A Cloak In the Moonlight

Scarlet, Night Stalker, and Valr had arrived at the location addressed in the welcome letter. The Golden Oak Library had truly earned its name, a huge building built inside a massive oak tree. It was easily one of the biggest buildings in ponyville, and across town from the city hall. It was late in the evening, Luna's moon high on the horizon and the beautiful blue night sky above. It didn't look like a single soul was out right now. The town looked practically barren. It almost made the trio uneasy.

“Where do you think everypony is right now?”
Night Stalker asked.

“Probably asleep,” Scarlet answered, “It is late after all.”

“Yeah, okay, that actually makes sense. I forget Vespers have a lot less daylight hours then Equestrians do, some even calling us nocturnal creatures. The extra daytime might've been the hardest to get used to when I first came here?”

“Which is why I wanted to sleep when it was dark,” Valr commented in an annoyed tone, “Why did you drag me to this party?”

“Because The faster we earn their trust, the easier our job gets; And that means, all of us introduce ourselves.” Valr groans in annoyance, but he couldn't argue with Scarlet's logic. “Besides, it won't be that bad, Valr. It's late, so they're probably tired too, and we can leave early.”

Scarlet turns to look at Valr as he slowly opens the door. “Besides, this late, it's unlikely they invited the whole town.”

“SURPRISE!!!”

Startled by the loud mix of voices and bright flash of light, The trio looked with their eyes widened, as it seemed all six elements of harmony, and just about every pony in town, was in the library. The tables were filled with sweet treats and drinks, confetti was all over the place, and there was a giant banner stretched across the hall that spelled…

WELCOME TO PONYVILLE

NEW RESIDENTS!!!

Valr turned his head to Scarlet, giving him a glare that screamed, I'm gonna kill you later. Scarlet looked at him and nervously chuckled, “My bad.”

“Hiiii!!!”

All three were startled by a pink earth pony mare their files identified as Pinkie Pie, who appeared out of nowhere in front of them, giving them a wide and eager grin. “Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! I’m the one who organized this party for you! Did you get my surprise?! What are your names?! Do You Like games?! What are your favorite swe-”

The three barely understood a word she was saying, as she was asking too many questions too fast. Scarlet and Night had no idea what she was saying but they tried to stay polite regardless, meanwhile Valr’s eye twitched as his head looked like it was gonna explode.

While Pinkie continued spouting sentences at the pace of an auctioneer, two mares came up to them, who Scarlet was the first to recognize as Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. “Okay Pinkie,” Twilight remarked, "You should calm down a little, I think their brains are about to have a crashout.”

“Oh, okay.” She then spoke in a slightly softened voice as she chattingly said, “Sorry, I get a little carried away whenever we get new guests or visitors, and as soon as I heard about you guys, I just couldn't help but to welcome our new neighbors.”

“You're fine. I just wasn't expecting a big party, that's all,” Scarlet replied. He looked towards Twilight and raised out his hoof to her. “It's nice to see you again, Twilight.”

She eagerly took it and rejoiced, “Same to you as well. I'm sorry about the sudden surprise, but the second I told Pinkie Pie, she–” Pinkie put her head between them and blew a party horn that shot out confetti. She looked towards Scarlet with an ecstatic smile while Twilight gave a slightly awkward one, “Wouldn't take no for an answer.”

Fluttershy flew inches from the ground next to Scarlet, her face bright red as she had a small box in her hooves. She raised it and handed it to him, which left him feeling a bit confused. “What’s… this?”

“I... w-wanted you to have this... as a t-thank you for earlier.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, and she looked away from his direction.

He reluctantly took the box, eyeing it with uncertainty. “Wow… thanks.” He gave her a small grin as he tucked it under his wing. “I look forward to opening it.”

Fluttershy gave a small grin herself, happy he liked it. “You're welcome. I can't wait to see what you think.” She spoke up more clearly this time.

Night Stalker and Valr watched their interaction with confusion, when did he meet this mare? Night saw it all over her face she was into him and he didn't even realize it, actually making him irritated at his obliviousness. This mare was a natural beauty you don't see everywhere you look, not to mention her adorably shy personality and kind demeanor. If Scarlet let her get away, he just might kill him.

Night cleared his throat, getting the attention of the three signoras and his friend. “Oh, of course. Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, these are my friends and coworkers. The griffin here is Valr, and this-”

Before Scarlet could finish talking, Night Stalker had walked next to him to personally address himself. “Caio, I'm—”

“A VAMPIRE!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she pulled a random clove of garlic from her mane and threw it at Night, making it bounce off his chest. The stallion stood confused and aghast, staring at the root vegetable while Valr started chuckling at his expense. He changed his gaze towards the pink mare who was now holding a cross and a flask with “holy water” written on it, which left Night Stalker peeved.

“Oh, for the love of Luna! I'm not a vampire! I'm—”

*Poof*

“A VESPER!”

Once again, Night Stalker was unable to finish his sentence as he was startled by Twilight suddenly teleporting right in front of him, almost making him fall on his flank. She gave a wide eager grin that, based on their expressions, Pinkie and Fluttershy knew all too well. “Uhh… yeah, that.”

“A what?” Fluttershy questioned.

Twilight eagerly turned her head to them, “A Vesper; They’re a species of bat-like ponies native to the nation of Terra D'ombra, an island in the Northern lunar Ocean. Luna told me they were followers of her’s a thousand years ago. After we freed her from Nightmare Moon, dozens of Vespers came to equestria to offer their service to her; in fact, that's how her lunar guard was formed. I've been meaning to talk to one for a while but never had the time, and now there's one right in front of me!”

She levitated a quill and paper towards her, eagerly dipping the quill in ink with sparkles in her eyes and an ear to ear smile, “Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle. Is it okay if I ask you a few thousand questions about Vesperian culture?”

“Uuh… well, I—” Night didn't know how to respond. He was caught off guard by this mare's curiosity of his homeland, and immediately put him in a difficult situation.

“Alright, Sugarcube,” came another mare from the crowd Night recognized as Applejack, “Maybe we oughta let them have fun first? It's a bit rude putting him on the spot like this.”

“But Applejack, there's a real Vesper in front of me! I've been waiting for so long to—”

“You can ask him after we've all had fun. Cmon, let's go get some punch.”

“Ooh fine,” Twilight pouted before walking with Applejack and the others to get refreshments.

“Heh, well that was unusual.” Night posited as he eyed the purple unicorn.

“I know that look, Stalker,” Scarlet said to him.
“You better be careful; you know who that was, right?”

“My next conquest?” Stalker gave his friend a raised eyebrow and smug smile, which unamused him.

“Hmm, I don't think so, Stalker. That was Twilight Sparkle herself, the new Equestrian princess, and the Element of Magic.”

Night's smug expression changed to disbelief and surprise. “Wait, she's the new royal?” He looked back to Twilight and took a closer inspection, this time noticing the wings on her sides.

“Yup, she leads the elements that protect Equestria and now she is one of its rulers. That mare is as powerful as a student of Celestia can get.”

Where she stood on the hierarchy compared to him didn't change Night's opinion, it instead only gave him more ambition. “Heh, Sembra la mia cavalla.”

Scarlet shoved his hoof in his own face from the Casanova before him, while Valr growled and gave Night a light snack on his head.

The party had lasted an hour and was still going strong. Some ponies conversed, some ate snacks, and others like Pinkie danced and laughed. All were partaking and having fun, except Valr; he instead stood on his hind feet, leaning against a wall in the corner, his arms crossed and looking bored out of his mind. He did his damndest to ignore the flapping wings of a certain blue pegasus hovering above him, looking like she expected something from him.

“Sooo…?” She asks.

“So what?” He annoyingly asked, still not looking at her.

“Where's my apology?”

“For what?”

“Are you kidding me?! You almost crushed my skull earlier! Are you sorry?”

“Not really.”

“Just apologize!”

“Piss off.”

Rainbow Dash shouted in frustration and gave up, storming off while Valr kept his thousand yard stare towards the rest of the party.

Meanwhile Scarlet was talking to Twilight as they enjoyed some cups of punch. Rainbow landed next to them and caught Twilight's attention. “Oh Dash,” Twilight called out, “this is-”

“I know who it is; you and Fluttershy wouldn't stop talking about him.” She looked at Scarlet and raised out her hoof. “Scarlet Blaze, the name's Rainbow Dash: future wonderbolt, best flier in equestria, and the most awesome pony you'll ever meet.”

“Uhm, sure. Nice to meet you.” Scarlet took her hoof and shook it.

“Sooo, I don't mean to pry but, where did you practice?”

“Huh?”

“They both told me what you did today. Twilight said you moved past her so fast she could barely see you, not to mention you flew to the sky and vanished in five seconds. You have to have CRAZY flying skills In order to pull those feats off.”

“Really… I didn't think it was that big of a deal.”

“Are you kidding?! From those feats alone, you'd have to be the best flier I've ever seen, other than myself of course! So I gotta ask, who trained you to do that?”

Scarlet internally freaked out. He couldn't say where he practiced lest he blew their cover, so he winged it on the spot. “Well, I was—self taught.”

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. “No, no way! No pegasus flies that good without a teacher, not even me!” She accusingly pointed her hoof in his face. “I know you're lying!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled, “we just met him, don't go intruding in his personal life! Maybe he doesn't want to tell us, so don't force him to.”

Scarlet raised his hooves up in defense. “L-look, I know it sounds hard to believe, but I'm telling the truth. I had some tutoring when I was a colt, but that's about it.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes at him, as if trying to find the truth on his coat. Scarlet darted his eyes right and from her uncomfortable staring while Twilight seemed she was about to scold Dash for her prying, till she finally crossed her hooves and turned her head. “Okay, If you say so.” Scarlet felt his tension release, relieved she was convinced.

“I have another question though.” She pointed at Valr with a sour expression, who was still scowling against the wall. Every pony kept a ten foot radius from him like he had cutie pox. “What's his problem? He has the worst attitude I've ever seen, and I've met griffins with some really bad attitudes. I had hoped that meeting another griffin would change my opinion on them, but he's even worse. At this point, they all seem the same to me.”

“Oh, don't mind him. Valr is known for being hot tempered, and he's not the most… social of creatures. He's not bad though, after you get to know him.”

Twilight seemed curious upon hearing his name. “Valr? That's an unusual name for a griffin, is it foreign?”

“Actually, it's a nickname; he doesn't like using his real name.”

“Why?”

“Personal reasons.”

“Well, based on what she told me about him this afternoon, I have to agree with her somewhat. I'm willing to get to know him, but resorting to violence like that is not okay.”

“Yeah, after the party I'll talk to him about that. I will say this though: He is hot-tempered, but his heart is in the right place, more or less. I think at worst, he would've tossed you into a garbage can.” Scarlet knew damn well that was a lie, but they didn't.

“That doesn't make it better,” Rainbow Dash argued.

“Heh, fair enough. I'm gonna get more punch.” With that, he left Dash and the princess to talk with each other.

As the party reached its peak, Scarlet found Night Stalker at a table drinking a cup of punch. “Enjoying Yourself?” Scarlet mused.

Night Stalker chuckled, swigging his glass of punch. “As well I can with this Cose,” Night replied with a sigh. “I wish it were alcoholic.”

“Heh, yeah, I don't blame you.” Scarlet reached for the pitcher and poured more punch in his cup. They stood at the table for a few minutes drinking their glasses. “So, how are you faring?”

“Not bad. The white one, Rarity, is really warming up to me. I promised the princess I'd come by sometime this week to teach her about Vesperian culture; I'm actually—very intrigued. It's the first time a pony has actually wanted to ask me about my lineage, was kind of a shock.”

“Just don't bore her to death. You're not really known for your entertaining lectures.”

“Vaffanculo.”

Scarlet just chuckled at Stalker's retort. As he gazed through the party, he saw Twilight looking down and talking. She seemed to be talking to someone smaller than her, which made him curious. As ponies moved to give him a clearer look, his eyes instantly widened, his mood transformed into hate as he saw what she was talking to.

It was a dragon, a baby, but a disgusting reptile nonetheless. It had purple scales and light green fin and underbelly, Its eyes emerald green and the end of its tail shaped like an arrow.

SHING

Scarlet opened his right wing and unsheathed a row of feather shaped blades, about to charge at it. Stalker noticed and immediately restrained Scarlet’s wing in his magic. Stalker looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them, while Scarlet stared at the dragon with violent hatred in his eyes.

“Are you crazy?!” Stalker harshly whispered. “Put those away before somepony sees you!”

“What is that thing doing here?” Blaze's voice was quiet, but aggressive.

“Look, I don't know why there's a dragon, but don't act on impulse, there could be good reason.”

“What reason would they have to bring that creature into this town?!”

“Sshhh. Look, I understand how you feel about them, but you need to calm down; if you kill it right here in front of everyone, it will jeopardize everything and we'll go from neighbors to enemies. Do you want to be the next Scale Ripper?”

“I'm only gonna kill the lizard, no one else.”

“And when the princess deems us enemies of the nation, will you stay true to that? We can find out why it's here later, just calm yourself… please.”

Scarlet looked at Night Stalker's pleading face. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath in and out, and sheathed his blades back in his wings.

“Let's go.” Stalker released Scarlet from his hold and followed him to see Twilight, praying he didn't act on impulse again.

They walked up to the princess and dragon, noticed them and gave a welcoming smile. “Oh Scarlet, Night Stalker,” Twilight beamed, “I wanted to introdu—”

“We're heading back home.” Scarlet said stoic and emotionless.

Twilight was a bit shocked by Scarlet's sudden announcement. “oh, okay. Uhm, Why?”

“We have work to do tomorrow, we need to be up early for it.” He bowed to her while completely ignoring the dragon. “Thank you for your hospitality, we look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” He walked away before she could say anything, with Twilight stunned by his sudden shift in personality. Stalker still stood in front of them, feeling awkward as Scarlet walked off.

“Uuuuh… Well, it was nice meeting you.” Night took a bow himself. “I look forward to educating you later this week. Buona notte Singnora.” He turned and followed Scarlet out the door. Valr saw them heading to the door and left the wall to join them, unamused after everything.

Twilight stood next to Spike, both dumbfounded. “Was it—something we said?” Spike questioned.

“I'm… not sure.”

The trio opened the door to their shop and walked in, exhausted from their long night. “If you'll excuse me, I've had a long and very irritating day,” Valr grumbled as he went upstairs to the bedroom for an eager sleep.

“I'm gonna follow his example, I'll see you tomorrow,” replied Night as he followed Valr.

Scarlet however, didn't. His mind was too bothered by the sudden details at the party to sleep. He took this mission thinking it would be easy, but having to deal with the one thing he despised more than anything might be too much to handle. Going off sheer tolerance alone, he realized this mission would be far more difficult than he believed. Nevertheless, he let out a deep sigh and headed to the counter.

He opened his wing, revealing the unopened box that Fluttershy gave him. He didn't fully understand why she would give him this, he just did what any other would've. At the same time, curiosity creeped in his head. He never had a gift given to him before, not since…

Scarlet shook his head to fight off that thought, it was not something he wanted to think about, not now. He placed the box on the counter, eyeing it carefully for any triggers or traps. He placed his hoofs on the lid, untrusting its contents and quickly lifted the lid with his blades at the ready.

His cautiousness instantly dissolved, replaced with confusion. Inside were a dozen chocolate chip cookies, presumably homemade by Fluttershy herself. He took one of them and inspected it slowly, still unsure whether or not to trust it, even when they were gifted by the elements of kindness. He took it in his mouth and started to chew, crunchy and soft simultaneously, buttery yet flaky, the richness of the gooey chocolate chips mixing with every chew. He swallowed and savored the flavor still attached to his tongue, a small grin forming across his face.

They were delicious.