Anon

It took me a while to calm down after Midnight left, but I was left reflecting on what he said.

Midnight is right… normally I wouldn’t fuck on a first date… and today wasn’t even a date. He did save me and maybe that deserves more of a physical thank you than I would normally give but I’m throwing myself at him like I’m drunk. Am I afraid of him throwing me out? Am I afraid of being kidnapped again without his protection? No… surly not everyone is as bad as those griffons were and besides… he would never abandon me. His pain… is too real. And what of me? He’s a pony… am I willing to commit bestiality to secure my protection and future? Damn it all… these ponies are sapient... can I even call it bestiality without it being a form of racism?

Anon didn’t know when she fell asleep, but she awoke to the comforting smell of freshly cooked pancakes. She followed her nose back to the kitchen to see the biggest spread of pancakes she had ever seen. Midnight had piled a huge stack for both of them, soaked in syrup.

“Ah. Good morning. Are you hungry?”

His eyes were as big as a puppy dog, as if hoping for approval. He was so adorable…

I smiled at him. “I’m not as hungry as yesterday but the pancakes do smell good. Thank you for cooking.”

I sat down at the table, and he joined me. He cleared his throat gently. “I’m sorry that I made you cry last night. That wasn’t my intention. Please forgive me.”

I held my breath, trying to think of a reply. I swallowed. “No… it’s not your fault, and there is nothing to forgive. I know that I came on too strong. I feel like I need to explain my behavior.”

I paused and he waited intently, hanging onto every word. I decided to be as truthful with him as he had been with me. I returned his gaze, looking into his big silver eyes.

“Human women, or ‘mares’ as you would call us, tend to use sex as… a payment or reward of sorts… in certain situations. On a date… the girl may feel compelled to go all the way if the dinner was good enough, or if the ‘gifts’ he brought her were expensive enough. Human dating culture has a lot of ‘expectations’ that have been socially engrained into the population and has been hard to modernize into something more fair and less awkward, for both sides.

In my case… being saved from the situation that I was in… in which rape was the only possible outcome… being able to consent to sex is empowering, and a beautiful thank you. Even barely knowing you, I’d rather give myself to you than to have it been taken by them.

No ‘human’ stallion alive would turn down a girl consenting like I did, but you held back. You respected me more than I respected myself, and I’m grateful.

And… I suppose that part of me is worried that you will throw me out if I don’t put out, since no ‘human’ stallion would keep me if I wasn’t ‘useful.’ I don’t understand your culture, so I’m bound to make mistakes. You understand your world… but yet… you still seem so innocent to me compared to a human… and… I love that. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Midnight nodded. “I guess… that explains a lot of what I didn’t understand. I’m not upset but I didn’t understand why you were so willing. Other than saving you, I haven’t earned your affection. We are barely friends yet. Jumping into bed together seemed a bit extreme.”

I gave him a sad smile. “Humans don’t need to be in love to have sex. One-night stands are common with my people. And I am scared. I don’t know enough about this world to simply leave you. I can promise that I will be honest with you if you continue to be honest with me. I’ll answer any questions that you have if you answer the questions that I have. Maybe we can have a partnership of sorts… even it isn’t a relationship in the traditional sense.”

Midnight raised an eyebrow. “You might be surprised that one-night stands and keeping a mistress happens a lot within pony culture too. We use the terms ‘Saltlicks and Saltines.’ The saltlicks, male or female, spend the bits to pay for outings and buy gifts usually in exchange for the saltines’ time, usually returned in the form of sex. There is a fair amount of slang for it, but I won’t go into it at this time. As for me, I never desired that shallow of a relationship, although I’ve been told I possess the wealth to pull it off if I wanted to try. In the course of my life, any mare I ever took as a lover was always long-term, although I never managed to get married or really fall in love. That being said… do you want a traditional relationship… with me, of all creatures?”

I swallowed. “Actually… yes. I would love to be your girlfriend… or… marefriend, I guess. I’ll probably make my fair share of mistakes. I just hope that you can forgive me and guide me within your culture. I will do my best not to embarrass you.”

Midnight seemed to be lost in thought. “I’m not worried about being embarrassed. I’ll do the best I can in guiding you but I’m sure I’ll make my fair share of mistakes too. Like I said earlier, I haven’t had a lot of friends. They say that your spouse should be your best friend… and I guess that’s why I never managed to get married. I know I’m going to upset you at some point.”

Anon reached out and took his hoof with her hand. “All couples fight. The important thing is to talk and learn and forgive and stay together. We just need to try to understand each other and make careful little hoof steps.”

I tried to smile at him in a comforting way and he seemed to smile back.

Midnight chuckled. “It looks like you are already starting to adapt to how we speak. It’s cute to hear you say those types of words and I think you possess an uncommon wisdom that I might can learn from. I’m… looking forward to seeing where this might go. In the meantime… what would you like to know?”

I took a bite of the pancakes. “The griffons seemed a little shady and they were clearly doing something illegal... but you... you killed them and saved me. I’m grateful not to have witnessed the battle but now that we are speaking to each other so openly… you seem too nice of a stallion to be a killer. What am I missing?”

Midnight was silent for a long while and I thought that maybe I asked the wrong first question. He sighed and nodded slowly.

“I guess that if you are going to be my marefriend, you deserve to know something of my past. The truth is that I am a retired member of the Equestrian military. There has always been a ‘day’ focused Royal Guard and a ‘night’ focused Night Guard. Also, there are the Celestial Legionaries and the Lunar Knights. Celestial Legionaries protect the day, and the Lunar Knights protect the night. In the old kingdom, 1,000 years ago, Princess Celestia controlled the day and Princess Luna controlled the night. Even after Princess Luna’s fall to darkness and banishment to the moon, her Night Guards and Lunar Knights remained to protect the citizens from the darkness of night… although we lost nearly all of our prominence and our numbers were kept small. As for me… I was good at my job. Too good, at times. I served above the rank and file… above the Generals of the Army and Commanders of both the Legionaries and Lunar Knights… as a Death Lord, which is the highest possible station. There was once a time that I led whole armies… and gave orders to Generals and Knights alike… I was obeyed without question…”

His words drifted away, and I was grasping at what to say.

“…Which is where you being an assassin comes into play. You had told me that you would not forsake me as you were forsaken… what did you mean by that?”

He nodded and continued. “The Death Lords were also sometimes called the Forsaken. Forsaken to be feared. Forsaken to be alone. Ponies so good at killing that everyone with any sense of self-preservation avoided us at all costs. In our heyday, the Death Lords were made up of both the most accomplished Celestial Legionnaires and Lunar Knights, and even a few former regular Generals. Our only purpose was to kill. We were the masters of death. We fixed problems that nopony else could solve. When all other measures fail, Death Lords eliminated the problem… for good. I can’t say that I like killing… but I am good at it, and I’ve learned to live with it.”

I frowned. “But… you just said that you’re retired… so what were you doing out there last night saving me? Were you bored or something?”

Midnight shifted in his seat but chuckled. “I am retired, but I still protect Ponyville, and I try to safeguard the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Princess Celestia sometimes asks me for help… or for a favor. Equestria is at peace… and has been for a long time. I believe that I am the last of the old Death Lords alive. There hasn’t been a need for more of… me. Something that I both resent and am grateful for.”

Anon could feel the lack of acceptance in his tone. She couldn’t imagine being so good at your job that you were despised for it… but this was clearly Midnight’s situation.

“So… they used you and threw you away?”

Midnight shook his head. “It’s not quite that bad… but my time is past. As for having saved you personally… I simply don’t trust the current Night Guard or Royal Guard to protect my territory. Ponyville has no crime to speak of, so we don’t have a permanent detachment of guards from either order protecting the town. Therefore… saving you became my job, once my spies informed me of possible slavers passing through my area of protection. I don’t regret killing them and I doubt that those griffons will be the last thing I ever kill, but that is the life I trained for. For the sake of Equestria, I can’t let my skills get rusty, least they are ever needed again.”

* * *

Midnight

As my words faded, no new words formed to keep up the conversation. We ate in silence until the meal was finished. The weight of my words seemed to be too much for Anon, as a series of emotions seemed to play over her face. I couldn’t leave it like this, so I ventured to ask a counter-question. A question for a question seemed fair, after all.

“So Anon… what do you do for a living?”

She smiled. “I’m a hair stylist. Or… I guess mane stylist, now. It will take some getting used to working on ponies, but I expect that my training will still be useful here.”

I smiled at her warmly. “Ponyville has a spa. And its walking distance from my estate. They are always overbooked so I’d wager that they will hire you as a mane stylist if I introduce you to them. That is… if you’re willing.”

Anon frowned. “That sounds nice, but I wouldn’t want you to trouble yourself.”

I shook my head. “I may not have a lot of experience with humans, but I know creatures. You are a strong, independent mare, and being my marefriend notwithstanding, you are going to want to be self-sufficient. Being able to earn your own bits will make you feel better. And it is no trouble for me to introduce you to the owners. Let’s just say that it’s the least I can do.”

Anon shifted in her seat. “What makes you think they will hire me just because you introduce me to them?”

I smiled. “Because of my military rank as a Death Lord, when I retired, I was given a traditional noble title, as well as an annual retirement pension. During my military service, I had invested my earnings well, and I have earned more on the side, then and now, from battle spoils… As a result, I own the Ponyville bank. Local business owners can’t afford to piss me off.”

Anon smiled. “It’s nice to have a pony with connections as my coltfriend. Are we going to Ponyville today?”

I smiled. “We are. I’m ready when you are.”

* * *

Author's Note

The 'Saltlicks and Saltines' terminology was borrowed from 'Everyday Life with Guardsmares' by Bobbles. I highly recommend the story.