Solace of the Night

Chapters

Waking up
Breaking the Habit
Lullaby for Equestria
Goodnight

Waking up

Like every shift, Silent Night stood guard.

Like every shift, she entered first.

Like every shift, the invaders came after.

Silent Night thought the group of invaders made an odd impression. Each in turn gave him a warm smile and nodded their heads; an onlooker could have mistaken them for honored guests, perhaps from somewhere beyond Equestria.

Noticeably taller, their wide equine frames were not too dissimilar to the ponies of Canterlot. Yet there was something distinctly alien about them that Silent Night couldn't quite put his hoof on. Truthfully, there were many things he couldn't quite grasp these days.

He knew he was a Night Guard. He knew he served her Majesty Princess Luna. He knew his duty was to guard this room. Beyond that, things got hazy.

Silent Night turned to look out one of the palace windows. Canterlot stretched before him, its lights shining like stars under the spring moon. Some pegasi were playing with a storm cloud. Soft music drifted to his wary ears. A dog barked in the distance.

Which is more real: the world inside or outside these walls?

Everypony was living their regular lives. The Night Guards fulfilled their duties. The sun and moon continued their eternal dance. The weather proceeded on schedule. The food in the mess hall was warm and always served on time.

Yet Silent Night knew something was deeply wrong in Equestria. The invaders walked around as if they belonged. Nopony stopped them. Nopony seemed to care. When looking at his fellow ponies, Silent Night always sensed something infinitely subtle was missing. In their eyes, there was cold emptiness. Like reflections in a slightly bent mirror, they seemed broken.

But not her. No. Her eyes were burning like hungry embers. He saw her every night. She would enter the room. The invaders would enter the room. He would wait outside, dutifully turning the hourglass whenever it had run out. Some nights, he would turn it 3 times before they left. Some nights, it was 7 times. That night, it was somewhere in between.

When the invaders left the room, again, each rewarded him with a warm, grateful smile and a nod of their head. As was their way.

Glancing through the open door, Silent Night was struck by the scene before him. He was no artist, but the composition filled him with beauty and wonder. Pillows were scattered across the room in reckless disarray. The scented candles fought a losing battle against the odors of sweat and sex. Clothes, food and some items best not considered, added to the confusing mess. Its obvious, singular purpose made the room exude grimness and barbarity.

In the middle of this display stood the figure of a slim Sarosian mare. The lightning was spectacular. Grey shadows buried most of the interior, but a single ray of light from the waning moon was coming through the crystalline skylight, falling right on her. A soft glow lit up her dark coat and accented her piercing, yellow eyes. As though a single flower was blooming on a barren cliff after a violent thunderstorm.

Surprisingly, the whole world seemed to come alive. Like snapping awake from what griffins call ‘Sekundenschlaf,’ those terrifying moments when sleep steals over you for just a second, blurring the line between wakefulness and the oblivion of dreams. For a moment, the haze hanging over his thoughts evaporated, and everything was clear. Silent Night thought his fellow ponies were missing some part of their soul. Now, he knew that she had whatever they did not. Just as the feeling of enlightenment came, it vanished in a heartbeat.

She only considered him with a quick, curious glance while casually trotting out of the room and down the hall. Her hoof steps gradually fading into nothingness, long after her slender form was swallowed by the dark corridor.

Silent Night considered how he might seem to her. Was he a light, flickering in the barren wasteland of broken automatons and strange invaders, or was he just another ghost to her? Was he just as empty, just as hollow and just as lost as all the other ponies, following a set routine long after it had lost any of its purpose. He would have liked to ask her, but fate had found fit to leave him without voice.

As was his duty, Silent Night vigilantly stood guard for the rest of his shift, determinant to ignore the scents creeping out of the door and assaulting his nostrils with painful implications. Returning to his quarters, the impressions of that night lay heavily on his mind, as he drifted into an uneasy sleep filled with disturbing scenes.

Next night would be the same. As was every night. They flowed together and away from each other like fabric woven by a mad seamstress.

Silent Night had become adept in blocking out the sounds emanating from the room he guarded so diligently each shift. The rhythmic thumping seldom penetrated the shell of his wandering thoughts. Only when he was careless did he consider the barely audible ultrasonic waves crashing against the door like water on a beach. Every Sarosian knows that their high frequency echolocation has trouble penetrating walls and doors. However, standing right outside the room, his magically aided hearing was just able to pick it out against the other noises of the night.

Most ‘regular’ ponies are not aware that Sarosians tend to emit ultrasound when others would audibly laugh, scream or moan. From his schooling, Silent Night remembered that, just like their infamous teeth, this was due to a kind of evolutionary adaption, but not needed anymore in modern Equestria. Some Sarosians would even train themselves to get rid of this behavior to better fit in with other ponies, who tended to see their race as quiet and emotionless.

Several of his fellow ‘Bat Ponies’ even went so far as to get rid of their teeth, as to not unsettle the more squeamish city folk. Done magically, the procedure was painless but expensive, so some of them resorted to the ‘clipper’. Nightmare of any Sarosian filly and colt, as often threatened as punishment to misbehaving foals, the crude instrument could clip off the sharp, batlike fangs. Being extremely painful and somewhat dangerous, only the very desperate went that far.

Tonight, losing himself in these idle thoughts was not enough to drown out the noises from the room. They penetrated his mental defenses and made themselves known to his conscious mind. His last resort was the recitation of the Solace of the Night. The poem was said to have been composed by her majesty Princess Luna herself (before her banishment) and is supposed to contain some subtle magic to calm the mind. Any Night Guard worth their salt could recite those verses in their sleep if necessary.

*Thump* *Thump*

In the quiet hooves of night,
Where shadows softly weave,
I find a solace in the dark,
A place where dreams can breathe-

*Eeeeeeeeep*

The stars, like whispers, sing to me,
Their light a gentle guide,
And in the silence, peace unfolds,
As all the world subsides-

*Thump* *Thump*

The moon, a tender guardian,
Holds secrets in her glow,
And in her silver light, I find
A comfort few can know-

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

For in the stillness of the night,
When all is cloaked in deep,
I find the solace that I seek,
In night’s embrace-

*Eeeeeeeep*

The mantra was interrupted by a particularly forceful wave of ultrasonic sound.

Accepting that he would not find peace tonight, Silent Night surrendered his attention to the unrelenting rhythms. All he wanted now was to hear her voice. But each time she and he locked eyes for a moment, they had not spoken to each other. He because he couldn’t, she because she wouldn’t. He had never heard her voice.

After almost 6 turns of the hourglass, the door opened. The invaders leaving first and then she. Everything in the usual manner. Standing in the corridor alone once again, Silent Night was considering his situation with unusual clarity. Everything and everypony around him seemed broken. Still, he wasn’t doing anything other than what he had always been doing. There were many ponies smarter and more powerful than him. They must be aware of the plot.

Except they weren’t. His guard captain, Nightfall, was the sort who was afraid of nothing, not even the sky falling. If his superiors had ordered him to charge into a dragon’s cave, he would only have stopped to express his gratitude for the trust bestowed into him, before flying into almost certain death. As with all the others, none of Silent Night’s written letters and entreaties stirred him. Nightfall expertly navigated the guards along the familiar lines of routine as they always had been, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Strange thing was, Silent Night was unsure how all of this came into being in the first place. He could clearly remember his foalhood, his old friends, his schooldays. He could chart out his life from early memories until adulthood. There was, however, some formless curtain hanging in his mind between these memories and his current situation. Like in a dream, he knew who he was, but the precise circumstances of how he had ended up where he was at that time eluded him stubbornly.

The knowledge that an invasion had taken place was deeply rooted in his mind, like an unmoving rock in the shifting sands of a desert. How this knowledge came to him, Silent Night was unsure. He did not remember the events of the invasion, how Equestria had lost. Neither did his surroundings reflect this reality. There were no signs of conflict, no signs of struggle or destruction. Due to his profession, he was familiar with many ponies in the military. As far as he was aware all of them were accounted for, none had died in war or struggle recently.

Similarly, the exact nature of the enemy was eluding him. Though seeing them each night, he was not able to recall the exact details of their appearance, even their race was somewhat in question. They were tall and equine, yes, but everything else was lost beyond the haze. As with recalling the images of a fading dream, the more he clung to the memories, the faster they evaporated. Like soft mist in the dawn.

The only logical conclusion was that everypony was under some sort of spell. Some curse, some hex or some charm which trapped them into their daily routines. Surely the bearers of the elements, the princesses, or some other pony would make themselves known and free Equestria from this stranglehold. Even as he tried to cement these thoughts in his brain, Silent Night felt the gnawing of doubt. He had dealt with many victims of trauma. Denial and the creation of an alternate, fictional reality, in which all the problems would soon be solved by some miracle, was very common.

But how was she different? Why was she the only pony who seemed truly alive and intact in this nightmare world? Silent Night resolved to find out. Maybe she was the key to understanding whatever ills had befallen Equestria. Maybe through her they would be able to lift this curse that had been set upon ponykind. Finally, Silent Night decided that he needed to act even if nopony else was going to.

These thoughts clung to his mind and followed him through the end of his shift, to his quarters and ultimately to sleep.

The following night, while guarding his door, anxiety weighed upon his belly, like he had swallowed a hot, heavy stone. Silent Night considered the fact that he was armed, and the invaders were not. Even their powerful bodies would not be able to stand against a determined Night Guard with a weapon, he was sure of it. Then why did he not simply storm the room? Was it because it would go against his orders?

He considered that in his excitement, there was a different feeling as well. A feeling which he had been able to smother with great efficiency until now. Some part of him, hidden in the dark recesses of his consciousness, wanted to walk into that room, not to stop the proceedings. That part wanted to join in.

Feeling disgusted and ashamed, Silent Night could not stop a stirring in his stallionhood as this awareness finally fought its way to the surface of his mind.

No, he would wait until she was alone. And so he did. That night, the hourglass was turned only 3 times before the door opened. As the invaders receded from sight, after a moment’s hesitation, Silent Night entered the room. His hooves seemed to echo strangely off the empty walls and pillowed floor. Resolutely, he trotted up to the mare, who was simply sitting in her usual spot in the center of the room, her eyes dreamily looking upwards through the skylight.

Through gritted determination, Silent Night forced his mind not to linger on the wet stains on her body, forced his mind to ignore the white liquid dripping from her mouth and tail. Gingerly, he pulled a piece of paper out of his dark uniform and held it in his muzzle as he gently touched her shoulder to get her attention. The mare calmly turned her wistful face away from the skylight and considered the message.

I know that something is wrong, I can see that you are different. I want to help you to get out of here.

She lifted her gaze to look into his pleading eyes, but only gave him a soft, apologetic smile.

“I am free to leave, as are you. You must know this”, her quiet, steely voice contrasted and accentuated her seeming fragility. There was a force behind there like a meandering stream carving its way through a mountain. After finally hearing it, he knew that it was impossible for her to have had any other voice.

Truthfully, Silent Night was not wholly surprised. The invaders had not shown any sign of coercion towards her or anypony else. She came and went alone, unobserved, unguarded and unfollowed. He quickly scribbled down another message for her with his clumsy mouth.

Then why do you do this?

As she read this, a soft chuckle escaped her lips.

“Have you ever considered that maybe I because I want to?”, she asked with kindness but also a hint of mockery in her voice.

Not waiting for a reaction, her features softened again as she continued in a conspiratorial whisper:

“But no, you are right of course. I know that something is wrong. I was not able to contact her majesty or anypony high of station unaffected by this madness. This is why I have made it my mission to collect as much intelligence as possible on these invaders. As soon as whatever resistance is out there makes contact, I will be able to provide them with key information. I have compiled a list of strengths, weaknesses, and characteristics of approximately 148 individual invaders. This intelligence will be helpful to whoever will defeat them.”

Feeling impressed and shocked by this revelation, Silent Night’s face must have been an open book to the her.

“Any damage to my mind, body or soul is secondary to the mission, I will stop at nothing to see Equestria liberated”, her determined whisper was filled with terrible purpose.

Getting over his surprise, Silent Night resolutely scribbled another message.

How can I help?

“I can see that you too have retained something of yourself. Our positions as guards convey many strategic advantages. Observe their comings and goings, their routines. Make a note of everything, no matter how inconsequential or trivial it seems. Who knows what may be important. Most importantly, stay sane. Keep your head on straight. Retain whatever piece of yourself it is that keeps your eyes open. Hold it close to your heart like the treasure it is. And don’t let them notice.”

Author's Note

This is my first story on here. Any feedback and comment is welcome, let me know what you think.

Breaking the Habit

Canterlot’s streets were eerily quiet, the usual hum and bustle of activity completely absent. Lanterns cast an orange glow, illuminating pools of light on the empty paths. A light breeze rustled the leaves of the few trees lining the streets. Aside from the occasional stray cat or the distant clopping of hooves, there were no sounds to disturb the stillness.

Silent Night pulled his leathery wings tighter around his body as he wandered aimlessly down the deserted city. The early morning chill seeped into his bones, but he kept walking, consumed by his own thoughts. Stores, restaurants, and offices stood dark and shuttered, leaving the cityscape with a haunting, abandoned feel.

Occasionally, a carriage would pass by, the motion briefly cutting through the gloom before disappearing around the corner. Silent Night would pause, watching it fade, then continue on, his hoofsteps echoing on the cobblestones.

The sky gradually lightened from inky black to a deep indigo as the first hints of dawn approached. But for now, the city remained trapped in this liminal space between night and day, alive but dormant, waiting for the world to wake up around it.

Silent Night knew that would never happen.

The city might become more active. Ponies would roam the streets in a buzzle of activity. But the world was asleep, and the sunrise would not rouse it.

He considered if he might be dreaming. What a wonderful feeling it would be to wake up and find everything in order and as it should be. While it was tempting to surrender to these fantasies, Silent Night knew in his heart that he was awake.

Just as the mare had told him, Silent Night was making note of any irregularity he saw, anything that seemed strange. However, the persistent gnawing of doubt returned to his mind. While the sarosian mare was more awake than the others, there was something else wrong with her. He couldn’t quite put his hoof on it yet. Perhaps it was the way she spoke to him. It had been like she was reciting an often-repeated verse.

Anxiety again made itself known in his stomach as a suspicion dawned on him. How often had he been tempted to give in to the fantasy of some alternate world, some reality in which everything would be well? What if that’s what she had done?

As much as he wished to, he was unable to shut off his analytical mind. Sharply trained in the investigation branch of the Night Guard, it arrived at its terrible conclusion.

She was delusional.

While she had kept alive whatever spark had been lost in his fellow ponies, her mind had clearly sought another escape. Clearly, she was simply rationalizing her actions and imagining herself as a kind of agent behind enemy lines, waiting for resistance fighters to pick her up. Resistance fighters who would likely never arrive. Waiting for her ‘intelligence’ reports to make a difference in a liberation that would never happen.

But how could he be sure she was the crazy one? He, unable to even explain his own actions. He, utterly confused about the world around him. He, following the same, pointless routine every night for no reason he could understand.

Well, even with his clouded mind, Silent Night’s special talent for deduction had not left his side. Her words and her actions simply did not line up. Even if there was a resistance somewhere, and even if she was ready to sacrifice anything to liberate Equestria, spending every night sleeping with the invaders was not a sensible course of action.

Then, there was the way she talked to him, the way she looked at him. Remembering the scene, he saw what he hadn’t noticed before. She wasn’t only trying to convince him; she was mostly trying to convince herself.

She didn’t truly believe what she was saying. The inherent need to be honest is so strong within ponies, that they often accidently reveal the truth even if they intend to lie. The last piece of the puzzle falling in place, Silent Night thought back on the first words she spoke to him when he asked her why she was doing this:

Have you ever considered that maybe I because I want to?

Silent Night let out a deep sigh he hadn’t realized he was holding in. If she wanted to give in to her delusions and enjoy her time doing so, who was he to stop her? Surely it was better than what miserable existence he was living. How was he going to break the chains wrapped around Equestria? By standing outside a door and listen to her having sex every night? He grinned warily at that. Compared to his strategy, her approach was brilliant.

He looked up to see where his hooves had taken him, while he was absorbed within his own mind. The donut shop before him was already closed. It enjoyed an almost mythical reputation among the Night Guard, as the opening times reached deep into the late hours.

With a yawn, Silent Night spread his wings, let them catch the rapid mountain winds and took off. Rapidly gaining some distance from the mountain city, he let the thermals push him upwards. From up there, it almost seemed like nothing was amiss. Just the first stirrings of another Canterlot morning. Princess Celestia would raise the sun, and all would be well.

Lazily, he let himself glide back to the castle.

The barracks of the Night Guard were well shielded from the sunlight and sounds of the morning, but Silent Night could not turn off the rumblings of his mind. As he had done often recently, he kept reciting the Solace of the Night in his head before drifting to sleep.

On the following evening, not knowing what else to do, he donned his armor, took his spear from the rack, and reluctantly trotted to his usual post.
Like clockwork, the routine of every night seemed to repeat itself. Right on time, the mare arrived and without any indication that the previous night’s interaction had ever happened, she entered the room. However, as the invaders came, something changed. Just as the last one was about to enter the room, he hesitated.

The invader stood inside the doorframe and turned his head towards Silent Night, considering him with those kind, thoughtful eyes. Time seemed to stop for a moment, as Silent Night’s heart skipped a few beats. A knowing, conspiratorial smile appeared on the invader’s muzzle as he glanced into the room and back to Silent Night.

The invader nodded towards the room invitingly, gesturing for Silent Night to enter. While some part of the Night Guard desperately wanted to follow the invitation, the rational voice in his mind would not allow it. He knew that it was wrong, even if the mare was doing this of her own free will, she likely was confused and delusional. He determinately shook his head.

Giving him another kind smile, the invader simply nodded, entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Like the night before, Silent Night was unable to ignore the realities of what was happening just a few steps behind him. Even worse, he kept imagining himself inside the room. The inviting smile of the invader would not vanish from his mind’s eye.

What would it feel like to stroke her dark mane, to gently touch her wings with his own? What would her scent be like when he ran his muzzle down her slim body. What would it feel like when their lips softly touched…

With some shame, he observed that his member had become almost fully erect. When was the last time he had slept with somepony? He wasn’t quite sure, time flowed strangely these days.

Forcefully shifting his attention away from these fantasies, a kindling of rage ignited in his heart. Of course, this was wrong! How could he let these moonforsaken invaders exploit the mental state of his fellow Night Guard? He was sworn to protect, for Luna’s sake. He was sworn to give his blood and life to defend his fellow ponies, the crowns and Equestria itself. No, this had gone far enough, no more.

Quickly adjusting his armor and readying his spear, Silent Night followed this sudden impulse and ripped the door open.

He didn’t know what he had expected to find, but he was still stunned. At the center of the room the sarosian mare was sandwiched between two of the invaders. Laying with her back on his belly, his cock entered her rear, while her tail was lazily wrapped around his left hindleg. Another invader was standing right above them, his member deeply inside her from the front. Her dark coat did little to cover a crimson blush in her face, which was contorted in pleasure.

The others in the room clearly were not able to perceive high frequency sounds. Without the door to block them, her ear-splitting ultrasonic moans almost drowned out any other noise. The two invaders themselves occasionally let out satisfied huffs and groans in rhythm to their asynchronous thrusts.

Silent Night suddenly felt supremely awkward. He was not even able to shout out his anger and indignation and nopony else had seemed to notice him. Like a candle dropped into a lake, the rage that had flamed up within him was extinguished in an instant. Glancing quickly around the room, the picture became even stranger.

Near the walls and edges of the room, several invaders were lazily stretched across the pillows and were calmy watching the proceedings with their strangely kind expressions. The moon shone through the crystal pane like a stage light, illuminating the actors of this perverse performance.

Just as Silent Night decided to retreat from the room and reevaluate the situation, the first heads started to turn towards his him. Their faces did not reveal any sings of surprise, shock or anger, but barely even flickered as they looked at him. After what felt like hours, but were probably seconds, the attention of the ‘performers’ in the middle of the room slowly shifted towards him as well. Her eyes still fixed on the skylight, the mare was still blissfully unaware of him, while the invaders above and below her glanced towards Silent Night.

This however only lasted a few moments, as the mare noticed her companions now being otherwise occupied. Silent Night would never forget the moment her head turned towards him. Again, time slowed to a crawl as she fixed him with those burning yellow eyes. Unable to move, think, or do anything, Silent Night sucked in all the impressions around him like a dry sponge.

Instead of pausing or slowing down, the two invaders in the center even intensified and quickened their thrusts as the faces of the observers in the room grew uncharacteristically excited.

Focusing back on the mare, Silent Night saw as a terrible recognition spread across her face. For the first time, she saw herself through his eyes. Not as she imagined herself to be, but as a confused, delusional mare who created a dream world for herself so she could escape a bleak reality.

Paradoxically, this triggered a sudden surge of pleasure, rippling through her body from head to tail. Her slender body locked up for a split second, and as her moans paused, the world was incredibly still.

Returning with a thundering intensity, the following moan signaled the apex of a deep orgasm. Her eyes still locked on him; they flared up like shooting stars on a moonless night. Then they began to dim. Silent Night watched in growing horror, as her eyes became ever duller, until she finally looked just like any of the other ponies. Just as empty and broken as the rest.

With terrible certainty, he knew that they would not light up again. He knew that something within her had given away at that moment, some floodgate had been opened and the river of life within her, that had seemed so unbending, had flowed away and been sucked up by the soil. Not being able to avert his gaze, Silent Night suddenly felt utterly alone in the world. He had just watched the last star on his horizon flicker out into nothingness. The last lighthouse in the storm had gone utterly dark.

The world ought to have ended just in this moment. However, the unrelenting wheel of time kept turning. Even through his shock, Silent Night could not turn off his cursed analytical mind observing what followed.

The invaders were not at all bothered, but instead looked at the mare with deep satisfaction. Having stopped his thrusts, the stallion above her planted a tender kiss on her forehead, as he carefully removed his cock from insider her. It exited her with a barely audible pop. Only some fluids came with it, obviously he hadn’t orgasmed himself.

Likewise, the invader below her, gingerly applied his hooves to her small frame and pulled her towards his face, while he stretched out his flank, to let his own somewhat limp member carefully slide out of her rear. With it, came a thick torrent of pearly semen, which first meandered down both of their flanks until it collected in a small puddle between his rear hooves. Unlike his partner, he had clearly enjoyed the heights of pleasure.

Adding to the bizarre situation, a thumping of hooves started around the room, as the observers respectfully tapped the floor in applause. The show was over. The sick performance had ended, and the curtains had closed on the stage.

Lullaby for Equestria

Silent Night was flying.

He did not know where to and why, and he did not care.

The rushing winds of the Canterhorn pushed his body around like a leaf in the wind. As soon as tears welled up at the corner of his tired eyes, they were ripped off his fur and claimed by the air around him.

With tired flaps, he worked his way ever upward towards the peak, ignoring the frost slowly numbing the feeling in the thin membranes of his wings. No matter how much he pushed himself, her eyes would not leave his consciousness. Every time he blinked against wind; they would be there. Her golden eyes would flare up and burn out, again and again.

A vicious gust slammed into Silent Night, sending him spinning out of control. Cold. Pain. The world became a dizzying whirlwind. Gritting his teeth, he fought to regain control—but then, on impulse, he surrendered. Eyes closed; wings relaxed. No more struggle. He yielded to the air's whims, greeting each shove with resignation. Up, down. Left, right. Backwards, forwards. The tumbling continued, but now on nature's terms, not his.

It wasn’t long until his forward momentum had been swallowed up and he was falling out of the sky like a stone. It felt like he was finally relaxing a muscle he had been clenching all his life, letting go and feeling the current taking him away. For just a moment, he was at peace.

However, this liberation did not last long. After only a few seconds, his deeper instincts kicked into gear as his yellow eyes snapped open.

The strain on his wings was almost unbearable as they caught him in freefall and started pushing him forwards again. After finally regaining full control of his flight, he turned his gaze downwards and saw the rocks racing by not far below him. It had been a close thing.

Being utterly exhausted of flying, he slowed down and came to a rough landing, barely noticing the rocks bruising his hooves and legs.

Panting heavily, he lazily considered his surroundings, like having just woken up from a nap. It must have been sometime around 3 am, there was no sign yet of the inevitable sunrise. The spring night carried scents of flowers and melting mountain snow.

The small rocks crunched satisfyingly underneath Silent Night’s hooves as he trotted around the mountain slope aimlessly. Here, in the shadow of the Canterhorn mountain, the lights and activities of Canterlot were quickly forgotten. Just a lonely Sarosian staring into nothingness.

Echolocation: an unconscious habit for batponies. Countless echoes paint a world unseen. Silent Night's ultrasonic senses tingled—a cave entrance, nearby. No surprise here. The Canterhorn's slopes are a patchwork of openings, natural and pony-made. Greedy termites, these miners—ponies and diamond dogs alike—burrowing for gems and minerals. Ancient instincts stirred. Silent Night approached, then entered, his hooves barely rustling against the stone.

Navigating in this environment came natural to him. After taking a few random turns, his ears perked up in excitement. Deeper down the cave, crystals lining the walls had absorbed his ultrasound waves, and were answering them with a harmonic echo.

Memories of school lessons flickered in Silent Night's mind. The Crystal Empire, a city of wonder in the frozen north. Its crystals, mined from the Canterhorn and beyond, held unique properties. Properly aligned, they could amplify and transmit both emotion and magic. Some ponies even claimed to hear them sing. Now, surrounded by these glowing minerals, Silent Night understood why.

A once extinguished hope was rekindled by the reverberating crystals.

In an instant, Silent Night began dashing through the pitch-black caverns towards the strange echoes. The rock walls streaked past him, as he let his instincts guide him through the winding tunnels. It wasn’t long until bright crystals started to line the cave walls. However, they sounded just not quite right. Upon each fork in the path, Silent Night had to come to a halt. He had to wait until his breathing calmed just enough and the pounding of his heart had mellowed out. Impatiently, he listened which direction returned the more promising echoes. He would have been unable to describe the feeling to any pony who could not hear the crystals themselves.

It was like he was asking, and the crystals were answering, beckoning him ever forwards into the darkness. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left.

Just as the shadow of doubt had begun to rear its head once again, the most beautiful sound reaches his eagerly awaiting ears. The world itself had aligned its frequency with his body. He felt the vibrations tingling through his skull and down his barrel, joining together with the ground at the base of his hooves. His ultrasound pulses and the crystals were singing a duet, and Equestria was bobbing to the rhythm.

Silent Night approached the source with reverence. One hoof. Then another. The corridor widened. A small cavern revealed itself, walls glittering. Crystals everywhere. His ultrasonic pulses danced off the surfaces—playful, gleeful. Like foals in a meadow, they bounced and pranced, painting an auditory masterpiece.

Silent Night trotted to the middle of the cavern, gathered his hooved underneath him, and plopped down. He took a few moments to breath in deeply and just listen to the crystals around him. As his body calmed, he noticed small imperfections in the harmony. Barely perceivable warps in the pitch.

Configuring crystals to perfect harmony was a difficult even for the most experienced of crystallers. To expect it from a natural formation was highly unreasonable. Well, you work with what you have. It had to be enough.

After swearing themselves to Princess Luna, the guardian of the Night, she would reveal to her Night Guards a well-kept secret. A way for them to seek her counsel when all other options had been exhausted. Impossible to intercept or manipulate.

All he had to do was speak the words. The princess had assured him that, even if he was unable to physically produce the sounds, it was still possible to use them. Of course, he had tried it countless times since the invasion and had never succeeded. But maybe, just maybe, here it would work.

To calm his frayed nerves, first he recited the Solace of the Night in his head a couple of times. When his mind had finally come to rest, he began to look for the perfect ultrasound frequency. After a few minutes, the cavern around him was in perfect tune with his body. Everything was ready.

Gathering every ounce of willpower and concentration he could muster; Silent Night focused his whole being on the words. He screamed them, roared them, inside his battered mind, while humming in tune with the crystals.

When hope is gone,
undo this lock.
Send me forth,
On a moonlit walk.

First, nothing happened. The words evaporated before his mind’s eye, leaving barren emptiness. Then, an almost imperceivable change occurred in the reverberations of the crystals. The frequency of their hum crept ever upwards, taking on shriller and shriller notes until they screeched into his sensitive ears with unrelenting ferocity. Silent Night could only cover them with his wings and hooves, as the sounds completely disorientated him. He heard terrible cracking sounds. First hairline fissures appearing in the crystals - then gradually widening into gaping cracks.

Terrible screeches exploded onto his mind as the first crystals violently exploded, showering his cowering body with sharp splinters. Still, the echoes grew louder and louder. Just as Silent Night was certain his mind was about to finally cave to the pressure, the cacophony faded into a single, mournful note and the whole world dropped away.

Silent Night found himself in a familiar, sparsely lit hallway. The mingled scents of candlewax and ancient books washed over him, soothing his troubled mind. This was where he needed to be. Everything would be alright.

As if guided by invisible strings, he approached the black door at the corridor's end. His hoof raised, hesitated, then pressed against the cool surface. One deep breath, and he pushed it open.

The sight that greeted him never failed to take his breath away, no matter how many times he'd seen it. Princess Luna stood silhouetted against the window, her back to him. Her ethereal mane danced in an impossible breeze, catching the soft glow of candlelight. The room's scent—a heady mix of night-blooming flowers and recent rain—filled his senses. Silent Night's heart raced, threatening to burst from his chest.

Despite his awe, his hooves moved of their own accord, carrying him across the threshold and to his princess's side.

Luna towered over him, her form a paradox of strength and delicacy. Her otherworldly beauty seemed as fragile as frost on a pond, yet she radiated power that could reshape reality with a mere flick of her horn. Silent Night felt both humbled and unsettled in her presence.

When he looked at this princess he served and loved with all his heart, he saw her smile. The smile was so sad, that his heart trembled.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a faint, ghostly voice, not realizing that he had never spoken before.

“We are just waking up from a beautiful dream,” Luna replied with a calm, steely voice, which directly spoke to his mind instead of entering through his ears.

“Isn’t… Isn’t this a dream, too?” Silent Night asked with a shaking voice.

Luna turned her head and focused him with all-white, glowing eyes.

“Of course, my little soldier. Yet we were in a much deeper sleep when your song roused us awake,” she said with a hint of reprimand in her voice.

Guilt pierced Silent Night's heart like an icicle. He swallowed hard, his words tumbling out in a desperate rush. "Your majesty, we need you. The world... it's all wrong, broken. But I've awakened you! Surely now you can—"

Luna's wing unfurled, silencing him as it wrapped around his barrel. She drew him close, her touch a paradox of comfort and authority. Her coat, soft as moonlight, pressed against him like cool silk. Her ethereal mane brushed his neck, reminiscent of autumn's first chill breeze. In this grey life of his, the dream seemed especially colorful and intense.

“My little soldier, the world you knew is fading. Not with a bang, but with a whisper,” Luna whispered in a sad, apologetic hush, as she pulled him further towards him, lightly putting her head upon his.

Silent Night's voice quivered, barely containing his anguish. "The invaders... they've bewitched everypony. They're all so cold, so empty now. There was one pony, so vibrant, so alive... but even she's gone." He blinked rapidly, fighting back tears in his princess's presence as the harsh reality of his world crashed over him anew.

Luna's eyes softened. "Tell me, little one, what is the purpose of dreams?"

The sudden change of topic caught Silent Night off-guard. He took a steadying breath before answering, "Dreams help us process the waking world, Princess. They consolidate memories, preserving what's important and discarding the rest. They're our mind's way of working through fear, guilt, and trauma, freeing our conscious self to face each new day."

"Well said," Luna nodded approvingly. "You truly are a soldier of the night, bearing both strength and wisdom. But what happens when an event is so catastrophic, so traumatic, that even the magic of dreams cannot process it?"

Silent Night's brow furrowed in thought. "In such cases, the mind gets stuck. The afflicted pony relives the same nightmare, over and over. It's what doctors call post-traumatic stress. That's when... that's when you step in, isn't it? You guide them through the maze of their mind, helping them find an escape."

Luna's wing tightened around him, and she drew him closer still, wrapping a comforting hoof around him.

With a soft glow, she conjured up the image of one of the invaders. He was only just a bit taller than her.

“Part of your mind has already gone to sleep. You are confused because the wakeful and slumbering parts of yourself are in conflict with each other. Your dreaming unconsciousness is trying to hide certain… unpleasantries from your wake self. These poor creatures may seem like invaders, to you, like intruders. They are here to guide stragglers to the herd. Their purpose is a noble one and their sacrifice immeasurable,” Luna said as she petted the invader’s head appreciatively.

Why was she talking about dreams? How could she sympathize with the invaders? A terrible realization dawned on Silent Night, as all the puzzle pieces fell in place.

“This… this is all you? You are doing this? Why?” Silent Night managed, as panic settled in.

Princess Luna calmy stroked his neck with her hoof and fixed him with her ghostly white eyes.

“You flatter us, little soldier. We might be the guardian of dreams, but alone, even we would not be able to affect our beloved ponies on such a scale. No, our magics break down after only including a handful of ponies in a dream, a couple dozen at best. All of Equestria? Impossible.”

The dark alicorn's horn glimmered, and suddenly they were standing above Canterlot. The city below seemed dull; its usual vibrancy muted.

"Look closely," Luna whispered.

As Silent Night watched, he noticed subtle changes. Pegasi flew in tight, aggressive formations. Earth ponies moved with an unsettling purpose. Unicorns gathered in secretive circles, their horns pulsing with barely contained power.

“Will it be enough to tell you that this was the only way? Will it be enough to tell you that all other options had been exhausted? That this was the only card left in our hooves? The ultima ratio?” Luna shook her head sadly.

Shifting again, Silent Night and Princess Luna were floating above a griffin village. Young Griffins played in the sun. Old Griffins were browsing in the marketplace. Thousands of migratory birds happily chirping in their cliffside nests.

The princess was pointing towards the sky.

Silent Night’s eyes followed her gaze to a roiling mass of dark, heavy clouds. Their edges were tinged with an eerie, greenish-gray hue. The mammoth cloud formation seemed to boil and churn.

Flashes of light illuminated the clouds from within, briefly revealing their layered depths before plunging them back into shadow. These flashes created a constant, flickering effect, as if the storm was alive and breathing.

Much, much too fast, the menacing darkness crept over the village, swallowing the last vestiges of daylight. The air grew thick and electric, charged with an ominous energy that set his teeth on edge and raised the fur on his back.

Without warning, the sky erupted. A blinding flash seared across the heavens. It was followed instantly by a deafening crack that shook the very foundations of the earth. The villagers barely had time to gasp before the next bolt struck right into one of the buildings. Fire. The griffins’ terror-stricken faces were illuminated with harsh, white glares, as the storm descended upon them like a ravenous beast.

Lightning lashed out in all directions as it struck building after building with merciless precision.

Hail came next. Not small kernels, but projectiles the size of apples. The confusion was total, as some of the griffins tried to flee from the burning buildings, while others sought shelter from the murderous hail. Any who were desperate enough to try and take off, were swept away by the howling winds within seconds.

The village, before a haven of peace, found itself at the mercy of the storm’s awesome and terrifying power.

And just as quickly as it had begun, the storm moved on. Leaving behind a trail of near total destruction, the village was left barely recognizable as such.

The sorrowful cries of birds with broken feathers never ceased.

With an expression of cold acceptance, Princess Luna gestured upwards and spread her wings. Silent Night followed. A single beat of their wings brought them up impossibly high, impossibly fast.

Now above the storm, Silent Night’s most terrible suspicions were confirmed. Within the dark clouds, tens of thousands small, colorful dots were flying among the storm.

The pegasi directed this natural disaster with a horrifying beauty.

After watching for a long while, Silent Night spoke, without turning his eyes away from the spectacle.

“Why would they do this? The griffins are our friends!”

Luna shook her head sadly as she answered.

“Ultimately, ponies are a species of flight. It doesn’t take much. In the ancient times, a single snake in the grass could launch a whole herd into a panicked frenzy. Those instincts are still within us. Maybe it was a misunderstanding, maybe it was some stupid griffin warlord trying to make his mark on the world. It does not matter. You ponies would conquer the world merely in self-defense.”

"But surely you could have stopped it?" Silent Night pleaded.

Luna shook her head. "We are not gods, little one. We are but shepherds, and sometimes the flock strays too far."

For most ponies, the constant trauma hammering upon them might have dulled their senses. But Silent Night had the mental habits of an investigator and he refused to look away. Rather, he looked at the madness and hatred with a rational gaze. The bloody trajectory of ponykind shocked him.

“Unfortunately,” his princess continued, “that is not all.”

Images flashed before Silent Night's eyes: storms that devoured continents, magic that twisted reality, weapons that could shatter the world.

“If ponies obtained mastery of any of these forces, the world might be vaporized in but a moment. When playing with powers such as these, the world tends not to forgive,” Luna said gravely.

Silent Night’s vision was filled with a blinding flash of light. After his eyes had recovered, he stood in an empty, desolate wasteland. Every fiber of his equine being recoiled at the sight.

What he hated the most were the waves of sand blowing across the plane. A visual representation of uncaring entropy, pointless motion. Only the ups and downs of random chance. Without life. Without pattern.

Peaks and valleys flattened into grains of sand. The whole world just a two-dimensional board. Lonely. Desolate. So wide that it was intolerable. He could go forward and backward as long as he liked but would never find the end.

“How did you feel, when you did it?” he asked dejectedly.

“I did it without feeling anything. This fate had to be avoided. I did not care what price had to be paid, neither by me nor by others. Finally, I could see my purpose. Some ponies are born to make their mark on the world, to leave their hoofprints in the soil of history. Others are born to wipe them away,” Luna replied in a determined voice.

“Equestria was an amazing dream, my little soldier,” she continued, “but one always awakes from a dream. We ran out of history. I just wish I could have been here for more of it. Nevertheless, our time on the stage is over.”

Something inside Silent Night, something which was suppressed before, was reawakening. Nightmarish memories, like embers coming back to life, burned more and more fiercely in his heart. In that moment, he saw the rest of his life, in the same dreary greyness as the wasteland around him. Surprisingly, a feeling of peace washed over him. He realized that there was no fight, there was no enemy. Whatever the circumstances, fate had run its course and the whole world was holding its breath, waiting for him to catch up to that fact.

He took a moment to remember all the little sparks of happiness and joy throughout his life. His first friend. His first birthday party. His first kiss. As he did so, the desolate wasteland was replaced by these memories, somehow carrying more life and more detail than he thought possible. Tears started flowing down his muzzle freely, and he made no effort to stop them.

"So, this is... mercy?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Luna nodded solemnly. "A dreamless sleep, rather than a waking nightmare. A chance for life to begin anew, untainted by the sins of the past."

As understanding dawned, Silent Night felt a strange peace settle over him. The world around them faded, leaving only the comforting presence of his Princess.

"What happens now?" he asked.

Luna's eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "Now, my brave soldier, you make a choice. To join your herd in slumber, or to walk a while longer in this fading dream."

Silent Night's eyes snapped open, the cave materializing around him. Despite the tumultuous dream, he felt oddly refreshed. Countless crystal shards littered the floor, each one reflecting his gaze back at him like tiny, luminous eyes. He spared them only a fleeting glance before rising to his hooves.

His innate echolocation guided him effortlessly through the winding passages. As he emerged from the cave's mouth, the day's last light painted the sky in deep purples and oranges. He'd slept far longer than intended, but time seemed less relevant now. With renewed purpose coursing through his veins, Silent Night spread his wings and launched himself towards Canterlot.

The familiar spires of the palace loomed before him, stirring a mix of emotions in his chest. As he made his way through the corridors, following a path worn into his memory, Silent Night found himself drinking in every detail. The intricate tapestries, the whisper of his hooves on marble, the faint scent of old books and polished armor – all of it seemed sharper, more vivid than ever before.

Before he knew it, he his hooves had carried him back to that room. That door he had guarded so diligently, so pointlessly. Knowing precisely what he was going to do, he confidently pushed it open.

The moonlight shining through the crystal panes was a wonderful artist. It created a classical painting with dignified colors and bright strokes. The glow from the skylight washed over the invader lounging in the middle of the room with vivid, warm hues, while the rest of the chamber dissolved in a gentle, relaxing darkness.

Half a dozen figures lounged on scattered pillows, their eyes meeting his with curiosity and satisfaction. 'Invaders,' he had once called them. But now, understanding bloomed within him. They weren't conquerors, but servants of the same cause. Silent Night's perspective shifted, and in that moment, he saw them anew. Not as invaders, but as friends.

With his head held high, he began the process of unbuckling and loosening the straps of his Night Guard armor. With confident, practiced ease, it only took him a few minutes until he was stripped of his clothes. The friends only watched with encouraging smiles.

When he was done, Silent Night strode up to the friend in the middle of the room and mustered him with a playful, challenging smile. In response, the tall stallion stood up from his pillow and answered his smile in kind. In his full height, he needed to look straight down on Silent Night as they stood so closely together.

Communicating without words, he spread his front legs apart, so that Silent Night could step underneath him with a bowed head. As the Night Guard’s muzzle approached the friend’s flank, the scent of the tall stallion filled his nostrils. It was a strong, aromatic smell, conjuring up images of fallen leaves and walnuts.

Plunging in without hesitation, Silent Night pressed his muzzle softly against the stallion’s exposed sheath and gave it a playful kiss. He observed with great satisfaction, as the length quickly started sliding out. The Sarosian greeted every inch of the friend’s shaft with a small kiss and, wrapping his leathery wings out in front of him, caressed the balls with their soft, dexterous tips. With a satisfied smirk, he felt an excited shiver going through the friend’s heavy body.

Somewhere at the edges of his mind, Silent Night registered that his own member had fully slid out as well. He continued to apply his tongue across the friend’s considerable length, while assisting with wing and hoof in soft, sensual strokes. His efforts were soon rewarded, as the quivering cock swiftly gained in stiffness and eventually even a small pearl of semen emerged.

With patient relish, Silent Night slid his tongue across the whole length one more time, starting with the balls and ending at the member’s head, where he greedily licked up the white pearl and applied his lips to carefully suck out the remaining liquid from inside. Silent Night inhaled the salty flavor and was greedy to go further.

He stepped back out from underneath the friend’s body, admiring his work and nodding with a satisfied smile. Not wasting any time, he quickly turned around, sank down onto his front knees and lifted his tail. Bending down was hardly necessary, as the friend could step over him without trouble, but he wanted to give him as easy of an access as possible.

In a conveniently placed mirror, Silent Night observed the friend proudly moving himself on top of him once more. The stallion also bent down his front knees and let a part of his weight rest upon the Night Guard’s back. He patiently aligned his stiff cock with Silent Night’s rear.

With both of their bodies in eager anticipation, it took a few tries until it found purchase and was resting heavily on Silent Night’s backside.

The anatomical implausibility of the whole venture was only faintly finding its way through the Night Guard’s lust. He closed his eyes and decided that it just had to work.

Without warning, he felt the friend bite down hard on his shoulder. Simultaneously, he felt the pressure on his sphincter increase. He let out a silent yelp of pain, as it stretched and stretched, but the cock’s broad head simply did not want to slide inside. Silent Night focused his attention squarely on the teeth digging into his shoulder, trying to blot out the ripping pain in his entrance.

With a final, determined push, the Sarosian’s muscles relented and made way for the friend’s member to find its way inside. Both equines simultaneously relaxed as the tall stallion above him let out a satisfied moan.

Silent Night felt his insides gradually give way, as the friend’s cock slowly slid its way forward, inch by inch. Having just passed his prostate, the friend stopped.

After quickly readjusting his weight, the taller stallion started to carefully slide his cock back and forth, just enough for the head to pass over the Night Guard’s prostate again and again.

Much too quickly, a pressure started building within Silent Night. He wanted to scream in protest, tell his partner to slow down, but all he could manage was an ultrasonic screech, which echoed off the walls and back to his ears. He started to pant heavily. The first contractions made their way through his body.

Suddenly, in his mind’s eye, Silent Night saw himself stand on a cliff’s edge. Just below, he saw a herd of ponies. While he somehow knew that no wings could catch his fall once he stepped over, he eagerly wanted to cross the precipice. But he couldn’t. Something within him, some cursed muscle was stopping him from this final step. And just like that, the moment was gone.

This, however, did not stop the pressure building within the smaller pony’s body. Just as it became almost unbearable, a final stroke broke the dam and waves of pleasure erupted through Silent Night. The whole-body orgasm did not trigger an ejaculation on Silent Night’s part, but left him in shambles, as he let himself flop down on his belly completely. He had been reduced to helpless spams.

The friend, however, was not done with him. Likewise lowering himself, he navigated his still hard cock once again towards Silent Night’s rear. Putting one hoof on the Bat Pony’s head, he savagely pressed his face into the floor as he pushed his member inside once again, which was much easier this time.

The large stallion did not content himself anymore with only stimulating Silent Night’s prostate. No, his strong, determined thrusts pushed his length further and further inside the Night Guard. With every stroke, Silent Night was convinced that he must now have run out of room, or the friend must have run out of length. But again and again, it found its way somehow deeper inside.

Only as he felt that the cock must have already penetrated most of his body, the friend’s warm balls finally met his backside with a slap. Having now shoved himself inside as far as he could, the stallion did still not relent. Instead, he increased the pressure on Silent Night’s head and even intensified his forceful thrusts as the Night Guard felt the cock inside him flaring up.

With fluids starting to leak out of Silent Night, the balls’ slaps became satisfyingly wet. The heavy body pressing on top of him, the Night Guard’s cock was helplessly wedged between the floor and his own belly. With each movement, the sensitive areas where rubbing against his fur and the tiled floor.

A familiar pressure started building up inside Silent Night, this time it was focused squarely on his rock-hard member, which now flared violently as well. Once again, the image of the cliff entered his mind. Still, he could not step over.

Feeling the wet, heavy pants of the friend’s breath on the side of his face, Silent Night erupted once again. He was helpless, as his cock spurted out hot cum again and again. The soft fur on his belly greedily sucked up the pearly liquid. Even so, a small puddle was quickly forming below him.

Undisturbed, the stallion on top of him increased the speed and ferocity of his thrusts even more, until finally, he let out a roaring groan and filled Silent Night’s intestines with thick semen in a couple of short bursts.

Panting heavily in exhaustion, both stallions remained on the floor for a while. Silent Night thoroughly enjoyed the rising and falling of the stallion’s powerful lungs against his back and feeling the stranger’s heavily thumping heart. The fullness within Silent Night was slowly receding, as the friend’s cock lost its stiffness inside him. Semen now freely flowed out of his rear and down his fur. Both of their seeds happily mixing on the floor.

Too soon, the stallion carefully removed his shaft, leaving behind a feeling of emptiness. Gone was the animalistic ferocity of the past moments. From on top of him, the friend once more gained that calm, kind expression as he softly kissed Silent Night on the back of his head.

The rush of pleasure swiftly evaporating, Silent Night was left with a cold dread slowly claiming his body. He had let himself go completely. He had let himself be taken in full by this creature. Yet he was still here. He was still unable to walk across the ledge, unable to give in to the slumber.

Isn’t this what Luna had wanted? Confusion. Frustration. His overwhelmed mind knew nothing else to do than to make him curl up on the floor, right in the puddle of semen.

Without hesitation, the other stallions in the room approached him. They lay down beside him, and around him, holding his quivering body between their strong hooves. They calmingly stroked him and didn’t leave his side.

Author's Note

Let me know in the comments if you can spot the Hellsing Ultimate Abridged reference

Goodnight

When Silent Night woke up, he felt supremely comfortable.

The beginnings of a young night shone through the ceiling window. A pile of friends around him. Their deep, rhythmic breaths calmed his mind and soul. Instinctual memories of times he had never known warmed his senses. A herd resting together. Endless fields of grass. Safety.

If only this moment could have lasted forever. Reality caught up to him before he knew it.

No endless fields of grass – a palace room smelling of sweat and sex.

No herd resting together – friends, yes, but also strange creatures that felt not truly real.

No safety – just him, struggling towards a predictable, unavoidable end.

With a soundless sigh, Silent Night carefully removed himself from the strong hooves wrapped around him. The friends quietly neighed in protest, as his movements disturbed their sleep, not quite rousing them awake.

Hovering to the entrance, the Sarosian turned around once more. He intently watched the pile of stallions lying there. No matter how much he concentrated on them, he could not pierce the veil. There was something about them, still. Something that he could not quite parse.

Even after he had felt them inside himself. Felt their sweat on his back. Felt their breaths on his fur. Felt them flare up and fill him up.

All that, yet they still didn’t feel real. Not in the same way as the other ponies had lost parts of themselves. These friends were… indescribable. Maybe it was as Luna had said, his unconscious mind was hiding something from himself. Even so, the memories of the previous night clung onto him fiercely.

Some part of him wanted to run back to them. Wake them up. Challenge them again. Let them herd him to the cliff once more, see if their powerful thrusts were able to push him over now. Explore each way they could have him - conceivable and inconceivable.

However, somewhere inside he knew this was not the way. That these stallions would not be able to finally let him fall asleep, try as they might. He would need to find his own way.

Sighing again, he quietly left the room and closed the door.

Sinking down against the entrance, he looked down on himself with disinterest.

The fur on his belly and around his groin was entirely saturated with dry, flaky semen. He was sure some of it had gotten in his face, too. Everypony who enjoyed a stallion’s touch knew how much of a pain this was to get rid of.

This was too much. First, a couple of soundless snickers. Then, a fit of uncontrollable silent laughter shook his body heavily.

There he was, alone at the end of the world. Worrying about getting cumstains out of his fur. Ridiculous. Simply ridiculous.

When the laughter died down, Silent Night had to wipe away tears from his eyes.

Tears of sadness or joy? Who knew.

Did it matter? Probably not.

As if this outburst had shaken something loose in his mind, lowered some unseen defenses, a realization dawned on him. He knew what to do now. Something he had avoided for the longest time. Something he was afraid of to his very core.

After the ponies around him had surrendered to Luna’s magic, he had hardened his heart towards them. Sure, he had tried to get some responses from them, rile them up against the ‘invaders’, but he had refused to truly see them. To truly see the ponies behind the masks.

With bitter determination, Silent Night's wings carried him through the familiar streets of Canterlot, each wingbeat felt more difficult than the last. The city, once vibrant and bustling, lay under a blanket of eerie calm. Ponies moved about their routines with their usual vacant expressions, their eyes unfocused and distant.

He found himself outside a modest townhouse, its blue paint faded and peeling. This had been his childhood home. With a deep breath, he pushed open the gate and approached the door. It swung open at his touch, as if welcoming him home one last time.

Inside, the scent of cinnamon and old books enveloped him, a bittersweet reminder of countless family dinners and quiet evenings. In the living room, he found his parents. His father, a once-jovial pegasus, sat motionless in his favorite armchair. His mother, her bat-like wings folded neatly at her sides, stood by the window, gazing out with unseeing eyes.

Mom? Dad?

Silent Night wanted to call to them, so badly.

Registering his presence, they turned towards him, their movements stiff. Their eyes, once full of warmth and love, now stared through him, devoid of recognition.

Fighting back tears, Silent Night approached his father. He placed a hoof on the older stallion's shoulder, remembering the strength and comfort it had offered throughout his life.

Thank you. Thank you for everything.

If only he could tell the old stallion how much he taught him. How much his silly life lessons meant to him. How much he wanted his dad to see him and be proud of him.

He turned to his mother, her ethereal beauty now a pale shadow of what it once was. Silent Night nuzzled her cheek, inhaling her familiar scent.

I love you both. So, so much.

As he stepped back, a memory flashed before his eyes – of laughter-filled family dinners, of his father's booming voice recounting exaggerated tales, of his mother's gentle wing-hugs. The contrast between that vibrant past and the silent, empty present made his heart ache.

He could not take more of it. Seeing them like this, really seeing them, was unbearable. They were just two ponies, out of the uncounted numbers living in Equestria.

How many lives had been wasted?

How many dreams had been washed away?

And this… was mercy?

Still, he could not shake the specter of the wasteland, the desolation. Would these ponies really have brought the end? Would they really have turned the world, through malice or mistake, to lifeless ashes?

Leaving the house, Silent Night made his way to the barracks of the Night Guard. He recounted the first time he had made this journey. First day at work. His granddad had been so proud. Of course, Silent Night had been late and had gone to the wrong building. No need to tell granddad those details though.

Once inside the barracks, he took a moment to breath in the familiar scents, or rather the familiar stink, of the place. The smell of rushing, cleaning, drilling ponies was slightly muted now, but had not – and would likely never – fade entirely.

He found some his fellow Night Guards, their armor gleaming in the dim light. They stood at attention, unmoving, unseeing. Among them was Thunder Wing, his best friend since training.

Silent Night approached him, studying the face he knew as well as his own.

Remember our first night patrol?

He thought, a sad smile playing on his lips.

You were so nervous, you flew into that weather vane.

Of course, there was no response, no flicker of recognition in Thunder Wing's eyes. Yet, as Silent Night spoke, he could almost hear his friend's infectious laughter echoing in his memories.

He moved through the barracks, touching each of his comrades' shoulders, recalling shared missions, inside jokes, and late-night conversations. These ponies had been more than colleagues; they had been his second family.

As he prepared to leave, Silent Night turned back for one last look. In that moment, he saw not the empty shells before him, but the vibrant, brave ponies they had been. He gave a final, shaky salute.

Thank you for your service

… and for your friendship

Stepping back out, Silent Night felt a strange mix of sorrow and peace washing over him. Each farewell was a step towards acceptance, each memory a treasure he would carry with him into whatever came next.

With a deep breath, he spread his wings. There was one more pony he needed to see before he could let go.

Nopony stopped him as he approached the royal chambers. In the times before, this would have been unthinkable. The royal honor guards. Luna’s chosen. Champions of the evening breeze, protectors of the night sky. They only followed him with their empty gazes.

Candlewax and books. Just like in his dream, he trotted up to that black door. Deep Breath. Raising one hoof.

Before he could even touch the door, it was ripped open before him. Suddenly, there she stood.

“I swear to my sister, you Night Guards are the most fanatical, stubborn and perverted ponies in all of Equestria,” Luna’s measured voice could not hide the obvious frustration in these words.

The princess was so different to how she had appeared in his dream. The ethereal mane had been replaced with a regular one of the light blue variety. No unseen winds letting it flow in endless waves, no stars in which one could lose themselves in. Her eyes were not shining with that ghostly white, but her usual turquoise color.

Ignore that she had both horn and wings, and she could’ve almost passed as just a regular, albeit tall mare.

Still, the alluring scents of her room had not been exaggerated in the slightest. They seemed to invite him in. They asked him to relax for just a second…

“… well, I would not have it any other way, truthfully.”

Had she been talking?

Silent Night’s mind snapped back to attention. Ok, princess was in front of him. Two friends (formerly known as invaders) visible in the bedchambers behind her. What had been his plan again?

“So, little soldier, are you just going to stand there or are you coming inside?”, Princess Luna asked, raising her eyebrows.

Right, walking inside. Great start.

With a soft click, her magic closed the door behind him and the princess let out a heavy sigh.

“You must know, I never intended for anypony to have to experience what you did. But working on such a scale, it was truly unavoidable that some ponies would slip through the cracks,” Luna said tiredly, “at least you are one of the last ones. Then it’s back to forever-sleep.”

Just as Silent Night began to wonder about her casual attitude, her features softened, and she fixed him with that look that pierced straight into his soul and softly lifted his chin with her hoof. Her hooves were like cool steel, but at the same time strangely comforting. The unexpected touch sent a tingle through his spine.

“Have you made peace at last, little soldier? Are you finally ready to take that last step? This is your last opportunity to turn around and do whatever you will with the rest of your life.”

Silent Night glanced back to that black door. He recalled the faces of his friends, his family. Of everypony that he had shared paths with. Facing the princess again, he nodded resolutely. He was ready.

His princess closed her eyes and somberly returned his nod. So be it.

As the moment had passed and she opened her eyes again, her demeanor changed in a heartbeat. The grave, meaningful expression was replaced by with a playful smirk.

“Alright, now to the fun part,” she said merrily as she turned to one of the friends and gestured him towards the alicorn sized bed.

The large stallion dutifully followed her command, letting himself fall on the bed, back first. His hind legs were positioned such that his knees were in line with the edge of the bed and his lower legs were dangling lazily in the air.

“Now, don’t you blame me for this, understand? I pulled this out from your fantasies after all,” Princess Luna said almost accusingly, pointing a hoof at Silent Night.

With a shudder, terrible recognition washed over the Night Guard. He knew exactly where this was going.

Feeling both incredibly ashamed and aroused, a flush of deep crimson washed over his face. His member did not waste any time to happily slide out of its sheath.

“So eager, now that’s a good little soldier,” the princess eyed his flank with a devilish smile.

With that, she turned around and moved towards one of her cabinets. For a few seconds, Silent Night was entranced by her flank. Her tail swaying more than necessary, but not quite enough to reveal anything. However, his attention was quickly drawn away towards a different part of her rear.

Her cutiemark wasn’t there.

The famous black splotch on her flank, which should have harbored a white moon, was empty.

After pulling something out of the cabinet with her magic, Princess Luna turned around and followed his gaze towards her empty flank.

“Don’t worry about this, little soldier. After all, the sun and moon must still rise after we have gone to slumber. An insignificant sacrifice, truly,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Now, I’m afraid it might a bit small for you, but you will require this. Believe me,” the princess continued in a suggestive purr.

Peeling his attention away from her majesty’s flank, Silent Night studied the object floating in her magical grip. It was a black choker with a small crystal embedded in its front.

“Allow me,” she said, stepping unnecessarily close to him and carefully sliding the choker around his neck. It really was too tight, cutting into his airflow just a little bit. As soon as the delicate hatch on the back snapped shut, he heard the small crystal humming softly.

Silent Night instantly panicked as suddenly his whole throat felt like it was filled with something. Air. He needed Air. Just as quickly as the feeling had appeared, it vanished again. Desperately gasping for breath, his throat suddenly felt somehow freer than before.

As he turned to one of the many mirrors lining the wall, Silent Night was shocked once more, as he saw his bat-like teeth slowly receding into his mouth, until they looked like those of a regular pony.

“Don’t worry, it’s temporary. And I promise it will be worth it,” Luna said calmingly.

“Not that it really matters at this point…,” she continued, now studying him from the side, “looks like somepony already had a lot of fun recently. Believe it or not, but most ponies freshen up a bit before they enter a princess’s bedchambers.”

Having used up all his shock for the day, Silent Night felt only quiet resignation as he realized that Luna had noticed the stains on his coat.

“Well, it is partly my fault, so consider yourself forgiven,” the princess winked at him and stepped away.

Her attention focused back on the friend who was patiently waiting in the bed. With a quick flash of her horn, she vanished and reappeared on top of the large stallion.

Silent Night stepped around the bed to take in the scene in its full glory. The princess was lying with her back on the friend’s belly. Her head was snugly positioned on his shoulder. Legs spread apart widely; they revealed her glorious crotch.

The drawn in lips and small entrance suggested an unexpected tightness. Wings lazily spread apart; his mistress was biting her lip in anticipation. She was eagerly awaiting his next move.

Shifting his attention to the large stallion underneath his princess, the Night Guard focused on the sheath, which was sticking between Luna’s spread hindlegs, just beneath her crotch. The princess was already shifting her light blue tail back and forth on top of it, tickling the stallion.

Not to be outdone, Silent Night walked up to them and wasted no time nuzzling the sheath. Beckoning out the massive member bit by bit, he was amazed by its incredible size as it just kept growing and growing.

“Go on, my naughty little soldier, try it,” Luna suggested in barely contained excitement, starting to slowly massage herself with her magic. The familiar, musty scent of the stallion mixed with the more exotic fragrances of the princess: flowers, snow, blueberries?

Taking advantage of the fact that the stallion was not yet fully erect, Silent Night opened his mouth as far as he could and guided the head carefully past his teeth. Once inside, the taste was incredible. He could not wait for the first drops to find their way into his mouth.

With great enthusiasm, Silent Night applied his tongue to the rapidly stiffening member in his mouth, massaging it from every angle.

As he pushed the length further in, he expected his gag reflex to set in. It never came. The princess only answered his surprised glance with a satisfied smirk. The choker was truly a marvel.

The Sarosian started bobbing his head back and forwards rhythmically, providing as much stimulation as he could. A satisfied groan from the friend and some approving sighs from the princess were his reward.

Since the member was now at its full size and width, there wasn’t much room to maneuver for his tongue. His jaw muscles were already slowly showing dangerous signs of an oncoming cramp.

Undeterred, Silent Night pushed his head forwards even more. His throat was now stretched to its limit, taking in more and more of the friend’s incredible length. Breathing became difficult. Still, he pushed on.

The medial ring crept past his lips and tickled the insides of his mouth. His throat was trapped between the tight little choker and the stiff member. Tears formed on the edges of his eyes.

“Come on, little soldier, show your princess what you can do,” Luna challenged excitedly, watching him with hungry eyes.

His gaze was fixed at the base of the shaft. There, the alluring opening of Luna’s crotch was waiting for his muzzle, should he be able to push that far.

But first, he needed to breathe. He let the head carefully slip back outside of his throat and into his mouth. To his delight, multiple drops of semen slid onto his tongue and melted away there, exploding their intense, salty taste onto him.

Taking a couple of deep breaths – as deep as was possible with the giant head in his mouth – the Night Guard readied himself again.

In one quick shove, he pushed down his muzzle and let the member slide deep into his throat again. Past the medial ring. Past the choker. He was so close to his prize now.

With one final effort, he made it the rest of the way. Tears were now freely flowing as the length stretched into depths he did not think possible.

However, the reward was priceless. as his nostrils finally made contact with the princess’s now juicy lips. He longed to breathe in her scent, but that was unthinkable in his current situation. Still, the intense smell of her waiting glory was indescribable. Going even one step further, he somehow forced his tongue out in front of his mouth, so that it was softly touching the stallion’s balls, and drinking in his flavor.

A sudden twitch went through the entire member. Far, far down his throat, Silent Night felt a spurt of liquid being pressed inside of him.

“Such a goooood little soldier, working hard to nuzzle his princess,” Luna whispered to him.

Just in this moment, he heard a terrible snap. The immense pressure had exploded the delicate hatch on the choker, and it was ripped away. His gag reflex returned with a vengeance. Without hesitation, Silent Night ripped his head backwards, to let the member exit his mouth. By some miracle, he managed to keep in the contents of his stomach. All that remained was the stallion’s rich taste in his mouth.

Leaning back and breathing heavily, he savored it. Oh, he savored it like he had never savored anything before. The friend did not fill him up with his load, but the small premature bursts were already enough to line his mouth and throat with thick, white, delicious liquid.

Opening his eyes again, the still erect cock was now standing up freely between Princess Luna’s hindlegs.

“Don’t you think it’s time for your princess to have some fun, too?”, Luna purred with anticipation in her voice.

He knew what came next. Luna pushed herself farther back, so that her crotch was now about halfway up the large stallion’s barrel. She also used her front hooves to spread her back legs apart even further, opening herself as much as possible.

Silent Night applied both his hooves to gingerly push the member towards her waiting entrance. She had judged the distance masterfully and the head was now perfectly aligned, softly pressing against her tight lips.

“Go on, push it in!”, Luna commanded with a barely contained moan.

Following her order, he moved his hooves to her hips and slowly started pushing her onto the quivering member. As nothing happened, he increased the pressure. Luna let out a struggling moan, as the head pressed against her entrance more and more fiercely. Her tight lips were struggling to stretch enough to permit it in.

“Come on, just push it in! Do it now!”, anger mixed with ecstasy in Luna’s desperate voice.

Silent Night did not let her stop him from bending down his head, and lovingly kissing the exact spot where the member’s head intersected with her stretched crotch.

“You dirty traitor, I command you to push his cock into me!”, Luna shouted with undiluted desperation.

Increasing his force one more time, Luna’s body finally gave way and let the broad head enter into her with a soft plop. The large stallion gave out a heavy sigh and Luna let her tensed body relax, her eyes rolling back into her head.

The Night Guard watched in awe, as the clearly visible bulge of the head slowly worked its way up Luna’s belly. Again, he bent down his head and applied his lips right onto the bulge, feeling the head’s movements underneath. With a quick spurt, the Sarosian’s own member ejected a few drops of liquid, which quickly made their way down his shaft and tickled him fiercely.

“You know… aaahhh… what comes next… aaaahhhh… little soldier,” Luna managed between soft moans.

Indeed, he did.

Carefully using his wings to make his way onto both of them, Silent Night lowered himself on top of Luna’s belly so that they were facing each other. Their wings softly tickled each other on both sides, leather against feather. Her fur felt infinitely soft and cool.

As his own length was now pushing against Luna, he felt the soft thrusts of the Stallion’s member thrusting through her body. Forwards and backwards. Forwards and backwards. He felt the immense force that must have been pushing against her walls to produce such a prominent bulge, which was now massaging his member from below.

Silent Night could not stop himself from starting to also rock forwards and backwards on top of her. Her fur was rubbing against his shaft in just the right way. He was using his Princess’s fur to please himself. Before he knew it, a familiar pressure started building up within him.

“Oh no, you don’t, naughty little soldier,” Luna hissed with amusement, as her horn lit up.

The Sarosian immediately felt that something was blocking the pleasure from releasing. The spell did not stop it from building up, however. Fearing he would otherwise burst somehow, he reluctantly forced himself to stop his rhythmic movements.

“We are not finished,” Luna continued with a satisfied smirk.

From out of nowhere, Silent Night felt a heavy body taking up position behind him. The second friend had silently walked up and now was standing over all of them, heavy hooves now resting on his shoulders.

Below him, Luna snuck her front hooves up to his checks and spread them. Hard. Without any time to react, he felt the second stallion push the head of his member into his stretched rear.

“Yes, fuck my little soldier, he wants it hard. He needs it hard,” Luna commanded, her hungry expression now turned ravenous.

Following her command without hesitation, the stallion pushed his length into the Night Guard mercilessly. Gone were the careful strokes. Gone was the careful dance between pleasure and pain from the night before.

Silent Night was now being ravaged from the huge stallion behind him. The bed gave angry creaks, protesting against the unrelenting force. The batpony’s walls were stretched to the very limit, feeling like they might give in at any moment.

At the same time, the movement underneath him resumed with new vigor. The stallion behind him huffed in angry groans, and his shaft pressed onto Luna’s belly, with the bulge dancing underneath it. The pressure was building up inside him again with incredible ferocity.

Still, Luna’s magic was blocking his release. Endless moments passed, as the pressure mounted and mounted, increasing ever more. Images of the cliff appeared back in his mind.

Below him, his princess was locking her eyes with his, moaning in pleasure with every movement. Waiting for something. Just as he felt the cock underneath him flare up in the belly of his beloved princess, it became unbearable. It was as if his whole being was pressed against a tiny hole, with ever increasing force.

“Yes… aaaahh… cum for your… aaaahhh… princess, you little… aaaaahhh…. batpony slut. Cum for her and go to… aaaahhhh… sleep,” Luna cried out between moans.

With that, she suddenly released the spell holding him back. In an instant, he felt his body erupt in pleasure. Thick streaks of cum shot out of him, showering the princess below him in his sticky seed.

Blackness.

Now he was falling. He was dropping away from the cliff.

Down. Towards the waiting herd.

In convulsions of pleasure, Luna watched his eyes flare up, and then slowly dim. Never to wake up again.