Solace of the Night

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.