Fallout Equestria: NightWings

A blood moon shines above an apocalyptic landscape. Ruined buildings, ponies lying on the ground, the red light bathe the scene in a bloody glow.

An eerie laughter echoes and sends shivers down my spine.

A pair of yellow eyes appeared, floating in the air, with nothing else. They look amused

“Mmmm, my, my, my, what do we have here? HmhahahHAHAAA”

*DRIIIIIIIIIING*

I shot up, heart racing, and looked around me. It was just a horrible nightmare. I was in the barracks, in my assigned bunk bed. As the bell ring started to fade, echoing in the corridor, the bunk bed began to move as Iron Mountain woke up.

A year had passed since I first saw him and even after all this time, sometimes I still felt intimidated by the sheer bulk of his presence. Slowly getting up, I waited for him to get out of the way before letting myself out of the bed.

“‘Morning Iron, well slept?”

“Aye can’t complain. Bit short though, with last night training and waking up that early”

A groan echoed from the other bunk bed of the room “Can’t believe we have to get up that early, I thought we were the Night Guard, not the Dawn Guard”

Lilac Spark was not a morning unicorn, to be sure. His light blue mane was so tangled that he looked like a mad scientist.

“Hi Spark, well slept?” He shot me a glance, frowning slightly.

“Of course not, Galzra, what do you think? We were up way after midnight, and the sun has barely dawned. “

The door to the adjacent room echoed with the distinctive clack of the lock, and Cerulean Aura entered, passing a hoof into her electric blue mane.

“Boys, are you awfully loud this morning or do I need more sleep? My head is killing me.” My heart missed a beat, subjugated by her beauty.

“Today’s the day, right? Graduation Day?” a voice echoed behind her.

“Indeed” rumbled the deep voice of Iron Mountain

“Sweeeeet, that’s gonna be so cool! We are finally going to be Night Guards, I mean REAL Night Guards! I bet we’ll look SO sharp in the uniform! I can’t waiiiiiiiit”

Sunny, full name Sunny Beryl, was clapping her front hooves like a filly, practically dancing on her hind legs, her fiery mane swept left and right while her smile went as big as it could.

As the other units awoke, I could hear the rumble of voices and hooves in the distance.

Stretching my wings and my legs, feeling the aches of the night training, I observed: “If we want something to eat, we better hurry”.

“Yeah, the mess will be packed this morning, there’ll be outsiders that came to help prepare the ceremony” grumbled Spark. “By Luna, I need my morning coffee” he sighed.

“True”, “Indeed”, “Yeah, coffee sounds great!” replied the others. I couldn’t help but shiver at the idea.

“I don’t know how you can drink this, this … BREW. It’s nasty, yeurg!”

I frowned, remembering full well the first and only time they managed to get me to taste it. Hot, and fiercely bitter, I couldn’t drink more than 2 sips before being disgusted.

Cerulean laughed “This “brew”, as you call it, is the better way to get a rush of energy that early. And we’ll need the energy, if the Lieutenant has tasks for us today”.

As we spoke, the thunder of hooves and the chatter of a lot of ponies had come right to our door.

Iron went to the door leading to the corridor and said “Same as each day? You lot behind me so that we can get to the mess faster?”

Having the biggest pony of the guard as a teammate is pretty useful to carve a quick path to the mess. Everypony tend to avoid a mountain moving their way.

Each of us made a quick nod, and prepared to run for the fresh breakfast waiting.

“Alright, ready? GO!”

Iron unlocked and opened the door in the same movement, and got out. In a flash, the door was locked back, and we rushed behind him.

The corridor was so packed that it looked like a buffalo stampede. The sounds was also pretty much what you’d imagine a stampede sounds like, hundreds of hooves hammering the antique wooden floor in a rush to get first pick at the mess.

Despite the appearances, if anyone fell, the stampede would stop before any harm would happen. We lot may be hungry in the morning, but we are still disciplined and quick to react.

As we ran, I felt the stiffness of the training of the past night disappear as I motioned my legs, relishing in the rush of adrenaline it procured. A small smile crept on my face.

“Well, seems like you lot are going to be the first again this morning! Mind to keep me a place at the table? Got an errand to make for the armory, before I can get breakfast” said a joking voice just above me.

Twisting my neck to be able to see the one talking to me, my smile grew larger. Golden mane and mint coat, coal specks still fuming on his wings, Golden Mint was part of our unit before he requested to be transferred to the armory.

“Sure thing Minty, but we won’t be able to reserve you any grub, you know the rules” I snickered.

“No problem, Galzra, just need a place to sit, and it’ll be better to do that with friends” he laughed, and easily flew over the stampede, turning right to go to the armory.

The doors of the mess were visible in the distance. As we approached, our gallop turned to a slower pace, finally stopping right at the door. As effortlessly as if moving mere curtains of the lightest cloth, Iron got the door opened.

The mess was mostly the same as it was a year ago, almost. Same cobblestone on the floor, same walls with disparate stones. Even the Princesses dais was still there, lining the southern wall

Still, there were some new additions since then.

On the western and eastern walls were banners. Each of them more than a thousand years old, they were recovered by us, each unit tasked with finding a banner in the old Royal castle of the Everfree Forest to claim as our own and, if necessary, to repair and restore to its former glory.

20 or so banners adorned these 2 walls. Before each of them, there was a big table. Each unit had picked the customs to eat at the table directly in front of its banner, even if it was not really enforced by anypony.

I quickly followed Iron before I lost my place in the queue for breakfast. Lining the northern wall was the buffet.

I couldn’t smell the dishes (never could smell anything, really), but the simple sight of them made me lick my lips.

I grabbed a tray, a plate and a glass. The chef was a short and quite overweight pony, always smiling and eager to chat a bit with each of his “customers”.

“Ahaha, I see you lot are still the first in line, I’m sure it doesn’t have anything to do with the big mountain here”. He let a hearty laugh resonate in the mess hall. “So, what can I interest you in this morning? I got some eggs ready to be fried, or made into omelette, apple fritters…” he continued to list all he had, but I already found what I wanted and ceased to listen. The pastries with chocolate inside, I never could remember the name, but I could eat a whole platter of them if you let me. I heard the chef laugh saying “well it seems I don’t have to propose anything to you, kiddo, you already found your meal! Take those, I have others baking right now”. He shoved the platter on my tray with an smile and turned to face the ponies entering the mess.

As I walked toward our table, I grabbed a pitcher of applejuice and one of orange juice, cerulean and spark already took a pitcher of coffee each. The mess hall was now filling with all the recruits.

Taking place at our table, I saw Iron carefully coming back from the buffet with two trays of food, filled with plates of sunny side up eggs and small breads.

“Big appetite this morning Iron?” joked Sunny.

“Always, especially after a night training”.

I cleared my throat while I arrived, and boasted “and I got chocolate pastries, apple juice and orange juice for everypony!”

Spark smiled, finally seeming less grumpy. I could see he already drank his morning coffee.

“Hello there, friends. A small place at your humble table for a hungry pegasus?”

Minty smirked as he arrived. Iron, already eating half of a plate of eggs, gestured a good morning.

I squeezed a bit to let him a place at the table, putting down a tray with a single plate of omelette and some muffins.

“I grabbed those for everypony, I figured I might as well share the goodness” Minty said, as he winked maliciously.

Iron gulped the rest of his eggs, took a big sip of his coffee and said: “Less talk, more eating”.

*******

“Well, see you guys later at the graduation! I still got things to do at the forge to have everything ready for it!”

Minty waved and took off as soon as he finished his breakfast.

The thunder of conversations had died down in the mess hall, as half the units had already finished eating. Spark was still finishing up his breakfast, so we decided to wait for him and chat a bit, to appreciate the calm before the storm of the day.

I was not really paying attention to the conversation that went down, deep in my thoughts while admiring the banner of my unit.

Depicting a moon as red as fresh blood, above a pair of batpony wings, the banner was in a very bad shape when we found it. We never could figure out what was written on the bottom, the fabric was torn and tattered when we found it. So we fixed it without adding a motto.

The red moon was eerily similar to the ones I was seeing in my nightmares lately…

“Hey Galzra? Equestria to Galzra, do you copy?”

I snapped out of my reverie “What? Sorry I got distracted”.

Spark rolled his eyes “Come on, mate, we were talking about our plans for the week of leave we are gonna have after graduation”.

“Well, I’ll stay here, and go see my foster mother. It’s been a while since I last saw her”

Every pony at the table gawked and froze.

“You never told us about her, tell us everything!” asked Sunny, trying her best to keep a serious face (but failing).

“Aye, you told us you were from Canterlot, but we never got anything more outta you” nodded Iron in agreement.

I sighed, I put myself into that spot, and nopony would take me out of it. I took a deep breath, preparing to let it all out and…

“Come on guys, let him be. He’ll tell us when he’s ready; it may be painful and sensitive for him”. Spark scowled.

Well, it seemed I was saved by the bell. A bit surprising that it came from Spark, Iron Mountain was more of the silent type than him.

“No worries, you’ll tell us when you feel like it” Spark added for me, giving me a half-smile.

Nodding in thanks to him, I quickly finished eating while the others discussed their plans.

Sunny and Cerulean were going back to Cloudsdale, to visit their families. Iron planned to travel to Dodge City, a small city on the edge of the badlands and the Haysead Swamps, to check on some friends he made there prior to enlisting.

Spark sighed quietly. “As for me, I’ll stay there next week. My family made it very clear that I was not to go back home anytime soon”. He clenched his teeth.

A short cough interrupted our conversation. Spark, Cerulean and Sunny froze, while looking at the newcomer. I slowly turned around, knowing full well who had interrupted us.

Khaki coat, blonde mane cut short, scars all over… Yep, the Lieutenant was here. He didn’t look angry, at least.

“Cadets, may I remind you that today is graduation day? There are still plenty of things to prepare for this evening, so please, try to hurry up and get moving. And no excuses, I know that you were first here, as always.” His stern expression melted to a friendlier one, but a year of double training shifts taught us that, when Lieutenant Bright Bolt asked, you’d do well to get cracking.

“Aye Sir, we’ll get right on it ASAP” Iron responded, with a brief salute.

The Lieutenant nodded in agreement “That’s what I like to hear.” On these words, he trotted off of the mess hall.

“Well, you heard the Lieutenant everypony, time to get moving” said Iron while getting up.

Spark chomped the rest of his muffin in one go, still chewing as we cleaned the table and put our trays in the designated area.

Stepping outside was like looking at a destroyed anthill. Around a hundred pony all around the barracks training yard, cleaning, sweeping, putting away the equipment, and preparing the place for the graduation ceremony.

We spent the better part of the day on this task, making the yard presentable for the many distinguished guests Our Royal Princess of the Night invited. Rumors told that the elite of the Canterlot high society was attending, maybe even the Elements of Harmony!

As if returning Princess Luna to her former self was not enough, these 6 ponies outdid themselves a few months ago. As Discord, the spirit of Chaos, managed to escape and spread disharmony and despair, those same ponies put a stop to his nefarious plans and turned him back into stone. Since then, no one knew where his statue, which was once displayed in the Canterlot Royal Gardens, could be. Only the Royal Highnesses knew where the stone-clad draconequus was, and it was a well-kept secret.

As the sun started to set, the final preparations were completed.

Taking flight a brief moment before heading back in, I looked at the now unrecognizable training yard.

Rows of neatly arranged chairs dotted the cobblestones of half the training grounds, red carpets neatly dividing them and setting up paths from the entrance of the barracks to the stage.

A great stage was placed in the other half of the yard. Special construction workers came in, setting up the elaborate pieces that formed it into a coherent and impressive dais, complete with thick curtains hiding anything behind them. Strangely, the armory was behind it, as if to hide something.

Snapping back to reality at the view of the shadows lengthening on the grounds, I quickly landed and went back to our quarters. Looking at the sky, we had maybe an hour at most before the ceremony began.

Hurrying back inside, I found the rest of the unit already there. I could hear the mares rummaging in their rooms.

Iron was going out of the shower, nodding in my direction to indicate the bathroom was free. A quick shower later, I swiftly dressed up in the uniforms we were given earlier this week. Dark blue shirt, though not as dark as Iron's coat, with silver strings woven onto the fabric to form lines near the shoulders and the waist.

A black beret, with silver string along the edges, completed the ensemble. On it was a badge with the red moon and leathery pair of wings of our unit banner.

As I put the beret on my head, Cerulean and Sunny came out of their rooms, sporting the same uniform as us.

As we prepared to get out, somepony knocked on the door.

As the Lieutenant entered the room, we instinctively put ourselves at the ready, as if he was there to inspect the room.

Although there were similarities between his uniform and ours, there were significant differences.

For starters, he had a jacket, sporting a number of medals and decorations from his days in the Royal Guard. On the shoulders, several ribbons clearly showed his rank of Lieutenant of the Guard.

The silver strings on his jacket were much more intricate, though I couldn’t see the whole pattern. He didn’t have a beret, instead wearing a kepi. Same as our beret, the kepi had silver strings woven into it, forming a small band along the rim of the hat and visor and a badge with our banner was on the front of the hat.

His scarred face shifted as he grinned “At ease, cadets! Since we got a bit of time before the beginning of the ceremony, I wanted to speak with you in private”.

While we relaxed a bit, Bright Bolt continued “For the past year, you trained hard, dare I say harder than most. Each of you proved time and time again his dedication and commitment, though we lost a member of this unit, it was not because he wasn’t qualified. Golden Mint simply realized being a guard was not his calling, nothing wrong in that. As for you five, you endured everything, grew as ponies and as a unit! “

Starting to pace, the Lieutenant added “As a unit, you helped each other get through the most grueling training. None of you left a member of his unit behind, no matter the goal. Cadets, I’ll just say this: It was an honor and my privilege to teach you and see you overcome every odds to become what you are today! Be proud of what you accomplished!”

Stopping abruptly in front of me, he stared directly at me and kept quiet for a few seconds.

“Be proud, unit! But never let pride cloud your judgment, and never forget what you learned. It may save your lives one day.”

On these words, the Lieutenant brought his right hoof to his temple, looking at each and every one of us.

As if we were one, we each made the same movement, bringing our right hoof to our temple to salute him.

Nodding in approval, he began to walk out “Come now, cadets, it’s time.”

We followed the lieutenant out after locking the door, slowly making our way towards the training grounds.

As we walked, a feeling of solemnity came over me. I thought of everything that happened in the last year, going through the hardships of training and getting to know my teammates, as if I was reviving everything in that moment, that seemed to stretch into the infinite.

Snapping back to reality, I saw that the other units were being led in the same fashion by their commanding officer, everypony quiet and stern.

I also noticed that each of us matched the same pace, our hoof connecting with the ground at the exact same time. Nopony trained to march, yet we all acted like a single mind as we went out into the training grounds.

The moon was full, shining so bright that I had to squint for a moment before my eyes could adjust to it. My heart stopped when I saw how packed the grounds were.

Every single chair was occupied! I could see some ponies ushering words, but the sounds of our hoofsteps drowned everything. Around the perimeter of the grounds, guards from the Royal Guard (no, the Sun Guard now) were lining the 3 open walls, each of them sporting a stern look and their golden armor.

Slowly, our officers led us to the dais, to a ramp coming up from the side. Slowly, each unit took its positions with its commanding officer in front of it.

Our unit was the eleventh. Iron Mountain took position behind the Lieutenant, Spark and Cerulean on the left of Iron, Sunny and me on the right.

Standing at the ready, I could see that a small platform had been propped up against the opposing wall, where six ponies and a small dragon were seated. I could not see their colors clearly, as the silver hue of the moonlight dimmed them, but I did not need to. It was the Elements of Harmony themselves!

The echoes of hoofsteps died down as the last unit took its position on the dais. As we were waiting, I could feel the pressure and anxiety build up. The whole courtyard was looking directly at us, murmuring. I was so anxious that I would swear I saw a pair of golden eyes observing us from the roof of the barracks.

Suddenly, wings flaps echoed, and Princess Luna landed before the dais and proceeded to walk ceremoniously to it. Her appearance changed a lot since the selections: she almost doubled in height, her mane was now ethereal, flowing like a water current gleaming with stars and her coat went from indigo to a dark blue. As the Princess of the Night captured the sight of every pony present, her royal sister calmly and silently went to the platform were the Elements were seated.

Maintaining her Royal allure, Princess Luna went to the small stand at the edge of the dais and started speaking.

“Fillies and gentle colts, I thank thee for your presence at this singular event, the first Night Guard graduation in more than a millennia. This new generation of the Night Guard will be the first of many, and as such their task will be complicated. They must pave the way for the future and honor the past of the Guard. They must honor the deeds of their illustrious predecessors, which prevented our world from being strangled by an eternal night. Yet they must not fall in the trap of trying to conform to the past, as the future is yet to be written and as such they will need to adapt to it.”

As she spoke, Her Royal Highness of the Night gestured towards us.

“These fine ponies were selected on their physical abilities but also, this is as important, on the nobility of their heart. For strength and agility are nothing if the heart is lacking. As it is the heart of a pony that allows him or her to become its best self, to serve and protect ponykind requires a good heart.”

She proceeded to smile, a smile as bright as the moon above us.

“The ponies you see before you faced their training and emerged victorious. This is their victory, their triumph, their accomplishment. They now are truly the guardians of the Night. Sun Guard and Night Guard are now two sides of the same coin, protectors of the realm and ponykind.”

Deploying her entire wingspan, Princess Luna slowly reared up.

“So I ask you to celebrate their victory, their triumph with Us and welcome them as Night Guards”.

As she finished speaking, the Princess of the Night folded her wings, and resumed a more natural position.

A small stomping sound began. From my position, I could see that it came from a Sun Guard that slowly and repeatedly stomped his right hoof, with a solemn look on his face.

The guard next to him started to repeat the motion, with the other guards following down the line, the sound growing in intensity with each new guard.

Finally, after a moment, all Sun Guards were stomping their right hoof in a rhythm. Nopony ever explained this to me, but no explanation was needed as the meaning was quite clear:

The Sun Guards were welcoming us as fellow guards.

As pure joy invaded me at the sight of this act of pure fellowship, I still couldn’t shake the feeling I was hearing a lone hoof stomping out of sync with the rhythm.

Without moving a muscle, I scanned the roofs of the barracks. Then, I saw them again. Two golden eyes with slit pupils, dimly glistening in the pale silver moonlight, were observing us, observing me. As I locked my sight onto those eyes, they quickly disappeared, and a small shadow flew away from the roof, a shadow with bat wings…

As the shadow got out of sight, I saw that the Sun Guard regained their usual composure and stopped stomping, but the audience had taken over, clapping their hooves and cheering us.

Still smiling, the Royal Princess of the Night lifted a hoof in the air, and the night fell silent once more.

“Commanding officers of the Night Guard, you can now attach to the uniforms of your units the ribbon signaling their new rank”

As the princess spoke, each commanding officer turned in the same movement, and began adjusting the new rank onto the shoulder of his pupils. The Lieutenant took the time to nod and salute each of us after adjusting the ranks ribbons on our shoulders, when came my turn he added a pat on the shoulder.

During this time, I could hear the armory doors open behind the curtains of the dais, hidden from the public, and strange sounds began to be heard under the dais soon after.

I felt a small knock on the wooden planks of the dais. At the same time, the horn of the Princess began to softly glow.

As her horn’s glow brightened, hidden trapdoors opened in front of each unit, and platforms emerged.

On each platform were sets of armors on stands, one set of armor per Night Guard.

While brand new, the armor's design looked ancient, more ancient than those of the Sun Guard. The most notable feature was a ridge on the helmet, going from the top to the back of the neck, jagged and looking like a dragon’s crest, with distinct spines.

The armors were tinted a grey-blue hue, the helmet crest being dark blue with lighter indigo spines. Silvery carvings were visible on the armor, decorating it. I remarked that each helmet held a number near the temple, the number of the unit. The armor in front of me had the number 11 on its helmet.

The princess’s horn stopped glowing while a clack resonated. The platform stopped moving, fully emerged. A collective gasp of awe overcame the audience. A louder gasp came from the Elements of Harmony side.

Princess Luna turned away from the public, and toward us. Smiling once again, she spoke:

“CONGRATULATION, RECRUITS! You are now officially members of the Night Guard!”

Ding! Level UP!
New perk: Night Pony!
You are now a soldier of the night! Gain +2 to Intelligence and Perception during the night.

New perk: Military Training!
Rigorous military training made you quicker and tougher. You can now wear heavier armor without suffering penalty to your carry weight or your mobility.