,” White said, getting off the bed. “You really, really like her. Does she like you?” he asked.

Golden sighed loudly. “I don’t know… She seemed to like me, too, and she didn’t freak out when I asked her if she could preen my wings. I saw that she stared at me when I was trying to sleep but…” He hesitated. “I’m not sure. Yeah, she let me touch her wing, sleep next to her, and she didn’t seem to mind when I was lowering my hoof to her flanks….”

“Her flanks?” White repeated, walking to the shower. “Shoot, you didn’t waste any time!”

Golden blushed but continued nonetheless. “Wait, I don’t know what made me do that. I was there, checking her wing, and my hoof started to stroke her back and all, like I wasn’t able to control it!” Golden said, trying to justify himself.

From the bathroom, White shouted: “Just answer the question: do you like her?”

Golden didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“You want to see her again?”

“Yes, but she’s a batpony, and you know the rules,” Golden sighed. “We’d be taking a big risk.”

White groaned and tried to comfort his friend, getting back to his bed. “Listen, Golden, I don’t know if it will work between you and her, but you can count on me if you need someone to help you.”

Still lying on the bed, Golden smiled, happy to have a loyal friend like White. “Thanks, White. You’re a real pal,” he said before White went back to the bathroom. Golden closed his eyes and, before going to sleep, thought one last time about Midnight, the batpony with whom he’d shared more than just a night in a cold cavern in the Everfree forest.

‘I promise, Midnight. We’ll meet again.’

Date

“San Flankcisco?”

“I thought it was San Fransciscolt?”

“I always thought it was San Flankcisco.”

“No, no, I’ve got a cuz there, it’s San Franciscolt.”

Golden Sun and White Spear argued about the name of the town where they were supposed to go on mission with Celestia. The departure was expected in the morning for a return tomorrow afternoon, still by train.

“Why do we argue on the names?” Golden asked himself, carefully watching the piece of paper with the details of the mission. “Look, Luna is supposed to go with Celestia and that means her guards too, and so Midnight!” Golden said, amazed. If he wasn’t in the reception hall of the royal guard’s school, he would have bounce all around.

White Spear calmed him. “I’m happy for you, Coltsanova, but you will need to be quieter if you don’t want to be discovered. And you’re not really quiet now,” White explained. Golden raised an eyebrow, asking a nonverbal question. “I mean, look at you, it’s like you’re going to the land of rainbows and sweets! The attitude, dude, it’s all the attitude.”

Golden stood up and resumed his position in his shining armor. “Yeah, you’re right. But I’ve got a plan. In the train, it will be like the trip in Ponyville; we’ll be face to face, it will be weird and all, so I need to create a diversion to be alone with Midnight for a moment,” Golden detailed.

“A diversion? Don’t worry, I’m in. You’ve got a professional here,” White boasted, puffing his chest. “And then?”

Golden continued. “Then, I will ask her if she wants to go on a date with me at night, when there will be another team to replace us. And at night, you cover me, and I hope she’ll take care of Starry,” the Pegasus explained.

“And if the evening goes well, I will need to leave you two alone in our room ?” White smiled, adding his traditional wink. Golden seemed offended.

“Not the first night! I’m not that kind of stallion. And I don’t think she… err… what are you saying?!!” Golden widened his eyes. “We’ll see if she wants to go on a date first. If she says yes, we’ll have fun, we’ll talk, and then, well…” He blushed a bit and hesitated. White followed.

“You’ll have another kind of fun.”

A murderous glare from his friend stopped him to go further.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Don’t worry, everything will be okay. She’ll totally fall for you.” Golden slightly bent his head, praying to her boss that his plan would stay on track.

“I would like to be as confident as you.” He sighed, before standing up again. “Let’s go, the Princess is waiting.”

The royal delegation from Canterlot was composed of the Princesses, some assistants, and eight guards, four for the day team, and four for the night team, seated according their assignment in the train. Midnight and Starry faced Golden and White as the day teams, as in Ponyville, but neither Midnight nor Golden betrayed anything on their face, staying neutral behind their helmets.

The trip was going to be long, five to six hours, and at half of it, in the wagon with the guards and the rest of the delegation, next to the Princesses’ cart, White and Golden launched their plan. White rose up and went to where Celestia was, their wagons only separated by a door. He came back a few minutes later and turned to Starry.

“Lieutenant Starry Eyes, Luna wants to see you immediately,” he announced with his best commanding voice. The batpony raised an eyebrow, surprised, and frowned, still not forgetting the Ponyville incident.

“Why should I believe you, Pegasus?” he spat. “Isn’t it one of your tricks? And why should I go alone?”

“’I’m just telling you what I’ve heard, Lieutenant. And I don’t want to start the wrath of the Princess by disobeying to her orders,” he approached the batpony and frowned his eyes, “do you?’

Starry widened his eyes, mumbled something quietly and rose from his seat, letting Midnight alone with Golden, White keeping watch of the door in case Starry would come back earlier. Silence fell for a few seconds, before Midnight spoke first.

“That’s all you find so we can talk again?” she laughed. Golden slightly bent his head, looking embarrassed. Midnight saw it and followed. “Well, I’m all ears, so… you want to see me again, that’s it?”

Golden looked up and mumbled a tiny “yes”. Midnight laughed again.

“You want to go on a date with me in San Flankcisco tonight?”

“San Franciscolt,” Golden corrected.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. If that’s your question, then yes. I thought about it and I want to see you again too, and not in a creepy cave in the Everfree forest. See you at eight tonight, in the lobby.”

“And for-“ Golden started.

“I will take care of Starry, yeah. Be on time, featherhead,” she smiled, giving him a wink. Golden smiled and gave her a wink too, just before White came back, closely followed by Starry, who looked angry.

“Luna never asked me to come, pegasus!” he roared, stopping in front of White, who stayed calm.

“Oh? I might have make a mistake. No biggie, lieutenant,” he replied. Starry kept his eyes frowned and sat down, never stopping to stare at the Pegasus.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but be sure that I will find out the truth, sooner or later, featherhead.” Midnight and Golden can’t help but slightly laugh. Starry quickly turned to the batpony, who resumed a good posture on her seat and kept a straight face during the rest of the trip, like the two other guards. Starry kept his eyebrows frowned until San Franciscolt, ready to explode if something unusual would appear in front of him. The stare contest knew its second round on the train.

The day went normally, without changelings this time, and the Princesses were lodged at the Colton of San Franciscolt, in rooms closely watched by the night team of royal guards and batponies. Midnight/Starry and White/Golden were on separate floors, and in rooms for two, in case they were needed by emergency.

In the pegasus’room.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” White asked, finishing the cleaning of his armor after a hard day of work. Golden seemed a bit tense, his friend immediately noticed.

“Hey, Golden, are you okay?” he asked when he heard no answer from the other pony.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, just…,” the Pegasus rose his head and met the eyes of his friend, “I just really hope everything will be fine. It’s been a long time since I dated a mare and… I really like her and I don’t want to…” he mumbled, lowering his eyes again. White lowered his head and lift up the chin of his friend.

“Hey, don’t think I was that blind in the train. How you looked at her, how she looked at you… What I mean is that it will only work if you believe in you. Do you believe in you?”

Golden let out a small: “Yes.”

“What?” White put a hoof on his ear. “I can’t hear you. You sure you like her? It’s not like you mean it! Tonight, are you gonna be the sinewy captain of the hoofball team or the schoolmare who’s totally unable to put one hoof in front of the other cause she’s so stunned by the captain?” For pep talks, White was the best, and the answer came in a big smile drawing on Golden’s face.

“Yeah! Yeah! I’m the captain, and no mare can resist me!” he said, jumping on the bed. Him and his friend burst out laughing, before making a bro-hoof while Golden approached the door, giving his last advice.

“Have a good night, White! Have fun polishing your armor!”

White took the pillow next to him and threw it to Golden, just before he closed the door.

“If you weren’t my friend, I would say you suggest something disgusting!” he managed to say, missing his target. Golden walked into the corridors, more confident than ever.

Captain mode: on.

Eight o’clock. Lobby of the Colton Hotel in San Franciscolt. In the elevator that led him to the first floor, Golden posed in the mirror, showing his white teeth and motivating himself with small sentences like “Yeah!”, “Tonight! You rock!” or “Midnight, I’m coming!”

When the elevator’s door opened, he was still busy watching himself in the mirror, and the reflection showed him his image and….
Midnight?

The batpony’s elevator arrived a few seconds before, and she barely made a step outside before Golden’s opened too. The pegasus quickly turned and smiled awkwardly, before mumbling. “Oh… M-Midnight, a-already here… I’m…” He nearly stumbled when he left the elevator and got closer to her, stopping in front of her. She smiled teasingly.

“Yeah, I’m already here. I hope you want to spend your night with me instead of your reflection,” she laughed. “Come on, Golden, let’s go,” she added, passing before him and brushing her tail under his chin. The strong legs of the hoofball team captain just became the wobbly ones of the schoolmare.

After a few seconds of daydreaming, Golden shook his head, came to his senses and followed Midnight to the entrance of the hotel, asking the question that burnt his lips (and worried him slightly). “Midnight, what about Starry?”

“Yes, don’t worry ‘bout that. He will take a biiiiiig nap,” Midnight explained. “I gave him some sleeping pills. He will take some extra shifts in Luna’s landscape. And your friend?”

Golden thought quickly about his friend, who luckily wasn’t as pernickety as Starry about the strictly separation rules between guards. “He knows about us; he covers for me. I really should introduce him to you, he’s really a great friend…,” Golden smiled. Midnight slightly lowered her head.

“Yeah, friends…. Can’t say I have a bucket full of them. For us, batponies, it’s work, work, work, you see?” Midnight asked, without waiting for an answer. “It’s hard to make friends when you’re a batpony. Ponies are scared of you, they think you’re gonna suck their blood or bullshit like that. Be honest, am I scary?” she questioned, showing her fangs and her golden eyes.

‘You’re beautiful,’ the pegasus almost said without thinking. Instead, he turned his head in front of her and answered simply, “No. When you’re a royal guard, you’ve seen things that are a lot scarier. I remembered once….” The pegasus turned his head on the left and noticed that Midnight wasn’t here anymore. But they just passed the front doors of the hotel...

“Midnight?” The stallion started to panic. He watched all around, trying to see the golden eyes of the batpony in the darkness that began to fall.

A few seconds later, the sound of a wingbeat made his ears pricked. He raised his head, and….

“BOO!” Golden stepped back, and fell to the ground, letting out a really unfit scream for a royal guard, that only made him think that he wasn’t able to be the hoofball captain tonight. Midnight burst out laughing and slowly landed on the ground, trying to not make too much fun of him.

“Fearless, huh?” she managed to say between two fits of laugh, reaching out her hoof to help him recover. Golden happily accepted the hoof and wiped some dust on his fur. “So, what’s the plan for tonight? And no mushy stuff, I’m not that kind of mare,” she added.

Golden regained some confidence and smiled teasingly. “You know how to fly, but do you know how to dance?”

*****************************************************************

“Back in the Saddle?” Midnight asked, frowning her eyes to read the letters wrote with neon lights.

“What? Batponies never hang out for fun ?” Golden asked too. “After all, you live at night.”

“You know, we aren’t exactly known for that, but well, I trust you,” she answered, entering in the nightclub, followed by Golden who went straight to the dancefloor. From the outside, the low frequencies already gave an idea of the astounding sound inside, and they weren’t disappointed.

On the dancefloor, all kind of ponies were dancing, the strobe lights illuminating every inch of the nightclub, the mirror balls and lasers exciting all the dancers’ senses, and made them enter a daze if they landed a hoof close to the loudspeakers where rhythms punched theirs ears. For a batpony with sensitive ears like Midnight, she had to wait a moment before adjusting to this new and spectacular show, one she’d never seen before. Golden took her to the middle of the dancefloor, taking her by the hoof, before starting to dance frantically.

“Come on, lose yourself! Dance! You’re free!” he shouted to encourage her, while the last hit from the Galloping Stones was playing from the loudspeakers. “Wow, Undercover of the Neigh!”

A bit worried at first- she feared somepony could recognize her- she quickly noticed that nopony cared about a batpony in the dancefloor. They were rarely seen outside Canterlot, and their reputation hadn’t reached some cities. And the world of the night was known to be more open than others.

Midnight looked up, smiled, and mimicked Golden’s moves, a master in the art of using his four hooves, for fighting changelings or to party all the night on the dancefloor.

For a long time, rhythm possessed their bodies and they danced without a care in the world. Golden could admire Midnight’s body dancing with grace, and Midnight could admire Golden’s mane flowing at every move. For a mare who hates the romantic stuff, it was a real challenge, and Midnight surprised herself by staring at the pegasus while dancing.

Thanks to a break between the songs, Golden made a head sign towards the bar and Midnight nodded, following him. They sat on two chairs at the counter and waited for the barcolt, who stopped in front of Midnight.

“Good evening, may I take your orders?” he asked, finishing filling another glass.

“I will take a beer,” Golden answered.

“Same,” Midnight said, putting her hooves on the counter.

“Two beers, coming right up,” the barcolt said before going away to fill the two glasses. Midnight turned her head to Golden.

“I hope you won’t roll under the table after one drink,” she laughed.

Golden sighed, dismissively. “Hey, I’m not in charge now. And I know my job; I will take just one drink tonight. I can’t let people have doubts about what we did together.”

“Talking about that…,” Midnight started, looking from left to right, checking her surroundings. “What do you think about that… thing, you know… the separation between batponies and royal guards? I mean… war stuff and all…,” she ended, looking up to meet Golden’s eyes.

The pegasus answered without hesitation. “To be honest? That’s bullshit. These stories, I’ve heard them since I was born. Thanks,” he said, turning his head to the barcolt who just brought their beers. “I mean, I know it’s complicated, but I never had problems with batponies. There are more dangerous threats than you for Equestria and the Princess, don’t you think?” He took a sip of his beer to relieve his dry throat.

Midnight nodded while taking her glass with two hooves. “Yeah, I see. At school, they said royal guards are our mortal enemies, that we shouldn’t trust them, blah-blah-blah…” She took a sip. “I think it’s all bullshit too. In any case, I think you’re cool, nice and…”

“Attractive?” Golden took his chance, encouraged by the good progress of the evening.

“Don’t push it too far, pegasus. But… yeah, it’s worth taking risks to spend a night drinking and end deaf with you,” she let down her drink and punched him with her shoulder in a friendly gesture. Golden broadly smiled and did the same, taking care to not spill his beer in the process.

“And what do you risk, spending a night here with me?” he asked more seriously. Midnight put a hood on her chin, letting the other on the counter.

“Well, for starters, being sent to jail. Then excluded from the army, and then… I don’t really know. That never happened before. I mean, you’re the first to do that kind of thing. That’s really dangerous…” During Midnight’s explanation, Golden gently approached his hoof from hers, and she noticed it now. She didn’t speak for a few seconds, stared at the hoof, then land her own above his, stroking it slightly. “… And I like that,” she whispered in his ear.

Golden felt he had scored the victory touchdown, and his head was buzzing as an entire crowd applauded in his mind. Or was it the beer?

Silence fell for a few minutes the, Midnight drew back her hoof and finished her drink. Golden never took his eyes out of her, even for a second. “So, you - what do you risk by being here with the enemy?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh…” Golden came to his senses, lost in his thoughts. “Well… in the history, we’re the bad guys with the massacre, the exile, so… Let’s say Celestia will need to find another guard if the news’s spreading,” he answered.

“Cool, we’re totally outlaws. Imagine the headlines,” she raised her hoof and turned it from left to right. “Equestria is freaking out: a batpony and a royal guard become…. We’re friends, right?” she asked, as if to be reassured.

Golden raised his drink and reached out to the batpony. “We’re already drink buddies, and we spent a night together in a cave, so yeah, if you want, we can be friends,” he declared, happy to see that the night went even better than he expected. “Cheers,” they clinked their glasses together, and they gulped what was left of their beers. She wiped her mouth with her hoof and couldn’t hold a yawn, Golden noticing it.

“Already tired?” he asked. “I thought you were a night owl.” He took the opportunity to check the clock in the nightclub. Already eleven?

“Yep, but I haven’t slept for two days, and now…,” another yawn, “I start to drift off. Sorry if…”,,she started to apologize.

“No, no, that’s okay. Let’s play it safe for the moment. Just in case…,” Golden continued. “And we must wake up early tomorrow, so let’s go.” He got up from his chair and reached out his hoof to help Midnight. She rolled her eyes and jumped to the floor her own, watching him with a teasing smile.

“Who do you think I am? I’m not that kind of mare,” she laughed. “Come on, feather head; take me to momma’s house.”

Golden stood still for a few seconds, a bit puzzled, but not in an unpleasant way. She wasn’t the kind of mare who played the damsel in distress, waiting for her stallion in shining armor to help her. She liked to take risks. She was bold. She…

She was unique.

The walk back to the hotel was calm, even if the sound of the buzzing streets could be hardly described as ‘calm’. Midnight and Golden stared at each other from time to time, well especially the latter, who had trouble to not watch the batpony. Finally, the question that burnt his lips was too tempting to ask, and he spoke when the hotel was in sight.

“Midnight, tonight was really… nice. You…” He was at a loss for words, and Midnight stopped next to him. “You… do you want to go on another date with me soon? Well, not in Canterlot, it’s too risky, but outside, you know, like when we’re on a mission and-“

“Yeah. Sure,” Midnight answered. “That was… nice. I would like to see you again… You’re… cool…” For the first time of the evening, Golden saw a blush on her face, and seeing her like that gave him some extra confidence, and a warm feeling in his chest, even in the cold weather.

“Outside of work, I mean, cause it’s not like we won’t see each other every day, hahaha.” She seemed a bit uncomfortable. Golden came to her rescue and reached out his hoof.

“Promise?”

For a moment, he felt as if White was in front of him. Midnight understood and reached her hoof too.

“Promise,” the batpony answered. A hoof-bump sealed the deal. They resumed their walk and arrived at the almost empty hotel, with only a reception clerk here to welcome the nightly customers. They separated in front of the elevators, not before Golden tried one last thing to end the night.

“Good night, Midnight,” he said, facing the batpony before her elevator came.

“Good night, Golden.” At this moment, the pegasus leaned on and puckered his lips, hoping for the best. He closed his eyes and felt a body getting closer to him. But instead of something on his lips, he heard somepony whispered at his ear.

“Nice try. But I’ve told you, I’m not that kind of mare,” she laughed. “Well, not on the first date, at least” she added, entering in the elevator, giving a last wink when the doors closed in front of Golden, who hesitated between disappointment and joy. So he just smiled.

He needed a few minutes to recover before going up to his room. But as soon as he opened the door, White was waiting for him, and didn’t lose a second before blasting him with questions.

“So, captain or schoolmare?” he asked from his bed, where he was laying, waiting for the return of his friend.

Golden still had the broad smile that hasn’t left his face since Midnight’s last words. “The captain”, he said, falling on his bed. “Totally the captain.”

“Mmm, should I get that my friend Golden Sun just find the mare of his dreams and she wants to see him again and he also wants to see her again and that’s only the beginning of his troubles?” he laughed, never losing his humor even at this time of the night.

Golden turned his head towards White. “We promised to see each other again, and I’m totally fine with it.”

“What?!” the pegasus exclaimed. “No kiss, no super mushy stuff, no burning words of love like ‘Oh my love, I can’t live without you. Let’s go to live our love freely, out of this unfair world’?” he said, taking a dramatic pose. He turned his head to Golden. “Come on, I want to hear the entire story.”

Golden deeply inhaled and told everything. When he was finished, White whistled and declared, “This mare, you never let her go. Batpony or not, she’s made for you.”

“Thanks, White. You’ll need to cover for me again next time,” Golden reached his hoof and they made a hoof-bump.

“Anytime you need it, Golden. Anytime,” he said before yawning. “At least, your evening was nicer than mine.” Golden didn’t waste the opportunity.

“What? You didn’t polish your armor all night?” White didn’t miss his target, and the pillow fell right on Golden’s face. “Hey!”

“That was for last time. You deserve it,” White defended, before laughing and falling again on the bed. “Well, time to sleep. We have work tomorrow.” He turned the light off, leaving Golden alone with his thoughts.

Sleep didn’t come easily that night and he thought about the batpony for a long time, recalling their promise to see each other again. When? Where? How? The questions would find their answers later. The only thing that matters was that she wanted to see him again. And that could only mean one thing: Mission accomplished.

Love is in the air

“So, you want the good or bad news?”

“Hmm?” Golden looked up from his oatmeal and watched White, sitting in front of him, who just received the schedule of the week. “Chmpspfscronchschmpof!”

“Dude, don’t talk with your mouth full. That’s disgusting, and I can’t hear what you say,” White answered, with the paper sheet between his hooves.

Golden raised a hoof and swallowed all his oatmeal. “The good news?”

White lowered his eyes to the schedule. “So, the good, it’s that Princess Celestia AND Princess Luna will go the day after tomorrow to Trottingham, and so will your lovely mare,” he announced.

Golden needed all his focusing to not bounce all around the cafeteria full of royal guards. Instead, he widely smiled, exposing his teeth with some oatmeal on it.

“If your marefriend was here…,” White sighed, forcing his friend to close his mouth and lick his teeth.

“And the bad news?” he asked, letting out some sucking noises from his jaw.

“The bad, it’s that changelings have been seen close to the city, and the security will be reinforced in our hotel, and in town, too,” White explained.

“And?” Golden raised an eyebrow.

“And you will take some big risks if you walk in the town with Midnight. Guards will be everywhere, ready to send you to jail if the two of you are seen together,” White warned him. Hearing that news, Golden lowered his head, looking gloomy. White tried quickly to cheer him up.

“Hey, one day, I’ve made myself a promise: never see my friend with this kind of long face. So, buck up and don’t worry for Midnight, we’ll find a way for you to see her again,” he calmly said.

Golden smiled and let his chin rest on one of his hooves on the table, lost in thought. An idea quickly popped into his mind. “You have the name of the hotel and the number of our room?” he asked. White read the sheet, frowned his eyes and nodded. “Then I’ve got a plan.”

The next morning, a few minutes before the changing of the guards, Golden was becoming more and more nervous. The sweat ran on his forehead, and he turned to White, looking for some support. “And if it doesn’t work? That’s a terrible idea! What was I thinking?!”

White approached him and shut him down with his hoof. “Hey, hey, slow down. From now on, everything’s fine, so don’t waste energy by panicking. Just wait five minutes and you will do what you want. Breathe deeply and… act natural,” he said, slowly removing his hoof.

Golden breathed deeply and recovered, wishing that time would flow faster and just be six minutes later. He couldn’t help but feel slightly worried when Starry and Midnight finally arrived from the end of the hallway. His heart was beating fast. Especially when the batpony gave him her daily wink of the eye, already knowing they will be able to see each other outside of Canterlot.

Seven o’clock rang. Salute. Position exchanged. Eyes meeting. Bodies almost brushing one against another. When Midnight and Starry left, White launched a small rock on the helmet of the mare. She stopped and turned back to see from where this pebble came from, and almost let out a yelp when she saw the guards.

Golden had unfolded his wings and something was written on them. On the left one “ROOM 92”, and on the right one “AT 8?” She nodded quickly, showing her agreement. Golden smiled and time seemed to stop for a few seconds.

“Midnight, what are you doing?” Starry barked, noticing that the batpony wasn’t at his side. He turned back, and Golden quickly folded his wings before Starry could see something compromising.

Midnight quickly walked back to him and didn’t answered while Starry was glaring at her. When they turned around the corner and disappeared from the guard’s eyesight, Golden let out a huge relieved sigh, and wiped the sweat on his forehead.

“Pfew, that was close,” he breathed, letting his heart beating at a normal rate. “I think she gets it.”

“Yep,” White nodded. “Now, you just have to pray to not meet a smoking hot mare before the end of the day if you don’t want to have problems.”

Sweat ran again on Golden’s forehead. His heartbeat went faster and panic grabbed him again. “Oh Celestia….”

Due to the high-level security, and so the presence of additional guards, the batponies and royal guards traveled separately on the train to Trottingham. Golden couldn’t see Midnight, and it made him even more nervous and eager for tonight’s date. Luna visited another part of the town, and they weren’t able to see each other during the day, the common trip for the two Princesses wasn’t planned until tomorrow.

While visiting with Celestia, Golden noticed there were many more guards than in San Franciscolt. It was impossible not to be seen by them at every corner of the streets. The date couldn’t be the same tonight. But Golden already had an idea, and a quick look to the hotel’s surroundings comfirmed his scheme.

At night, at The Pony Plaza, a batpony passed by a window around eight o’clock, not before checking the presence of pegasi around her room. A quick calculation on the layout of the hotel made her land in front of a window on the third floor, which stayed open for her. Midnight stuck her head to the glass, and saw a room with two simple beds, with a white pegasus with a blond mane on it, showing his back to her.

As quietly as possible, she opened the window and hovered in the room, before jumping on the pegasus, who didn’t have time to react before getting pinned on the floor by the batpony. Her eyes were still closed when she spoke.

“Hi there! Did you miss me?” she smiled before opening her eyes again.

“Nice to meet you, Midnight,” said a voice that doesn’t belong to her date. The batpony jumped and fell on her back, slightly starting to worry. But it was the good room, she was sure! And if… no… She planned everything… Wait, Golden didn’t talk about his friend…?

“White Spear, isn’t it?” she tried, standing on her four hooves.

“Bingo,” the pegasus smiled. “I must admit, you really look better without your armor. I see why Golden is totally mad about you…,” he added, giving a wink that made Midnight blush. So he really fell for her? Of course, she knew it, but hearing it from one of his friends filled her with joy. “Hey, he wasn’t lying about your curv-“

“WHITE!!” Golden shouted, running out from the bathroom, with the cheeks completely red, as to match Midnight. “I told you to shut up!” he roared, but with a smiling tone, without anger. He turned to the batpony and calmed himself, smiling broadly. “Hello, Midnight, I…. I’m happy to see you and… I….”

Midnight came to his rescue and approached him, taking him in her hooves for a big hug. A little startled at first, Golden did the same and quickly returned the hug, closing rapidly his eyes to enjoy this moment as much as he could. She didn’t plan on doing that at first, but seeing him again, like that, outside of work, made her understand how much she missed him. “Hi Golden, I’m happy to see you too,” she quietly said.

If White Spear wasn’t there, they could have stay here for a long time. “Aww, you two are really cute, I almost feel like I’m bothering you”, the stallion said to break their hug. Midnight let him go and turned her head to White.

“You’re really like Golden described,” she said.

“Super-handsome, charming and well-built?” he joked. Midnight shared a knowing look with Golden.

“Nah, a really unfunny guy and a pain in the flank,” she laughed before making a hoof-bump with Golden, who fully enjoyed the moment. It was so rare to see White getting a taste of his own medicine.

White still laughed and answered, “Golden, she’s a keeper.” His friend sighed and got closer to him, before wrapping his hoof around his shoulder.

“Midnight, this is my friend, White. White, this is Midnight,” he said to make introductions before ruffing his friend’s mane. “As you see, we are….,” he released him, “the best of friends.”

Midnight stifled a laugh by putting a hoof to her mouth. “Yeah, I can see that. Well, let’s go? We don’t have all night,” she said, unfolding her beautiful wings, making White whistle. Golden softly punched him on the shoulder. The pegasus approached the batpony, and unfold his wings too. They all stepped forward to the window, ready to go. Golden couldn’t help to say a last joke to his friend.

“Don’t polish your armor all night.”

Midnight burst out laughing and Golden laughed too, taking off into the night. Just before they disappeared, White shouted: “I though we said: no jokes in front of the mares!”

Golden and Midnight hovered for a few seconds in the night sky before landing at the back of the hotel, because the front doors were watched by two batponies. Silence fell, with only the muffled sounds of the city to be heard.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Midnight asked, folding her wings. “I guess we must find something else to do with all the guards in the city.”

“Yeah. But I know what to do. Still a bit risky, but less that staying here,” Golden explained. The mare raised an eyebrow, wanting to hear more.

“And that’s?”

“You’ll see. Follow me and we’ll be there soon.” He unfolded his wings and got ready to take off but a big sound was suddenly heard. Midnight perked up her ears and quickly turned back to see a door open right behind them. Instantly, she grabbed the stallion by the hooves and threw him in a nearby bush, taking Golden by surprise.

“Hey! What the-“

“Shh!” Midnight hushed him, putting a hoof on his lips. A guard had just opened the door and watched his surroundings. His hoofsteps were getting closer to the bush where the batpony and guard were hidden, pressed against each other.

Golden wished this moment would last longer, especially since his muzzle was buried in the mare’s mane. His heartbeat went faster, and he could feel Midnight’s doing the same, his chest against hers. But he didn’t breathe and couldn’t enjoy her smell. Finally, the hoofsteps sound disappeared and after a quick look, the batpony rose up.

Golden needed a few seconds to get on his four hooves, still a bit dazed. Midnight watched him for a few seconds. “Aren’t you supposed to be the guy protecting everypony from the danger?” she smiled, reaching out a hoof to help the stallion.

“Err, oh… yeah. Sorry, I didn’t see it coming. Thanks Midnight,” he mumbled, gladly accepting the hoof. “Well, let’s take off now. It’s better for us,” he added, unfolding his wings and finally taking off for real, closely followed by the mare. She didn’t say a word during the trip, simply stroking her mane. Golden watched her from time to time, thinking back to this shared moment in the bush, hoping it was only the beginning.
They both passed above Trottingham before going to the suburbs of the town. Golden made a head sign to a small hill, and they landed on the soft grass. The batpony seemed a bit confused, and took a look around her.

Grass, grass everywhere, some trees, and that was all. The lights of the city seemed quite far, and the only sound that could be heard was some animals in the nearby forest.

“That’s your plan? A night in the forest?” Midnight asked, still puzzled.

Golden smiled and sat on the grass. He folded his wings and lay on his back, still under the batpony’s stare. “Come on, sit down,” he calmly suggested.

Midnights stood still for a few seconds, before shrugging and do as he said. She lay next to Golden, and turned her head. “And?”
The stallion turned his head towards her and spoke, “Look up.”

Slowly, she did, and her eyes fell on the starry sky. “What? We’re gonna spend the night watching the stars?” she laughed. “That’s, like, super mushy. I already told you, I’m not that kind of mare.”

Golden turned to her again. “I know, but it’s not like we have plenty of other choices tonight. And stargazing is nice, no? I love doing that,” he explained.

“It’s not written in the royal guards’ rules to not like Luna’s thing?”

The stallion put a hoof to his chin and asked a question too. “Batponies can’t enjoy the Sun as well ? I mean… you see what I’m trying to say, right?”

Midnight seemed a bit surprised by the question, but answered nonetheless. “Yeah, I get it. It’s just because Celestia raised the Moon and the stars during a millennium, and for us, batponies, it reminds us what we were without our Princess,” she explained.

“Seems logical. But you really don’t think it’s beautiful? It reminds me of my childhood, stargazing with my dad in Fillydelphia.” An idea popped into his mind and he reached a hoof towards some stars, more shiny than the others. “Look here, it’s the Ursa Major. Here, it’s Orion and… do you know why we call it like that?”

For a few minutes, Golden continued his explanations by showing some constellations, while the batpony literally drink everything he said. She never thought that royal guards could like something so related to Luna, and she now looked to the stars in another way. They never seemed so beautiful as they did tonight.

When Golden finished, Midnight didn’t talk for a few minutes, her eyes reflecting the stars above her. She finally turned her head towards the stallion. “Yeah, that’s nice, especially when you say it like that.”

Golden’s ears pricked up and he turned his head too. “That’s super mushy. I thought you didn’t like that,” he smiled. Midnight groaned, face-hoofed, and turned her head back to the stars.

“That’s your fault. You tricked me, curse you royal guard! I know I shouldn’t trust you!” she said, smiling. Golden took the opportunity.

“Mmm, did I find your weakness?” Golden smiled, turning his head towards her. He continued.

“I will fly to the biggest heights of Equestria if you asked me; I will even fly to the Moon! I will cut my own wings to have just a kiss from you. Your body is even more beautiful than a Princess; your hooves are sweeter than all the silk from Saddle Arabia…”

Midnight didn’t know if Golden was sincere or was just joking, but she was really flattered and also a bit embarrassed with all his compliments. The game had to stop.

“Stop! Stop! Hey, if you want to play romantic, then two can play this game,” she said. Slowly, she climbed on him. The stallion had to make an intense effort to stay calm, and managed to say:

“If you think you can beat me on compliments, give up. You have no chance.”

Midnight half-closed her eyes, and run a hoof on his chest. “Who said we could only use words?”

Without being able to react, Midnight connected her lips to Golden’s, who let out a small cry of surprise, quickly muffled by the mouth of the batpony. Midnight rubbed her sweet lips to the rough ones of the stallion, who felt like he was dreaming. Never had a mare kissed him with so much passion, and his mind shut down to focus on the only thing in front of him, the stunning batpony who connected her mouth with his.
He melted into the kiss and let Midnight take the lead. The batpony put her hooves on both sides of Golden’s head, preventing him from any escape.

And he loved that.

The feeling of her fangs made the thing more exciting, and Golden surprised himself by slowly touching them with his tongue. Midnight felt it and brought hers to push it back, before putting it into his mouth. He didn’t expect that much for a first kiss with the mare. Golden closed his eyes and raised his hooves to stroke her mane and back, as well as her wings.

Their kiss last for a few more seconds before both of them remembered they needed some oxygen to breathe and survive this moment, as magical as it was. Midnight released him first, letting a thin trail of saliva connect their lips as a remain. Golden opened his eyes again, and deeply breathed. Licking his lips, he could still taste the batpony’s. She was still above him, resting on his chest and smiling.

“So, did I win?” she gasped. Still in a daze, Golden didn’t speak for a few seconds and slowly raised one of his hooves to stroke Midnight’s back again. He finally answered.

“Ye… Yeah…,” he breathed, still trying to take his breath. “It’s… That… wow… You’re amazing…”

“Yeah, I know. We often say that for me. Crazy, too. Mad, dangerous… Think you can handle this?” she asked, stroking the guard’s mane.

“I’m willing to,” the stallion answered. For a few moments, they stayed here, lying in the grass, staring at each other while stroking their manes, simply enjoying the moment. Golden never felt so good in his life, and even the rock that pinched his back couldn’t stop the happiness that flowed in his veins.

But the stallion still was the first to speak. “Midnight, are we…?”

“An item?” she finished for him. “I don’t know. I like you, we had some dates, we kissed, we’re stroking each other’s manes… Mmm….” She put a hoof to her chin. “Do you like me?”

“Yes,” Golden instantly answered.

“So, yeah, we’re an item,” she declared. “Woo, that makes everything more risky and… more exciting,” she finished with a sultry voice. Golden smiled and quickly closed his eyes, before opening them suddenly.

“Wait, I want to do it by following the rules. After all, we’re both good soldiers,” he explained, encouraged by the moment of happiness he was living and the excitement, the one that made him feel invincible.

Midnight raised an eyebrow and the pegasus slowly got up. The batpony stepped back and let the stallion took her hoof.

“Golden, if you’re doing what I think you’re doing…”

“Midnight, do you want to be my marefriend?”

“… It’d better not be…,” she finished, laughing. Golden watched her for painfully long seconds. She finally sighed and touched his hoof too.

“Yeah, Golden. You win. I want to be your marefriend,” she solemnly declared while rolling her eyes. “And now, I’m supposed to kiss you, that’s it?”

Golden nodded. “I know you don’t like mushy stuff, but yeah, it would be nice.” Midnight got closer to him, passing her hoof around his neck to make him lean towards her. She whispered:

“I think I could learn to like that if you teach me.” And then she kissed him, more tenderly, before letting him go after a few seconds, when a question popped into her mind. “Golden, you know we won’t be able to do that every day in Canterlot, right ?”

“I know, so I will try to make every second the best of your life next time we’ll see,” he promised before kissing her again. “But I must warn you, I will be super cheesy sometimes,” he warned her. Midnight connected her lips to his too.

“I know, and I would like to be cheesy too,” she said before stepping back. “And with nopony else but you. And don’t you dare mention that to somepony else. It’s just between you and me,” she smiled before nuzzling him, wrapping her hooves around his neck. Golden smiled and did the same. Without further hesitation, Midnight whispered to his ear:

“I love you, Golden.”

The stallion felt his heartbeat going faster and warned even more by hearing these words. “Wow, we kissed only five minutes ago and you’re already the cheesiest marefriend in the world. I must have poisoned you. Ow!” he screamed when the batpony slightly bit his ear. He laughed.

“I love you too, Midnight.”

“Even if I’m your archenemy?”

“Yeah. Even if it’s only the beginning of our problems.” He stepped back, looking a bit gloomy, and held her tightly. “Midnight, we’ll need to be extra careful when we see each other next time. You understand? I don’t want you to have problems cause of me,” he explained.

Midnight stayed cool and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that. I hope we… we will see again soon, outside of work. I promise we’ll find a way.” She hugged him and the worry melted in their embrace. He took the opportunity to smell her mane.

Lavender.

His new favorite scent.

To be careful, they decided to go back to the hotel almost two hours after their departure. The flight was quiet, as during the first trip, except that they flew a bit closer than before and didn’t try to hide the way they looked at each other. The kind of romantic stuff that Midnight would have hated before. But not tonight.

When they got to Golden’s room, Midnight stayed outside, floating, while Golden landed on the floor. He turned back one last time towards the batpony. “I don’t work next Saturday. If you’re free, you can come to the room I share with White at the school. It’s not hard to find, it’s the one with a Fillydelphia flag on it. Err, I mean, it’s not like I ask you to spend the night with me and… I…” the stallion stuttered, awkwardly fiddling his hooves.

Midnight put a hoof to his mouth. “It’s okay, I get it, I know it’s Canterlot and… yeah. I will try to come. And I will take care.” She withdrew her hoof and leaned on to kiss him softly, with a sweetness that was like a teasing for their next night together. “See you next Saturday, Golden.” She moved away from the window, hearing the stallion whisper.

“See you next Saturday, Midnight. Take care.” He watched her go and she disappeared into the night. He let out a long sigh and walked to the bathroom, a bit surprised to not see White yet. He has just taken a few steps when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. He rolled his eyes and turned back slowly.

“White, if you were spying on us, I swear i….” He stopped when he noticed it was Midnight again in front of him. “Oh, did you forget something?” he asked.

The batpony nodded. “Yeah. This.” She landed on all fours and kissed him again, making it last longer than previously, wrapping her hooves around his neck to hug him. They both closed their eyes and reopened them when Midnight stopped the kiss first. “Love you, Golden. See ya.”

She moved away again, and brushed her tail under his chin, sending shivers all down his spine. She unfolded her wings and took off by the window, towards her own room, and disappeared into the night, for real this time.

“See ya, Midnight. I love you.” The room was empty since a couple seconds when he whispered these words, with a big smile on his face. He stayed at the window for a few more minutes, watching the stars, quietly thanking them for their help. He kept his smiling face when he collapsed on his bed, closing his eyes. The night was even better than he had expected.

“So, how was it?” A voice got him out of his dreamy state. He saw a white lump moving next to him, under the covers.

“White?” He took the cover in his hoof and saw the stallion hiding under them. “You were there the whole time?” he asked, dumbfounded.

His friend looked from left to right, before answering. “Nooooooo.” Golden frowned. “Maybe?”

“You’re crazy!” he groaned, enclosing his friend in the covers, before jumping on him, feeling giddy. “Friends don’t do that to each other!”

“Hey, that’s my room too, so you forget all the spying stuff,” he defended himself. He breathed deeply and asked: “Well, from what I’ve heard, that ended well, no?”

Golden rested his head on the pillow and stare at the ceiling. “Yeah, totally. We looked at the stars, we laughed and… we kissed,” he explained, his eyes drifting everywhere.

“Oh?” White asked naively. “So, you two are together now?” he asked, even if the answer was obvious.

“Hmm hmmm,” the stallion hummed. “We will try to see each other again next Saturday, at the room in our barracks so… err…,” he was trying to find the good words.

“That’s okay, I get it’, White stopped him. “I will ‘polish my armor’ in another place.” They laughed together and White got off his cotton jail. He squirmed a bit and shook his head before sitting on the bed, next to Golden. “Man, I’m so proud of you. My little colt has grown so much!” he exclaimed, taking him in his hooves.

“Cut it out, you sound like my mother…,” Golden sighed, before returning the hug, leaving the room silent for a few moments. “You know, Midnight’s hooves are softer than yours…”

“Shh… We’re good now, don’t spoil this moment…”

“And her mane smells better.”

“Shh….”

“And her breath doesn’t smell like hay fries…”

“Will you shut up?”

“And her voice is more… MMMMMM!!!!”

White put his hoof into Golden’s mouth. He sighed. “I think I will never hear the end of it.”

A few floors upstairs, a batpony finished arranging some documents, when a knock was heard by the door of his room.

“Come in,” he said with his low voice.

The door opened and a guard entered, saluting before saying his name: “Evening Glow, captain!” Moon Dance raised an eyebrow in front of this unexpected visitor.

“What are you doing here, Glow? I’ve said I didn’t want to be disturbed, expect for emergencies!” he roared. “I hope it’s a vital emergency, or else I will kick your sorry flank all the way to Canterlot!”

Evening Glow smiled wickedly, showing his fangs before speaking. “You won’t be disappointed, captain…”

We own the night

The trip back to Canterlot was excruciatingly boring for everypony except Midnight and Golden, who never stopped thinking about each other. They eagerly awaited their reunion the next Saturday. The week would be long, they both thought, and the daily routine would seem vapid after that marvelous night, but they would make it through.

When they arrived at the train station, a batpony approached Midnight. “Midnight Storm?” the pony asked.

“Yeah, captain?” Midnight replied, turning to her chief to salute him.

“In my office. At six. And be on time,” he commanded sternly, getting an awkward stare from Midnight. “Got it?”

She answered after a few seconds. “Err… Yes, captain,” she said before he walked away.

Starry Eyes noticed the harsh exchange and approached Midnight. “What have you done now?” he asked, frowning. “Is there something going on between you and Celestia’s guard that I should know about?”

“Meh. Maybe I’m getting promoted. Moon Dancer must have been impressed with my professionalism,” she replied, trying to stay calm despite the worry that started to gnaw at her.

Starry didn’t seem convinced, and a heavy silence fell between them for a few seconds before the stallion looked directly at her. “Listen, Midnight. I don’t know what you’re hiding, but I’ll discover it soon. You can be sure of it. You’ve been out of top form since the Ponyville incident. If it’s because of that royal guard, I’ll make him regret the day he was born,” he threatened with a killing stare. He resumed his walk, and Midnight followed him slowly, looking a bit darker and already thinking through several possibilities in her head.

Had somepony seen them? No. She was sure of that, and they hadn’t seen any guards during their flight to the hill. Had Golden’s friend talk to somepony about them? No. He seemed too trustworthy for that. Did…? No. She needed to stay strong. Maybe it was nothing and Moon Dancer only wanted to see her for a special mission.

Yeah. Just a special mission, she repeated to convince herself. Nothing more.

Midnight must have looked to the clock at least a hundred times that afternoon, more and more anxious when the hooves of the clock approached six until it was finally time to meet her fate. The walk to her destination was the most painful trip she had ever made in her life, black ideas struggling to control her mind. As she walked towards Moon Dancer’s office, her hoofsteps grew heavier, and she knocked on the door with a shaking hoof.

Knock knock

“Come in!” roared the voice of Moon Dancer, his head never leaving the papers in front of him. The door opened and Midnight walked slowly into his office.

She saluted and announced herself: “Midnight Storm, captain! You asked me to come?”

Moon Dancer raised his head and reached out a hoof to a chair. “Sit down.” Midnight obeyed, a bit tense and slightly worried. Self-assurance had its limits. “Do you know why I wanted you to come here, Midnight?”

The batpony raised an eyebrow and answered as calmly as she could. “I don’t know, captain.”

Moon breathed deeply. “I asked you to come here because I received a report about an incident involving you in Trottingham. It seems that one of our soldiers saw you with a royal guard.”

Midnight opened her eyes widely in surprise and started to feel the sweat rolling on her forehead behind her helmet. She tried to stay calm. “Captain, I can assure you: that report is totally false. The royal guards are our enemies, and you know that a batpony would never betray her kind, especially me. I’ve never spent time with a royal guard outside of the changing ceremony,” she defended herself with a calm voice.

Moon didn’t flinch. He stood still for a few seconds, then sighed. “Midnight, I would like to believe you, but despite your service record, I can’t ignore this allegation so easily. I don’t have time to take care of it, but the case is serious enough to investigate,” he explained.

“Do you have evidence? Who’s been spreading rumors about me?” she pressed him.

Moon seemed a bit surprised, but he answered nonetheless. “Evening Glow brought this to my attention. And no, his word is his only evidence. But…” He paused.” This is a very serious charge, Midnight. I need to take a few administrative measures before I can investigate further. That’s why I command you to remain in our camp until further notice. You don’t have the right to leave except for your official duties. You will be watched until we can discover the truth. Am I clear?”

Midnight opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it, knowing that talking back to her captain would only make things worse. She lowered her head and let out a small: “Yes, captain.”

Moon leaned back into his seat and brought his two hooves together. “Good. I hope I won’t have to talk to you about this again,” he concluded, eyes furrowed. He saluted, and Midnight did the same, leaving the office without further words.

The door closed, and the batpony stayed in the hallway for a long time, still thinking.

Or at least trying to think.

Shock. Wrath against Evening Glow. Talk to Golden? Keep it hidden? What if she wouldn’t be able to see him again? Accept the punishment?
No.

No. She had gone too far to step back, and she didn’t want to lose Golden, no matter the risks.

Thinking of him made the days pass faster, and the changing of the guard was more exciting than it really should have been. Even when he wasn’t there, he made her happy.

Happy…

Since the deaths of her parents, Midnight rarely felt happiness in her life. The school for batponies, the work, writing reports… She rarely had occasion to celebrate. And Golden could offer her so much more. More than she had ever dreamed before that night in the cave. She knew she was playing with fire by continuing to see him. Until that night, she’d never really thought about being caught. She thought that she was too smart to be trapped so easily by…

…Evening Glow.

The wrath grew quickly inside Midnight. She bit her bottom lip until she tasted blood, and she made a decision. She walked with heavy steps and passed through the cafeteria, the training room, and the offices before entering the locker room with more determination than ever. Eyes furrowed and her look darker than ever before, she searched in every corner and found the batpony she was looking for as he was putting his stuff into his locker. Midnight faced his back.

Quietly, she moved closer to him and jumped on him, without giving him a chance to defend himself. She pinned him on his locker, whispering to him with the most threatening voice she could muster: “Don’t you even think of saying anything. Listen to me, and open your ears, ‘cause I won’t repeat myself. I don’t know what you really saw at Trottingham, but let me give you a piece advice: think twice before opening your big mouth next time.”

She released him slowly and tugged on one of his wings. “And if you tell anypony about what I just said, you’ll live the rest of your life as an earth pony. Get it?”

Completely helpless, Evening Glow nodded, and Midnight let him fall to the floor. He panted quickly and turned his head towards the batpony, who glared at him with her eyes full of burning rage. This simple visual left him speechless. Midnight walked away, never taking her stare from him until she disappeared. On her way out, she punched a locker so hard that her hoof stung. Her look could have given nightmares to the most evil creature of Equestria.

Starry waited for her at the exit, and he rapidly asked the worst question he could. “So? What did he tell you?”

Midnight turned her head and glared at him. “None of your business, Starry,” she scoffed between gritted teeth.

The batpony raised an eyebrow, surprised to see her like that. “You’re in a really bad mood today,” he noticed.

“Cool. That makes two of us,” she scoffed again.

Starry stopped and kept his eyes furrowed. “I don’t know what he told you, but I hope it won’t impact your work. You’re already giving me enough problems,” Starry explained. “Either way, I’ll figure out what’s happening soon enough. Mark my words...”

Midnight resumed her walk without a word and did what she did best: her work.

The changing of the guard got harder as the week dragged on. Every time her eyes met Golden’s, she imagined never being able to see him again, never being able to spend time alone with him. No more dates, no more burning kisses, no more mushy stuff that she’d learned to like with him. The thought made her heart tighten. This Saturday needed to be really special, and she knew they would reach a point of no return if they continued to see each other. She spent the week thinking of a plan to get out of her room without being seen. There was still a risk, but Golden was worth it. He would protect her. That was his motto, right?

The stallion waited for Saturday, too, but with more worry. In just a few days, he’d learned that a simple look could say much more than words, and Midnight’s eyes had seemed concerned since they’d come back from Trottingham.

Did she think she’d made a huge mistake? Did she have problems the she hadn’t mentioned? Did somepony see them? Did she still want to be with him?

All these questions ran in an infinite circle in his mind. He wanted to have a time-traveling machine to make it Saturday and have all the answers to his questions, but nothing like that existed. He did his best to keep all his anxiety deep inside of him during the day, expelling it at night with long talks with White.

White had never wished so badly to have a different roommate.

Saturday finally came. With an extra blanket in hoof, White snuck into a different room. “At least one of us should get a good night’s sleep,” he snickered as he shut the door behind him, just in time to avoid another pillow salvo.

That left Golden alone.

Golden paced again and again around the room, waiting eagerly and with a bit of nervousness for the arrival of his marefiend.

Marefriend…

All his problems disappeared when he thought about Midnight in those terms. Thinking of her soothed his mind. Of course, he’d had marefriends before, but the life of a royal guard wasn’t usually compatible with a stable love life. But Midnight? His heart bounced every time he thought about her. Be in a relationship with a mare and stay a guard? Almost impossible. Be in a relationship with a batpony and stay a guard? Completely impossible. But he knew the dangers, and he knew he could handle them when the time came.

Leave the guard to keep Midnight or lose Midnight to stay in the guard? Why couldn’t he have both? No. That only happened in stories for foals and fillies, he thought. And his life wasn’t a story for foals and fillies. The choice was hard, and all the possibilities played in his head. White, Celestia, Midnight, and Luna intertwined for better and worse in his mind. Was Midnight more important than his job, the dream he’d chased his whole life? He’d known her for a only short time, but waiting for even a few days to see her had become unbearable. The kisses they’d shared were replaying again and again in his brain. He wanted to see her so badly, stroke her mane with his hoof, breathe her sweet scent, cuddle her, say he loved her, that he was happy with her, that he wanted to feel her body against his in the morning, like their first night in the cave, but in warm sheets where they could curl together without caring about the time or about what the others would think.

Golden daydreamed and hoped the reality would be even better. Was he going too fast? He didn’t know exactly, but he also knew that, when he saw her face again, the answer would clear.

For the moment, he chose to let the future take care of itself, to let things flow, continue to see her secretly, and think of a solution. And to hope that things wouldn’t spin out of control too quickly. But if…

‘Stop with your stupid monologues that nopony cares about! Be a stallion and act like one for once!’ his inner voice shouted.

Knock knock knock

Golden quickly turned his head towards the window and met eyes with his batpony. “Midnight!” he rejoiced before quickly dashing to open the glass that separated them. He barely had time to step back from the window before she jumped on him, pinning him on the floor and kissing him greedily with all the desire that had built up during the week. Too happy to see her again, Golden returned the embrace and held his marefriend tightly. She released him slowly after a few moments, and he saw that her eyes wasn’t as playful as usual.

“You want to sit on the bed? It’ll be easier to talk,” he suggested.

Midnight nodded without saying a word. Golden stood up and climbed onto one of the beds, followed closely by a batpony that never let go of his hoof. They settled down, Golden’s back on the wall and Midnight reclining into his hooves with her head and back on his chest. Golden stroked her mane tenderly for a few moments, and the mare fondly stroked the hooves that wrapped around her waist. They were both silent for a few more minutes before Golden spoke reluctantly, sad to spoil their sweet moment. “Midnight, you haven’t been yourself these last few days. What’s happening?” he asked, calmly.

After a long sigh and with a weak voice, Midnight answered. “Somepony saw us in Trottingham. I have to stay in the camp until further notice. I panicked and I hit somepony really badly, and…” She stopped. “I… I’m scared, Golden. I know it’s silly, but I’m scared of not being able to see you anymore. And I don’t want that. I… I care too much about you for that. I…” She stopped again. “I don’t know how to say it, I’m not really… good at this stuff…”

Golden kissed her mane and tried to comfort her. “You’re scared and you still came here to see me. That means everything to me.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, rocking her slightly. “We’ll take extra care next time.”

Midnight smiled and turned back to return the gesture. “Promise,” she said while kissing him on the end of the muzzle. When she broke the kiss, her look went a bit darker, and the pegasus noticed it immediately.

The mare lowered her head, and Golden lifted it with his hoof so they could look at each other. “Hey, you don’t have the right to be sad here, not when I’m with you. You’re much prettier when you smile,” he said, smiling.

Her eyes softened a bit, and a weak smile appeared on her face. “Sorry, it’s just that… every time I think of what could happen without you… it hurts,” she admitted, eyes watering and heart tightening. “It hurts, Golden. I don’t know if I could handle it… I…” She laughed, somewhat forced. “Look what you made me do. I’m saying all this mushy stuff, and I hate it… Golden, things get so weird around you.” Her smile came back. “I never thought that, one day, I’d miss this kind of thing.”

“What kind of thing?” Golden asked.

“Compliments, the ‘I love you,’ the hugging, the cuddling…” she said, taking his hooves in hers. “And this,” she added, before kissing him on the lips. She smiled after she slowly broke their kiss. “Yeah, especially that.”

Golden smiled and resumed stroking her mane, laying back and taking Midnight with him. “You’ll have all you want if you stay with me. I will protect you, I won’t let anything bad happen to you, and I’ll even leave the guard if I need to,” he explained.

Midnight met his eyes. “You’re really ready to do that?” she asked shyly.

“If I need to in order to stay with you, then yes,” he declared. She didn’t answer right away, instead drawing circles on his chest. Seeing her lack of response, he continued. “I know it would be difficult… for many reasons. But if I need to do it… yeah. I’ll do it without hesitation. Celestia be my witness,” the stallion announced.

“If she hears you, she’ll grant your wish. By exiling you to the Moon,” Midnight replied.

Golden turned his eyes to the window, staring at the white orb hanging in the sky. “No, not to the Moon. She did that to her sister once, and it was the biggest mistake of her life. She doesn’t want to repeat it again,” he explained. “But ending up in the guard’s jail? Yeah… There’s a big chance of that.” He paused. “Would you leave the guard to run away with me?”

Midnight thought for a few seconds. “Yeah, if I need to do it, I’ll go with you. I don’t have friends here, and it’s not like they couldn’t replace me.” She paused. “For now… do you think this night can last forever?”

Golden smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “Anything you wish for, my Princess.”

Midnight rolled her eyes and smiled. “You’re never gonna change, are you?”

“Not a chance,” he said, stroking her mane again.

“I hit the jackpot,” the batpony sighed. Silence fell for a few minutes, only broken by the sound of the hooves stroking Midnight’s mane.

“When do you need to head back to your camp?” Golden asked. “I don’t work tomorrow, but you shouldn’t be seen here during the day.”

She raised her head. “I work tomorrow night. I’ll go back in the morning, when everypony’s asleep in the camp.”

“Oh, so that means we…” the stallion started.

Midnight looked at him with bedroom eyes and answered with a sultry voice. “Yeah. We own the night.”

“That’s the motto for your guard, isn’t it?” Golden asked.

Midnight nodded. “Yeah. And tonight, I’m finally going to live by it.”

Author's Note

And then they f***.

The Day After

Still bathing in their post-sex afterglow, Golden and Midnight tenderly cuddled on the bed, the stallion resting on top of the batpony. Their embrace was sweet and their caresses slow and welcoming after their session together. They knew they would wake up full of aches the next morning, as if they had just survived the most exhausting training ever.

“That was… awesome…” Midnight breathed between two kisses. “I love you so much, Golden. I love you, I love you, I love you…” she repeated.

The stallion just smiled. “Wow, I thought you didn’t like being sappy… You sure Midnight’s still there?” he asked before kissing her and rolling with her on the bed. “Yeah, you’re still the same, but just to be sure, I need to test it again…” He kissed her on the neck, and she giggled and squirmed in his embrace before landing on his chest. She stroked his mane with her hoof and lay down, letting her lover do the same to her mane.
“Sex makes me say weird stuff….”

“It makes everything better,” he continued.

“Yeah, I believe you,” she concluded, kissing him on the chest. “While we’re still in the rainbow kingdom, let’s keep going.” She paused. “Will you stay with me forever?” she asked, with a simpering voice.

“Yes, my princess. I will protect you, like I promised. I’ll be your knight,” he answered.

They stayed there for a few more minutes, enjoying each other’s warmth, still cuddling. They had never felt so good before, and even what they’d reached during their orgasm couldn’t compete with the simple happiness of being in each other’s hooves, the grey fur rubbing against the white, nuzzling and kissing from time to time.

After some time, Golden turned off the light and allowed darkness to fall over the room. The batpony’s golden eyes shone in the moonlight, and the shining orb cast its gentle light all over her body, giving her a majestic aura, accentuating every one of her curves. All their worries were far, far away, and he had the feeling that nothing could happen to them as long as she stayed by his side, with him, secured in his embrace.

“You’re so beautiful…” he sighedt, almost unconsciously. Midnight looked up. “So cute….”

“Hey, batponies aren’t cute. We are feared. Our name means terror, not that mushy stuff,” she laughed.

Golden smiled and teased her. “Yeah, the cutest mare in the word. And she loves me,” he rejoiced loudly. “I’ve got the cutest batpony in my bed.” He started to tickle her. Midnight couldn’t help but laugh. “And she’s ticklish.”

“Haha-STOP!” Midnight laughed, squirming under the tickling hooves of the stallion. “Golden, stop! Okay… Okay! HAHAHA! You win… You can call me cute,” she panted between two fits of laughter. Golden stopped and brought her closer to kiss her again, tenderly, as if to be make amends for his tickling attack.

“I love you, Midnight,” he said simply, putting his lips on her forehead.

“I love you, Golden. I hope it’ll stay like this for a long, long time.”

Saying and hearing those words warmed their hearts, despite the cold that gripped their bodies. They cuddled a bit closer, hoping to melt in one pony that would protect them from the outside world forever.

Silence fell for a few moments, and Golden saw Midnight closing her golden eyes. Feeling sleepy, too, he pulled the sheets onto them wish his hind legs, protecting his princess from the cold.

“Good night, Golden. Sweet dreams,” Midnight said.

Her words raised a question in the pegasus’s mind. “If I dream of you, could Luna see me?” he asked, with a small hint of worry. “I mean, I don’t want to risk anything… Not after tonight.”

Midnight kept her eyes closed and answered, her voice a bit muffled by his fluffy chest. “Don’t worry. She only goes into the nightmares. And if you dream of me, it has to be a good dream, right?” She smiled.

“Yeah, you’ll be the light in the darkness, Princess.”

“You never stop, huh?” she asked, smiling in his fur.

“Not when I’ve got the cutest mare in the world on my side, cuddling with me, giving me hugs and loving me.” He smiled too. “And you? What if you dream of me?”

Midnight got ready for a long explanation, even if the need of sleep started to weigh on her, heavier than everything else. She sighed and started. “To make a long story short, Luna can’t go into the batponies’ dreams. That’s just how it is. She created us and didn’t have that power. I’ll explain another time,” she concluded, yawning. She rested her head on the white chest, and Golden didn’t add anything, finally at ease.

He watched her fell asleep, staring at the rising and falling chest that moved with each breath, fascinated by the beauty of his own private show. When he was sure she was asleep, he cast a last look towards the moon. He had never found it as beautiful as that night, and he thanked it silently for the welcoming light it offered them.

He watched Midnight one last time and fell asleep with the picture of the batpony in his mind, this time for real, before closing his eyes.

The next morning, Midnight woke up first, dazzled by the sun’s rays as they passed through the window. She rubbed her eyes and unfolded her wings to protect herself from this old enemy. She looked towards the clock on the nightstand.

07:00

She still had an hour before going back to her camp, certain that nopony would notice her absence before the 8 AM breakfast. She yawned, showing her fangs to her still-asleep lover. Still a bit dazed from her slumber, she lay down on his chest, which she hadn’t left during the night. She smiled and watched the pegasus, still in Luna’s world and with a strand a saliva coming out of his open mouth.

She didn’t know exactly why, but she found the image quite fascinating. Instead of waking him up, she watched him, and she saw the sun slowly crawling onto his beautiful face and his golden mane before the light of the morning star came to rest at his eyelids. She moved her wing slightly to shield him, and she surprised himself by sighing contently while watching him smile. This guard was really unique, and that’s why she loved him. She softly kissed his hooves before stroking her face with them, appreciating their softness. Even with all the hours standing up in their horseshoes during guard duty, they were as soft as Saddle Arabian silk. She smiled wickedly when she thought of all the places they could go during their next meeting.

Finally, her wing started to get tired, and Midnight had to lower it, letting her enemy touch the eyelids of the pegasus. He started to wake up by groaning a bit. He cracked an eye open, then another, before closing and opened them quickly. At first blurred, his vision focused on the face in front of him. He smiled. “Midnight…”

“Golden…” she continued.

They both smiled and kissed affectionately, the first kiss of the day, always the most beautiful for both of them. Still being a bit dazed made it sweeter, as reality and dream mixed at the moment their lips connected. Golden wrapped his hooves around Midnight and watched her after breaking the kiss. He raised his hoof and stroked her mane. “I thought you were already back in your camp,” he whispered, enjoying the quiet moment.

“Still got some time, and…” She paused and booped him with her hoof. “I didn’t want to wake up alone. I like to feel your body against mine when I wake up. It’s...nice,” she said, blushing a bit.

Golden smiled. “That’s it, you’re contaminated,” he said, putting his hooves on her back and bringing her close to him. “You’ll become super corny in no time. My plan is working…” Midnight stroked his mane with her hoof and answered.

“With the night we had, I’d like to. But with you, and only with you. I’ve got a reputation to keep up.”

“Oh? What reputation? Cutest batpony in the world?” Golden teased.

“Nah, the others know better than to tease me,” she said, frowning. “If not, they’ll get a taste of my fangs.” She showed them and hissed to look terrifying.

She didn’t scare Golden at all. He watched her for a few seconds before speaking. “If somepony had told me I would fall head over hooves for a batpony, I would have sent him to jail.”

Midnight rested her head on his chest and laughed. “And so do I. And in the end…” She turned her head towards him. “I don’t regret it. And the others can go to Tartarus.” She raised her hoof for a hoof-bump and Golden raised his.

“Buck them.” He bumped his hoof into hers and left it there, eventually dragging it softly across her fetlocks. When his hoof landed on her back, he touched her wings. An idea popped into his mind. “Midnight, can I touch your wings? After all, you’ve already touched mine,” he asked. Without turning her head, she unfolded them, blocking the sun behind her. Golden reached out a hoof and started to stroke them. They were cold and delicate. They had no feathers, but they were still so fragile. He dragged his hoof all the way up and down without getting any sort of shudder or anything from Midnight. He’d expected them to be more sensitive.

He spent some more time stroking them until Midnight broke the silence. “You know, you’re the first stallion to ever touch my wings. I hope you know how lucky you are.”

“Oh, yeah, I know I’m lucky, ‘cause they belong to the most beautiful batpony in Equestria.”

“You’re too kind, Golden,” she added, kissing his chest.

“What? Nopony ever said how beautiful you are?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She blushed a bit more. “Yes, but when my coltfriends said that, I didn’t felt like it was… like they really meant it, you know. But when it’s you, it’s so sweet and nice and all. That’s what I love about you,” she explained before kissing his cheek. “You’re honest.”

Golden stopped stroking her wings and unfolded his so that they both touched. “You know, what you did in the cave and yesterday… Preening my wings. That’s the most intimate thing a pegasus can do with somepony else,” he started. “Usually, it’s only a family thing, or something you do with very close friends and… lovers. You need to trust the other pony, because it only takes one small mistake to keep a pegasus stuck to the ground for a long time.” He continued to stroke his wings against hers. The touch sent small electric shocks into their spines.

Golden folded his wings and took a look around the room, to see if anything strange had happened during the night. After all, White was a master of sneaking. His eyes scanned the room from left to right, and he didn’t notice anything weird. At the edge of the bed, he saw his helmet and armor. He turned on his side and reached out a hoof to grab the golden helmet, putting it on Midnight’s head.

“Hey, this is blasphemy,” she laughed while the helmet fell on her head, letting her mane slip through the opening in the back. “Royal guard armor on a batpony… I know a few guys who would throw up.”

Golden finished to putting helmet on her head and took some time to look at the result. The gilded metal created a nice contrast with her dark fur, and it accentuated her golden eyes. The sun that shone above it made it even more beautiful, like a portrait drawn by the best painter in Equestria.
Golden stared at her for a few moments.

“So?” Midnight asked.

“You could make a very sexy royal guard,” he answered simply.

She approached his face and kissed him. After she broke the kiss, she smiled teasingly.

“How does it feel to kiss a batpony in your armor?”

“It’s very exciting. Especially when she’s so sexy. You want to try the rest of it?” he asked, lowering his gaze to the other pieces of his armor. Midnight nodded, and they both got off the bed, starting their work.

One by one, Golden put every piece of the armor on her, from the protections for the back to the horseshoes for his hooves. It gave him an opportunity to stare at his princess’ body. And her flanks. And her cutie mark, where he deposited a sweet kiss. They needed to stop a few times when Golden couldn’t help but tickle Midnight as she got dressed.

Once they were finished, Golden took a step back, and Midnight stepped closer to a mirror to check herself. She gleamed, literally, and she was the most beautiful thing in Equestria to the pegasus. It was like he was falling in love again with her. She looked closely at her reflection, almost not believing that she was seeing herself like that. Every piece of the armor seemed to be made for her, despite the slight difference in height, and she could have made any royal guard jealous.

“You… you…” Golden was at a loss for words and had to control himself to keep from jumping on her and cuddling her.

Midnight turned to Golden, who was smiling like a fool with his wings spread. “What? You can’t talk anymore?” she asked, moving closer to him. “Maybe this will help you…” She got up on her hind legs and kissed him lovingly. The kiss deepened when Golden came to his senses and joined her, and the armor rang when Midnight sat on her rump, flinching under the cuddling of her stallion.

When they finished, Golden let out a sigh of satisfaction and helped her to stand up. “Not when you’re so beautiful,” he managed to say. “I could eat you right now,” he said, licking his lips.

“Try that, and I’ll know where to put my fangs,” Midnight replied, passing in front of him and stroking her tail under his chin and all over his body, making him melt on the floor. “Even if the idea is pretty exciting.”

The batpony watched the clock and noticed that it was almost time to go. She took off the helmet, and Golden helped her with the rest of the armor.
“I promise, next time, I’ll come with my own armor, and I’ll give you the sexiest strip-tease you can imagine. And maybe a lap dance. But you owe me one, too.” The simple idea was enough to ignite Golden’s imagination, and his wings answered for him. She postponed her departure as much as she could and she never stopped to kiss, cuddle and embrace him, to memorize as much of the moment as they could s before their next meeting. But she couldn’t stop time, and she finally approached the window.

“Next Saturday?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll tell White to leave us alone for the night,” Golden explained. Silence fell between them for a few seconds, and the pegasus felt his throat tighten. “I know I’ll see you at work, but… It won’t be the same. I’ll miss you. I…” He choked a bit. “Sorry, it’s just that… I love you so much, Midnight. After last night and this morning, I can’t imagine being alone tomorrow morning.” He felt his eyes watered slightly.

Midnight noticed and put a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t cry, or I’ll call you a chicken every time we see each other,” she laughed a bit forcibly. She was in the same state as him, but she did everything she could to look strong. “Just a week. It’ll go fast. Think of me, and you’ll be okay.” She kissed him sweetly, and when the kiss stopped, the pegasus got an idea.

“Wait,” he said, stepping back. He looked into one of his drawers and took out a small gilded thing, some kind of brooch that he put in her hoof. “Take this. I got it the day I became a guard. You can look at it every day before we meet again, okay?”

She took the object and studied it closely: a sun, almost like his cutie mark. She put it on her mane and hid it under some strands of hair. “I promise. Goodbye, Golden. I love you,” she finished before kissing him one last time. Reluctantly, she broke away and took off, looking at him one last time before disappearing in the clouds.

The stallion stared for a long time at the sky behind the window. The sadness receded slowly, and the idea of seeing her again filled his mind with joy. He stepped back and let himself fall onto the bed, taking the sheets on his hooves to smell the sweet scent of lavender that emanated from it. He took deep breaths and lost himself in it, wishing that she was already back by his side, that he could feel her hooves on him again, her lips against his, her body against his….

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear White come back a few minutes later. Golden reappeared under the covers and saw his friend, whose eyes were bloodshot.

“Oh… Hi, White. How did you sleep?” he asked, taking a more upright posture, as if everything was normal.

His friend yawned and sighed deeply. “If sleeping with Sunny Shield, the biggest snorer of all Equestria, can be considered a good night, then yeah, I spent a marvelous night staring at the ceiling,” White replied, nostrils twitching. He breathed again, quickly putting a hoof on his muzzle. “Jeez, it stinks. It’s bad enough to bring somepony back from the dead!” he exclaimed. He furrowed his eyes and did his best imitation of Shercolt Holmes. “I smell…” He breathed again, looked around him, and delivered the sentence. “The sex.”

Golden blushed and fell on the bed. “You don’t know the half of it.”

“Well, looking at the sheets, I think I have some idea,” White laughed. “Spare me the details, but I guess it’s only the beginning between you two ?” Golden nodded. “I’m happy for you, dude. Really. And what’s next?”

“Next?” Golden asked, a bit surprised.

“Yeah. Like, will you fly away to live your life freely, or will you stay here, living in constant fear of being busted?” White asked, breaking his friend’s happy mood.

Golden frowned a bit but answered anyway. “For now, things will stay the same. I’ll think about it. I can’t quit the guard that easily. It’s my life,” Golden explained.

“And she won’t become all that matters in your life? You’re crazy in love with her. It’s just a matter of time before you become sick of your life as a guard,” his friend explained seriously. He moved closer to him and lowered himself to be at his eye level. “When you want to go, don’t worry about me. I’ll help, ‘cause that’s what friends do. I’m your best friend, and that won’t change, never. Get it?”

Golden nodded and they gave each other a hoof-bump. “Thanks, White. You’re a really great pal.” They even hugged, and Golden imagined Midnight in his hooves for a short time.

“Dude, go take a shower. You stink.” White broke the dream and Golden reopened his eyes.

He got off the bed and went to the bathroom. A question popped into his mind. “White, what did you say to Sunny so he’d agreed to let you sleep in his room for the night?” he asked.

White smiled and put a hoof under his chin. “Oh, I just said you got some bad diarrhea and that was best to keep away from you. Get ready for some questions from the guards.”

Golden stopped, turned back, and jumped on his friend, who squirmed on the floor.

“Golden, stop! That was a joke! I… NO!!! GET THOSE SHEETS OUT OF MY NOSE!!! AHHHHH!!!!!”

A the batponies’ camp, batpony in armor knocked at the door of Midnight’s room. Frowned eyes and ready to explode, he knocked again, insistant.
“Midnight, we have a training at nine. Just because you had a day off yesterday doesn’t mean that you can sleep in! If you don’t open this door, I will break it down! So, I’m asking you for the last time, open to your lieutenant!” he commanded.

No answer.

That was too much for him. He hit the door strongly with his hoof, forced it open, and noticed a bed where he could see a suit of armor, seemingly with somepony inside. Starry raised an eyebrow and approached quietly, watching his surroundings just in case. Slowly, he reached out a hoof and pulled out the sheet, revealing some pillows put all the way in to fool everypony that looked through the window.

His anger got the best of him. His eyes frowned even more than usual. He gritted his teeth and hit the helmet with a strong blow of his hoof, breaking it in two. With his low voice, he declared, “Midnight, this is the last time you’ll fool me!”

Author's Note

Not dead! Well, almost sometimes... but not dead!

New chapter! I promise you won't have to wait six months to get a new one. Thanks for sticking to that story.

The part where things get complicated

Midnight arrived at her camp a few minutes later, humming with joy, a dreamy look sparkling in her eyes. The night had been fantastic, and the morning too, when she’d woken up into the soft hooves of Golden, not caring about the future and simply enjoying the moment. She loved him, he loved her, and she had something with her to think about him until their next meeting. During her flight, she often stroked a hoof into her mane to feel the brooch. But even with that, she thought the week would feel quite long and that the suspense would only make their next meeting more expected, and fun. She made a mental note to herself to come with her armor next time.

Without suspecting anything, she quietly slipped into her room at the eastern side of the camp, the camp almost empty with all the guards who had already gone to sleep. She opened the window that she’d left slightly ajar during the night, and after checking that the brooch Golden gave her was hidden in her mane, she came in. In the darkness of the room, she didn’t see the welcoming committee at first.

She had just enough time to land a hoof on the floor before getting tackled by two guards, leaving her helpless. She squirmed, trying to escape this fortress of hooves, before noticing that she wouldn’t be able to escape this time. She groaned and tried one last time to escape their hold before sighing and saying, “What are you doing here, you two?”

“We are the ones asking the questions here, Midnight.”

Starry walked into the light, closely followed by Moon Dancer. Midnight’s heart dropped to her stomach, and her mind seemed paralyzed by the shock.

They knew. They’d discovered the truth. No more nights with Golden. No more Golden. No more night guards. Darker and darker thoughts entered her mind with the promise of never leaving. All she feared was becoming real now, and it couldn’t have been at a worse time. She had just spent the most marvelous night of her life with her lover, and they promised each other to leave to live their lives freely in the future. Together. The plan was being crushed before her very eyes, along with Midnight’s happiness. She felt like her head had just been struck by lightning.

Starry was the first to face her, a smirk never leaving his face. “You really thought you could trick us?” he asked, jerking his head towards the bed. “You really thought we would be so dumb?!” he shouted, hitting her on the head. She didn’t let out a cry, still shocked, and she kept her head low, a trickle of blood starting to flow out of her muzzle.

Moon Dancer approached too, slowly and with a dark stare. He raised Midnight’s head with his hoof and looked at her closely. “You see, Midnight, I order you to not leave the camp, except for work. It’s Sunday, you didn’t work yesterday, and you were supposed to spend the night here,” he started with a low voice, the one he used to scold his soldiers.

“This morning, Starry came here and noticed that you weren’t here. We weren’t sure that you were conspiring with the enemy, but we have proof now. Your absence, for starters. Furthermore, we quickly sent somepony to find you after we noticed you were missing.” He paused. “And this soldier saw you leaving the royal guard’s camp.”

Midnight didn’t have any way to escape now. Nothing to defend herself, nothing to plead her case, nothing more. Moon Dancer continued, and Starry smirked, relishing that moment more than anypony else.

“Your sentence will be decided soon. You will be an example for all the others guards. Do you want to add anything, soldier Midnight Storm?”

The batpony slowly shook her head, not wanting to implicate Golden and hoping he could still have a chance to leave safely, but in doing so, she unwittingly condemned him. A ray of sun entered in the room and reflected on the golden surface of the brooch. Starry saw something shine and moved closer to her, passing a hoof through her mane to find this shiny thing. Under the confused looks of the others guards and Moon, he took the brooch from her mane and studied it closely.

He stared at it before raising his head, furious. He turned to Moon, and announced, “It’s the brooch of a royal guard! She’s betrayed us!” He read aloud the name engraved on the back. “Golden Sun.” The name made something tingle in Starry’s mind. “It’s one of Celestia’s personal guards! It’s the one we see almost every day in the changing of the guard! She spent the night in that cave in Ponyville with him! I knew it! I BUCKING KNEW IT!”

He ran to Midnight, who, in the meantime, had raised her head at hearing the name of her lover. He faced her. “I had doubts since the very beginning! You really thought you could fool me, huh? You really thought I would be so blind to not see this?!” he shouted, fangs out and tempted to sink them into her. Moon got closer and took the brooch from the hooves of his lieutenant.
He stared long at it and raised his head, glaring at her. Her fate was now sealed. “You’ll be judged for high treason, Midnight. You know what you’re risking now.”

The batpony opened her eyes wide. She started sobbing quietly, the picture of Golden hanging desperately in her mind like a life preserver in the ocean, along with the crazy hope that he could save her in time, before…

The idea made her heart sink even deeper into her stomach, and her sobs kept getting louder.

No. She shouldn’t cry. She had to stay strong. For her and Golden. Keep the faith until the very end. Even when everything seemed to be hopeless. But now, the hope was hard to find in her mind.

The two guards dragged her into a cage located within the camp. The small jail wasn’t often used, but the dark rooms seemed to warn everypony that took a look at them. After they threw her into one of them, Moon stopped behind the gates and said, “It’s just the beginning of the trouble for you, soldier. Too bad you didn’t understand that before.”

Knock knock knock

“Come in.”

“Soldier Golden Sun, captain! You asked for me?” Golden announced while entering into Sun Glow’s office. He seemed a bit lost in his thoughts, but not more than usual. The captain looked up and, without a word, reached out a hoof towards the chair in front of him.

Golden saluted and obeyed, expecting to receive an order for a mission. Silence fell for a few seconds, creating a heavy atmosphere in the room, and Sun never stopped watching Golden. Finally, he breathed deeply and started. “Golden, what can you tell me about batponies?”

The question took the stallion aback. He started to panic slightly, though he didn’t show it in his expression. His heart started to beat faster, and he tried to focus on not betraying something with his body language.

“They… they are our enemies, captain,” he started. “We are not allowed to talk to them, we are not allowed to meet them outside of work, we are not allowed to befriend them, we are only allowed to salute them at the end of the changing at 7 AM and 9 PM, and we otherwise won’t interact unless absolutely necessary.”

Sun nodded and left his chair, starting to approach Golden. “Exactly, soldier. You see, even if the massacre of batponies by our guard happened a millennium ago, we can’t forget what they’ve done and the pain they brought to all of Equestria, which lasted long after Nightmare’s Moon exile.” He paused, staring at a poster that sang the praises of the royal guard, allowing some time for Golden to think about his situation and making him panic even more. He gulped loudly, and sweat started to run below his helmet.

Sun turned back and continued. “There was a time where we were the only guards protecting Equestria. But after Luna’s return… I’m not saying it was a bad thing, but...” He was looking for the right words. “That day, something changed. I knew we would have to learn to share our responsibility of protecting Equestria with the batponies, the same people we killed centuries ago. And that wasn’t the best news of my career.” He slowly continued to walk around the room, and every step made Golden more and more anxious.

“Batponies are filled with hate, and they wait for only one thing: to get their revenge against us and become the first army of Equestria. That’s why we must be careful with them and not let any batpony befriend us. We all know that here, we teach that to every new guard in the school. But you know all of this, don’t you, Golden?” he asked, eyes locked on the pegasus.

Golden shifted his eyes everywhere and did his best to not lower his gaze in front of his captain. “Y-Yes, captain. I learned it during my training here.”

Sun raised an eyebrow and walked back to his desk. He opened a drawer, pulled out something, hid it in his hoof, and got closer to Golden.

“Really? It seems that you haven’t learned your lesson yet, soldier. Otherwise, you would not have lost this in the batpony’s camp.” He threw the brooch to Golden. The soldier caught it with his hooves. “I received a letter from Moon Dancer, the captain of the Lunar guard.” He paused and put a hoof under his chin. “ And it’s the kind of letter I wished I would never have to open. Because I knew what it was about.”

Golden was completely panicking now. He squirmed, uneasy on his chair, his mind thinking frantically of Midnight, of what she must be suffering at that moment, at what he could endure, thinking of never being able to see her again, thinking of never being able to stroke the mane of the one that had conquered his heart, thinking of never being able to kiss her again, thinking of never be able to leave Canterlot with her…

“Soldier Golden Sun,” the pegasus said as turned back, “This is where your career ends. Guards!”

Instantly, two guards entered the office with spears pointed towards Golden. “Take him to jail. We’ll take care of him later,” he ordered.

‘Don’t give in, not without a fight.’

He’d learned it in training once, and he launched himself into a big fight with the two guards. He disarmed them and threw one of them against one of the walls. He threw himself on the other stallion, but he received a heavy blow in the jaw that made him fall on the floor, allowing some time for the other guard to hoofcuff him. Sun put a hoof on his throat, preventing another attempt to escape. The other guard recovered, lips bleeding, and helped his colleague pick up the prisoner. When they get out of the room, Sun didn’t lift his gaze from the eyes of the ex-soldier before saying, while he passed in front of him, “Solider Golden Sun, I discharge you from your duties. We will deeply regret having you be a part of this guard.”

The two guards took Golden to the jail, he kept thinking of Midnight to put some extra force in his hooves. But the cuffs stopped any chance of escaping, and he traveled the hallway under the surprised gazes of the others soldiers, some shocked, some puzzled. Golden lowered his head, starting to loudly sob at the loss of his love. It couldn’t end like this, not today, not after their night together, not after what they had promised to each other. Hang on to a hope, even a fragile one. And think of Midnight, again and again, to prevent the darkness from taking control of his mind. Where there’s life, there’s hope, right?

Golden had never wished so much that this would be true. But all the words in the world didn’t prevent him from bursting in tears in his jail. They should have left, when there was still time. He hadn’t found the courage, and he cursed himself for his cowardice. He should have been strong for Midnight, but he had failed her. He’d betrayed his motto.

By the middle of the afternoon, a siren was heard in the batponies camp. It was only used in case of emergency, or for an impromptu meeting, like today. All the batponies, even the ones asleep, heard this sound and rushed to the meeting room in the middle of the camp. Around fifty guards, almost all of the Lunar guard, entered the room, where whispers were heard along with groans and rumors.

Some seemed sleepy, but they all stood straight when their chief, Moon Dancer, got up on stage, announced by a guard next to the front door of the room. Helmets tinged as they were met with saluting hooves , and all eyes faced straight in front of them in sign of respect for their captain.

“At ease,” Starry ordered, standing next to his captain on the stage. He looked from left to right and continued. “Captain Moon Dancer is here for a special announcement, soo open your ears and listen to your chief!” He nodded to Moon, who used his low and loud voice to start his speech.

“Soldiers, I’m here because there is a serious situation going on. We were informed of a breach of the batponies’ rules. A very serious crime.” He paused for suspense. “Within our own guard.”

The whispers grew louder in the ranks. Moon moved his head towards the two guards on his left, and they opened the doors of a cage. Midnight, head low and tightly held by two of her former colleagues, was dragged by the hooves onto the stage. The room shut down with a shocked silence. Some batponies recognized her instantly and widened their eyes. Questions popped into their minds. What had she done? Why did she look like that? Had she planned something against Luna? There were all hanging on Moon’s words, and they didn’t take their eyes from the batpony until the two guards stopped in front of the raised stage.

“Midnight Storm,” he said, turning his head towards her, even as she kept her eyes low., “...has broken one of our rules. That is to say, she befriended a royal guard.”

Some muffled gasps were heard. Midnight looked up and met stares filled with hate, but some were more neutral, more shocked than anything else. She also spotted some looks that seemed sympathetic, though they were few. The batpony’s eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and she barely stoodupright. Moon’s voice echoed again.

“This situation is serious. And Midnight will be judged for her crime with death as possible sentence. Before her trial, she will stay in the jail at the camp. Let it be a lesson to all of you: if you ever think of befriending the enemy, this could happen to you!” he roared, fear engulfing the ranks . “You want to add anything, soldier Storm?”

Midnight didn’t answer but turned her gaze to Moon, eyes frowned and filled with a ferocious hate. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the captain spoke again.

“We won’t take any risks, and you won’t escape from us. Lieutenant!” he ordered, turning to Starry. The batpony stepped closer to Midnight and, with all the guards as witnesses, put his hooves on one of the mare’s wings, before breaking it with a snap and a blood-freezing sound.

Midnight let out a huge cry of pain that echoed in the ears of the whole guard. Some even looked away, not wanting to see this horrible thing longer, including some of the bravest batponies. Starry did the same for her second wing, and Midnight fell on the floor, unable to hold the tears that flowed out of her eyes, paralyzed by pain, only wanting it to stop.

The sound of her cries echoed in the room for a long time, and some batponies felt a bit of compassion, many of them shivering at the simple thought of having one of their wings broken.

Starry spoke, and his voice cracked like a whip in the room. “Get it, everypony? The sentence will be the same for all batponies seen with one of Celestia’s guards! Guards! Take them to her jail cell!” he shouted. Quickly, two guards wrapped hooves around her neck and dragged her out the front door.

Meanwhile, Midnight had fainted, crushed by pain. At least she couldn’t suffer anymore where she was now.

In the royal guard’s jail, Golden never stopped thinking about his love, trying to erase the dark ideas that passed through his head and not giving himself one second to rest. He tried to get some sleep, but his mind was too busy thinking of all the possibilities for his future, and he was even unable to close one eye. Minutes seemed to pass like hours, and every second without her was like a knife wound.

His heart was beating slowly, torn, as if life itself was leaving him little by little. He wanted to fight, he wanted to struggle, but he had no hope to hang onto except thinking of Midnight and trying to remember the magic moments they’d shared just yesterday.

Towards the end of the day, a guard entered the jail and asked permission to speakto the prisoner. The pegasus assigned to Golden’s supervision acquiesced , and Golden heard two different voices from the hall that led to where he was confined.

Then he hear only the sound of hoofsteps getting closer. A shadow approached, too, and something stopped in front of the gates. Lying on a bed, he turned his head towards the visitor. He squinted his eyes and needed a few seconds to recognize this familiar face.

“Sunny?”

Sunny Shield, White’s temporary roomie from the previous day. The pegasus looked sad, sad to see one of his friends here, stuck between four walls. Golden slowly approached the gates. “What are you doing here?” he asked, suspicious.

Sunny breathed deeply. “Golden, I heard what happened. And… I don’t know what to think, but I want to believe that you meant no harm. White told me about this batpony.”

Golden sighed and face-hoofed. “He never could shut up…”

“That’s not the point,” Sunny cut him off. “I wasn’t far from Sun’s office, and I saw something fall from your hoof. And so, I thought I should…” He searched in his saddlebag and pulled out a tiny, shiny object. Golden’s eyes widened.

It was the brooch he’d gave to Midnight. Sunny held it out, and Golden took it very carefully, like the most precious and fragile thing in the world. He was at a loss for words for several seconds, and then he finally looked up to Sunny.

“Thanks, Sunny… I… I don’t know what to say… Thanks, thanks”, he thanked him and passed a hoof through the gates to shake his. Sunny accepted it, and they sahreda strong hoof-shake.

“You really care about her, White told me. I… I know you broke one of our rules, but… You’re a good pony, so you can count on me during the trial. I will tell everypony that you can be trusted. Plenty of guards support you, too. Not for what you did, but they know you’re trustworthy. We all make mistakes sometimes.”

Touched by his words, Golden wiped a tear from one of his eyes. He answered simply. “Thanks Sunny. Tell the boys that… I won’t let them down. Never. I never wanted to put the guard in danger.”

“Yeah, we know that, Golden. We all know that. After all, love is blind, right? Besides, White told me she was smoking hot,” he finished with a wink.

Golden laughed. “Don’t you dare. She’s mine.”

Sunny laughed too. “I need to go now. They only gave me five minutes. Hold on, Golden, for us, for the guard.” Sunny saluted him, and Golden did the same. “We won’t forget you.” On that, he disappeared from Golden’s eyesight, and his hoofsteps got quieter until they weren’t heard above the squeaking of a door.

Golden returned to the bed and lay down, looking at the brooch in front of him. He stared for a long time, and he even took a sniff from time to time. It still had the scent of Midnight’s mane. That lifted up his spirits. There was something to hang on to.

There was still hope.

Author's Note

If you find any grammar mistakes (despite the editing work, there can still be some), just let me know.

Escape

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