Fallout Equestria: NightWings

For the first time since training began, I woke up naturally, as the morning bell had been deactivated for the week, the barracks eerily silent.

Yawning, I shot a glance around the room. It felt almost too big now that almost everypony went out on vacation. The only ones left were Spark and me, as both of us didn't have much family outside of our unit.

Stretching my wings while getting out of bed, I heard the shower running. Even with the sound of water coming from the bathroom, the room felt too empty. With a smile creeping onto my face, I remembered how I grumbled against the room being too small and too cramped when I moved in a year ago.

Iron went back to Dodge City to visit some old friends he had been keeping in touch with by mail. Both Sunny and Cerulean went back to Cloudsdale to spend some quality time with their families.

As I was about to knock on the bathroom door, the water suddenly stopped. A few moments later, Spark emerged from the bathroom, still drying his sky blue mane.

"Good morning, Spark."

Spark nodded. "Hey, Galzra, slept well? I mean, why do I even ask? Your snoring this morning proved you slept pretty well."

He grinned at his comment. I didn't know if he was joking or serious about me snoring.

"Yep, It's nice to be able to sleep in for a change," I replied as I went into the shower myself.

Turning the water on, I gasped as cold water struck me instead of the warm shower expected.

"SPARK! Turn back on the hot water, fuck!" I heard him laugh out loud, apparently delighted by his little joke.

Warm water began to flow from the showerhead.

Finally relaxing a bit under the warmth, I grumbled to his attention: "Thank you, could you please not do that?"

"No fun in that". I could hear the smile in Spark's response and practically see the grin as wide as his face.

I finished showering quickly and went back to the room.

Looking up the time, there was still an hour left before noon. I had to hurry to visit Auntie Cookie before lunch.

I took the saddlebags kept in my locker, where I had put the bits saved off my wages during the last year. They were heavier than expected.

Spark took his attention away from the book he was reading at his desk when he heard me ruffling around, a puzzled look on his face.

"Wait, are you going out? You need to do some shopping or something?"

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm going to visit my foster mom at the orphanage. If you want, you could join me. Pretty sure Auntie wouldn't mind meeting you".

He wanted to come, his curiosity perking up at the mention of my foster mother. He was trying his best to hide it, though, but after a year living 24/7 with him, I knew him as much as if we grew up together.

He looked embarrassed. "I mean, I don't want to impose myself…"

I cut him short, "Don't be silly, Spark. I invited you to come along."

As he let a small smile appear on his face, he replied, "All right, all right, let me get my stuff, and we'll get going".

A few minutes later, we were out of the barracks into the sunny Canterlot morning.

Walking to the orphanage by foot would be slower than just flying to the Lower District, but having company was a nice change.

"So, when do you plan on asking Cerulean out?" asked Spark out of the blue as we walked.

My cheeks suddenly as hot as red irons, I tried to deny "W-What? NO! I-I mean, we are teammates, nothing more".

Spark cut me, laughing softly. "Come on, mate, it's obvious. How you look at her, the way you stop dead in your tracks in the morning when she gets out of her room, need I say more? It's not like you're particularly subtle about it."

"Really? I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable, or act like, like a CREEP." I was almost hyperventilating while thinking about how creepy it must have been for Cerulean.

Spark's attitude went from playful to worried, "Hey Galzra. Galzra! Calm down, mate. I didn't mean like you were creepy about it or something. It just looks like you've only discovered love with a big L."

"You, you mean it? Don't lie to me to make me feel better, I'd prefer to know if I was being a creep or something".

He sighed, a concerned look on his face. "Look, I'm not known for being the most tactful pony around; I tend to be pretty blunt when saying things. Stop worrying for Luna's sake. I swear you are as anxious as you were when we met last year. Sure, everypony in the unit knows that you have a crush on Cerulean, but trust me, it leans more towards the adorable than the creepy."

Calming myself, I took some big inspiration to flush the anxiety away.

"Sorry. To answer your question, I don't know. I mean, I want to ask Cerulean out, but, well, she's part of our unit, you know? I don't wanna make it weird between us, whatever happens."

Spark shook his head, laughing faintly. "You worry too much. Sometimes you just gotta jump before you learn how to fly. You see what I mean? Whatever will happen, will happen, you're both adults, I'm sure you'll both figure a way not to make it weird."

Maintaining a brisk pace while speaking, we reached the Lower district quicker than I expected. The neighbourhood was the same as always, you could see some poor homeless ponies beg on some street corners, yet I counted far fewer than last year. The return of Her Royal Highness of the Night created a lot of jobs in its wake, and I heard that she insisted on hiring mainly jobless and poor ponies.

As we walked past these homeless ponies, I took the time to give them some bits. I knew that some would spend them on alcohol instead of food, but these ponies needed some help and compassion either way. Most of them pocketed the bits without saying a word, nodding at me in gratitude.

"CANTERLOT NEWS! Get the freshest information in all Equestria right here! Only a bit for the newspaper."

Shaking his newspapers like a banner was an orange earth pony colt. Spotting Spark and myself, he quickly came to our side.

"G'day, good sirs, might I interest you in the latest news? Only a bit for the paper!"

His marketing speech well established, the hawker practically stopped us to show us the latest news.

My curiosity piqued, I took two bits out of my saddlebags, hoofing them to the colt while telling him to keep the change.

I pocketed the newspaper and stored it in my saddlebags. I would have plenty of time to read it in the evening. The colt had disappeared almost instantly after I handed him the bits, likely to find more papers to sell.

Resuming walking, a few more minutes passed before spotting the outline of the roof of the Crescent Moon Orphanage.

As we approached, my heart sank when I saw how damaged the roof was. Many holes dented the tiles; an entire corner of the roof was completely rotten, showing a part of the attic.

Auntie Cookie failed to mention the full extent of the damages in the last letters she sent me. I only hoped what I could contribute was enough to pay for repairs. I felt a hoof on my shoulder and snapped out of my thoughts. Spark looked concerned.

"Is everything alright? You went pale suddenly; I thought you were going to pass out."

Letting out a sigh, I reassured him.

"No, everything's fine, it's just, the orphanage roof is so badly damaged, and I just hope it can be repaired. Funds are scarce enough as it is".

Spark gave me a half-smile and a pat on the shoulder before speaking.

"I'm sure it will be fine; maybe it won't be as bad up close? If necessary, I could always lend a hoof to do some repairs, although I'm no repair pony myself."

I nodded to thank him, and we quickly finished walking to the orphanage.

As Spark went to the massive door in front, I motioned for him to follow me and went to the back of the orphanage.

As we circled around the building, I could hear foals play and laugh. A stout earth pony with a black mane and caramel coat streaked with white guarded the door leading to the fenced backyard, his face permanently frozen in a frown.

As we closed the distance, his head turned to Spark and me, scanning us as if he dared us to try and get past him. He relaxed quickly when he recognized me.

"Howdy lad. You look well." His voice sounded as rough as it ever was, but I knew this pony had a heart as golden as can be.

"Hello, Bronco, how's it going at the orphanage?"

"Ha, lad, you know how it goes. Not enough funds, too much to repair. Lady Cookie does all she can with what she gets, but t'be honest with ya, t'is a miracle she managed to care for the young ones. We have barely enough to properly feed and clothe the foals." He sighed, an air of sadness clearly visible. Quickly, he composed himself and let out one of his rare smiles. "But, no need t' trouble yerself with all that, come in, come in. I take it the horned one is with ya? From the guard, I s'pose?"

"Exactly, sir. A pleasure to meet you" Bronco's smile grew larger.

"Pleasure all mine, kiddo. Now, come in, you two". He opened the door to the backyard, inviting us to go in. After Spark and I entered, he closed back the gate. It would be more accurate to call the backyard "the playground", as it was the area where foals could play and run all their hearts' content. I was pleased to see I did not recognize a single pony. That meant all the foals from last year found loving families to adopt them, which warmed my heart.

A small number of them were in the far corner of the playground, forming a circle in front of something. Whatever it was, I could hear the foals laughing at it. Curious, I decided to see what could entertain them so much there. Taking off, I saw a small black and white form in the middle of the circle. From above the group, I realized it was a little zebra foal, curled upon himself and shivering. The other foals were bombarding him with mud balls, laughing between each salvo.

My blood boiling, I quickly went above the group and landed before the small zebra to shield him. I snarled at the group: "Have you no shame? Why do you treat him like that?"

Most of them stepped back, mumbling vague apologies. Only one moved forward, a Pegasus, with a bright orange mane and dark green coat, older than the others. He bared his teeth at me as if to try and scare me.

"Get fucked, bat!"

I heard the zebra foal standing up and felt him squeezing my right foreleg in a tight hug. Still sniffling, he was whispering thanks while burying his muzzle in my foreleg. My anger was flaring up; I wanted to smack that pegasus brat. Suddenly, I saw a mud pile thrown at the green pegasus, covering him completely. Spark sauntered to the pegasus with a smug smile on his face. "You shouldn't play with mud. You are bound to slip and hurt yourself!"

I slowly went toward the back entrance of the orphanage, the zebra foal still squeezing my foreleg as if he was hanging to a piece of wood in a storm at sea. I reached for the door, but it was already open.

Auntie Cookie was there, her usual unchanging smile on her face. Her light brown mane had more grey streaks than I remembered, her cream coat better at hiding the sign of age. "My little one, I was wondering when you'd come to visit your Auntie".

Her voice was warm and reassuring, like a batch of her delicious cookies.

"Good morning Auntie, I'd gladly hug you, but there is a little one that beat you to it". Her smile wavered as concern crept on her face before she knelt to examine the foal squeezing my foreleg.

"Come now, Zimaha, you are safe. You can let go," she tried to reassure him, stroking his striped mane. The colt vigorously denied, shaking his head from left to right, his muzzle still buried in my foreleg. "No no no, mean bird head outside, mean mean. Not leaving protector, kind, help."

He sounded younger than what I'd thought, and his accent was peculiar. I'd never heard a pony speaking like that in all my life.

"Zima, you must let go. If you do, I'll give you some cookies," Auntie Cookie's best tool of persuasion, as usual, was her famous cookies. The little zebra's head came out of my foreleg, his blue eyes still shining from tears.

"Promise, cookies?"

"Of course, I promise." Auntie offered a motherly smile as she spoke. The foal slowly let go of my foreleg, sniffling. I smiled down at him. "You okay, little one?"

He nodded hesitantly before I gently ruffled his mane with a wing. Out of nowhere, Spark appeared, a mud pile still sliding off his face. Turning my head, I saw that the foals went to play with mud as you would with snowballs.

A few moments later, after Zimaha and Spark had been cleaned up, Auntie led us to her office, the small zebra shadowing my every move. As we walked along the corridors of the orphanage, memories came back of my childhood. Hide and seek games spanning whole afternoons, mad tag games where we orphans zoomed from one end of the building to the other. When we reached her office, Auntie motioned for us to take a seat on the couch and sofa while she went to retrieve cookies from the kitchen.

*****

Lunch hour came and went while Auntie and I discussed what happened since my joining of the Night Guard, with her reluctantly explaining the state of the roof.

Apparently, the chaos caused by Discord and his imprisonment had unforeseen consequences. As the lord of Chaos had made random buildings float in mid-air, pieces of those buildings were torn off. Only to come crashing down when his magic ran out, damaging and bringing down other structures, including the orphanage.

"I don't know when The Princesses will be able to give us some funds to rebuild the roof. There are still a lot of ponies that are homeless because of what happened a few months ago. And with the limited funding the orphanage got, we don't have enough to hire a contractor ourselves to repair the damages." Auntie grimaced as she spoke, working hard to keep her emotions in control.

During her explanation, my heart ached in my chest as I watched her face decompose into a twisted mask of worries. Taking the two sacks of bits from my saddlebags, I put them on the coffee table while scratching my neck with my hoof.

"Please, Auntie, take these. It's what I could save of my wages this year. It's not much, but I hope it will be enough to patch the worst while you wait for the relief funds". Seeing that much money on the table (literally), Auntie was shocked. She stuttered a few times before finally being able to speak.

"My little one, Galzra, I-I I can't accept all that money. What if you need it? Or …."

I cut her off before she could continue, "Auntie, this is as much my home as it is yours. You and Bronco were always there for me. You even adopted me legally! I can't let you live in a home without a roof, not to mention all those foals." Auntie wiped the corner of her eyes with a tissue and smiled faintly. She got up and hugged me tightly.

"Thank you, my little one! I'm sure there is more than enough there to repair the roof as good as new." She let me go, a hoof still on my shoulder and her smile widened. "That reminds me, your room is exactly like you left it. You should take some of your comics and books with you".

Spark, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly perked up from the armchair he was in.

"Well, well, well, the room of the secretive Galzra! That must be quite a sight. Would you mind showing me around, Ma'am?". A wide grin on his face, he was up to no good. I was gonna feel the sting of many jokes for quite some time after that.

Auntie let out a laugh and winked at his attention. "Of course, my dear, I'll show you his room with pleasure."

I muttered, "By Luna, what did I do to deserve that?"

While Auntie led us to my old room, she and Spark chatted like two tattletales. Exchanging embarrassing moments about my life I'd rather not have Spark privy of. Finally, after a few minutes that felt like hours, we came upon my room. The red door with peeling paint warmed my heart.

Taking the lead, I opened it and entered the room. Old posters adorned the walls, which ranged from various comics posters to faded Wonderbolts recruitment posters.

Leaning against the wall at my right was my desk and my collection of comics and fantasy books. On the left was my bed and nightstand. Directly across the room, the window was facing the backyard. The faded sky-blue wallpaper still showed a vague cloud pattern, albeit hardly visible. Inhaling deeply while taking a few steps in, the warmth of familiarity came over me. I grew up here, reading, dreaming of becoming a superhero or a cape and sword hero.

A half-smile crept on my face while I saw pamphlets on my desk. Some were detailing Princess Luna's return, while the rest was about the Night Guard selections, when and where to apply to pass them and explain the attributions of the work. Feeling a hoof poking me in my left shoulder, I turned my head to see Spark smiling. Zima trotted inside towards the bookcase, his eyes squinted to try and decipher the titles.

"See? I left everything in the same state that you left it in. Well, not entirely, I had to come and do some dusting, but everything is mostly at the same place that it was a year ago." Spark put his hindleg on my shoulders and leaned closer to whisper, "Mate, I'm jealous! How did you manage to get a genuine limited edition poster of "The Unstoppables" issue 11? I could never get my hooves on a copy, no matter how much I tried." I laughed, both surprised and amused that Spark was a diehard fan of that comic.

"Well, Spark, I got lucky. I just registered for the contest, and a month later, I had a parcel with the poster." Wide-eyed, Spark let a soft "You were the winner of that event? Sheesh, mate, you have no right to be that lucky. There must have been what, 2 million or so participants?"

"Something like that, I don't really recall how much." From the corner of my eyes, I could see Auntie smiling widely. Zima had seemingly disappeared. I suddenly felt a slight tap on my right shoulder and turned my head towards it. It was the little zebra, carefully holding a comic in his mouth. After catching my attention, he sat down and lifted it toward me. I smiled as I recognized the issue, as the cover featured a zebra shaman fighting a hydra bare-hoofed.

"What this?" asked Zima, his eyes wide. "Zebra like me on picture!"

Still smiling, I explained to Zimaha that it was an issue of "The Incredible Ashura".

"So, you see, Ashura is a shaman that left his tribe to travel the world, and he sees incredible things and often grapples with the supernatural and magical. Forcing him to use both his shamanic knowledge and his wits to get out of all sorts of situations. I got the whole series. If you want to read it, there are even a couple of issues where he teams up with some of the Unstoppables when he crosses their path during his travels!" If possible, Zimaha's eyes widened with glee.

"Really? Ashura is hero?" I chuckled at his enthusiasm and ruffled his mane.

"He sure is, Zimaha. If you want, you can come here to read it or any of my books. I won't mind if it's you. I know you'll take care to not damage the books and comics." Auntie intervened, "But first, you'll have to learn to read if you want to understand what is written inside. There are pictures inside the books, but the words are as important as the pictures."

Zima furiously nodded his head up and down in agreement.

******

When we left and said our goodbyes to Zimaha, Auntie and Bronco, it was close to the evening, and the sun was beginning to set on the horizon. Spark and I began to head back to the barracks.

"You know, mate, I'm jealous." Intrigued, I asked Spark why.

"You were an orphan, but you had everything I wish I had. A loving family that supports you no matter what. My family had money and power, but having every toy you ask for is no substitute for love and care. To be honest, the butlers and maids were more of a family than my own parents." I heard him sniffling, and when I turned to look at him, I could see him in tears.

"Everything I did was never enough for my parents. When I couldn't cut it for Celestia's School for gifted unicorns, they became even colder than they were before that. They focused most of their attention and care on my little brother, forcing him to train for hours with the best private teachers money could buy before he was even four years old. When he was accepted into Celestia's school, my parents were overjoyed. Finally, a chance to have someone of the family closer to the Princess, a pawn to further improve our rank in the aristocracy. I was pushed aside, all the attention and care devoted to my brother. To be frank, I'm not even sure they remarked that I went away to join the Night Guard. They didn't even try to contact me during the last year."

He sniffled one more time before adding, "Not even my little brother."

We were almost to the barracks, and the sun was almost entirely set by now. I didn't know how to react. I could feel the pain of Spark as he talked, my heart tightening as he spoke.

"You know Spark, you said it yourself. Our unit is a family. I'd be more than glad to call you my brother...» Before I could say more, Spark bear-hugged me. "Mate, thank you. I couldn't wish for a better family than our unit."

I let a small laugh. "We are in agreement then. The Lieutenant is kind of the grumpy but lovable uncle?"

He froze, wholly taken by surprise, and then he let out a hearty laugh. "Totally!"

We covered the rest of the distance to the barracks while the night was beginning and the moon rose. When we reached the barracks, we saw Minty going inside with a small group of Night Guards. We hurried inside and caught up with Minty. Spark spoke up quicker than me, asking what was going on. Minty shrugged his wings.

"I don't know, a Sun Guard officer came in earlier and asked for the commanding officers of the Night Guard. He seemed pretty upset about something. The Lieutenant and the other officers quickly went into one of the meeting rooms with him and stayed there for more than an hour or so. They all came out and asked everypony to gather every Night Guard still in the barracks and head to the mess. They didn't say more. They just said we need to all gather inside the mess. I tried to find you two, but you were out. You came back just in time!"

Spark and I exchanged a confused look. What could be significant enough to warrant the officers gathering everypony in the mess for an announcement?

When we entered the mess, every table and bench was pushed toward the walls. We joined the crowd, hushed whispers rippling through the crowd. I saw the Night Guards commanding officers gathered around a single white unicorn, clad in golden armour, standing out of the other officers' Night Guard armour. His horn beginning to glow, the Sun Guard cleared his throat. The mess hall fell silent.

"Today, at 11:21 am, in response to the ongoing hostage situation aboard The Equestrian Star and following the failure of diplomatic talks to resolve the situation with the Zebra Embassy and the Caesar, Princess Celestia tasked the Wonderbolts as led by Captain Spitfire, with the rescue of the hostages. The good news is all seventeen hostages were rescued."

His face began to shift like he was deeply hurt before he continued:

"However, Lieutenant Soaring, along with three members of the wonderbolts, was lost during the events of the operation. More information will be forwarded to all of you in the future, pending the return of the surviving wonderbolts and the hostages to Equestria."

Ding! Level UP!
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