My ear twitches, tickled by a cool breeze. Not the kind of cool from a warm summer’s day mind you. No, this is the icy breeze of a winter’s evening. Which means it's time to get up. I open my eyes. The room is dark, lit only by the light of the moon pouring in from the open window beside me. Just how I like it. My ears twitch again. This time, from the muffled sounds of lots of ponies. Funny, I wouldn't have thought the day ponies to still be up… Slowly, I sit up in bed to better survey the room, peering into the darkest corners. I see nothing different, that’s good. With my neck’s arc completed, I gently take the blankets covering me in my mouth. I have to be careful not to pierce them with my fangs, they’re not mine to damage after all.
I toss them carefully from my back, making sure not to let them catch on my wings. With them now free, I open them up. At the same time, I push up my back legs and bend down my forelegs. I stretch backwards, until my muscles go taught, holding the pose for a moment before letting my legs relax and dropping back down onto the bed.
I only rest a moment longer before, using my wings to soften the fall, I hop down from the bed. My hooves make barely a sound on touchdown as I land like a spring, crouching to ease off my momentum. Glancing back towards the bedside window, I take note of the moon’s position. Early evening. Good, I still have plenty of time, I shan’t be late. I let out a smile.
Bounding over to the door, I take the harness from the stand. I frown at it, it’s always such a pain to get on. Still, I manage; I only got it caught on my wings twice! But I’m not ready yet, I still need to retrieve the package from under the bed. What? It’s an important package you know. I must keep it safe at all costs.
I bend down and stick my head under the bed frame. There it is, right where I left it! I drag it out, repeating the motion for my other bag. In one fluid movement, I loop my wing claw through my bag strap and pull it up against my side, where it clicks into my harness. I frown at the package, this will be harder. I crouch down, and wrapping my wing around it, I pull it against my body. Oh how I hate that manoeuvre. I really don’t like having stuff touching my wings, they’re quite delicate y’know. Not like a pegasus wing. Still, I manage. The strings wrapped round click into the binding mechanism and I stand back up. I then twist round to each side, using my fangs to fasten the clamps and lock everything in place.
Just need to do the final checks and I can be off. I start nudging and tugging on my harness and its cargo, making sure that everythings secure and not going to fall off. Can never be too safe, that’s actually happened to me once. Lucky that delivery was waterproof…
With everything ready, I stand before the hotel room’s door. Dipping a wing into my saddlebag, I fish around for the key. I tug it out, dangling from my wing claw. Oh how I hate door locks. Well, not really hate them, seeing as how I installed locks on all the doors back home… It’s more so that these small ones are just so much more fiddly. Oh well…
I take the key in my mouth. Having fangs is sometimes more of an annoyance than a boon, especially when you have to use your mouth to manipulate things. Luckily, I manage not to drop it under the door and the lock clicks open. I hook a wing-claw round the handle and pull it open.
“Eeee!” So bright! So bright! I hide my head behind the door. Really, I should have expected this. Day ponies and their indoor lighting! Not that us bat ponies can see in absolute darkness, but still, why does everything have to be made so bright? It’s terrible for night vision.
After waiting a moment to allow my eyes to readjust to the hallway lighting, I make my way out into the hall. I turn in the direction of the stairs, making sure to close the door behind me. The soft carpet does a good job of muffling my hoofsteps. Heh, not that I need it. I reach the steps and begin my descent. It’s too narrow to fly down. Ooh, I hope I don’t step on a creaky step. I hate creaky steps. I hate creaky floorboards. But I gotta admit, this carpet feels nice.
I’m surprised to say that the lobby room isn’t actually all that empty when I reach the bottom. There’s actually quite a few ponies down here. A couple card games here and there, and some random pony with a book. Most of the ponies don’t notice my silent passage. Except for that book pony, she gives me a friendly wave. How nice of her! I wave back too. Smiling, she returns to her book. Right, package before ponies.
I make my way over to the desk. Only one mare is managing reception this evening. She seems to be half asleep. I drop the room key onto the desk and slide it towards her. She takes a few seconds to register my presence, and a few more to notice the key. With a half-hearted attempt at a smile, she heaves a hoof up onto the desk and drags the key off the edge. It falls, jingling against the floor. Well, with the key deposited, I better get moving. This package won’t deliver itself. Maybe someplace will even still be open for me to get a quick bite of breakfast. Or dinner as the day ponies call it. What I wouldn’t give for something to eat.
I will admit that I was kinda expecting the street beyond to be pitch black. It almost always is, except in those places that had the horrible idea of installing street lamps. As such as the light-loving day ponies. Sure, I can see the appeal of having lights to see by in the pitch dark. I am aware that day ponies don’t quite have the excellent night vision we have. But why do street lamps have to be so bright all the time? Even us bat ponies need streetlamps, or more specifically, cave lights to see by. But at least we have the sense to use dim ones that don’t utterly destroy a pony’s night vision…
Either way, most districts of Canterlot don’t have street lights. Most likely the lunar princesses’ doing. I do quite enjoy being able to see the night sky. So you can understand when I am surprised to find the streets lit up tonight. At least it’s not street lamps. Street lamps can go rot in a pit for all I care. Nah, these are festival lanterns. Completely different thing. Less bright and more colourful. And so many ponies too. For a city of day ponies, this most certainly is not what I was expecting. Canterlot has never been like this for any of my previous visits. Not that I’ve ever been to Canterlot much. I’m actually taking Lilac Wind’s shift tonight. She was, unfortunately, downed sick after a visit to the West River outpost.
Even so, Lilac’s never mentioned anything like this either. I wonder what’s the occasion. I’m broken rather suddenly from my trance of thoughts as I am bumped into rather roughly from behind. I turn to face the offending entity. The earth pony doesn’t even utter a sound of acknowledgment, no less an apology. How rude of him! Though I suppose that this is Canterlot afterall. I’ve heard this place to be infested with an epidemic of stuck up rudeness more than a few times, mostly from Lilac. But I know not to judge a city or its ponies off of a single group, so let it not taint my experience of Canterlot and its festival, of something…
Stepping further into the centre of the street, where it seems that traffic is less dense, I take the opportunity to get a proper view of my surroundings. Sure, I could just fly on straight to my destination and drop off the package, but I’ve still got time to kill. Package over ponies, yeah right. As if I’m gonna let that stop me.
As mentioned before, the street is lit up by a series of small yet colourful lanterns. They hang from anything and everything, from market carts and buildings, to the bunting strung above. I’m doubt that can be very good for pegasi who want to use their wings to get around, but most day pony pegasi don’t do much flying at night anyway, so who am I to judge? I can totally fly up and out without getting tangled in all that string. Yeah, definitely.
As confident as I am that I am capable of flying out and not crashing into the overhead decorations, I choose instead to keep my hooves on the ground and start walking. I know my destination like the frog of my hoof, I just need to follow the street upwards. And grab a bite to eat too. I keep my eyes sharp and ears perked as I remerge into the crowd making their way steadily up the street. Sure, there’s plenty of market carts here, but none of them really speak out to me much. I’m sure my nose’ll tell me when I get there. In the meantime, I can just enjoy the sights.
As I ascend the narrow, winding street, I gaze around myself at all the sights of the festival. Actually, I really should be asking somepony what this is a festival of… Oh, that smells good! My neck snaps straight to an extra narrow alley between two buildings and I stop just as suddenly. The pony behind me doesn’t stop. They ram into my tail end.
“Ow… terribly sorry about that miss…”
I’m not listening. Instead, I bring my body around 90˚ and march right in. And after a bit, I emerge from the other side. This street is much larger, and less densely packed. My nose leads me straight across and into the opposite alleyway. Nevermind, this one’s fenced off. I backtrack out. So, where’s that heavenly scent coming from and how do I reach it? I start following the street further up. Ah, the next one’s blocked too. Eh, I’ll just fly over. I spread my leathery wings, drawing more than a couple looks from the surrounding ponies. I narrow my eyes at the sky. Or more specifically, the infernal hanging decor blocking me from it.
Fine, have it your way! I’ll just go round, infernal bunting! And in following the street upwards, I come to a Y fork. So I turn sharply left and make my way back down the adjacent street. Finally, I have found it! The mango fruit stand! Or more specifically, the tropical fruits stand… but I’m not here for pineapple or watermelon. I walk up to the stand, my mouth watering as I eye the produce.
“Hi, my name is Banana Bliss! What can I help you with?”
I ignore the green furred pegasus and direct my attention to the price tag. Three bits per mango. Eight bits for three. Bargain! I dip my wing into my bag once more and start fishing out bits. One bit. Two bits. Three bits. Fou- never mind, I dropped it. Four bits. Five bits. Six- what no, that’s not a bit. Six bits. Seven bits. Eigh- Not again! I finish fishing out the last of my payment. The green pegasus is waiting expectantly, her earlier smile having lapsed into a slight frown. Oh right…
“Umm…” cough “…uhh, hello there…” wait, what was her name? “…miss… I would like to purchase… three mangos… please.”
“Well… certainly, miss?”
Hmm? What’s she doing? Oh right, is she asking for my name? How rude of me. “Scarlet Ring”
“Well, Miss Ring, that is eight bits,” the mare says with a smile. She slides the bits over to her side of the counter, quickly counts them out, then pulls them over the edge. That is followed by the clatter of coins against coins. She rolls over to me, my mangos. I stuff two into my bag for later, and take the other in my mouth for not later, before setting off from the stall.
I feel like I’m forgetting something… Oh oops.
“Ank oo, iss!”
There, everything’s sorted. Mango juice dribbles down my muzzle. Huh, I should probably find somewhere to sit where I can eat this. I find a nice quiet spot between two buildings and lay my body down onto the cool cobblestone. With my front hooves now free, I can begin gnawing on my prize to my heart’s desire.
Well, it’s getting late now, I better finish get my parcel dropped off soon. Don’t want to be late now do I? Huh, maybe I shouldn’t have gone and eaten the second mango after all… I check back to make sure everything’s still secure on my harness. Parcel check. Last juicy, delicious mango. Also check. I set off up the street at a light Canter. Ha, it’ll be a lot of Cantering to get through Canterlot! I should probably get out and about on my hooves more. Seriously, this is exhausting! Who knew running up steep streets in a mountainside city could be so much effort? I must be really out of shape. This is why I prefer flying…
Reaching a straight section, I finally see Canterlot castle. It looms high above the houses. Wow, that’s tall! Sure, I’d seen it flying in, the previous night, but seeing it from the streets below… A whole different experience. Of course, the exhaustion of running uphill finally catches up to me and I nearly collapse from the exertion. I stumble quickly into a nearby alleyway and out of moving traffic. Whew. I am so definitely out of shape. Deep breaths… Deep breaths. Maybe I should just forgo the roads and simply fly there. It’d be much easier than this. And anyway, I mustn’t end up late.
After a few moments of respite, I’m nearly ready to leave. My ear twitches. Cautiously, I angle my head ever so slightly to give me a clear view into the darkness. There’s a pony there, dressed horn to hoof in a heavy grey cloak. He moves quietly, impressive… for a day pony that is. I could definitely be quieter. It’s strange to see a day pony in a dark back alley like this. Usually they get all frightened about stuff that could be hiding in the dark. It’s a shame, I personally like hiding in the dark. It seems this pony does too, seeing as how well their cloak allows them to blend into the darkness. He’s got good technique too, cloth over their hooves and a low stance to stay small. I like him already. I should say hello.
“Hello there, how are you doing this fine night Mr unicorn day-pony?”
I bound right up to him. With maximum stealth of course, where’s the fun in it if I don’t play the game too?
“Ahh!” He jumps back in shock, a sack falling out from under his cloak. Upon impacting the ground, it spills open. Golden bits go everywhere. Oops, I didn’t mean to scare him. I deftly start nudging the bits that had rolled further away back to the dropped pile. Meanwhile, the wide eyed unicorn backpedals deeper into the alleyway. He doesn’t go far before he freezes mid step. I think he realised he forgot his bits.
“Ahem, what is going on down here?”
I look behind me. Huh, it’s a day guard. He bends his neck to look beyond me, but doesn’t seem to notice the stallion stood stock still deeper in.
“Oh, this unicorn day-pony was sneaking about in the shadows. And he dropped his bits.”
The guard lights his horn with a red glow. That’s good, red is the best light to use in darkness. Bat ponies use red lights in our caves. They don’t destroy your night vision. The guard must have seen the pony as he narrows his eyes and takes a step forwards. Very slowly, he reaches up and lightly taps the star on the front of his armour, before taking another step closer.
Time seems to slow down. Well, not really. Just both ponies are being really still for some reason. I wonder if these two know each other, they’ve locked gazes now. Oh wait no, I see something behind cloaked pony. Huh, another day guard? Ooo, he’s sneaking too. Suddenly, the newer guard lunges forwards, wrapping his forelegs and wings around the cloaked pony, who lets out a strangled cry. After a moment of wrestling, they each have a foreleg chained. Huh. The cloaked pony continues to struggle, but the pegasus guard just hauls him off into the darkness.
The guard beside me finally speaks up.
“I thank you miss for helping us find and catch the thief. He’s been on our hotlist for quite a while now, but we just haven’t been able to catch him. He always got away. I can only hope he can’t do so now. Was he bothering you?”
“Nah, he was just sneaking around behind me I think. Oh, and he also dropped some bits. Are you going to return those?”
“I’ll see what we can do. I would usually tell you to watch out and be careful around the alleyways of Canterlot, but you’re a bat pony and I know how much bat ponies seem to like these places. But just stay on your guard, okay? There can be lots of nasty criminals lurking around back here. Say, what’s what you’ve got there?”
I glance round in the direction he’s looking, the package tucked under my folded wing.
“Oh that? It’s just my package, which I need to deliver… very soon… or I’ll be late… I don’t want to be late! G’bye Mr day guard pony!”
I quickly launch myself into the air. My wings beat asynchronously for a moment in my panic, but soon I am ascending smoothly into the sky. Ah, bunting! I pull in my wings to avoid crashing, then immediately yank them open again to avoid hitting the building opposite the alley. Flapping hard, I steer myself back into the street, ducking below a hanging lantern and then straining to regain my lost altitude. Woah! I pull in my legs as I brush past even more strung decor. And then I’m clear in the air.
Whew, that was close! I take a moment to orient myself. Okay, the castle’s there, so… I steer right and enter a steady glide. I like gliding, it’s much less strenuous on the wing muscles. I spot my target. Ugh, more bunting. At least it’s an open square this time… there’s an opening. I swoop down through the space and come to a running halt right before the castle gates. Ah, so that’s where the night guard shift is! I straighten myself out before my kin.
“Name and business!”
“Scarlet Ring, sir, with a package delivery!” I whisper the second part, “delivery code: crystal waters.”
The guard nods. “Right this way Scarlet.”
Huh, this is new. I was kinda just expecting to drop it off at the gates as I normally do. Lilac never mentioned having to go into the castle either. He’s holding the door open for me, so I follow inside.
“The princesses have been expecting your delivery. I heard about Lilac Wind too, it’s such a shame what happened.”
I simply nod. I was never really that close to Lilac, but she was a nice acquaintance and I do also have sympathy for her. After climbing a grand staircase, we reach a large set of doors.
“The throne room lies beyond, enter and deliver your package, Scarlet. I shall await you outside.”
This is the throne room? I’ve never been into the throne room before, or even the castle… So cool! There are two other guards stationed here, a unicorn day pony in the day guard armour and another bat pony like me in his darker night armour. After exchanging nods, the unicorn ignites his horn and opens the doors.
Author's Note
Finally, I have finished this. Well kinda. This single story / chapter has been in development for a while. I actually started it a writing prompt for someone (to write something descriptive involving a festival setting.) But then I didn't get past the hotel segment, and then I just let this fall to the back of stuff. It's been a while since I've published anything.
Anyway, here's some words. Do you like them? And more importantly, where can I improve? Any sort of constructive criticisms would be helpful. So would pointing out where I did well, that's a great motivation boost. Does anyone want me to continue this? I probably shouldn't since I have no idea where it would go. What's in the package? Who knows? I most certainly don't.
I'll probably move onto writing something else after this, so consider it a one-shot. Or if it gets enough interest, I might continue it…
I'm just going to submit it now and see what happens.