For Silent Night, a pegasus-zebra hybrid in his late twenties, this day had started like any other, wake up, shower, brush teeth, coffee, then off to work… but today would be far from ordinary.
He was constantly teased about his wings and the simple fact that he was a zebra, so it would be fair to say that he was rather frustrated every day after work.
Life in Manehattan was hell.
But things were about to get much… much more interesting for the young stallion.
Night had just left his place of work after a long and particularly frustrating day, making his conversation with passing ponies rather quickly as he headed home, fuming as he was, he hastened his travel and was soon flying home to avoid traffic altogether, arriving home in just minutes, hastily unlocking the door and slamming it behind him before going upstairs to change and just lay in his bed, but what he saw inside would bring that thought to a grinding halt.
“W-what the hell… how did you… what… who are you, why are you here, and how did you get into my apartment?!” the zebra nearly shouted at a draconequus that was cowering in a corner in fright, only serving to frighten the creature even further, causing it to curl into a trembling ball of fur.
The draconequus, sporting a lithe body, was almost perfectly replicating a gryphon, minus the wings, the coat was a light brown, while the feathers on its head were a dull white. “I-I-I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to, I just woke up here… I-I have no idea how I got here.” it said in a very feminine voice, shaken by her fright.
This left the stallion confounded and confused, but also guilty for scaring the poor girl out of her wits. “No, I… I’m sorry I yelled at you, I should have been more… cautious about addressing you, just a bad day at work.” he stroked her back with a comforting hoof, causing the girl to squeak, but she poked her head out and looked at him, her eyes damp and bloodshot from the tears she had been shedding. “It must be frightening, waking up in a place unfamiliar to you. Can you remember anything before waking up here?” he asked.
The draconequus shook her head. “N-no… I… I can’t.”
Night looked the draconequus over, noticing that for as long as he’d known draconequui to be around, she looked rather young. “You’re quite young, I could guess about fifteen hundred?”
The draconequus nodded. “Y-yes…”
The zebra gave a comforting smile as he held his hoof out to her, offering to help her to a sitting position on his bed. ”I’m Silent Night.” he finally introduced himself.
“R-Raya…” the draconequus replied, taking his hoof with her own clawed hand. “My name’s Raya.”
“Raya, an unusual, but interesting name.” Night said as he brought a hoof to his chin in thought. “Alright, since it seems you will need a place to stay, I have an extra room that I was forced to kick my ex out of that you can stay in, the only thing in there is the bed and basic necessities. If you find anything in there, just bring it to me and I will determine what to do with it... unless, of course, you want to keep it yourself .”
Night’s offer to let her stay with him caused her eyes to widen, here she was, in his home uninvited, and after having been mad at her, he was allowing her to stay, but there had to be a catch… didn’t there?
“What’s the catch?” Raya asked curiously.
Night spluttered and went a little red in the cheeks in embarrassment at his reaction. “C-catch… there is no catch, it’ll be hard enough on you with trying to recall your memories, so just let me worry about the bills and living expenses.”
While surprised, Raya felt relieved that he wouldn’t require anything of her except her cooperation. “So much generosity and kindness, but I wouldn’t want to feel like I am imposing upon you, at least let me work for it.”
Night was going to counter, but he considered that, despite his offer to let her stay free, she wanted to work for it. “Alright… I’ll see what I can do to help find some openings for entry-level jobs for you. Now, maybe we should get you familiar with the places we’ll be going to every now and again, how does that sound?”
“Well… I know I am safe with you so… I don’t see any harm in it.” Raya replied. ‘He was so angry at first… how could he be so forgiving of me being there uninvited? Why didn’t he throw me out?’ she thought to herself, before shrugging. ‘I’ll worry about that later.’
“C’mon, I know a place where they serve meat.” Night replied.
Raya’s stomach growled at the offer in response.
Raya was now smiling happily, having had her fill after a decent lunch, while Night had a slight smile on his own face, he couldn’t help but notice just how grateful she was and how he felt that there was a chance that this new friendship could likely become something more.
“You know Raya… I actually like seeing you happy, is there anything you are interested in that you’d like to do in your free time?” Night asked.
“Well… I prefer intellectual activities and strategy games, I also like reading and studying.” Raya replied, her tone as giddy and happy as could be with her new friend.
“I see, then we’ll need to make a few stops at a few places on the way back home.” Night replied. “There are a few bookstores and game stores here in town that we’ll be going to, don’t worry, I can afford it all, I just got my bonus yesterday.” he assured her.
As they walked along, Raya spotted a shop that had piqued her interest. “Hey, Night, what’s in there?”
As Night looked to see what she was asking about, he blushed deeply and began pushing her along. “T-t-t-that’s… a place for naughty ponies to go shopping for… things…”
Raya’s face went a little red, as she had an idea of what he meant by ‘naughty’. “S-sorry I asked… I didn’t mean to embarrass you, I just didn’t know such places existed.”
“I-it’s fine… just… don’t go there unless you find somepony you really… really like and they have interest in stuff there that you would be…” Night replied, his muzzle still stained with the red-hot flush of embarrassment.
It wasn’t much longer until they reached a rather large building with three different levels, heading inside, there were several different shops and stores inside, ponies bustling about. “Welcome to Manehattan’s most popular shopping mall.”
Five bags of books, board games, varying snacks and several hours later. Raya and Night came out of the mall and were heading back to the apartment.
“So… you never told me anything more than your interests.” Night spoke. “Have you ever had any… partners… before your arrival?”
“No, not really, I’ve never given much thought about that.” Raya replied, blushing a little as she knew what he meant. “But as for your first statement, it’s because you never asked for anything more than my interests. It is flattering, however, that you want to get to know me. You also never told me anything about yourself.”
Now, again, it was Night’s turn to blush. “Well… there’s really nothing special about me, I work nearly twelve hours a day, so… when I get home, I don’t really do much afterwards except sit back and relax until it’s time to cook dinner.” he replied, intentionally leaving out the part of him being constantly mocked for being a zebra-pegasus hybrid.
“I’ve seen zebras before, they’re exotic.” Raya replied. “But you’re not like other zebras, your wings, they add a unique flair to your look, something I find extremely rare, I’d guess the wings are from your mother?”
“Yes… you’re actually quite right about that.” Night replied. “I don’t really know much about my parents though, they kinda… were drug addicts so I got taken from them when I was about seven to eight months old and placed into a foster home.”
“Well… at least you didn’t get caught up in it yourself.” Raya replied, laying her unoccupied hand on his shoulder.
“Last I heard of my parents, my mother got locked up for petty theft and my father died of an overdose.” Night replied. “But I don’t feel bad, never really knew them, as I said before, and that was fifteen years ago.”
Raya looked at the stallion, a sense of understanding that she had never felt before coming over her. “I see.”
“C’mon, I’ll get dinner started once we get home. You just enjoy yourself today.” Night replied as he led the way, arriving a few hours later.
Once inside, Night set the bags he was carrying on the table and pulled out one book in particular regarding gryphon cuisine. ‘She does appear to be a gryphon hybrid… so it’s worth a shot.’ “Just go relax for right now, I’ll let you know when dinner is done.” he called to her as she was heading upstairs with the remaining bag of books.
“Okay.” she called back.
Raya climbed the stairs and went to the room Night had given her, flopping down on the bed with a book in her claws and flipping it open to the first page, proceeding to read quietly.
A few hours later, Night had just finished making dinner and was heading up the stairs to let Raya know, knocking on the door. “Raya, dinner’s ready.”
Raya piped up and closed her book, a marker left in place of where she left off. “I’ll be right down.” she said as she stored it on the shelf she found with the rest of her books before opening the door and leaving her room.
When she got downstairs, she saw that, despite there not being many options, there was more than enough for the two of them. “W-wow…”
Night came out of the kitchen, carrying a few different plates on his wings, setting them on the table before looking up at Raya. “Dinner is served.” he said as he waited for her to come and join him.
Raya had noticed a rather enticing steak on her plate, using the knife provided to cut into it before taking a bite.
Dinner had gone rather quietly, the leftovers stored in the refrigerator before they cleaned the dishes.
“Hey…” came Night’s voice.
“Hmmm?” Raya replied curiously.
“About earlier… I… I really am sorry. My co-workers tease and bully me all the time and it sets me in a foul mood.” Night spoke, hanging his head.
“It's okay, I know sometimes others can be really mean, so I don't blame you.” Raya replied, lifting the stallion’s chin and pulling him into a hug.
Night could only embrace the draconequus, a tear slipping down his face. 'To think I was so harsh on her today… and look at me now, she probably hates me on the inside.’
“Do… do you… h-hate me?”
Raya's eyes went wide. “Now what would drive you to ask such a question? No, I do not hate you, nor could I hate anypony, you made a mistake and that is all.”
Night tightened the embrace as he began to cry softly, but amidst the tears, Raya thought she heard him say “Thank you.”
They remained this way for a few minutes before Night pulled away, drying his eyes, a yawn escaping him as he did so. “It's getting late, we should see about getting some sleep.”
Raya only nodded her agreement, heading upstairs and into her room, flopping onto her bed and pulling the covers over herself, letting her eyes slide shut just moments later as she succumbed to the darkness of sleep.
Night lingered downstairs for a moment, having watched Raya retreat to her room. 'How could she be so forgiving? How could she not hate me for what I've done?’ he shook his head and began heading to his room, climbing into his bed and just laying there until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.