What does it mean?
"Fog? Are you awake yet?" a soothing and gentle voice asked with the slight peeping noise of an open swinging door. A slight stirring could be heard from within the darkened room the voice just entered. "C'mon sweetie, if you sleep longer, you'll miss the festivities." The rummaging of sheets could be heard, all be it very, very quiet, the pony's ears flicked at the small sound of waking. The pony sighed and the soft sound of clip-clopping hooves sounded throughout the room.
The clip-clops stopped and the gentle flick of a small switch could be heard. A few seconds later, a dim blue crystal on the ceiling illuminated the surroundings, revealing the small room the voice had entered. The room had a small bed standing in it that was made out of fine crafted dark wood. Upon the bed itself, lay a soft sheet coloured in dark blue with silver lines on the edges. Underneath the big blanket was the small bulge where the voice was looking for.
Next to the bed was a little nightstand with a small necklace on it. The necklace was made of silver with a small white crystal hanging from it, slightly reflecting the gentle blue light that came from the sapphire crystal on the ceiling. And next to the nightstand, stood a pony who lowered their hoof slowly to the ground and away from the switch that was hanging above. The hoof that was lowered onto the floor joined three others as they began to move to the small bed not far away.
"Fog... I know you're awake." The voice said with a hint of amusement. The hooves stopped in front of the bed and the sheets began to be lift up from the bulge laying underneath it. The layer of sheets were folded nicely on the other end of the bed, leaving a small ball of grey fur out in the open on the bed. The curled up ball of fur shivered as its warm protective layer was removed, making the small ball grab for the pillow with its small front legs and laying the pillow over itself, covering the small curled up ball almost completely.
"Five more minutes, Mommy..." A tiny muffled voice called from underneath the pillow, making the larger pony chuckle gently. The pony next to the bed extended her right front leg and picked up the pillow, revealing the small pony underneath it.
"You asked that half an hour ago, too. Now you really need to get up young colt." The young pony yawned, a small high pitched squeak escaping him. His mouth opened even wider, showing his two small fangs that were still growing while his tongue lulled out of his muzzle. Another small squeak escaped him as he closed his mouth and opened his eyes. With sleep still holding him by a thread, he half closed his eyes in tiredness, but he could see enough to make out the pony next to his bed.
The small pony looked sideways to where the bigger pony stood. "Okay Mommy..." he said with another yawn escaping him. The big pony next his bed was much bigger than he was, at least three times his hight. Fog glanced the pony over; she had bright slit emerald colored eyes, her fur a brighter shade of grey than the little colt had. Her mane was a calm blue colour with a silver streak running through the left side. The mane on her neck was braided and hung down past her right wither, with a small white bow tie tied around her mane just before the end. Her muzzle carried a set of fangs that was noticeable with her mouth closed. It was Mommy.
The young colt slowly got up on his four hooves. After he got up, he lowered his front legs and stretched his hind legs as much as he could, making a small pair of black leathery wings fan up in to the air. He yawned again as he finished his stretching and turned to his mother, who was patiently waiting on him with a fond smile. The mother lowered her head down to the colt and nuzzled his cheek affectionately, "You forget something sweetie."
The colt nuzzled his mother before turning his head sideways in confusion with a flick of his right ear. The colt stood on the bed, unsure what his mother meant. His mother smiled warmly at him and simply lowered her head to his right side. The young colt followed his mother's head, seeing her nudging his right wing that was hanging limply on the bed instead of resting at his sides. "You need to fold your wings to your side," she said before gently grabbing the side of his wing with her muzzle and slowly folding it to his side. She released his wing gave it one last soft nudge to get it into its proper position, "There we go."
Fog looked to his right wing, seeing it now properly resting at his side. He smiled happily at his mother, his tail flicking a few times, "Thank you, Mommy." He looked again to his right wing and tried to move it a bit, which only resulted in his wing extending and falling down again onto the bed. The colt looked at his wing with sadness as he tried on his own to get his wing to fold without success, his wing only lifting up a bit before falling down again. He looked back to his mother with his head lowered in shame and his ears on the side of his head.
His mother rolled her eyes with a happy sigh and went to perform the same action as before; grabbing his wing and placing it gently at his side with a soft final nudge to get it proper. "It will come, sweetie." His mother told him as she raised her head up again. "You can fold your wing yourself when you're older." The colt smiled again at his mothers words. He peeked at his left wing and saw that it was folded nicely at his side, making him feel happy that he could fold one wing of his by himself.
"Come on Fog, time for breakfast and a quick shower. You don't want to be late for her arrival today, do you?" Fog's ears instantly picked up at his mother's words, remembering who would be coming to the festival today. He wobbled his way to the edge of his bed, his mother watching him closely. He reached the edge of his bed and lowered his front legs. He stuck his tongue out and took a look of determination. His mother lowered herself to the ground and lay on the warm cobblestone the floor was made out of.
Fog swished his tail and leaped down to the ground. His mother sighed in relief as her colt jumped down from the bed successfully, all was it a bit wonky, he did it. "Oof," Fog let out as he was splayed out on the ground from the jump. He shook his head from side to side and looked up to his mother as he scrambled back up to his hooves, "Did you see from how high I jumped, Mommy?" The young colt was evidently proud of himself, and so was his mother.
"Well done sweetie. You jumped from very high! If Daddy saw it he would be very proud of you!" his mother said with a smile as she lowered her head to his eye level. The colt puffed out his chest and his face showed pure confidence. He was brought out of his stance by a gentle nudge to his side, "Let's go have breakfast and give you a nice warm bath, you need to be presentable for your favorite princess." His mother winked at him, making him smile broadly and squeal in happiness. He was going to meet Princess Luna today!
After a nice breakfast and a warm shower, Fog stood by the door of his home, the door that would lead him and his mother outside of their house. Fog trotted on the spot in excitement, eager to go out and enjoy the festival that was planned out. But more importantly, he was excited to meet the Princess of the Night. His mother always told him that the Princess protected every pony during the night and watched over his dreams, scaring the bad dreams away. When the little colt first heard of that their Princess raised the moon in the evening, and lowered it in the morning, he was struck with amazement and admiration for the Princess. Ever since then, he always wanted to meet her. And today, he had the very chance to do so.
"Hurry up Mommy!" the little colt whined impatiently. "I don't want to miss the Princess!" Not getting an answer right away, he trotted deeper into the house and towards his parents' bedroom. Bolting toward his parents' room, he made a sharp right turn into the open doorway. As soon as he rounded the corner, he hit something soft which stopped him dead in his tracks, making him fall back onto his haunches and shake his head. His right ear flicked as he lifted up a hoof and felt his nose that had bumped against the sudden wall of softness. "Ouwi..." With one hoof on his nose, he looked up to what he had bumped into.
"Sweetie, I know you're excited, but I told you many times not to run in the house." The wall of softness was covered in grey fur, the round form the wall had leading up to the big pony he was looking for. His mother looked down on him slight disapprovingly, but she was worried as well. Lowering her head to his eye level, she nuzzled his cheek gently and looked him over, "Are you hurt? You ran in fast." The little batpony brought his hoof back on the ground and crossed his eyes to look at his nose as he moved it a bit while sniffing through it. The colt smiled and looked to his mother, shaking his head to confirm he was okay.
His mother kissed him gently on the forehead, the colt's tail wagging happily. His mommy raised her head back up with her smile once more apparent on her muzzle. The younger batpony's eyes were caught by a small white shimmer that hung in front of his mother's neck. Fog stood up on all four of his hooves and looked with curiosity to the gentle blinking light, his muzzle open in astonishment as he saw a familiar looking crystal hanging on a thin silver chain around his mother's neck. "Mommy, why are you wearing that, and why does it blink?" the small pony asked his mother as he kept his eyes on the soft illuminated crystal.
His mother patted the white crystal gently, "Everybat wears their crystal during this day of the year sweetie, you should too." Fog tilted his head a bit to the side, his right ear doing a small flick. "It is the crystal you got for your last birthday." The colt beamed as he remembered his last birthday a few weeks prior. He had gotten his crystal from his aunt; Jade. She told him the crystal was very special and should be worn on special days.
"The crystal aunty Jade gave me!" the colt said with a happy skip, his wings flaring out. His mother nodded with a confirming 'hum'. She fanned out her much larger dark wings and craned her neck back so she could rummage through her saddlebags she was carrying. She emerged shortly after with the exact necklace as the young batpony had laying in his room before. She slowly folded her wings to her sides, the colt following her wings' movement with his eyes, in the hopes of finding the secret of how she did that without her wings falling down.
He blinked however, when his mommy's muzzle was above his mane and she put the silver necklace gently around his neck. "There you go. All handsome and dressed. Are you ready to meet the Princess?" The colt let out a loud 'Eeee' with his wings flapping that made his mother chuckle. "Alright then, off we go!"
Fog walked between his mother's legs, right underneath her. He was happy to be outside and eager to meet Princess Luna, but above all, he was shy. His mother, knowing her foal was very shy out in public, walked at a steady and gentle pace, as not to tire her foal out too much. She made her way to where was announced the lunar Princess would be landing and spent her short time she could spare with her batponies.
The young batpony underneath her looked around the street he and his mother had walked more times together than he could count. The street itself was made of smooth rectangle cobblestone slabs that spanned throughout the city. The clip-clop of hooves could be heard all around him and his mother as the street filled with more and more batpony families, all on the same path as they were to meet the Princess of the Night.
Fog shrunk a bit underneath his mother and slowed his pace at the sight of that many bat ponies around them, his ears drooping down the side of his head. His mother kept her pace but felt something bump in to her hind legs. Knowing what it could be, she halted briefly and glanced under her to see if it was indeed her foal that she bumped against. She smiled apologetically towards her foal, "What's wrong sweetie?"
The small batpony looked at his mother as he sat down on his haunches and curled his tail around his flank, "Th... there are so many ponies, Mommy." He gazed around the street as he kept sitting still, his side pressed against his mother's right hind leg. His mother could feel him shaking slightly against her, telling her he was too shy to move. Wanting to coax him into moving on his own, she stepped away from him, making her foal look up in surprise as his mother walked slowly away from him, "M-Mommy?"
His mother looked back as her foal appeared behind her, not wanting to give him the wrong impression, she smiled encouragingly at him and motioned with her head to come along, "Are you coming Fog? You won't meet Princess Luna if you stay here." The young colt, seeing his mother walk away from him and saying those words to him, instantly got to his hooves and pranced after his mother with spread wings. He let out a loud 'Eeee' as he trotted back underneath his mother, his wings folding to his sides again on their own. His mother saw this and smiled as she felt him underneath her keeping pace. "Don't worry dear, we are almost at the Spire."
Fog watched around him in awe as he and his mother walked into a large opening. His mother halted her steps, letting her foal emerge from underneath her and let his eyes wander. For the first time in his life, the young colt entered the grounds of the Spire.
The Spire was an important and sacred structure to all batponies. It was the middle of their city. It was the very thing that kept their city intact, and some of their greatest inventions snd creations were made underneath its gaze. And deep within the spire, was a throne room. A singular seat meant for the ruler of their race. A seat that has been empty for as long as it had been build. No pony had ever sat on it, except for one.
The young colt watched in amazement at the Spire, the bottom of the large support column reaching all the way up to the cavern ceiling under which the city was built. The large column spanned hundreds of meters in diameter, the city build completely around it in every direction. "Wow... It is so big..." the colt said with wide eyes.
His mother came standing next to him and nuzzled his mane, "It is indeed impressive, isn't it. The Princess will also arrive any minute now." the colt nodded without averting his gaze. His attention was caught, however, when batponies all around him started to point towards a chariot that started circling the Spire in a downwards spiral. From where Fog stood, he saw that the chariot was made of dark wood with silver metal adoring the front and sides and was pulled by flying ponies draped in dark purple armor.
The chariot flew down the Spire with grace. Fog jumped as suddenly armored batponies walked past him and made their way gently and quick through the crowd of his fellow batponies. They started to clear some of the ponies to the sides, leaving a stroke of ground clear. Not soon after, the chariot that was descending landed on the very stroke the guards had cleared only moments before. The chariot calmly halted, the ponies pulling it standing still as statues when the chariot finally stopped.
Fog stood again under his mother, both standing next to a guard. The young colt caught a scent with his nose, a scent he was all too familiar with. But where was it coming from? Fog sniffed the air, his nose turning to the guard where they stood next to. He timidly walked closer to the guard and away from his mother, who watched silently over him with a knowing look. The young pony walked into the open part the guards had made and followed his nose. He sniffed again and turned around to the guard pony he stood now in front of. Fog walked closer and sniffed the coat of the guard, who didn't notice him yet, his eyes fixed on the chariot like almost every other batpony.
The young batpony stood now directly underneath the guard, sniffing the grey fur of the much larger pony that was emitting the familiar scent. Fog looked up with a wide smile and his fangs showing, his wings fanned out and his tail swishing in happiness, "Daddy!"
The guard looked down with his blue slit eyes and a raised eyebrow but smiled as he saw the little foal in front of him. His eyes darted around for a bit before he lowered his head, "There's my little colt." He raised his head for a bit and removed his purple helmet with his right hoof. Putting his helmet down next to him, he began to nuzzle the little colt lovingly, "I hoped to see you and your mother today." Fog stood a bit up on his hind legs, eager to nuzzle his father he hadn't seen in the last three days.
"'Tis heartwarming to behold the love 'tween my little ponies ist still strong as ever." Fog's father stopped nuzzling his foal and slowly raised his head up. Fog himself tried to follow his father up but fell down onto his hooves. He turned around slowly to see the owner of the gentle voice. His cheeks became red as a blush crept over it at the sight that greeted him. He craned his neck upwards to see a very tall pony with a dark blue coat, the pony wore an obsidian chest plate with the image of a crescent moon and an obsidian crown. Her mane was waving gently in a wind that he couldn't feel nor see, just as her tail did. Both her mane and tail were a soothing blue with countless star-like twinkles in them. Fog's own eyes were drowning into the teal orbs the tall pony had as eyes. "Greetings, young one."
"Uhm... I..." Fog couldn't find words as he timidly walked backwards, his gaze never leaving the caring eyes that glanced back at him. His flank bumped into something. Looking behind him, he saw he had bumped in to his father's left front leg. He glanced to his dad, who had his head down to the ground and his body low. Looking around, he saw all batponies and guards doing the same. He froze as he didn't know what to do, until he felt something soft cover his head and gently pushed him down to the ground.
"Thou may all rise, my little ponies." The wing above Fog was removed and he could look up again, just in time to see the Princess motioning with her hoof, which adorned a silver hoofshoe, to all ponies around them. All ponies began to rise onto their hooves, including Fog, who simply followed what the others did. "Prithee tell, ist this thine father, young one?" Fog trembled slightly under her gaze. He was afraid of saying anything since he didn't understand some of what she said.
"He is my son, Princess. He's a little shy but a good colt." He heard his father say. Fog looked up in time to see his father lower his head and nuzzle his mane, reassuring him. The Princess looked fondly at the display. "My apologies, Princess." Fog's father said as he briefly stopped his nuzzling but kept his head protectively over his foal. "I did not mean disrespect by taking off my helmet." The Princess' smile only widened.
"There ist no need for apologies." The Princess turned around and took a deep breath, "My dear subjects of Noctrasil, We hereby decree that, no matter what thee do, thou wilst put away thine work and rejoice thyself this night!" Fog's ears perked up and all ponies around them cheered loudly. The guards, including his dad, had their armor vanish into a cloud of smoke. Fog looked back to his dad, the armor he wore before now gone. His father's ivory white tail hanging loosely and his mane was standing upright.
"Now, little one. I believe thine name wast 'Fog', was it not?" The Princess asked the little colt gently. The colt nodded slowly. "It is a pleasure to meet thee. My name is Luna Celene. But thou may call us Luna or Princess Luna if thy wish." The colt again nodded slowly, completely stunned that the Princess of the Night was talking to him. "I believe thou also had a question for us, was it not?" He kept nodding. Unable to do anything else.
His father looked down at him and chuckled lightly. He moved his hoof behind his foal and nudged him forward. The colt hobbled forward thanks to unsuspected nudge and stood now directly under the Princess who was waiting patiently. The colt pawed the ground and looked up shyly at her. The Princess lowered herself onto the ground to meet the colt at his eye level, "Go ahead, we won't bite, we promise."
Fog gazed into her eyes and scraped his courage together, "Uhm... P-princess, what does it m-mean... to be a Batpony?" The Princess raised her eyebrows in question, she didn't expect a colt to ask something like that. But her confusion quickly faded and was replaced with a gentle smile.
"That... is an answer we cannot give thee." She slowly moved her right hoof to his chest and lay it on his fur, "What does it mean to be a batpony? That lays within a pony's heart. Thou will know when thee art older what it means." The Princess nuzzled Fog briefly, earning him a big blush on his cheeks. "Now go on, enjoy the festivities, We'll raise the moon soon." The colt nodded happily and went to stand on his hind legs, throwing his short front legs around the muzzle of the Princess, hugging her, something she did not expect, but accepted gladly.
"You're the best Princess, Princess Luna." The colt released the lunar Princess and trotted excitedly to his father behind him. He saw his mother standing next his dad, both waiting on their foal to rejoin them and celebrate the longest night of the year.
