"Shut up and get in line, before I throw you all in one!" The captain shouted at them, all but pushing the prisoners through the door. He waved his sword at them, rolling his eyes. "Your fault for stepping out of the first line you were born into."

They led the prisoners on through the countryside, bound to cross a small town of no importance. A pity a few special little ponies lived there.

Star sat beside Night, watching the sky in their village. As soon as their momma heard the guard coming, she quickly shoved the kids off somewhere safe, far away from their judgmental looks. Night patted Star, getting her attention with a smile. "The rumor around school is there'll be something cool happening soon."

Star nodded at him. "Maybe Princess Celestia will forgive her sister."

"I heard the rumors. Something strange was seen during an attempt at a new potion, but nopony can say much about it." Night bounced in place with clear excitement. "I want to see it, whatever it is."

"Momma told me to steer clear of the royal guard while they're here, not follow some mystery pony." Star rolled her eyes. "Did you at least learn something from class?"

"Yeah, actually!" Night clapped his hooves. "I learned a new spell."

Star frowned at that. "They don't teach spells at school."

He grinned. "I practiced this one on my own. Want to see it?"

"Fine." Star leaned her head against her forehooves, watching him with one raised eyebrow.

Night walked over and placed a rock between his hooves. "This one's cool." He compressed the rock as his horn glowed brighter and brighter. When he opened his palms, there was a single shiny gemstone there. "Look." He offered it to her.

"That's..." She held it up, looking closer at the object. "...real." She reached out to poke at it. "That's, surprisingly, a really nice trick."

"A really nice gift," he corrected her.

"You know, you keep finding rocks to make into gems and I might end up marrying you some day," she teased.

His cheeks went pink. "S-stop saying stuff like that." That didn't stop him from placing the gem into her waiting hoof. "Here."

Star held the gem up to the sun and stared, smiling at the rainbow effect. She put it away with a blush on her cheeks, just visible under her fur. "Thanks."

"Is it, uh." Night danced in place. "You deserve it." He cracked a smile. "Don't be mad, but do you think the others want one too?"

Star chuckled softly. "Maybe. Ask them, you big silly."

"Hey." Night lifted his head, ears swiveled towards town. "Those guys sound noisy."

Star turned her gaze in that direction as well. As one, the two rushed off to find the rest of the gang.

It was Dawn who caught up with them first. "Guys! Guys!" She crashed headlong into Star. "Whoa!"

They both stumbled. Night laughed at them, holding out a hoof to help pull them apart. "Having fun?" Dawn nodded rapidly. "Why?"

"Oh, just because." Dawn stuck his tongue out at them. "Besides, there's a commotion down there." With a flap of his wings, he pointed where the noise was coming from. "A whole lot of ponies are gathering."

They peeked out at the crowd forming there. Guards held a bunch of ponies hostage, making the group of three press close together. Night shivered as he watched. "Guards aren't happy. Wonder what they want." Dawn stared in fear of the weapons. Star slipped ahead to investigate the situation.

Night grabbed Star. "Wait! Mom doesn't want us here. You're going to go trotting out where they can see you?!"

"Well, I have to know." Star pointed at the crowd of ponies. "What is that, an execution? Do they plan to execute those ponies in the street?"

Dawn swallowed thickly.

The guards were shouting firm commands, slapping the prisoners into order, but not killing them, it seemed. Star glanced back at the other two, making her choice known with a silent glance at the others. Night shuffled his hooves. "Well, I guess. Just, try to stay hidden." He slid into a shadow nearby, lifting his head.

"Apologies." The head guard nodded to the townsfolks. "We'll be on our way in the morning. This sorry lot has to be fed and houses until then, and we'll be on our way."

"Right. If they cause problems, you'll answer for it," replied the town guard.

The lead guard waved a hoof. "Just be sure that you're not causing us problems. You wouldn't want that now, would you?"

Star ducked as the two leaders passed by, letting them trot right by. A smaller pony appeared, catching the two by surprise. The new foal sneered at the Eclipse Born. "Hiding? You should! Those guards'll arrest you and take you off with the others, I bet."

Night snorted at her. "Right. Good thing the town guard won't let that happen."

"Not good enough!" the other filly said with a laugh. "They won't protect you all the time!"

"What's this?" One of the guards came over, drawn by the loud argument.

Star trembled. She could see the coldness of the mare's armor, and remembered what ma had said about these ponies. "Sorry! Just heading home." She began to creep away from the guard.

The guard nodded at Star, eyes on the louder new foal. "Is there a problem?"

"No sir," she said innocently.

Star scurried away from the scene as quickly as possible, leaving the others behind. Her mind raced in circles trying to imagine the terrible things that would come to pass. She arrived at home and slammed the door shut, just to have it burst open, throwing her forward to the ground. The others of the group rushed in behind her.

They saw that Star was upset. "Uh, I can tell what happened next was very funny?" Dawn tried.

"No!" Star rubbed her muzzle, wincing at a bruise she felt growing on there.

Night put an arm over head. "Sorry. Can I help?"

"It's fine." Star rubbed at her muzzle again. "Let's not be arrested."

"Yeah, you heard Mom," Dawn murmured.

Night grunted and rolled onto his side. "You know, Mom would hate seeing us get hurt like that. What are we gonna do?"

Star shook her head. "I don't know. What is going on out there? Why are so many ponies being taken away?"

The two boys looked to one another, having no answers.

Star sat up. "They're bad ponies, or they say they're bad." She swallowed thickly, pointing at herself with a shaking hoof. "That pony said we're bad ponies!"

The others grew concerned at this, and Night threw his hooves up in frustration. "That's why you ran back here? Because of her? She doesn't know anything about you!"

"But..."

Night put his hooves on her shoulders. "But nothing. We are not bad. We are good." He pressed his forehead to hers. "We may be dark, but we're not bad."

She blushed at the closeness, though her ears flicked in uncertainty. "Right. Yeah."

Dawn stood up on his hindlegs, tapping Night's shoulder. "Uh. Shouldn't we figure out how to prove this?" He dropped to his haunches. "We should do something good, really good, so ponies will know, for sure, how great we are."

"Well, what kind of good can we do?" Star asked, a smile beginning to appear.

The boys exchanged looks and shrugged, neither of them really knowing the answer.

The door opened anew, their mom entering with saddlebags filled with groceries. "Oh, you're right here. Such good foals." She paused, seeing them huddled together with nervous expressions. "Are you scared? There's nothin' to be afraid of. Everythin' is goin' to be okay."

Dawn smiled as bright as he could. "Momma, if we wanted to show the town how nice we are, what'd be the best way?"

"Hm." Miss Sweep jumped up onto her rocking chair, folding her legs beneath her body. "The mayor has a barn-raising contest tomorrow. First time the town comes together for somethin' big since ya got here."

The group shared glances with silent thoughts of how they could help.

"How big is this?" Night asked, giving their mother a smile.

"Biggest. We raise barns for a season, ta get ready for winter. An' we have plenty of food stored, of course." Ma pointed to her bulging saddlebags. "Now be good and help get that all put away. It'll turn into your dinners often enough."

Dawn gasped excitedly as he flew over, grabbing a bag and darting for the kitchen to start sorting everything out.

The next morning, all the young ponies of their town lined up in the town center. Guards walked by, glaring down the row. "We're missing one," hissed out the head guard. "One of our prisoners. We think they're hiding, somewhere in this town."

The ponies didn't say a word, each glancing sideways to their neighbors to see if they were about to speak up.

"You," a guard picked out Dawn, prodding him roughly with a sword. "What do you know, foal?"

"N-n-nothing." Dawn shrank down, trying to escape the glare of the guard.

Night spoke up immediately. "He's innocent. He hasn't done anything wrong." He turned his nose up at the guards.

The guard scoffed at Night. "Look at you." He turned away sharply. "I will not tolerate dissent! And if it means imprisoning every last one of you, then so be it!"

At that moment, Star made herself known. "Sir." The crowd turned to stare at the unicorn. "I saw them walking around just moments ago." She gestured with a hoof at one of the buildings. "That way."

The guards perked up and trotted in the direction Star had indicated.

Night stared at Star in amazement. "Why did you tell them that?" he whispered when she trotted over to them. "Did you even see anything?"

Star snorted, waving them along after her as the guards searched for their escaped prisoner. "Of course not." That part she kept quiet, between herself and the others in the group.

They met the others as the sun was dipping low beyond the horizon. Mayor Honey Drop had given a speech earlier in the day, explaining to everyone in town just how important this barn was. It was hard keeping the townsponies focused with the guards still searching for the missing prisoner.

Mayor Honey Drop came up to speak to the workers personally. "Good job so far!" She grinned wide. "Keep it up, everypony! We got us a brand new building by the end of today!"

Wanting to take part, the Eclipse Born darted around, helping fetch things or put things away as needed. They were all a bit small for the heavy work. Still, there was the occasional plank to set in place, or tools to hold ready. Even if it didn't really feel like helping, they made themselves available as able-bodied assistants.

They worked in harmony, despite their doubts. The Eclipse Born couldn't really see how much the villagers needed them working together like that. They hadn't been able to watch themselves grow closer over the days, nor had they paid attention to the subtle shifts of approval that came from the other townsponies.

Not that this stopped the other foals. As Star carried a bucked of nails, a colt crashed into her, sending the nails flying. He stood up with a laugh, calling out, "Serves you right, freak." He trotted off, grinning mischievously.

Night ran over to Star to help her up. "You okay? What a jerk." He helped pick up some of the fallen nails. "Can't believe ponies like him."

Star sighed softly. "I don't understand."

Dawn fluttered over, landing with his share of tools. "Neither do I. Um, but we should keep trying."

The group picked themselves up, dusting off. A new pony appeared as they began collecting tools.

"I'm really sorry about him," said the new foal.

The group glanced at one another, suspicious.

The new foal smiled, perhaps trying to be disarming. "I've seen you all helping all day long. I just thought you'd appreciate some extra hooves?" Without waiting for their approval, she bent down and started scooping up pieces of wood and tools. "My name's Merry Mule. I moved into town a few days ago."

Despite her name, she was clearly an earth pony, not a mule. She was also, well, merry. The girl positively exuded happiness.

Merry hummed happily to herself while she continued working. "I can't help but notice how helpful you all are." She passed a hammer to an adult. "You're as bright as your pelts are dark!"

Dawn smiled at that. "Thanks!"

The others made noises of agreement. Night moved a beam into place, straining himself. He let out a whuff of air as soon as that weight was gone from his shoulders. "Think it'd be more interesting to do this ourselves?"

Merry laughed at the idea. "We're too small for that." She waved it away. "But we can help the 'dults get it done!" She leaned in closer. "You hear about that escaped convict?!"

"The one they've been hunting?" Star asked with a tilt of her head.

The pony gave her a grin, leaning in close with wide eyes. "Do you know what crime they committed?! Now, just a rumor, but I heard they set a fire or two!" The thought chilled them. Fires in a peaceful land like Equestria always spelled trouble. "Worse yet, the reason they went wild is that they supported Luna!"

A trio of shivers passed over them.

Author's Note

I already like Merry.

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