In the Dark of the Night
Passion Will Find Her
“Are you sure I’m the best pony for this, Princess? Wouldn’t Princess Luna be a better choice to meet with the tribes of Nightlorn Vale? I know I’ve seen bat ponies accompanying Princess Luna.”
The most wonderful pony in the world brought her hoof to Twilight’s chin and lifted the newly fledged alicorn’s gaze to meet her own. “Twilight, I assure you that I haven’t the faintest doubt in your abilities. I would be hard-pressed to find a pony better suited to reunite our races than you.”
Luna nodded her agreement. “Indeed, Our sister has the right of it. Although We are truly touched by the faithfulness of those in the Night Guard who would retain their loyalty throughout the generations of Our exile—my apologies, my exile—the tribes of the Canterhorn Caverns compose only the minority of bat ponies.”
She shook her head, a familiar sorrow entering her eyes. “It was my own blackest of spells that twisted so many dreaming pegasi into the form they now bear. No, I’m afraid that my presence would only endanger the negotiations.”
Twilight frowned. That didn’t sound fair to her at all.
She turned to look out over the balcony. The sunset over Canterlot was always a beautiful thing; the white splashed across the city were perfect for carrying the colors that blossomed over the sky, and the gold and purple that made up so much of the rest of the city merged perfectly with the evening ambiance.
Many poets paid homage to the glory of Canterlot under the noonday sun, but it was in the transition between day and night that the city was at its most beautiful. Twilight thought that it was sad that more ponies hadn’t realized this.
Princess Celestia lay her wing over Twilight’s back. Her own wings twitched in response, the feeling of touch through feathers still new to her. “You’ve been at my side for diplomatic gatherings before, Twilight. You know the courtesies expected of an Equestrian princess and are certainly experienced at finding common ground with other ponies.”
“Then you really think I can do this, Princess? I—yipe!”
Twilight couldn’t hold back her squeak as the magically-induced static shock zapped her cutie mark. Her tail reflexively folded over to hide it, while her cheeks blushed red over being punished like a misbehaving filly.
“I believe we’ve discussed the appropriate use of titles before, have we not?”
“Y-yes, Prin—Celestia! Yes, Celestia!”
Her mentor—a claim Celestia would forever hold in Twilight’s heart, no matter that they were legally equals—gave Twilight a reassuring squeeze. “As for your question; yes, I do. Truthfully, my biggest worry is over what’s going on in that head of yours. I’m frankly stunned that you aren’t more eager for this trip. I know you’ve never studied the umbral magic of the bat ponies before, and I’ve never seen you be less than excited over the opportunity to learn something new—particularly if that something relates to magic.”
Twilight chuckled, nervously running a hoof through her mane. “Believe me, Prin—Celestia, I’m excited over the opportunity! But…”
Was it weird that she wished she had Fluttershy’s mane? It would be nice to be able to hide behind her own hair. “I’ve barely gotten used to being an alicorn. The idea of more changes is more than a little unnerving.”
“And there is the crux of the issue, is it not?” Luna rubbed at her chin with her hoof as she mused aloud, calling upon her extensive experience in understanding their fears of her fellow ponies. “Change. Twilight Sparkle, the student who dreamt only of further study, became Twilight Sparkle, hero of Equestria. The unicorn hero of Equestria became an alicorn princess; the alicorn princess now takes the full plunge into her new status and royal duties. Little is more frightening than change.”
She could only nod. Luna had the right of it, although hearing it explained so openly made Twilight feel silly for worrying over something so… small.
Celestia shook her head. “You have nothing to worry about, Twilight. Accepting the full extent of what it means to be an alicorn may seem unnerving, but it doesn’t change who you are.”
“Cadance still seems worried about it.”
“Unfortunately,” Luna sighed, “our niece does seem discomfited over the idea. Considering that she has already assumed rulership over an entire province of the nation, I cannot fathom why.”
Celestia was always wonderfully wise, of course, so she knew the answer (just like Twilight thought she would). “Her closeness to Shining Armor, no doubt. Although she should know better than to think he would distance himself from her simply because she took on further traits of what she already was.”
Twilight didn’t notice her fellow princess glance down at her as she spoke, nor Celestia’s smile when Twilight took a firming breath. “Right. She, um, she really should, because he wouldn’t. Right? Right. Should we get this show on the road, then? If I’m going to leave tonight, that is.”
“Indeed.” A blue glow set itself over Twilight’s horn. “Ready thyself, Twilight Sparkle. We recall Our experience to be rather… bewildering.”
“What do you mea—”
That was when Twilight was abruptly aware of what it felt like to have a shadow.
₪₪₪
Her friend’s shadow, elongated by a sun that now showed but half its form over the horizon, rose from the tiles to stare at Twilight with lightless eyes. Twilight didn’t see it, nor truly react—her own eyes were glazed, staring at something none but herself could see.
Luna held her breath as the shadow slowly filled with the pink-tinged purple of Twilight’s magic, its form flickering with the maybes and would haves of what Twilight could have been.
As the magic reached the shadow’s face, both pony and mirror image burst into light, a sweeping white that projected from their eyes to shine over the darkening balcony as the ray of sunlight shines through a crack into a cloistered room.
Luna’s second eyelids slid down as the light of Twilight’s merger grew too bright. She had been quite surprised to find those on her return; it seemed that little Spike’s egg had never been fertilized, and the magical hatching by his ‘mother’ had meant, as far as Magic was concerned, that he was a pony.
And an alicorn was representative of all ponykind.
She caught Twilight in her magic before the now-unconscious princess fell to the ground. Her body shifted, wings changing in bone and composition and her horn twisting; gills sprouted along her neck, her tail took new form, claws grew where hooves once were; these and other changes danced across her body.
Celestia had been prepared, however—more so than Luna with her absence this past millennium—and cast spell atop spell onto Twilight as she manifested the traits of each of the two dozen races of pony to have existed through the history of their kind.
Water to soothe her breathing before the gills faded; levitation to keep the reforming wings from growing in broken; silence to cover sensitive ears that shouldn’t be exposed to a bustling city so soon; more water to put out her flaming mane; an apple as her tail grew a mouth and tried to bite the floor.
Luna would need to ask Celestia about that. It was disturbing and unfamiliar.
With a final heave of flesh, Twilight returned to her original alicorn form—with minor changes. Luna would guess that she grew another three inches, four if she were to count the horn. Minor imperfections in her features smoothed away.
It was not merely for cultural reasons that alicorns were considered the pinnacle of equine beauty.
But most magnificent of the changes were certainly in Twilight’s mane and tail. While Luna would hardly call her friend ‘plain’, her mane-do had certainly been a utilitarian one, with the most descriptive words for it being ‘purple’ and ‘flat’. Now, though…
The winds of the aether did marvels for her. The lighter streak in her mane seemed to dance across the surface and trailed softly glowing light behind it as it waved, resembling a tiny sliver of the aurora borealis. Tiny lights glistened throughout her hair, which at first Luna almost mistook for stars in similar fashion to her own. Closer examination revealed them to be instead identical to the minute sparks woven into a horn’s aura when a unicorn used magic.
How beautifully appropriate.
In comparison with that, Luna almost missed what had been the whole point of pushing Twilight to accept this stage of alicornhood in the first place. But Celestia had been more aware than she, and had been careful to ensure that she take on the traits of the flighted umbrum ponies, the ‘bat ponies’.
Oh, Twilight could change back later, under their tutelage, but sharing their traits could only make discourse with the bat ponies easier.
Celestia let loose a rare sigh. “And the deed is done. I expect she’ll wake within two hours.”
“Good. If that is the case, We will—”
“Luna.” Celestia’s interruption was marked with a long-suffering sigh and a guilty smile from Luna.
“I will see to completing the arrangements for her escort. Are you sure that traveling so close to the Dragoncrown Mountains is the best path, though? The path is longer, and I hardly think riling the dragon flights to be a reasonable course of action.”
“You worry too much, Lulu. The longer path gives her more time to adapt to the nocturnal sleep schedule, and Twilight would certainly appreciate the extra night or two of study to look over the culture of the Nightlorn tribes.” Celestia frowned. “However… you may have a point with the dragons.”
“According to the records of the Royal Guard garrisoned by the border, they’ve been more active than they have in decades.”
“True. But powerful though they may be, dragons have always been hesitant to attack large groups. I trust in Twilight’s ability to fend them off, but we should increase the size of the escort anyways.”
“I’ve recently reformed my personal unit.”
“Oh? I hadn’t heard about that. Why, though? The need for monster hunters is far lower, today—I’ve even had to disband some of the more modern organizations.”
“It’s just a precaution—or perhaps only a nostalgic, unnecessary indulgence. But at the moment, I think they’ll be more useful accompanying your student.”
A sigh. “We’ve gone over this before, Luna. Twilight isn’t my student anymore.”
“Try telling me again when you’ve convinced her of that.”
₪₪₪
Small twinges of pain ran down Indigo Zap’s thighs, and she embraced the feeling as she pushed into the next set of stretches, throwing one hindleg forwards as the other trailed behind. She leaned back as she fell fully in the split, the muscles of her stomach pulling taught to support her. Her wings spread wide and her forelegs stretch past her head, leaving her underbody completely open.
She let her head fall back and to the side. A fang peeked out through her smile as she saw how many eyes fell on her. It took all her control not to leer at the mares and stallions as they tried to hide their interest in her absolutely stunning body (she knew it, no need for beat around the bush!), instead settling for letting loose a low, sensual moan as she shifted forwards.
She rolled her hips, the motion as suggestive as she could make it. The little gasp ‘escaping’ her mouth didn’t help (or rather, it did. It really, really did).
‘Come on,’ her body whispered to the eyes of every pony with an ounce of passion in their soul, gender be damned. ‘You want this. You need this. Just look at all that sexy, wrapped up in spandex! Touch me. C’mon, you know you want to.’
Indigo Zap slowly moved her torso forwards to settle her forehooves onto the ground. She nearly rested her head against the grass before slowly sliding up and out of the split, spreading her wings wide as she raised her ass to the air. All easily explained as part of her routine, but that it just so happened to show off her flanks to anypony who cared to look (that is, to everypony)? That her ever-so-slightly undersized Shadowbolt’s uniform perfectly displayed—no, emphasized—every movement of her tightly muscled rear? That her tail might be just a bare touch touch lifted, as though hinting at what lie beneath?
Pure coincidence. Really, it was shocking that anypony would think she’d actually be taking advantage of that. Some ponies just had no shame.
Some cutie gathered up the courage to walk up to her side, and Indigo Zap gave the mare her warmest grin. “H-hi! I’m, uh, I’m Fruit Fluff. So… I was wondering, when we get to Nightlorn Vale and have some free time, would you like to…?”
She grinned with all the pep and cheer she could muster, looked the pony square in the eye, and replied, “I’d rather die in a fire.” Then she spun on her hoof and trotted away, whistling a happy little song.
That was fun!
Zap trotted her way through the now fully-gathered escort, slipping between other ponies as she made her way to the garden fountain to dip her head and get a drink. Alright, so she might have pushed herself a little more than just stretching required, especially considering that she was about to go on such a long flight.
But it was just too fun to stop!
“You are a cruel mare. You know that, right?”
At least, that’s what Zap thought Waft Draft said. Her face being under the water at the time, it was a little hard to tell.
She snapped her head up regardless, coincidentally splashing everypony nearby with water for reasons readily explained. “Ah, you made it! And here I thought the Shadowbolts would be going alone.”
Lieutenant Waft Draft snorted. Lesser ponies might have been intimidated, but Indigo Zap wasn’t a lesser anything. “I’m certain you would have loved to keep all credit for the mission to yourself, but no. The Night Guard will play its part.”
They were curious contrasts to one another. Waft Draft was prim and proper, with his white-and-off-white mane cropped close to his head. The blue shades of Indigo Zap’s mane only looked well-maintained was because her reckless flying had rendered it permanently wind-swept. He was a narrow, waspy pegasus with a dark purple coat; she was a tan bat pony that was built like an Amarezonian goddess (to use the humblest terms, which she was certain everypony would agree with). The only reason anypony could even tell they were related would be the eyes—they were identical shades of gold, although the slit pupils of a bat pony meant that very few ever noticed.
She liked her eyes, and whenever she could avoid wearing the uniform’s goggles, she did so. She loved actually having goggles, but hiding her eyes? Dear Luna, no!
Zap pffft’d at her cousin with all the eloquence she could muster. “Right, right. But anyways, since you’re here—mind explaining the big to-do? I was briefed that we’d be escorting a princess by chariot, not… this mess.”
A wave of her hoof made it clear what she was talking about. One chariot had become five, two ponies aboard each of the three smaller chariots. Eggheaded things like books and diplomatic paraphernalia that Indigo Zap didn’t care to look at filled filled them, and each had a team of four pegasi or bat ponies to pull it. The final one was less a chariot and more a flying supply wagon.
Oh, she had an education—and was smarter than everypony else, to boot—but that didn’t mean she was an egghead.
Even their security detail was bigger—it went from a wing of the Shadowbolts to the full squadron. But the single squadron of the Shadowbolts that had been formed thus far apparently wasn’t big enough, so a wing of the Night Guard had joined in. They looked more like an armed caravan than anything else.
And the Princess wasn’t even there yet!
“Dragons.”
When Waft didn’t elaborate, Zap prodded her cousin with her wing phalanges. “Meaning?”
“The route takes us close to dragon territory. Princess Luna said we would be aiming for safety in numbers.”
Indigo Zap thought the whole ‘safety’ thing was vastly overrated, but on further consideration she decided that fighting a motherbucking dragon was really high on her list of list of Things to Never Ever Do Ever. “I… think I see why. Smart idea.”
She had noticed that he was staring at some unicorn sitting in a grounded chariot, and was of course about to tease him about it, when the Princess finally arrived.
All thoughts of mockery died.
That was supposed to be Princess Twilight Sparkle, right? Small, soft, quiet, nerdy, favorite-of-the-castle-guard eggheaded mage Twilight? Indigo Zap had to swallow to moisturize her suddenly-dry throat. She didn’t remember her looking like that. Had the Princess been that hot at the coronation? She didn’t think so.
Indigo Zap couldn’t look away. The way she walked; her steps were paced and confident, but absent of arrogance. It was the stride of a pony who had encountered every form of obstacle the world could possibly muster and who had overcome them all.
The way she acknowledged each pony she passed; a gentle, half-nod of the head, obviously learned from Princess Celestia, but somehow more meaningful from a pony that could look them in the eye when she did it, a pony who wasn’t twice their height with the impossible beauty of a goddess.
The way she smiled; private and personal, as though she were actually trying to show happiness or befriend her when their eyes finally met. And there that clumsiness ponies had spoken of showed itself—the teeth, she wasn’t used to her teeth! When she wasn’t smiling, one of her fangs poked out between her lips, just demanding that Zap’s eyes focus on those lips, and wonder about what they tasted like.
And her body. Oh, ponyfeathers, her body. She was even taller than Zap was, and Zap was a tall pony. Far from the soft flab the bat pony might have expected from an eggheaded librarian, all the time Twilight spent running headlong into terrible danger had honed her body like an athlete’s. Her mane was majestic—there weren’t other words for it, simply majestic, and Twilight’s surprises didn’t stop there.
Indigo Zap hadn’t known that alicorns could have bat pony wings! That shade of purple, with the softer color of the skin between the phalanges—her beautiful violet irises, so much clearer when the pupil was reduced to just a line—the adorable tufts of fur atop her ears!
After a brief discussion with the unicorn who was apparently managing the small details of this whole shebang, Princess Twilight Sparkle—wasn’t that a beautiful name?—boarded the largest of the chariots, floating a book over from one of the smaller ones as she settled in for the flight.
Indigo Zap was abruptly aware that she was crushing.
Hard.
And she had no idea what she was supposed to do about it.
₪₪₪
New cute feature for the Princess—she was easily embarrassed.
For once, Indigo Zap didn’t wait until she had the largest crowd before starting her exercises. She only really wanted one pony for an audience, anyways, and got to work as soon as Twilight left the tent the servants had set up for the Princess.
The night’s travel had passed without worry, the biggest concern being when one of the paperwork jockies dropped some sort of vitally important book. Zap caught it, of course, because she was the best, and Twilight even thanked her!
Thinking about it gave Zap totally uncool giggles, so she tried not to (even if she liked the warm feeling it gave her). When morning approached, they had set up camp to wait until nightfall.
It took a bit of work (and some creative moaning on her part) to get her to look Zap’s way without being too blatant about trying to get her attention, but she eventually managed to catch the Princess’s eye—only for her to run away less than halfway through Zap’s routine!
What little anger she felt quickly melted away under the bubbles of laughter that Princess Twilight’s escape back to the safety of the tent had brought forth. That was the best reaction of all!
“Teasing royalty will only get you in trouble, Cuz.”
Ugh. Spoilsport. “I’m not teasing her, Waft Draft. I know better than to play games with Princesses.”
No, Indigo Zap was completely willing to give the Princess anything and everything she wanted, as soon as she hinted that she wanted it. All she had to do was get Twilight to realize how badly she wanted Zap’s body, and then she had it made!
Waft scowled at her. “I’m serious, Zap.”
“So am I! Believe me, I don’t want to get Princess Twilight angry at me.” Although come to think of it, Indigo Zap she did want to see what Twilight looked like when she got angry. Was she that cute, fuming type, or did the whole ‘phenomenal cosmic power’ thing come roaring to life when she lost it? Maybe she did both?
Indigo Zap didn’t know why she liked the idea of that, but she was very glad that bat ponies didn’t get wingboners.
They readied for flight once more, and she shooed away her pesky cousin so she could prep her squadron to take to the air.
She took up position above and behind the Princess, whose attention was devoted almost entirely to the book held open before her. Indigo Zap couldn’t make out what it was—bat ponies might have excellent night sight, but it didn’t come with the distance vision of the pegasi. But from the attention Twilight paid to it, it must have been fascinating.
Curious, Indigo Zap subtly dropped altitude, carefully lowering herself over the course of the next several miles until she could make out one of the headings at the top of the page.
Her esteem for Twilight went even higher. The history of Nightlorn Vale? Nopony knew that sort of things, but Twilight was still dedicated enough to her duty that she’d study it anyways. The squee that escaped her as she returned to formation drew odd looks from her subordinates, but at her glare they turned their attention elsewhere.
It vaguely occurred to Indigo Zap that any sort of attention should be getting her rocks off, but she ignored it so she could ogle the royal flank.
₪₪₪
Author's Note
Sorry, no relation to Anastasia's awesome song.
Have some bat pones.
In the Dark of the Night
She’ll be Mine
“Bad news, Captain. Dawn approaches, but we won’t be able to set up a camp anytime soon.”
Indigo Zap frowned, her breath coming heavily from the exertion of the long night’s flight. “What do you mean, Sunny Flare? ‘Cause I don’t think anypony is going to be up for a longer flight.”
Especially not the ponies pulling the chariots. They were tough as Tartarus, but damn if dragging a vehicle around all night wouldn’t be exhausting.
The bizarrely named bat pony shook her head. “Just… just look. There’s no way we can touch down anywhere near here.”
The captain of the Shadowbolts sighed. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. She folded her wings, letting herself drop below cloud cover—
Then opened them up and scrambled back up as fast as she possibly could. As soon as she was out of sight from below, she dashed up to her cousin at the front of the group. “Shitty news, Lieutenant! There’s a hatchery of dragons below us!”
Waft Draft blanched. “Buck.”
“Sorry, but we’re related. I have to pass.”
“Would you shut up? This is serious!”
“I know that!” Indigo Zap shouted, glaring at him. “I was giving you an opportunity to come up with something! Do I seriously need to do everything myself?”
“You’re the captain.”
“And you want a recommendation for that promotion of yours! Ugh, nevermind, I already figured out what to do. I need to speak to the Princess.”
Not waiting for her cousin’s response, she slipped to the middle of the formation, where the Princess was trying work on some manner of paperwork without falling asleep. She alighted upon the back of the chariot.
The shifting weight caught Princess Twilight’s attention, and she turned around in response. Zap’s face must have been easy to read, because the Princess was frowning. Indigo Zap found that she didn’t like the look, and wanted Twilight to stop. “Is something wrong, Captain?”
Somewhat belatedly, Indigo Zap snapped out a salute. “I’m afraid so, Your Highness. We need to set up camp soon, but it looks like we’ve flown over an uncharted dragon hatchery.”
It took a moment for that to sink through, but her response was even more striking than Waft’s. “Oh, Celestia. If they see us, we’re all going to die.”
Zap swallowed. “Isn’t that a little… extreme?”
“Dragons don’t want anything that isn’t a dragon to know where they lay their eggs! If it weren’t for these clouds, every adult present would have already taken to the air.”
The idea of an entire swarm of dragons was already a frightening one, but Zap had no idea how much danger she’d just put everypony in by ducking beneath the clouds. Even she couldn’t hide the quaver that snuck into her voice after that. “I-I see. We can’t land, then.”
“No, definitely not,” Twilight said. “Just letting them see us would be too great a risk.”
That voice… that was entirely unlike what Indigo Zap had heard of her so far. The fear she had heard so clearly in Twilight’s voice had vanished—no, that wasn’t the right word. It had transformed. What had been shock and terror had become determination, and the intensity of the gaze on her face sent delicious chills down Indigo’s spine.
She could almost see the thoughts in the Princess’s head—not what they were, but the shape and focus of them. Watching the mental machine of Twilight’s mind was like watching crystal technomancy at work; she had no idea what was happening, but even without knowing what she was looking at the sense of activity was vibrant and alive and captivating.
Purple eyes met gold as Twilight stared at her. “Captain, you’re proficient at umbral magic, yes?”
Well duh. “I’m the most talented bat pony from the Canterlot Caverns, bar none.” Particularly when it came to sex, Princess. “But umbral magic is part of my special talent.”
“Excellent! I’m sorry, but I’ll need you to push yourself to your limits for me.”
Ooh, she liked the sound of that. “I was an athlete before I became a Shadowbolt, Your Highness! You don’t need to worry on that account.”
Twilight smiled at her. Her cute little fangs made Indigo Zap’s heart skip a beat. Why did it feel like the Princess suddenly felt closer to her? “That’s great! But please, just call me Twilight. I’ll need you to gather everypony together first; I need everypony close together so I can capture as many of them in the spell as possible.”
“A spell? What are you casting?”
“Just some magic to let everypony walk on clouds—and as importantly, to let us set solid objects like the chariots down on top of the clouds. We can’t afford to go to the ground.”
That was brilliant. Indigo Zap was so thankful that she was traveling with Twilight and not anypony else; how many ponies could just throw out cloud-walking spells out of nowhere? Although there was an issue, there. “But… Your Highness—”
Twilight smirked. Oh, Celestia! She should smirk more often! “Now I know how Celestia feels. Seriously though, Captain, just call me Twilight.”
Zap was blushing. Blushing. Her! Blushing! Since when did Indigo Zap blush? Thank Luna that her uniform covered her face. “Th-then you should call me by name too, Twilight. I’m Indigo Zap.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Zap!”
“L-likewise—but back to the point! If you’re casting the spell, what am I supposed to be doing with shadows?”
Forced smiles didn’t look pleasant on Twilight’s face. “Your squadron has twelve ponies, and the flight of the Night Guard adds another six. It’s taken a total of twenty ponies to pull all the chariots, and I have six aides. And that’s just the ponies—I have to support all the chariots, too.”
Indigo Zap tried to imagine using that much magic. Umbral magic didn’t involve spells, but just trying to pick up half of that—her eyes shrank to pinpricks. Nopony could do that.
“If I cast the spell on everypony individually, I’ll collapse near the end. I’ll need to apply it in groups so that nopony will get left out.”
“B-but Twilight, if you do that then you’ll…”
Twilight smiled. This one was decidedly more pleasant. “That’s why I have you here. My pegasus magic would normally support me, but if I run through my magic reserves devoting it to everypony else then I’ll fall through the clouds. I’m trusting you to support me if I can’t stay conscious, alright?”
“Of course! I won’t let anything happen to you, Twilight. And that’s a promise.”
“I’m glad. Just don’t wear yourself out, alright? We still have to travel tomorrow night.”
₪₪₪
Indigo Zap was stunned. Absolutely stunned. She had no idea how Twilight could possibly manage that much magic. She managed to layer the spell over all the dozens of ponies there and their equipment before she fell.
Of course, this ‘fall’ lasted a grand total of four inches before she was wrapped in shadow. Zap held her Princess close to her as she quietly shouted orders to the rest of the company, ordering them to roll up the corners of the cloud so as to keep a wayward flying dragon from coming across them and to ensure that nopony rolled over the side in their sleep.
Having had a history with sleepwalking, this was a legitimate worry.
But as the day fell upon them, Zap found herself unable to sleep. There was a crack in her confidence, an unthinkable flaw in a perfect pony. She knew she could maintain a shadow construct in her sleep, such as the one with which she now embraced Twilight’s body. But what if she made a mistake?
What if today was the day that she failed?
The idea terrified her like nothing ever had before. Sleep didn’t come to her that day, and frankly Zap didn’t try all that hard to find it.
They almost didn’t travel when night finally came ‘round. Twilight was barely able to drag herself to consciousness, and Indigo Zap didn’t trust her to stay on board the chariot if they tried to go flying again. But staying above a dragon hatchery was such an insane risk that they couldn’t possibly afford to stay.
Indigo Zap volunteered to remain on the chariot with her, and so in the early hours of the night she remained by her Princess’s side, propping her against Zap’s body so that she neither lay on the chariot floor nor was at risk of falling off. And maybe she ran her hooves through the Princess’s magical mane, but that was because Twilight Sparkle hadn’t really had time for brushing her hair. That’s all.
Really.
So, Indigo Zap wondered, if that’s how the night had progressed, then what the buck happened to turn that around?
Somehow, Twilight was now awake, and they were now in her tent. When had it turned to day? When had Zap shed her uniform? When did they leave the chariot?
When had her head ended up on Twilight’s lap?
No, seriously. Indigo Zap wanted to know. That was a memory she really wanted to have.
But when she asked Twilight—not so blatantly, of course—she was met with a giggle. “I’m just returning the favor!” Twilight said. She was laying down across the pillows they had set up as her bed, with Zap’s head resting against her flank. Was Twilight aware what this could be interpreted as? Zap had heard that she was pretty innocent, and she could certainly believe it.
“You must have worn yourself out yesterday, because by the time I woke up you had fallen asleep right beside me!”
A flash of fear widened Zap’s eyes. How could she have fallen asleep? She was staying up to protect Twilight! She wasn’t that irresponsible, was she?
Another giggle. “Don’t worry,” came her Princess’s low, reassuring voice. It was warm and comforting in her ear. “You kept me perfectly safe. So rest now, Zap. Let me take care of you for a bit.”
Oh. Well, when she put it that way, that sounded like a… pretty… good… i…dea…
₪₪₪
It was the following night that they arrived at the capital of Nightlorn Vale.
The ponies of the Vale were… odd. Tattoos weren’t common amongst ponies, but the dye the bat ponies of the Nightlorn tribes used actually glowed in the dark. Sure, bat ponies survived on fruit, but what was the point of flying at night when absolutely everything with eyes could see you? And almost everypony was absolutely covered in them.
Weird though they were, Twilight Sparkle didn’t seem to notice. Or perhaps it would be better to say that she had already accepted it—she answered what looked like a local, traditional greeting (some bizarre bowing and crossing of the wings) in the same manner as the bat pony oligarchs.
Unfortunately, that was when she disappeared into the conference room, with only a couple of those paperwork dummies and a grunt from the Night Guard as accompaniment.
Zap spent the next few hours being incredibly bored. The locals were nice, offered absolutely delicious food, and she was certain that only a few days ago she would have been happy to be there. But as it was, she could only mope about in Twilight-less agony.
After an eternity of waiting, her Princess emerged, visibly weary after spending all night conversing with the leaders of Nightlorn Vale. Zap was quick to return to her side, signaling to the rest of her Shadowbolts on duty to fall into formation around Twilight. “How are you feeling?”
“Exhausted. They act nice, but they have to be some of the stubbornest ponies I’ve ever met.”
Zap put a consoling hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “No progress, then?”
“Well, that depends on what you mean by progress. We haven’t even brought up the terms by which the tribes might rejoin Equestria, but we have determined that I am, indeed, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and am here to engage in diplomatic talks with them.”
Ouch. “That took six hours?”
Twilight groaned and trudged forwards. “Yes! Six hours, just for that! I see why Celestia suggested I not bring any of my friends from Ponyville. I hate to think about how long their lives would have been put on hold trying to get through this mess. If today’s anything to go by, I’m going to be here for weeks.”
Weeks! Indigo Zap couldn’t keep a smile off her face at the thought that she’d be spending weeks with Twilight.
“W-well, since you’re so tired, do you want to get some refreshments? There’s this stand with deep fried pomegranates and yogurt, and my squad says it’s absolutely delicious.”
Twilight gave a soft, tired smile and shook her head. “Sorry, but I don’t think I’m going to be good company right now. Maybe I’ll take you up on that tomorrow night, but for now I think I’ll just retire to the hotel, if that’s alright with you.”
She felt a pang of sadness that her offer was turned down, but the branch Twilight had extended for the next night soothed that away.
₪₪₪
“Now that you have a good grip on it, try to pull it down. No, don’t actually move it! Try to… hm… try to imagine that a direction exists that only you know about, and pull it that way.”
Twilight made a cute little grunt as she moved her hooves through the air. The motion wasn’t necessary, but at this early stage of her attempts at using umbral magic, they served as a good way to focus her attention.
A chair, suspended in darkness, floated in the air before them. But slowly, inch by inch, the chair began to drop into the shadows enveloping it, until at long last the furniture had disappeared entirely into the Princess’s shadow.
“I-I did it,” Twilight Sparkle breathed out. She sounded incredulous, and with good cause; she had been trying and failing to swallow an item into the umbra for two days already.
“Y-you did it,” Indigo Zap echoed quietly. She, too, sounded incredulous, and with good cause; Twilight had only been practicing swallowing an item into the umbra for two days!
Zap repeated herself in a shout, leaping onto Twilight to wrap her hooves around her. “That was amazing! I can’t believe you managed to do it so quickly!”
“Ahaha… you’re just saying that,” Twilight replied with a blush.
“No, I’m being serious! You’re a natural.” Her eyes narrowed as she poked her royal friend. “Especially if you compare this to your flying practice.”
Twilight blushed, her hoof scuffing the floor as she looked away. “I’ll have you know that I’ve gotten pretty good at flying by now!”
“Yeah, but not as a bat pony.”
Zap hadn’t let go, and Twilight hadn’t said anything. As far as she was concerned, that was a good sign, and meant that she could stay there. She adjusted her arms around her friend, settling in as best she could.
It had been three weeks since the talks had begun. Twilight had been quick to ask to learn umbral magic, although it had taken some quick talk on Zap’s part to convince Twilight that she should learn from Zap, instead of trying to go find a teacher from the locals.
Truthfully, she was sure that Twilight would try to go out and learn from one of the Nightlorn bat ponies anyways, to see if there were any special techniques unique to the area, but Zap had managed to convince her that she would have the best understanding if she started off learning the standard Equestrian bat pony approach to manipulating shadow.
She knew that Twilight would be a quick study, but she hadn’t been prepared for the voraciousness her dear Princess showed whenever presented with the opportunity to learn something. Zap had taken to working in other lessons in bat pony-hood into their meetings, just to be sure that she could draw out the lessons through the entire visit.
Every night she learned more about Twilight, and every day she wished she could know even more.
Diplomacy was a slow process, but her friend managed to make some progress each day, even if she complained about it to Zap as the nights drew to a close. Indigo Zap was proud that Twilight considered her close enough of a friend to be such a confidante, but…
But ‘friend’ just wasn’t enough. Zap wanted more. She held out, waiting for an opportunity to push their relationship beyond that, but the time never showed itself.
Of course it didn’t. The world didn’t arrange itself for her, she knew that. She knew there wasn’t such a thing as a ‘right time’ to confess, the same way she knew there wasn’t such a thing as love at first sight or a ‘one true love’.
But even knowing that, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything as the weeks passed, fooling herself into thinking that their gradually increasing closeness was enough for her.
It wasn’t! She didn’t want to become one of Twilight’s best friends, as wonderful though the position was. She wanted to be more.
But every once in a while the world gives a pony a break. The last day of their visit provided her with an opportunity, so long as she was willing to take it.
₪₪₪
Indigo Zap couldn’t pull her eyes away from Twilight’s mouth. The mango the fruit stand had sold was just too huge to get an easy grasp on, and the sweet liquid trailed down Twilight’s face to drip from the soft curve of her chin.
The soft suckling sounds she made as she tried to drain the fruit dry were just so damn erotic, it wasn’t fair. Zap was pretty sure she would have been arrested for public indecency if she had made the same noises.
Actually, that might have actually happened. Was that why she woke up in jail last Nightmare Night?
“Oh, Celestia, this is so good!” Twilight moaned. “What did you say these were again?”
“Mangos. You’ve seriously never had a mango before?”
“No, and I regret it so much.”
Zap put a wing about Twilight’s shoulders. “Don’t forget that we’ve still got more to do tonight! Their Midsummer Night’s Festival is supposed to be loaded with stuff.”
The bat ponies had already agreed to rejoin Equestria, but Twilight had elected to remain in Nightlorn Vale just a few nights longer to experience their supposedly renowned Midsummer Night’s Festival. Indigo Zap had never heard of it, but maybe Canterlot was just too far away.
Twilight made agreeing sounds as she ripped the now-shriveled fruit in half. “Want some? I think it’s too big for me to eat the whole thing.”
She accepted, shoving half of it into her mouth so she could pull her friend away from the table. Zap started explaining where they were going next (although the food in her mouth reduced it to incoherent mumbles, which Zap didn’t really care about).
“Where to now? The food was wonderful, and I just loved the opportunity to see the Nightlorn Vale’s traditional masked operetta!”
“That’s a secret~!”
Twilight groaned, but Indigo Zap had learned how to pick out the good-natured feeling behind it. “Fine then. Do with me as you will,” she replied, unaware of just how much danger that phrase put her virginity in.
Fortunately, Indigo Zap had more self-control than that.
She instead drew the unknowingly beautiful pony to the air, pushing and needling at Twilight until she had settled her Princess in at the top of one of the cliffs overlooking the vale.
“Will you tell me what this’s about, already? We’re going to miss the festival up here!”
“Do you ever stop asking questions?”
“No.”
Zap’s lips twitched up into a smile. “Well, ask them quietly, because you won’t enjoy this if you spend all your time talking.”
“Enjoy what?! Come on, just… tell… oh my…”
Her small smile burst into proud beaming as Twilight’s mouth snapped audibly shut. She had only seen some of the practice the week before, but she had known that if anything would really get to Twilight, it would be this.
The sky lit up with color, but it wasn’t magical in the least. Dozens upon dozens of the ponies of the Nightlorn Vale took to the air, all glowing in different colors as their tattoos shone in the moonless night. But this wasn’t the everynight mob of roving colors that populated the paths of the city.
Vast numbers of ponies swirled through the air in a great aerial dance, each pony a tracery of color painting the sky with their movement. Zap couldn’t tell whether the sky ballet looked more like an artist painting a canvas or a many-branched parade moving in three dimensions, but the explosion of color that filled the night sky put any static artwork or mundane dance to shame.
If her gasps were anything to go by, Twilight and her greater experience with the fine arts agreed.
Indigo Zap swallowed. “Hey, Twilight?”
This was a bad time. She should wait until the display was done. That would make the biggest impression, right? And then they could go have fun with the games down in town. Lovey-dovey couple stuff.
But like a silly filly, she hadn’t been able to contain herself. Considering her timing, she was frankly astonished when Twilight turned her attention away from the twirling fresco of ponies.
“Is something wrong, Zap? You sound nervous.” And as easily as that, her Princess turned away from one of the most beautiful things Zap had ever seen, just to ensure that she was alright.
“Not wrong, per say. Right is a better word… I hope.”
Twilight’s eyebrows could express sarcasm with remarkable clarity. “How descriptive.”
Zap laughed, rubbing at her mane as she tried to find the words that she had spent so long practicing. “Look, I… I just wanted to say that these last couple of months have been some of the most amazing of my life. Meeting you has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”
Her Princess flushed. Zap loved how easily embarrassment came to her cheeks. “O-oh. Well, thank you. I’ve enjoyed coming to know you, too.”
“But now that I’m faced with the fact that our trip is coming to a close—that you’ll go back to your castle and I’ll return to Canterlot…”
Twilight rested her hoof on Indigo Zap’s shoulder. “That doesn’t matter, Zap. As long as we keep caring about each other, distance is nothing more than an inconvenience.”
“You’re wrong!”
Twilight stumbled away from Zap’s shout, her eyes wide. She should be surprised—Zap certainly was. She thought this was the first time she had shouted at Twilight since they’d met.
“I have friends who live in other cities, and I have pegasi cousins in Cloudsdale. I know about keeping bonds up over long distances, but… but… hate the thought of actually living somewhere you don’t. I don’t want to wake up and not know if it’ll be hours or days or months until I can see your face again. I don’t want to bring home dinner and not wonder if you’re going to like it. I don’t want to have an entire life that doesn’t even intersect with yours!”
“W-what are you trying to say, Zap? You aren’t making much sense…”
Ugh! Why couldn’t she see what Zap was trying to say? “I want to live my life with you!”
“O-oh! Well, I’ll have to talk with Spike, but our castle is big enough that I’m certain we have enough space for a roommate—”
Nope nope nope. “For such a smart pony, you can be so stupid, Twilight!”
“Then what do you mean? I don’t get it!”
“I mean this, you beautiful idiot!”
And so Zap kissed her.
Twilight stiffened in her arms, not responding as Indigo Zap desperately tried to show her feelings with action, rather than words. But the other mare’s lack of response made Zap’s ears drop…
Until her Princess relaxed, and let her lips slip open.
₪₪₪
Luna beamed. “We are most pleased to hear of thy success! The representatives of Our wayward bat ponies arrived but a day before—ah, I apologize, my speech has once again regressed. The ponies of Nightlorn Vale arrived last night. You have done an admirable job, and if Celestia were awake I can assure you that she would agree.”
“Thank you, Luna,” Twilight murmured in response, her gaze slipping away from her fellow royal to follow a certain Shadowbolt as she disappeared down the hall. “Did you hear about the troubles we ran into on our way there?”
“The dragons? Certainly. It was most distressing, and I have already mandated that all maps be updated to include the new no-travel zone.”
“Well, as a result, I feel that I’ve… had my eyes opened for me. You, Celestia, and Cadance all have guards of your own; I think it would be prudent for me to have a bodyguard, at the very least.”
“Oh? This is most pleasing news! To speak in truth, we—by which I mean, myself and my sister—have begun to worry that your protections may not be sufficient. Not all dangers are best resolved via force, and not all forms of force may be equally applied. I shall draft up a list of suitable guardians at once!”
“No, no need for that, Luna! I’ve already got somepony in mind. You don’t mind if I take one of your Shadowbolts, do you?”
“… huh?”
₪₪₪
Author's Note
This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I felt that splitting it into two parts felt... smoother, I suppose would be the best word.
