Reddling: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1095021750053515374/1180281178553598022/ridingrain.png?ex=657cd981&is=656a6481&hm=ef94f8a9f6280facb6131a5b213f69c26f8c43dd896c9c151d594a17be850b68& (updated 2023)

The evening was a cruel mistress that arrived far too quickly for Reddling’s tastes. The light coming through the crack at the base of his door had dimmed a good deal. The red pony pulled himself up, not exactly sure what time it was. The room he was confined to was quite spartan, lacking clocks, curtains, or mirrors. The windows were totally boarded up, allowing only small cracks of blighted daylight to burn the room. The only amenities left to him was a bag of his old clothes, his knife resting on top of it, and a set of armor laying on a desk in the corner of the room.

Giving his head a soft shake to make the room stop spinning, Reddling pulled himself away from the greatly uncomfortable hard wooden floor while brushing sawdust out of his coat and mane. The world did not make much sense yet, but there was a thought etched into the back of his mind, as if a branding iron had given his brain its own cutie mark. It was the sight of those long, skin covered bony wings on his back, currently folded up comfortably on his sides. Despite every membrane of his body vibrating with repulsion, Reddling knew now was not the moment to be contemplating what had transpired since the painful bite on his neck.

Trotting over to the armor on the table, Reddling separated it carefully into all of its parts. He had read about the Night Guard back at his home, but he wasn't sure what was truth and what was fiction. Night Guards were not exactly common, and generally bat winged ponies were rare in appearance. Even before Luna had returned, it was common knowledge they existed in small numbers. The job of these small numbers had remained a full-fledged mystery though, and most ponies were not too eager to approach the Night Guard with questions that they probably wouldn’t answer anyway.

It took a moment before Reddling realized he’d moved the same parts of his armor across the table to different locations at least three times. He'd carefully studied the different blue plates and their leather straps. The leather straps on the underside of the plates did not seem like they were complicated in attaching, and the uniform had cloth that covered most parts of the body and legs. While it surely would look nice when worn...

Reddling found himself absolutely dumbfounded at how impractical and entirely useless the armor presented to him was. A breastplate that only covered roughly half of his chest was split into two glorious bat wings which connected to a large blue bat eye in the center. The crest at the center looked to be made of some sort of odd crystal that reflected what little light was in the room gently. This illuminated the "bone" parts of the wings on the chestplate. Both sides of the breastplate, when attached, offered a shining sort of effect that made their lighter parts glimmer even in the relative darkness of the room.

The sides of the armor were one long piece that laid across the back that neatly hung down either side to cover the ribcage. The flank had some loose fitting armor pieces that layered themselves into what almost felt like a skirt, although the way it sat on the hindquarters felt all too wrong to be a proper dress attire.

Reddling stared down at the last remaining piece of armor on the table, having slowly attached the archaic armor. It was a striking helmet adorned with symbols of the moon on both sides with a darkened visor to cover the eyes in the middle. Room was left on the mouth area to expose most of the cheekbone and chin. Reddling simply could not imagine any use that this armor would have for protective purposes, and the helmet seemed not only trivial, but ugly. Shaking his head and pushing his purple mane back, Reddling turned away, leaving the helmet where it lay.

Trotting to the door, Reddling stopped, looking down at the light filtering itself through the crack. Vampires would fry to a crisp in the sun, this was common knowledge to anypony who read old texts. Sporting a look of mild bemusement to himelf, Reddling slowly cracked open the door, peeking his eyes out for a few moments to see where he was.

The sun lit his face on fire, quickly making its presence known. Reddling slammed the door shut as little figures danced in front of his face, marks burned onto his vision that made most of the room look like holes had been sliced out of it.

I never did like the daytime. Reddling quickly retreated with his aching eyes back to the table and slammed his helmet on, closing the shaded visor over his eyes while cursing to himself. Peeking back outside before fully opening the door, Reddling noted the sunlight was far more bearable on his eyes now, and he could make out where he was. There were a few different buildings built around a practice field, and the entire area seemed to be a private enclave in the mountains. The autumn sun was setting behind distant hills, casting long shadows over the enclosure.

Mumbling angry words that were forgotten the moment they were spoken, Reddling trotted to the practice field. Locking his eyes straight ahead, He snapped himself to attention, every bit of his mind aching with the thoughts of his transformation. I don’t really care about it, it’s part of the job, I was ready to make any sacrifice... I knew that I might have to make some changes to accomplish my mission.

The sun finished setting in the distance, and soon four other bat ponies had fallen in right next to Reddling. They all used to be regular ponies… but now they’re just animals. I’m just an animal, like them… Reddling felt his body shake in fury a little, but otherwise betrayed no emotion or signal to others around him. From the corner of his eye, it was possible to see that some of the others appeared to be shaken about the transformation as well, either looking at their wings of feeling themselves over. Still, beside them stood the other two ponies that seemed to be almost happy about the turn of events. At the end of the line was a blue pony that was almost bouncing with joy at the current situation, mostly notable because he was slowly inching himself forward and away from the neat line the rest of his comrades were in. Reddling just could not shake the fact that he was so utterly repulsed by all of them.

Night wind began to move through the mountains, and a tingle of euphoria seemed to tap at the muscles of all the bats in the clearing. Despite the joy that the nightfall brought on the inside, Reddling shrugged it off- this wasn’t something he planned on getting used too. One by one, the others all raised their visors to study the sky, leaving Reddlng the last one to allow his bright silted eyes to glow as they stared into the young night.

There was a sudden and faint squeal above, then a heavy thud as a bat pony landed in front of the group. Quickly folding her wings, she appraised the group before her with yellow glowing eyes. She took a moment to study individually them before clearing her throat to speak.

“Let me be the first to welcome you to the Night Guard! I am Web, I’ll be taking care of you!” Her voice was light and had an air of childlike energy about it. It was the kind of energy that flowed into those around her, whether they wanted to it or not. “First things first! How many of you are new to wings?” Web spread out her long bat wings, waiting to see hooves.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I am hating this place. It’s awful, and it’s only a phase. Don’t welcome me, I don’t plan on staying in this line of work any longer than I have too. Reddling felt queasy, his jaw jerking slightly as he shakily willed his hoof into the air beside the hooves of two of his fellows. Reddling knew dark things these ponies wouldn't understand, things that made him want to puke at putting his hoof up in the air.

“Alright, I’ll take you for tonight. The rest of you, head up there.” Web jerked her head up and to the right, where another bat pony had deftly balanced themselves on a fence post near a smaller training field. The formerly Pegasus ponies stepped back and fell out, trotting away from the formation as Web nearly bounced with her energy, looking at the group. “You lot! Any old Earth Ponies here?” Web prodded. On the right a hoof raised into the air. Reddling was simply doing all he could to not look sick at the front of the formation.

“That would m- … you two alright?” Web looked from the other raised hoof to Reddling. The other pony shook their head carefully, agreeing with a few words that couldn’t be made out. Reddling only nodded slightly, hoping that maybe he could feign not being addressed. “Look, if you need help or something, speak up.” Her voice was remarkably casual, as if she was debating what kind of new house plant to purchase.

I can’t imagine myself getting help from an Equestrian. They’re the enemy, and you know, so far they’ve lived up to every story I ever heard growing up. Reddling found himself venomently screaming common insults for Equestrians at the insides of his mind, expression remaining cool and unaltered as he fanned his pride
.

“Well, okay. That makes you a unicorn.” Web continued towards a mare at the end of the file, “Losing your horn is rough, but you’ll still have some magic. Just less… focused.”

Reddling had now found his limit as his heart skipped many beats. At the closer edge of the practice fields were some bleachers that could be used for observation, their unpolished underside now getting spattered with many brown fleck that possessed small, half-digested bits of food in them. Although he had not eaten in some time, more than enough bile was able to work itself up over and over again. When at last the torment was over, Reddling found himself resting on his knees, gasping for breath. There were tears in his eyes to compliment the empty and exhausted feeling inside of him, but there was another feeling in his body, something wrapping itself around the bones and muscles, infecting them with a coldness.

There was a soft sigh behind him, and then a hoof on his shoulder. Reddling's muscles tensed up as he pulled himself away and stumbled forward, only narrowly avoiding stepping in the mess. Get ahold of yourself!

“So you’re not doing okay.” Web’s voice was gentle as Reddling felt himself on his knees again, away from the mess. Her hoof once more found itself gently and lightly resting on his shoulder, and this time he found himself to weary to pull away from her. “What’s your name?”

Reddling found the question something that seemed impossible to answer. His mind drew a blank as the thoughts of years upon years of shunning other ponies to train for his future flashed through his eyes. His distance had left him ill-prepared for coping with social situations, but they had always seemed easy in theory. Slowly calming down, Reddling found his voice. It came out like something horrible and vile, like the cry of a dog that had just been kicked in the stomach ruthlessly.

“Reddling. Listen Reddling, I know this must be hard, but you’re going to be okay.” Web’s voice was like silk against his ears, and despite everything he told himself, it was somewhat calming to hear somepony tell him he would be okay. “Lots of ponies sign up thinking it’ll be a fun or cool chance without knowing what they’re getting into. We’ll get you on your hooves and then it’s going to be fine.”

Reddling managed to spit out a short “Okay!”, although it honestly sounded to himself like it should have been another hurling of stomach acid.

Web’s slitted eyes felt like knives in the back of his head as she looked down at him from behind, maintaining her casual tone. “Are you going to be okay? And don’t give me horsefeathers, seriously.” Reddling tried to nod his head yes, but found himself looking down again as he attempted to hurl, only a bit of bile adding itself to the acidic taste in his mouth. Web gave him a disapproving look and reduced her voice as he was lifted off the ground and turned to face her. “If you’re really this distraught, you can go talk to Luna and see if she can’t do anything for you. Otherwise, you’re learning to fly tonight.”

Reddling felt an odd quiver go from head to tail as his body fell into full panic, the world going fuzzy all around him. Despite his complete fear of the Princess, talking seemed like a much better idea than puking in the middle of the practice field again. “L-talk, Th-That, talk. I talk, er, I’ll talk to, if, Luna.” Reddling found himself needing to take another quick gasp of air, trying to bring his mind to order.

“Alright, she can do something for you, I’m sure of it. Still, if you can get through this, it’ll be good for you.” Although Web continued to talk, Reddling found himself barely hearing anything she said. The whole world seemed to be a drunken blur, everything hitting his brain as a slur rather than coherent thought. “You passed her test, and she chose you herself after that talk. There’s got to be something special for you.”

Stumbling, Reddling just managed to get one word out as his head swiveled in the direction of the smaller practice field.

“Pegasus?” Web repeated, trying to make sure she heard right. Reddling just nodded. “Alright… alright, can you get back to your quarters by yourself?” Reddling answered Web’s question with another short nod, and blinked, focusing just enough on the path in front of him to make it back to his quarters. The wood door was welcoming as he nearly kicked it in, forcing himself inside.

Although the room was altogether unfamiliar to him, it's spartan quaintness had a certain primal comfort. Laying against the bed and folding his wings around himself, Reddling felt tears streaming down again, as if crying would somehow make the situation become clearer in his mind’s eye. After a few moments, Reddling found his eyes and hooves running over his form. Although it was hard to be sure in the dark, his colours seemed to have become a good bit duller, and his ears had weird tufts on the ends of them that were extremely sensitive to the touch. On the face, two tips of little fangs were sticking out of his mouth, and on his sides were the bat wings. Testing them, he could feel that they were quite light, with small claws at the joint and wingtips. An odd thin membrane of skin stretched from his sides down to his claws, the whole membrane crisscrossed with different colored tiny veins.

Giving a careful breath as the tears sedated themselves for the moment, Reddling wrapped the wings around himself, trying to take in some warmth or safety from them. He hoped the feeling would be some feathery warmth, soft and gentle, something he’d always craved. Instead, he found the feeling to be more fuzzy, although it was still somewhat warm and quite comforting. Reddling connected his hoof with the base of his headboard in a furious attack, which caused an echo throughout the room. Kissing his hoof and quickly regretting his decision, Reddling simply slid to the floor, laying there in the darkness.

It might have been about an hour later before anything changed, but Reddling found his head snapping up with a little cricking noise as a hoof knocked on his door. “Reddling? You there?” Web’s voice came through the door. Nodding to himself, Reddling got off the floor and opened the door, shakily beckoning for her to enter.

“W-Web right? Come in…” Reddling found his voice weak and raspy, even in his own ears.

“Luna will be by later. I brought you a snack, if you’re hungry and feeling better. I don’t have a lot of time, we’re taking a break and then going back at it. I think they’ll be flying by dawn.” Web sat down a thermos of something on an end table before sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for some response.

Reddling felt a lump rise in his throat as he imagined what must be inside the thermos. Some warm, fresh, red liquid. “That isn’t … blood right? If it is, just tell me it’s tomato sauce, I'd rather just be poisoned please.”

“Ugh, no! Jeez, it’s just juice!” Web responded exasperatedly.

“Juice sucked right out of a pony?” Reddling asked to nopony or anything in particular, his eyes focused wildly at the ceiling. “How should I know, I’ve got these, these, bleh!” Extending his left wing, Reddling just stared at it. It hung exactly like the wing on his right side did, each a mirror of the other. a feeling of dirtiness grew in him as he felt his world twist. Part of his brain told him to attack the wing and tear it off, while another told him to hug both to his body.

“Whoa! Hey!?” Web called out. Reddling blinked a few times at the feeling of the floor pressing against his body as Web bent over to check on him.

“I, Night Pegasus, can’t, ugh.” Reddling shut his mouth, looking bitterly at the floor as his mouth refused to form words correctly. After a few moments, he breathed in deeply. I can do this… but still, why does she care at all? Reddling thought as he willed his voice to work. “G-Go work with the others, I’ll be fine.”

Web rose up, her face colored with concern. “Listen, get yourself together. Get some food inside you, and try to relax. The Princess can fix you up. This won’t be the first time something like this has happened. That’s an order, alright?” Reddling only nodded to her order as she nodded and headed for the door. “Alright, and good luck.”

“T-Thanks.” Reddling mumbled, looking down as his mind contemplated the odd bat. What does she want with me? Go away.

“No problem.” Web replied, hooking the door with one of her claws to shut it on her way out. Shakily, Reddling slid off his armor and neatly put it on the table next to the thermos, which he was not yet brave enough to touch.

Long minutes turned to even longer hours as Reddling tossed and turned in his bed, waiting for Princess Luna to arrive. He had found that it was very uncomfortable to lay on his sides now, and resolved to make a new habit of sleeping on his belly. Eventually hunger pains began to make themselves known, but he pushed them out of his mind for the time being, still unsure of how his stomach would handle food. Did bats eat the same thing as ponies? Or did he need a special diet?

Finally, after what felt like nearly the entire night, there was a knock on the door. Reddling couldn’t remember making his hooves move, but he was suddenly on them, with the door open and his forehoof throwing a salute before Luna had even finished announcing her presence.

“Your Highness! Uh, welcome!” Reddling’s voice came out in a bit of a gasp, something like the sound of poorly oiled gears. Luna stepped inside, making nothing of the room as she turned in her sharp princess fashion to face him.

Every word gave Reddling a twinge of fear deep inside his chest. Part of him considered drawing his blade now, and lashing out at the Princess, but he knew that would never work. The more he considered the idea, the more idiotic it seemed. When he made his move, it would need to be clever, something that nopony would see coming.

“Good night, Reddling. We have been told that you are not faring well.” Luna stated in a matter of fact tone. Her eyes seemed to be giant pale orbs painting everything with a heavenly grace. Despite her usual commanding demeanor, the sureness of the aura around her gave indisputable assurance. Reddling could only muster a faithful nod to her, his voice drowned in the draw of the night princess. Luna returned his nod before continuing, “It is understandably difficult for some. Some volunteer for this not fully knowing the consequences of their choice- and we do not fault them for this. For how could they possibly know how such a thing would affect them?”

Reddling managed to shake his head. These changes to his body were not something that he was ready to contemplate or face, but there was another issue to raise with Princess Luna, a possible distraction. Reddling grinned in his head at the story he had for her. He wasn't sure if it was a lie or truth, but it was a distraction, and something he felt he needed to tell Luna.

“P-Princess, it’s- it’s something else I- my home, and pegasi, they… wings, this, I…” Reddling shut his mouth as his sentence continued to fall apart, blushing slightly in anger at his inability to form coherent sentences in front of such an important individual.

Luna frowned at this, still looking down. “I- I am sorry, I do not understand…”

Reddling shut his eyes and swallowed, preparing to spit out his next words. Something vile rose in his throat as he thought of Silverfield. This was a bitter hate that only his enemy would be able to grasp, or at the very least, that is what he was hoping for. “This transformation, it, takes, changes, and Silverfield has changes for ponies with wings.” The last half of the sentence was right where Reddling expected an odd back ache to appear on his shoulders and upper back, but none came. The lack of this back ache was almost scary, something like the feeling of a child when they lose their safety blanket. Gulping once more, Reddling pointed at himself. “Pegasi do not fly. Bad for the church.”

Luna’s face was a portrait of confusion. “You- Pegasus? I do not understand.”

Sitting down, Reddling brought up two hooves and clapped them together twice, his mouth twitching with every movement of this hooves. “Clip, Clip!” he exhaled. The next breath of air was a horribly bitter one, the kind with a burn akin to the aftertaste of cheap liquor. “They do it because Equestrian pegasi defeated us, so it’s a healthy ritual, right? It's to control the population...” Reddling coughed the last part, trying to stand up. His legs proved too weak to support him and he felt the world spin slightly as he stumbled, barely regaining his balance.

Luna’s look was one of shock and mild bewilderment. “They do what?” her voice shook, almost as if she was unsure if this was a punch line to a bad joke or a simple mindless rambling.

Reddling almost felt a bitter laugh rise with his next words. “Silverfield, doesn’t have pegasi. Not anymore.” Each word was forceful and said with an entire breath. Somehow, this felt good to get off his shoulders, even if it was to an Equestrian. Sinking his head down, Reddling waited for the laughter from the Princess to come, shutting his eyes as he forced out one more comment, “You have to believe me.”

“I do not wish to believe that one pony could do that to another. Yet I know such atrocities are possible.” Luna’s voice seemed to be unnaturally kind. Reddling had always been told she was the more violent and impulsive of the heavenly sisters, but she had not shown this.

It was as she spoke, a thought occurred to Reddling. Carefully reaching around to the bat wings, he touched his back, checking for some sign of the childhood scars. All that his hoof found were the base of his bony wings, betraying no evidence that a set of parallel scars had once sat together. Reddling looked up again to see Princess Luna still frowning. She’d drawn in her cheeks slightly and looked deeply disturbed by the information she was ingesting.

“I will consult with my sister on the matter. Yet… you, it is clear that you are still deeply distraught over what has happened. Tell me, what is it you wish from this point forward?” Luna’s voice was like a spark in a room of tinder. Everything was suddenly flaming inside of Reddling’s head. Every bit of him wanted to cry out for the one thing he lived for, what his cutie mark had always been telling him.

“Revenge!" Reddling cried, before grabbing his chest, holding himself back and eating his word. "N-No, I just want to forget, just forget it all.” Reddling shook his head, feeling some tears threatening to well up on the sides of his eyes. He had no idea why he was pouring out his heart to a sworn enemy, but it was something about Luna’s energy that invoked some deeper level of emotion inside of him. The night air seemed crisper when she was around, and the world had a feeling of freshness.

“Revenge…?” Luna prodded.

Her patience with me is almost unnerving… I can’t believe that she’s actually got any kind heart behind all of this. Reddling couldn’t believe that Equestrians could act this way, that they could be so different from his country. All they had shown up this point was arrogance and hatred, yet their leaders were a beacon of morality. After not answering her, Luna simply nodded to herself, repeating the question.

“Revenge? If you wish to no longer be a Child of the Night, then there are means by which to do so.” Luna said, her face turning from a grave expression to a calculating one.

There was a clang on the wall as the sheathe of Reddling’s knife flew across the room. Casting away the weapon from his homeland, he fell on the floor and buried his face in his hooves once more “I wish I’d been born Equestrian, and not to Silverfield.”

Reddling felt something warm around his shoulders, and it took a few moments for him to realize that it was the soft feeling of Luna’s feathers wrapping around his shaking form.

“It will be alright.” Luna’s voice was assuring, but Reddling could only shake his head in fury.

“It won’t be alright P-Princess, there will be others…” Reddling said. There will be more, won’t there?

Luna’s face looked concerned for a brief moment, but then returned to its princess like composure. “That matters not. Such things happen, which is why the Night Guard exists to begin with. What does matter now, for you, is that you decide your fate, for I would not see anypony in such despair."

She’s more comfort than I ever got growing up in Silverfield… but I can’t tell if she just wants to use me or not. I’ll have to decide this later. Reddling thought for a moment before picking his next words. “If I stay in the Night Guard… is there any chance I can still help Silverfield?”

“With what do they need assistance? If they so mistreat Pegasus ponies, then you may find them closed-minded to diplomacy.” Luna spoke in a low tone, but her words were more than enough to set Reddling’s mind of fire again. The very idea of giving up on talking before even trying was infuriating.

“What would you suggest then, Your Highness?” Reddling felt the cold edge returning to his voice. For a moment, he had faltered on his course, but now everything was clear again.

“…If you are trying to suggest an intervention of some sort… the Night Guard would be well suited for that- but I would avoid such- extreme measures, if I could.” Luna’s response was smooth and reasonable, if not exactly what Reddling wanted to hear.

“I’m not ready to come to a conclusion about any of that in this… condition, your Highness.” Reddling said hushedly, looking up at her. Luna’s eyes were surprisingly kind, even though she had a solid air of some great distance about her. Although she was nearly hugging him right now, Reddling couldn’t shake the feeling that it was like she was on another planet.

Luna gave a nod as she stood, folding her wing again. “There is nothing that would prevent you from helping your kinsponies while you serve in the Guard. The question is: do you still wish to serve on the Night Guard?” Reddling rose to his hooves as she finished, throwing a determined salute as his mind began to buzz softly.

“Princess Luna, it will be my honor to serve in the guard.” Reddling said determinedly. Despite the façade he was putting forth, nothing was stopping the buzzing from getting louder and louder as gears of murder began to turn inside his mind.

Princess Luna gave a smile as she turned to the door, completely oblivious to the insane plotting in the mind of her new guard. “As you wish. We are glad to see your will is still strong, even after such terrible distress. It will be dawn soon. You will likely wish to stay inside. Farewell, Reddling.”

Still saluting, Reddling managed a small smile as she left. “Farewell, Your Highness, and thank you so much!”

With those words, Luna was gone, the door closing as the darkness of the room settled once more. Reddling dropped his salute and stared over at the thermos of juice. Trotting towards it, he could not help but give a tiny giggle. Opening up the thermos of juice, he began to drink it in fine, measured sips. It was the sweetest fruit juice that he’d ever tasted, complete with an incredibly subtle tartness that made the mouth feel as if it had been freshly brushed and flossed.

Sitting down on his bed, Reddling sipped his juice as he viciously plotted about how he’d murder this… leader, this, Princess Luna. It was time for Equestria to prepare for the backstab of the century, for the news of every hour.

In between mad giggles and angry thoughts of bloody murder, Reddling found himself eventually falling asleep on his bed with an empty thermos of juice. His mind continued to plot and brood as he passed into a dreamworld, keeping a simple thought at the forefront of his mind.

At last, it’s time for the hunt to begin.