Just a Dream, Right?

I wake up and stretch my wings. After that, I roll to the side of my bed and check the time. Six. Good, still plenty of time to get ready for school.

I trot out to the living room, where mom is making breakfast for the two of us. The window behind her shows the setting sun, and I instinctively cover my eyes. The sun is at its worst right now. Pretty soon, it will set, and the night will be much better on my eyes.

My name is Night Slash. I am a 15 year old thestral mare with a lighter purple mane and a pitch black mane. Hence my name upon birth. My cutie mark is a sword as black as night, in front of a shield that is a deep blue. I got it when I subdued a robber that broke into our house. Unfortunately, it ended up with me going to court and the like, but he broke in. I have my rights.

So mayyybe I took it too far in subduing him. Perhaps I didn’t need to break his forehoof. Oh well.

I am a bit on the smaller side for a mare, about an inch shorter than most of my friends. However, I am an up and coming striker on the soccer team, simply because I am so fast.

Of course, I can only go out at night, unless I want to get some sort of surgery. I don’t want the surgery though. At least not yet.

My mom, Stormy Skies, is a Pegasus with a stormy-gray coat and a blue mane. Her parents were thinking she would be a weather pony, just like them, but she instead found her calling as a guard. Now, she is a member of the Royal Guard right here in Canterlot. She guards Princess Luna (of course, guarding a super-powerful alicorn probably isn’t necessary, but I don’t question those things), and as such she needs to be awake at night.

You might be wondering how a Pegasus has a thestral for a kid. Well, she’s been guarding Princess Luna so long, her night tendencies resulted in me being a pony best suited for the night. My father didn’t stick around after meeting my mother. Apparently, he couldn’t accept mom dying protecting the princess. What a wimp.

I’m glad to go to school. Night school works a bit differently than day school. Since there aren’t that many ponies that are awake during the night (It amounts to whoever guards at night and whoever has the night shift at the grocery stores), there aren’t that many foals, either. So they stick whoever they have in one classroom instead of deciding by grade level. They do separate elementary, middle, and high school, but other than that, it’s one teacher teaching whoever there is that is awake at night. My teacher Ms. Cheery Soul. Who is also a psychiatrist. I have no idea why a teacher can also be a psychiatrist, but it happens. When the amount of ponies is greatly reduced, some jobs apparently have to be done by the same ponies. At least, I learned that in social studies.

I am one of six high schoolers. Fortunately, the other five are actually quite good friends of mine. Makes sense, since we all have parents who work at night. I’ve known those five since I was a filly, and they add life to what would otherwise be a boring night of school.

After eating my breakfast, I grab my stuff, hug my mom (more like she hugs me, and I deal with it), and trot over towards school.

I would fly, but then I wouldn’t get to hang out with my friends before school. Since most of them can’t fly.

First one I meet up with is Sweet Shot, an orange coated Pegasus with a red mane and blue eyes. Her cutie mark is a basketball, which makes sense since she is the best basketball player I’ve ever seen. She plans on going to more of a daytime schedule once she graduates, so she can play basketball. To describe her in one word, I would use ‘tactless’. She is even blunter than I am (and I will tell you straight up when you are wrong in front of other ponies), and doesn’t care at all who she offends. She’ll often set us straight if one of the rest of us make a mistake.

I wave my wing in greeting. She waves back, and joins in trotting beside me. “So, how was your weekend in Manehatten?” I ask.

“It went well. I think I got on a few pony’s radar. I think I heard somepony talking about me moving straight into the league. I don’t plan on that, but it’s nice to hear. I think Fillydelphia will be looking to sign me as soon as I graduate high school. Other than that, I prefer Canterlot. The big city wasn’t my taste. Not enough room.” She replies.

“Well, that sounds good. Just make sure to remember us when you go into the league and average a triple-double in your rookie season.” I joke.

“I will.”

…

“You do realize I was joking, right?”

“I was being completely serious.”

I slap a hoof to my forehead. “Of course you were.”

Another couple of steps and we are in front of Star Shine’s home. The dark blue unicorn with the teal mane was just getting out of her house. Her emerald-green eyes shone as always, and her mane was as curly as it had always been. She had always tried to have a straight mane like mine (I couldn’t curl mine if my life depended on it), but it always curled up. Eventually, she just left it alone and let it do its own thing. Which is probably for the best.

She’s also my marefriend.

What, were you surprised? We both are planning on being guards, and she was always trying to impress me, even when we were fillies. I secretly think the whole reason she was trying to straighten her mane was so she could keep talking to me and ask how I did it. Where it got really exciting what during our last sleepover. Apparently, Apple Sauce (another of our friends, a light orange earth pony with a slightly darker orange mane and gray eyes) had mixed up her family’s alcoholic and non-alcoholic cider, and so we six underage ponies all got buzzed. At some point during the night, before it all turned into a haze, I remember Star confessing her love for me. Apparently, everypony remembered it, and had teased her relentlessly for it. I didn’t, partly because my brain had locked up. Mostly because I was nearly grounded by my mother for life after having come home with Star and stumbling into bed.

The next morning had been terrible, and not just because of the hangover. Mom kept yelling at me (which didn’t help), and Star’s mom was just as peeved. In fact, that is the reason we haven’t had a sleepover in six months. We’re still grounded from being together without adult supervision after 6. And Sauce’s parents have now taken to clearly labeling their cider.

It’s been six months, and we haven’t broken up. Of course, we’ve known each other ever since we were five. We know pretty much everything about each other.

“Almost missed you! Good evening, girls!” She says cheerily. To describe her in one word would be ‘optimistic’. It is incredibly hard to make her upset, and she is always making jokes. Not as much as Daffodil (the fifth member of the group, a green Pegasus with a white mane and dark blue eyes, who is a gardener), who is probably going to be a comedian and a gardener, but she will keep things light.

She’s also the brains of the six of us. Seriously, she hasn’t scored less than a 92 on any quiz or test for as long as I’ve known her.

Daffodil and Sauce both turn the corner just ahead, and we gallop to catch up. Sauce is wearing her usual sunglasses, and Daffodil is trying to steal them, to no avail.

Sauce has a problem with her eyes. She is incredibly sensitive to light, even more than me, and she needs to wear sunglasses all the time, or she couldn’t see at all. Something to do with her irises being gray. In one word, I would describe her as ‘sturdy’, and not just because she’s the strongest of us. She is always there as a shoulder to cry on, or a cheerleader. She’s the foundation of the group.

Daffy (that’s a lot easier to say than Daffodil) is the comedian. She will crack a joke whenever there is an opportunity. She’s also a pretty good gardener despite being a Pegasus (earth pony magic makes growing stuff easier, or so I’m told), and is almost always smiling. ‘Overly happy’ would describe her best.

We all walk the rest of the way to the school. I wind up separating Sauce and Daffy, before Sauce breaks her ribs again. Standing at the door is Mrs. Soul and Summer Evening, the sixth of our little bunch. He’s a chocolate-brown unicorn stallion with an orange mane (a little darker than Sauce’s) and cyan eyes. In one word, I would say he is ‘well-rounded’. He doesn’t really have any one thing I can point to and say “Yup, that’s his M O.”, but at the same time, I can’t find any huge character faults. He’s a little socially awkward, but he’s always hanging out with five smoking hot mares, so it can be forgiven.

At least, I think we’re smoking hot. I’m pretty sure Star agrees.

School gets underway, and it isn’t anything unusual. It’s mostly just the daily grind. Learning stuff for when we graduate and maybe go to college. I plan on going to the Royal Guard Academy, in order to be a guard.

The best part about there being only six of us is Mrs. Soul doesn’t have any schedule to keep if we need more or less time. It’s incredibly flexible. We break for lunch at around midnight (so to some, it’s a midnight snack, but it’s lunch for us), and I open up my bag and…

The bag was torn apart so I could get to the mango. There was food everywhere. Star had to put up a shield in order to save herself. I didn’t care. I have an addiction to mangoes. I go nearly crazy, and some say my golden eyes gain a red tint. At least mangoes are somewhat healthy. It’s better than being addicted to chocolate.

After eating my mango (and the other stuff, after I peel it off the shield Star cast and Daffy’s coat), I return to the classroom to listen to Mrs. Soul talk about stuff that doesn’t really apply to me. Like math. Celestia, do I hate math.

Once school ends (at around 2 A. M.), all six of us go to the gym. Not having anywhere better to hang out, we all go to the gym. Sweet Shot works out for basketball, Star and I train for eventual guard duty, Summer works out just for the sake of it, Sauce works out enough running the farm, so she doesn’t, and Daffy doesn’t see a need to work out, but does it just to have something to do here.

I’m not a fitness junkie, but I’m in pretty good shape. I’m the smallest in the group, but I’m also the fastest. Less weight to move and all that. I’m not bulging with muscles, it’s more of a lean muscle.

After an hour of working out (or in Sauce’s case, spotting us in case we got stuck underneath something), we leave the gym and decide where to go for dinner.

All of our parents don’t get out from work until 7. I don’t feel like waiting seven hours between meals. Therefore, all six of us go out to eat each night.

Of course, most of the local restaurants are closed at night. Not that any of them are good. So we go to a couple of different chains. Mondays are Burger Princess. As a celebration for surviving the toughest day of the week. Seriously, Mondays suck!

After that, we all split up to do our own things. Daffy goes home and checks her garden, Sauce has to check the whole farm, Summer goes home to babysit his younger siblings (he’s the only one with siblings), and Sweet has basketball.

Star and I go to my place and spar. It may seem unfair, since she has magic and all, but it’s actually a lot closer than you might think. She still almost always wins, but I can land a few hits occasionally. It’s a lot better than most non-unicorns do against unicorns.

After getting all sweaty from that (armor is extremely insulating for heat, which helps in the winter, but in late spring…too hot), we both take a shower. In order to save water, we shower together.

Mom would absolutely have an aneurysm if she ever found out about this.

After a nice, lukewarm shower (and more than a few kisses), Star dries off and goes home. After helping me with math, of course (because math can go fuck itself). After that, I just make sure we have enough food in the house for mom when she gets home, do the rest of my homework, and look up at Luna’s glorious night.

Ponies a thousand years ago must have been total idiots. The night sky is beautiful, and the fact that they couldn’t appreciate it is a true tragedy. No wonder Luna went crazy.

After that, I check out the sports news on my ESPN magazine. ESPN standing for Equestria Sports Publicity Network.

Those damn New Trottingham Patriots won another championship in hoofball last year. How they do it each and every year is beyond me. Hockey still has the Canterlot Capitals leading the standings. LET’S GO HOME TEAM! Basketball has those Golden Coast Warriors who just can’t lose, it seems. I don’t follow Buckball at all (I went to a game once, but was bored out of my mind). Soccer, meanwhile, is the personal favorite of mine. And PRL (the Pegasus Racing League). I love the Seaddle Sounders for Soccer.

Mom walks in at around 7:15, and immediately goes for the fridge. She is in a bad mood. Apparently, something happened at the castle. Or her superiors were being weird again.

I don’t press. She doesn’t need to tell me. I don’t want to have to worry about her job.

The sun is just starting to peek over the horizon, and I walk into my bedroom. I may not be as bad as Sauce, but I still can’t stand sunlight. I climb into bed, and fall asleep at around 8.