Silent Night
I was pacing outside the hallway to the throne room. When Princess Twilight asks to meet with me, that never means anything good. I was suited in my captain’s armor, a modified version of the armor of my predecessor, this one with a lighter build and holes for my leathery wings. I lacked a helmet as I needed sunglasses to help with my batty eyes. As I paced, I heard someone approaching me from the courtyard. I turned my head to see my lieutenant, Gallus. The blue griffon was a good soldier and a loyal friend from my days at the School of Friendship..
“Captain,” Gallus said as he approached, saluting.
“At ease, amica,” I said to him as he gained a more casual stance. “I have a bad feeling, dude.”
“Well, it’s not like the princess of Equestria summoned exclusively you to her office. This ain’t like when we would get detention with her.” Gallus said sarcastically, “But you got this, Nighty.”
“Don’t call me that,” I said flatly with a small smile.
Gallus replied immediately, “Absolutely not.”
“Last time she summoned just me, the Fancy Pants incident happened,” I pointed out, making him shiver.
“Who knew a flavored broach theft was tied to a milk smuggling ring?” He was groaning at the memory while he said, “But Night, you of all ponies can handle the stress of this.” He opened the doors to the hallway, and we began to walk to the throne room.
“I know I can; I am captain of the royal guard for nightmare’s sake; I am just exhausted. Numquam ego his diebus pacem impetrabo.” I said, forgetting Ponish is my second language and going back to Numbrian, or Old Ponish, as it’s called now.
“Night, you are speaking a dead language again,” Gallus said, snickering. I rolled my eyes and tried again.
“I just get no rest these days,” I said, making Gallus laugh with his raspy cackle.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, looking at him.
‘You never let yourself rest, you batty idiot. You insist on doing it all yourself. I watched you attend friendship school while raising an infant out of the dorms right after adjusting from living in tribes on the moon because your ancestors got banished by a dictator, and these days you refuse to hire a bookkeeper because you are a stubborn pony.” Gallus said he did not care about the guards hearing our conversation; however, my life put on display in front of my subordinates made me a tad upset.
“Well, the princess has to meet with me now, and I am anxious that this could be something serious.” I said bring the conversation back to topic.
“Well, she didn’t make a big deal over it, so there is nothing to worry about; just get briefed and briefly brief me.” Gallus said that as we got to the door to the throne room, he was now taking a stand on the left side of it.
“That makes me think there is something to worry about,” I said grimly before turning my head to him. “See you on the other side, Stultus.” Chuckling to myself over my secret insult, I opened the doors.
The throne room was a long room with a red carpet leading up to the throne. The walls were a pastel purple, with stained glass windows lining all the exterior sides of the room. The throne was elevated, with stairs leading upward to it. On the throne is the lavender alicorn known as Princess Twilight Sparkle. Her two-tone mane has just started getting flowy, standing about as tall as former Princess Luna. We both walked to the center of the room to greet, bowing in reverence as we met in the center.
“Princess, you summoned me; how may I assist you?” I said it with my muzzle to the ground. In truth, Twilight and I rarely acted professionally, but in case there were other guards in the room, I kept up the etiquette.
“You can rise, Night; it’s just us.” Twilight spoke as I stood, a fond smile adorning her face. “How have you been? It has been a while since we caught up; how is Dew?”
I chuckled before I responded, “I have been alright, same as Dew. Her birthday was last week; it is actually hard to believe she is already twelve years old, though she is still a chaotic gremlin. My little Gremlin, nonetheless, how about you?”
“I have been fine, but you are telling me I missed her birthday. I am so sorry about that. I’ll get her something soon.” Twilight then laughed a bit. “I still remember the first time I met her. I am still baffled that you managed to hide a baby in the dorms for months.”
“I am simply full of surprises, but Twilight,” I said, getting back to business. “You said you had an important task for me?”
“Yes, that. Well, Night, how would you like to aid me in helping my brother?” Twilight said much to my annoyance.
“Shining armor, no thank you. I would rather get kicked by Big Mac.” I said darkly that it was no secret that I had little respect for her brother. Shining Armor left the guard in a state of confusion and disarray, and the worst part was that it wasn’t even his fault. He was just too trusting of his subordinates. Corruption was so deeply rooted when I joined that it is still not gone half a decade after I became captain.
“It’s not about him, Night; it’s about their kid. Flurry has been struggling; I had a plan to help, and you are the only one eligible to assist.” Twilight said quickly, making me sigh. She either intentionally or not hit my soft spot. I can’t leave a child hanging. Call it mama bear instincts, but I was not invested.
“What is it, Twilight? I said it with a sigh.
“Flurry Heart has been struggling to make friends, and with them coming for a dinner visit tomorrow night, I was wondering if maybe you and Dew could attend. They are around the same age, and I was hoping it could be a good way to develop social skills.” Twilight said in one breath before smiling at me, slightly pleading.
“I don’t know Twilight; I don’t like dragging Dew into work stuff like this,” I said before smirking. “Maybe if I was allowed to make two mild insults to your brother during dinner, I would consider.”
“Night, that is a devious deal, as princess and his brother.”” She paused and smiled. “Go for it.”
“Then may I request early leave today to get Dew ready for tomorrow?” I asked, looking at the pony, who was technically my boss.
“Of course, Night, and thank you.” Twilight said as I started to leave.
“Yeah, yeah. Just remember my stipulation, and good night.” I said, exiting and closing the huge thing behind me. Gallus was standing on guard until I motioned for him to follow. He caught up and asked, “How did it go?”
“Well, Gallus, I was given my most dangerous task to date,” I said, hearing him hold his breath. I smirked and answered, “A normal domestic family dinner with my daughter.”
I started laughing when I heard him groan at my prank. However, I was nervous about this. My daughter socializing with royalty could only end with me needing at least one glass of wine. I would just need to warn Dew to be on her best behavior. How hard could that be?
Author's Note
I need to stop writing like dawg i feel like i am posting to much, but i can't stop. This will be a much longer story than I have written so far for these guys. The C Squad is now fully underway. This story takes place around 3 years before Swirl Cake. Night is one of my favorite characters to write, but I am low-key nervous to write The Sparkle Family, of course. I hope you enjoy!
Small Child in an Alicorn World
Morning Dew
“This is stupid,” I said to my mom as we walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle. The whole capital city itself was a boring place. The tall white buildings were like the claws of a monster that grabbed what fun could be seen in the city and hid it from the sky; the castle was just the tip of the claw. The night sky could hardly be seen, even from the castle. Rarity said it was from something called ‘light pollution,’ whatever that is.
“It’s not stupid, my little goblin; it is dinner with royalty. That should be exciting.” Mom said this, rolling her eyes. She was wearing a nice fancy suit; I would only wear the bowtie for mine. She only told me that we were having dinner with Twilight, and that is not a new thing.
“Mom, dinner with Twilight is not that special; the bowtie is the stupid part anyway.” I groaned as she chuckled. “Don’t laugh! I could be painting right now, but instead I have to wear this uncomfortable thing just to visit someone who is a friend.”
“Well, Dew, I never told you about the special guest at the dinner,” Mom said, giving me her joking, mean smile. I think the word is smug. Wait, a special guest? I hate when mom has surprises.
“Wait, special guest? Who is it? Sapphire Shores? Vylet? Any musical creatures I love? Oh my stars, is it discord?” I asked, practically jumping around Mom, who stopped in place to let me.
“No, it is not, and don’t even think about him. He will show up if you do.” She said that her hatred for the coolest, most chaotic creature was on her face. “No, Dew, you have a special task for this evening. You are to help a princess make friends.”
“What? I knew Twilight Sprinkler was a bit nerdy, but I did not know she needed my help making friends. Wait, isn’t she like the princess of friendship?” I asked, stopping my jumping in front of Mom.
“No, you are just going to have to wait and see.” Mom said she was grinning, making me groan. “That’s for not doing dishes last night.”
“What are you just not going to tell me about that?” I whinned. Mom always did this; she knew I hated not having a plan, so when she disagreed with my actions, she just didn’t let me plan. It’s very rude of her, in my opinion.
“Yep, now let’s not keep the three alicorns waiting.” Mom said calmly, making me shout,
“THREE ALICORNS?”
She did not answer and walked ahead. I rushed to follow, nervous beyond all belief. We carried on down the hall in silence. As we approached the door to the dining room, mom turned to me.
“Dew, we got here early so you could make friends with who you need to before dinner, okay? Just please be nice.” She said, sounding a little tried but giving her a fanged smile. I thought her single fang was super cool. She lost to the other one fighting a bad guy; at least thats what she told me.
“Mom, when am I not nice? I am the queen of being nice. I am the polite princess.” I joked; I knew I was mean sometimes, but mom said it was okay to be mean if you are a good pony.
“I know that is not true, mea parva vespertilio; you are my daughter after all.” She said, I knew she was very proud of me. I smiled up at her, and she kissed my forehead before opening the large door with a hoof. Inside was just Twilight, standing near the end of a large table set with fancy plates and too many forks and spoons. Twilight turned to us and smiled, trotting over to me.
“Dew!” She said loudly as I ran up to her and hugged her, As meanly as I talk about her, I do love Twilight. She was my first babysitter, which I remember even a little of. She was also the one to buy me my first paints. It was weird because she tried to lie and say Mom bought them, but she is a terrible liar.
“Twilight! I missed you!” I said, hugging her leg as she hugged me with her hoof and wing.
“I missed you too; I only hope you are staying out of trouble.” She was joking, but little did she know I was not staying out of trouble.
“When have I ever been in trouble, Twinkle Sprinkles?” I said, giggling. Twilight loved my creative nicknames, and before she could respond, my mom chimed in.
“For the record, I am withholding details of the night because you are in trouble, Gremlin.”
“Aww rats, mom, you’ll embarrass me in front of the coolest babysitter ever.” I groaned, making Twilight laugh.
“That is one thing I do miss a lot about you no longer living in Canterlot Night. You and Dew made this place so much less boring.” Twilight said asmily in her voice as well as on her face, “I remember when Dew would be my secretary during important meetings.”
Mom looked embarrassed when Twilight said, “Still sorry you had to bring a toddler to a peace summit.”
“Don’t be silent; I still think a child being in the room is the only reason the diplomats are amicable.” Twilight said, half joking.
“See, mom, I am not all trouble,” I said, making my mom roll her eyes. Due to it being evening, she did not have her sunglasses on. She looked like she had a comment to make, but she looked at a different door, and her face became upset. I looked to see three ponies. The first one was someone I knew as Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor. He was a tall white unicorn with a short blue mane. He had a warm smile that faded to embarrassment when he saw my mom.
The second pony was a bright pink alicorn. Her mane was a gradient of purple, pink, and yellow that had a crystal shine to it. I knew that was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the princess of love. Her face was a smile that turned confused at the embarrassment of her husband.
The last pony caught my attention the most. She was an off-white alicorn with a pink and blue mane and a singular line of purple on the right side. She was an alicorn, like Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but smaller, around my height. Her face was what caught me. She just looked, well, frankly, pathetic. She looked scared of everything aside from her parents.
“Oh, speaking of trouble, hello, Shining Armor.” My mom said it with disdain as I studied the smaller alicorn I assumed was Princess Flurry Heart.
“Hello, Captain Night,” Shining said with sadness in his voice. He tried to hide the sadness, but it was still there.
“I am not going to bully you tonight; I get three jabs at you according to Twilight, so that’s one down.” Mom said she was showing her devious side and smiling. Shining just sighed and smiled slightly as I found my voice.
“Holy bongos, we are having dinner with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Prince Shining Armor, and Princess Flurry Heart.” I turned to my mom, deadpanning. “Yeah, thanks for the warning on that, mom. I wish I wore more than just this dang bowtie now.”
My comment made the adults laugh, which was my intent, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza spoke up, “You don’t need to be so formal, little one. Just Cadance is fine; what about you?”
My name is Morning Dew, your highness, but just Dew is fine.” I said, not knowing what to do in the presence of the Crystal Family.
“Well, Dew, it seems you already know who we are,” Cadance said, smiling. “Flurry, why don’t you say hi?” Cadence gestured for her daughter to come and say hi. What ended up happening was that the aicorn walked up, mumbled a syllable, and whimpered. I saw a chance to be devious in this, and I took it.
“Hey Slurry? Wanna come see something cool? It will be fun; come on, bestie!” I said I was getting excited. That made the adults smile and say that Flurry should come along. I grinned as my plan came into action, and the princess followed me. If I were forced to be her friend, I would make sure this would be a night to remember.
Author's Note
Hello gamers, new chapter, i hope the grammar is better this time. Not much to say here aside from expect a blog post with the designs for some characters soon.
