Reviews are welcome, and asked for. They help me improve my writing.

I needed to move the rating up for this chapter, because it is one of the darker moments, but I really feel like these are few and far in-between. Nothing should be as dark as this for awhile. You have been warned.

Reddling woke up the next morning, tossing aside the blankets and strapping his armor on. A pleasant dull grey had blessed the cloudy night, although it looked like it might rain sometime soon. Popping his joints as he trotted to the mess hall, Reddling noted that the others were already there with the exception of Nightshade. Web was sitting across from Bruiser and carefully cutting her apples up, the ashes of some burned cloth laying on the floor next to her. Grabbing some hay and apples, Reddling sat down next to Web, tackling the food to get it done with quickly.

Reddling's thoughts were still on the dreams he had last night. He’d been back in Silverfield playing with other colts and fillies, rolling around in the grass and enjoying his years as a foal-

“Slow down, you’ll choke!” Web said alarmedly next to him, carefully inspecting her apple slices with several sniffs before she tasted them. Each piece was carefully measured before it was cut, after it was cut, and once more before she feasted upon it’s flesh.

“Sorry.” Reddling said, swallowing what remained in his mouth. “Just in a hurry for stuff today, like always.” Web simply responded by whistling through her teeth as she bit down on another apple slice. Quiet chatter overtook the room, but Reddling paid it no heed, and in short order they all found themselves on the practice field. Nightshade’s eye had bruised over, totally closing it, but she had assured everypony that dared approach she was perfectly fine with her one eye glare.

“I think I’ve shown I can fight without eyes just fine.” Nightshade hissed at Reddling and Tops, staring angrily forward as Web took center stage, dragging with her some more training weapons.

“Web… All of these introductions are fine and all, but when will we learn some practical training?” Midnight Tales asked, looking somewhat displeased at the prospect of simple sparring. Web stopped for a moment, and then grinned fangily. Kicking the practice weapons away, she stared at all off them with an ever so slight sadistic edge on her face.

“Oh that’s coming! Don’t you worry! You should enjoy this while it lasts! Now sit down!” Web seemed to almost be skipping at how happy she was, watching all her recruits take a seat on the grass.

“So. All of you joined the Watch for whatever your own reasons are. And now you’re in.” Web said. Reddling hoped that none of the other ponies sitting next to him ever had to learn the real reason that he was in the watch as Web continued her instruction.

“But you need to decide at some point, now that you’re in, what do you want to get out of it? The Watch is a little bit more than just guards, you know…” With her latter sentence, the cheerful demeanor gave way to something that felt almost sinister. Web was being uncharacteristically serious about whatever she wanted to get across.

“You’re beating around the bush.” Reddling said to her, and she just twitched her ear.

“Nope! That’s it! That’s what I wanna know.” Web said. “Bruiser! What do you want out of this?”

Bruiser looked up, a bit of confusion on his face quickly moving to disbelief. “You’re kidding… I joined to get away from stuff, not to go looking for something new.”

“Oh come on! Make something up then!” Web said, her happy spirits rising again.

“Fine. I want to kick heads in, happy?” Bruiser offered.

“I-I don’t know, honestly.” Tops cut in, electing a sigh of relief from Bruiser, “That’s one of the reasons I was nervous the first few days. I didn’t feel like I have a place.”

At least you didn’t puke behind the stands. Reddling thought to himself, looking over at Tops with the other ponies. Tops had stopped for a moment, and wasn't meeting the eyes of anypony else for awhile.

“…Well, it did make me feel a little better actually to see I wasn’t the only one having trouble.” Tops looked over at Reddling, meeting his eyes for a few moments. Reddling gave him a pained smile, which Tops returned gratefully. Between them however, Midnight stood up, proudly puffing out his chest and cutting off their gaze.

“I wish nothing but to serve alongside her Majesty Luna, to be her shield and sword, and to protect her from danger! To stand at the side of the Princess of the Night and guard her against the evils of this world that would seek to do her harm! To-“

“Okay Midnight! Sit down!” Bruiser yelled over him, prompting Midnight to stop and look over somewhat displeased as he took his seat. Nightshade rolled her one eye quickly before looking at Reddling, clear that she was not going to say anything. After a few moments Reddling found his hooves lifting him to him upright.

“Fine… I’m not a ‘shrimp’, I’m not somepony that has a funny accent, I’m a pony with something to prove- just not to any of you.” Reddling looked down at Nightshade. “Now it’s your turn.”

Reddling took his seat as Nightshade said one word very simply. “Magic.”

“Well, I guess we should check if any of you have a knack! For that!” Web said, turning to walk away from the field with a jovial tune as she practically sang to them, “Let’s take a walk.” Reddling looked at Bruiser, who gave him a shrug as everypony rose, following Web as she began to lead them away from Canterlot and the complex that they called home. Her voice had dropped to being serious again, but she seemed happier than ever at whatever fate she was about to unleash on the new recruits.

“Luna, Mother of the Night, Ruler of the Moon, Caretaker of Dreams… Dreams and Nightmares. There is great power in the realm of Dreams. Magic that one can use, if one has the knack.” Web whispered in the shadows. Her voice seemed to come from all sides, pulling at their manes and tails. Reddling couldn't help but shiver as the air got colder. The world seemed to be getting darker as well, like some shadow was slowly blotting out everything, returning it to some void.

Web turned around to give them all a fangy smile, prompting Reddling to nearly trip. A puff of dirt along with some rocks tumbled down a steep decline as Web gave one of her giggles, continuing to sink further into the shadows, leading Reddling and the others with her.

Are you suggesting that she can see my dreams? That’s impossible, she can’t, she’d know already then, and I wouldn’t be here. Reddling thought, keeping his eyes locked on the back of Web's head as she turned around, continuing to sink into shadow.

“It’s magic born from lightless places. Dark, and great, and wonderful, and terrible…” Web continued. “When Luna fell into despair, this is the power which twisted her into a Nightmare.” Reddling wrestled in his mind with the concepts of using his soul to tap into such harsh things like that, and felt his nerves shake under his skin. Not only was the idea utterly repulsive, it was so alien to what he knew that it seemed mad to even toy with such a theory. Why would somepony give themselves in to utter darkness and shadow simply for what? Magic, or comfort?

Or perhaps, for the ability to do what they could not without it. To defeat foes that otherwise would overwhelm them.

Web trotted along, eventually lead them to a cave, where she stopped at gave the group the faintest of smiles. “If you’d like, you can see if you have any- attraction- to that Nightmare.”

“What are the qualifications?” Reddling asked, and Web shot him her fangiest smile yet, every one of her teeth glinting in the sad light that dared trickle down to the small ravine she had lead them too.

“Are you afraid of the dark?”

“Only if I’m alone.” Reddling said back to her.

“Then maybe you should stay outside.” Web said. Nightshade moved right past the group, wasting no time in entering the cave and vanishing instantly. Although Reddling tried to stare in and lock on her figure, he found that not even his augmented eyes could penetrate whatever unnatural darkness infected this place.

“No, I’m going.” Reddling said, hurrying right after Nightshade. The darkness of the cave seemed to nearly wrap around his offered hoof, pulling him inside more and more as he proceeded deeper into the cave. Each step gave the feeling like he was falling forward, almost like he was being lead downhill...

…Or being pulled in.

The whole cave was pitch black, offering no hope of seeing anything. Although he wasn’t sure that anypony could hear him, Reddling called out over his shoulder, “Alright, when does this get interesting?” after nopony called back, Reddling turned back forward, continuing his step for a moment before the oddness of his statement hit him.

His voice did not echo. Just at the same moment as he thought this, a soft crunch under his hoof made him look down. It was not as if he had stepped on something weird, but rather, natural. It was the feeling of grass under his hooves, something he was so utterly familiar with that it had come to be mundane, and yet the feeling off finding it deep in a cave like this made it some new experience for him. Reddling looked down at the grass, and found it to not be the Equestrian green he suspected, but instead dull silver.

Reddling was on a beaten path, heading towards a familiar town of thatched roofs and stone sides. In the middle of all the buildings rose a large stone structure with fantastic stained glassed windows depicting heroic deeds of stories long since past.

Silverfield. Reddling trotted slowly towards the town, trying to make it out from a weird view that seemed to obscure everything faintly. It was a dark fog in a grey sky that seemed to make the world both day and night at the same time, almost as if somepony had put a pair of greyed out sunglasses over his eyes. Something was clearly wrong, but at the same time everything was familiar and right enough that he wasn't alarmed.

As Reddling got closer to the town, his pace quickened as the fog yielded a smell. The air was tinged with charcoal, but not a cooking burning of charcoal, it was something that he could not make sense of. A conflagration, like everything was burning. Embers floated down as Reddling approached the town, passing a building that was going up in flames, the fires licking at melting stones. Reddling felt his heart nearly stop a he turned in a terror, staring around at the empty street he had wandered into.

“Everypony! Somepony! Answer me! Where is the guard!?” Reddling flipped around as he heard a cry from the town square. Galloping as fast as he could, Reddling turned a corner into the center of the town’s plaza and stopped dead, merely staring at what he could not believe.

Blood coated every wall, fueling the neverending fires that seemed to burn whatever it touched. Bodies lay in crumpled heaps, left where they fell in the streets. Many ponies had been cut by blades and laid across their homes or broken cobblestones where they had tried to defend themselves from some unstoppable foe. Their eyes had bulged out, leaving their faces burned and strangulated. Their bodies had been skinned, making totally impossible to identify any of them. Reddling scanned any of the piles for a survivor as he drew his knife, his voice dying as he still tried to call out to ponies he knew could not answer him.

Reddling looked forward at the center of all the carnage. In front of the church stood a tall, dark figure staring away from all the death that preceded it. Shadows whipped around its hooves, deep amethyst tentacles that rubbed its jaded armor lovingly. The black armor on the figure gleamed, reflecting the fires that were slowly consuming the town around them. The monstrous pony had their long, clawed bat wings spread triumphantly, the insane euphoria emanating from it, palpable in the air as they stared down at a crumpled figure that lay cowering on the steps of the church. Blue, with a starry mane- there was no mistaking the whimpering. The blood soaked form of Princess Luna laying on her back, staring at the monster before her.

“You, Stop! Identify yourself, face me!” Reddling screamed at the creature, his knife trembling in his hoof as he shoved it back into his mouth, ready to strike and waiting for the creature to turn and face him. Wrapped in a cloak of his own ego, the monster turned around, a gentle amethyst mane still blowing against his red coat, partially obscuring two eyes that had lost their misty grey. It was the eyes that shook Reddling more than the blood spattered armor, the corrupt shadows, or even the face. The cutie mark on the monster’s side was still visible under the spattered blood- A knife crossed by a pen.

The only noise in the entire town was a knife clattering to the ground as Reddling shook horribly inside, every single vein freezing. He felt cold and clammy as the Nightmare stared back at him, almost grinning in some fiendish, horrible way. Reddling grabbed his knife again, recovering and screaming at his enemy.

“No, you’re a trick, that’s all you are. You’re not me, and I’d never do this!” Reddling cried.

The response was not said verbally, but rather seemed to be something that tickled his mind. “Would you? Would you never? Not even for this? To see her bent, and beaten, and broken?”

No, you stay the hell out of my head! Reddling replied, and he only heard an echoing laugh that was his own thought replying to him as everything began shrieking.

I am your head.

Every colour was flashing, shrieking out in harsh contrast to everything else. The world was swimming as the Nightmare forced itself into focus above everything else, showing the crumpled figure of Luna. “Look at her… cowering there in the dirt.”

“At what cost?! You killed everyone! They’re all dead!” Reddling waved a hoof madly at the scene before dashing to stand in front of Luna, standing between himself and the Princess of the Night.

“A small price to pay.”

Reddling glared angrily at himself. “Nothing I do could ever bring about such monstrous acts, you’re naught but a shade!” Even as Reddling yelled at the monster, he felt himself turning to face Luna. She was so helpless right now, so defenseless. It was the perfect chance to strike her down, right when her face was marred in gore from the fallen ponies around her. Luna averted her face, looking away in pain… in fear. Reddling heard himself advancing, a long knife drawn that was coated in layers of blood and gore, the runes on the blade invisible under all the splatter. Taking a defensive stance in front of Luna, Reddling held his own knife at the ready.

“I will find another way, change is no good if nopony can make things better after!” Reddling felt tears welling up in his eyes as the Nightmare soullessly stepped on the head of a fallen colt. There was just enough time for Reddling to make out the face of the little unicorn before a sickening squelch filled the air.

Rainy.

“You abomination! I’ll kill you!” Reddling threw himself at the monster, throwing his wings up to shield Luna behind him as he tore at the creature, punching at its armor and trying to hook his knife into any part of it he could touch. A horrible feeling of neglect was welling up, compelling Reddling’s chest forward with something that made him sick. It was a warm gooey feeling that that had shattered itself against the inside of his heart, leaving the world blank. Whatever the emotion, it had left him totally able to throw himself at his foe without a second thought and with complete conviction for vindication.

Reddling’s knife sank into the dirt under him as he punched and yelled at the grass, dirt, and leaves littered around on the ground. It took a few moments before Reddling realized he was groping the ground outside of the cave. Web, Nightshade, and Bruiser standing off on the side, just staring at the charade before them. Reddling froze for a few moments, staring over at them with wide eyes before looking back at the ground, a huge blush covering his entire head.

“So, how’d it go?” Web asked plainly. Reddling pulled his knife out of the ground. Even though his head was shaking terribly, he managed to sheathe his knife without eviscerating himself. Web had drawn closer now, her eyes bright, eager, and curious. Nightshade looked shaken next to Bruiser, who simply seemed bored.

“How much did you hear?” Reddling asked. Web just smiled for a moment, perhaps debating her answer.

“Nothing. You okay?” Web asked.

Reddling forced himself upright, looking at her bright eyes. “Yes. I am fine. Everything went… okay.”

“Did you pass?” Web asked, her eyes still glowing.

“I’m not sure I know the difference between passing and failing.” Reddling replied, looking back at the cave.

“That means you didn’t. Ah well. Magic’s not for everypony.” Her eyes seemed to dim a little as she sighed.

“Are we able to try again? Can I still learn this skill?” Reddling asked, staring back into the darkness. Web’s eyes were bright again as she turned to him happily.

“Do you want to go back in? See it again, whatever that was?”

Reddling stared angrily at the darkness. "Web, I just saw everypony I ever knew chopped up, skinned alive and- I will learn this skill, okay?” Reddling tossed himself back at the cave, galloping forward unsteadily and psychotically as the back of the cave met his snout. Reddling fell back, crying out and grabbing his bleeding nostril. The cave proved to be little more than four feet deep, and whatever shadows had wrapped the world before this had given way, revealing it to be a shallow shelter that a small animal might call home.

“That’s the thing with a dream… or a nightmare… once it’s over, it’s hard to get back into it.” Web’s voice seemed almost dreamy through the ringing in Reddling’s head as he got back to his hooves and turned to yell at her.

“Show me how to activate this thing, Web!” Reddling’s patience was hinging, every word reeked with how displeased he was with failure.

“Reddling, it’s a cave. It doesn’t come with a button.” Web said pointedly. Reddling turned and gave the wall of the cave a kick, throwing himself out of the cave and landing on his back as his lower body shook from the force of striking solid rock so hard.

“That’s why I didn’t bother. Magic isn’t anything to screw around with.” Bruiser leaned back, looking totally at ease as Midnight burst out of the shadows in the cave. The blackness of the shadows had vanished in the same moment that they had appeared, but Reddling had still tried to grab at them, hopeful they would suck him back in.

I bet that he passed no sweat, this teacher’s pet. Reddling thought as he turned to face Midnight. His mind perished his former thought as he saw the face of the blue bat. Midnight’s eyes were wide and wild, his expression distant and confused.

“So, how’d it go?” Web asked Midnight, who shook his head.

“I couldn’t…” Midnight’s voice broke as he choked, coughing viciously. “I could never- never- urk-!” Midnight stumbled behind a tree, and the sound of retching filled the air.

“You failed like I did…” Reddling said to Midnight’s back as he hurled again, shaking in an all too familiar sense. Midnight managed to raise his head weakly as Tops appeared out of the cave, simply standing still and looking at everypony else around him.

“So?” Web asked. Tops simply nodded, trotting over to sit by Nightshade and Bruiser. Reddling was still standing right by the cave next to Web, who looked like she was ready to just start giggling uncontrollably at the whole situation taking place.

“I guess we’re done here… Is it Friday yet?” Reddling asked, turning away from the cave bitterly. His anger at failing to pass whatever this test was supposed to prove was frustrating, and he could feel his blood boiling under his skin.

“Yup! You’ll get Sunday off!” Web said. Reddling turned even more coldly away from the others, heading back for camp as Web let out a high pitched giggle behind him.

“Welcome to the Night Watch!” She yelled after him.

“Well, training ends someday. That's when my real test will begin.” Reddling bitterly muttered to himself as the hoofsteps of others filled the air behind him.

“Well, we’re done! Tomorrow you’ll have some fun! I’ll see you back at camp!” spreading her wings, Web soared over Reddling’s head, leaving her recruits to wander back. Behind him, Reddling saw Tops and Nightshade exchange glances before taking off and flying with Web as well. Midnight and Bruiser trotted along, soon catching up to trot beside him. Midnight was still crying his eyes out and doing whatever he could to wipe away tears.

“Midnight, you okay?” Bruiser said, finally looking over at a sobbing Midnight Tales.

“N-No!” Midnight quietly sobbed, staring at the ground as streams of tears hit the dirt, soaking up little particle around themselves before drying in the cold night breeze.

“What did you see, Midnight? What did they take from you in there?” Reddling asked, staring bitterly ahead.

Midnight broke down even further, leaving Bruiser and Reddling to watch as he sobbed loudly and nearly fell into the hill they were ascending.“Ah-Ah- I couldn’t, I couldn’t do it, never! Ah!” Midnight tripped, falling towards the ground as Bruiser lifted him up, Reddling quickly found his way to Midnight’s other side, lifting him up as the continued to trot towards camp at a somewhat slower pace.

“Oh come on, here.” Bruiser pulled out a metal flask from his armor and passed it to Midnight, who shakily removed the cap and then took an enormous swig. Reddling felt his tongue lick his lips, passing gently across his fangs as the smell of sickly burning passed his nostrils. Bruiser rolled his eyes as Midnight passed the flask back and teetered on his hooves, beginning to move forward on his own again.

“I don’t- want to talk about it. Was- did you see something awful?” Midnight asked, turning his face to look helplessly at Reddling.

Reddling blinked a few times, staring straight forward as he breathed out his response. It was just loud enough for the others to hear with their bat ears, but if some normal pony had been passing by, they probably would’ve thought a leaf was rustling.

“I saw my hometown in flames. Everypony was slaughtered. They all died… dismembered, mangled, skinned." Reddling's voice came out cold and harsh, as if he was trying to pick out all the things wrong with some dinner dish. "All of them burning, everything was burning.” Reddling looked distantly ahead of him, remembering the flames licking the homes he had known. The gardens he had stolen from for laughs sown with blood and reaping only corpses. Reddling could feel himself approaching his enemy as he trotted back to camp, remembering how every flame glared off the terrible armor. Remembering every ember passing by the callous and jaded expression that had washed away the last traces of reason from his face.

“The monster that killed them smashed the head of my ne- yes. Yes Midnight Tales, I saw something awful.” Reddling felt himself vibrating against his armor, his shaky legs threatening to give out under him.

“I saw, I… I couldn’t be like that. I can’t. I won’t.” Midnight whispered to himself, looking like he might collapse again.

“You saw yourself.” Reddling said chillingly. “Just remember that someplace inside us, that’s who we are. Who I am. Who you are.”

“Want to go to the bar?” Midnight choked out. “I need a drink to be fine tomorrow.”

“I can respect that…” Reddling said, trailing off.

“I’ll keep him company.” Bruiser looked over at Midnight, then back to Reddling. “Seems like he needs it a bit more than you.”

Reddling looked at the pitiful form of Midnight, then back to Bruiser. “I’ll tell the others where you got off too then. You take care of him, okay?” Bruiser gave a snort before nodding. Reddling hoofed it back to camp to catch a quick shower before he wandered into the mess hall.. Web was there with a plate of food in front of her, carefully cleaning her knife before cutting anything open. Grunting at the earth pony for a simple salad, Reddling turned to sit down next to Web.

She didn't say anything, staring down at her work and seemingly ignoring him. Unlike the other ponies at the camp, he had this odd feeling that he needed to talk to Web, whether it was about something important or not didn’t matter, so long as he was around her and close to her. Web did not seem to feel the same way however, and did not even give him a nod until she was satisfied with her work and began cutting her apples into slices.

“Web, I thought you should know Midnight is pretty shaken up by this. I told Bruiser I’d let you know they’re headed to the bar to fix him up.” Reddling sank into his salad, munching on some cabbage leaves.

“Hmm, he was so sure he would pass,” Web said to herself as she munched on an apple. “You were too, weren’t you?”

“Nothing could have prepared him for that, and I passed that test in my own way.” Reddling said self-assuring to himself.

Web giggled, looking over at him with her batlike eyes. “You’ve got something to hold onto that’s more important than what you want to have.” Her eyes were bright as Reddling felt her eyes pierce him, their eyes transfixed. She was hypnotic with those eyes, two narrow slits that seemed to draw him in and hold him there, accepting nothing short of his full and undivided attention. Try as he might to break the trance, there seemed to be once more some unnatural feeling gripping him, like some dark hoof pulling on the scruff of his neck.

“You said you had something to prove.” Web murmured.

“…Yes.” The word was dry and dead before it left Reddling’s mouth.

Examining an apple slice, Web deemed it acceptable and bit into it. “But still have something important you’re holding onto.”

“A family member, yes. Family takes care of each other, right?” Reddling had not meant for the question to be rhetorical, although Web simply continued as if she had not heard it.

“Some ponies come here with nothing. They’ve got no problem making that choice. That makes it very easy to change.” Deeming another slice acceptable, Web swallowed half of it with a crunch.

“You seem overly knowledgeable about that. Personal experiences, or just seeing trainees pass along?” Reddling asked, still not turning back to his food.

“A bit of both. My position gets a lot of downtime, so I do well helping introduce you new initiates to the lifestyle.” Web said, still working on her slices.

“What… is it you do anyway? I’m still very confused about how this all works, I’m still waiting for us to go suck blood or something.” Reddling finally found himself able to pull back to his salad, and munched on some shredded carrot.

Web let out a little giggle in between her chewing. “Oh, odds and ends.”

Raising an eyebrow, Reddling just whispered back to her. “Oh, How mysterious.” Web’s giggling intensified as she sat down an apple slice, no doubt fully .laughing internally to herself.

“Midnight wasn’t going to pass though, it’s really a shame- But an important lesson! Bruiser might have passed, if he tried.”

“I’m sure he has his reasons for not facing the monster inside of him.” Reddling said, looking down at the salad, which seemed suddenly less tasteful. “I did have a question about this lifestyle I was hoping you could answer. How are we sorted into squads? Will I keep working with the other four as a group? Will you stay our commander?”

Web mused to herself, letting out a long hmm before responding. “Depends. Maybe THE commander will assign you somewhere. Maybe the Princess will assign you somewhere. Maybe you’ll re-discover yourself, and find some special niche.”

“And I suppose it’s a continued lone existence from there? Not much different from what some of us had before this from what I understand.” Reddling laughed the last part to himself. The leaves of his salad seemed to be wilting before his eyes, becoming less and less tasteful.

“Pretty much!” Web said. She had deemed another of her apple slices acceptable, and began to chew on its crunchy flesh. Redling pulled himself away from his salad, tossing the wilted leaves away before heading for the door, waving goodbye to Web as she sat aside her apple and began ravaging a mango.

Reddling could not help but think about how depressing Web really was. Sure, to most ponies she seemed to be bubbly happy, but it was so obviously a cover to something that was… Reddling couldn’t find the word he wanted to finish his thought. It was cold and hard, almost petrified. Whatever social skills he had sacrificed for his life of training to be an assassin, Web seemed to have somehow gained even fewer talents in the area- or she simply did not care to express them.

Reddling found his way to the bar where the other stallions were drinking to their pains. Reddling took a seat between Tops and Midnight, the latter of which was sloshing around in a seat laughing at the ceiling as Bruiser swigged at his beer. Rather than order a drink, Reddling just marveled for a moment at the sorry existence that these bats lived. He actually found himself feeling pity for them, they didn’t choose to be this way really, they were tricked or forced into hiding from the day and walking in shadow. The sins of Equestria ran deep, and this was as damning proof as Reddling needed to convince himself that something had to change.

Having enough of the depressive atmosphere, Reddling turned to look at the menu. The earth pony glared at him, cold as ever and mouthing something along the lines of "damn bats" to himself.

“What’s the strongest, cheapest thing you have here?” Reddling asked.

“Eh-hehe, We’ve got some grain alcohol, but that’s for mixed drinks only.” The earth pony offered. Reddling blinked idly at the earth pony.

“No, I’ll just take it straight, how much per shot?” Reddling asked.

The earth pony looked a little shocked as his ears folded back. “That’ll kill you.”

Reddling glared at the bartended and snorted angrily. “Then what is the cheapest thing you have that won’t kill me? Milk? A soda? I came for a drink.”

“Ah, you know what? You want some strong stuff? Three bits for a shot.” Redding nearly threw six bits at the earth pony, who swept them away and pulled up a shot glass, ducking behind the counter quickly. When he returned he had a very plain looking bottle with a label that read “The Everclear” on it.

“Let’s start you out with just one at a time, okay?” the earth pony gave a twisted smile as he giggled, poured a shot, and slid it towards Reddling. Both Bruiser and Tops wrinkled their faces at the smell of what one might consider as paint thinner It was a raw smell that stuffed the sinuses and emptied them at the same time, leaving them dry and abused.

Reddling looked at his fellow bats, then shot the Earth pony a smile too. “Sod off, this’ll be nothin’.” Reddling took the glass and swallowed the entire thing in a full gulp, looking across at the earth pony, who had a new emotion on his face, one that Reddling hadn’t seen until this moment- glee.

The room stood still for a few moments, then everypony laughed as Reddling let out a short screech and fell backwards from his chair, grabbing his neck as every organ in the upper half of his body screamed at being set on fire. Every bit of flesh from his tongue to his stomach felt like it had been seared over a fire until it settled like a live ember in his stomach. The laughs died down as Reddling managed to put one hoof on his stool, crying into the counter as he fought to stand back up at the bar.

“Wat-Water!” Reddling gasped, feeling the burning inside him spread as his thoughts raced- of all the evils in the world; the atrocities committed by the Equestrian army in the past, the blighted Princesses he was now serving, or even the Nightmarish cave that had been witnessed earlier that day, truly there was nothing more vile and wrong in the world than the few ounces of liquid currently festering inside of his stomach.

“W-water…” Reddling hacked again as he saw a full glass slide towards him from the earth pony. The liquids spilled over his coat and mouth as Reddling drowned himself in the water, crying from the burns soaking inside of him.

“I warned you.” The earth pony said dryly. Bruiser laughed heartily, taking another swig of his beer as Midnight nearly tripped out of his chair, his face liquefied by a confused and happy stupor. Even Tops was smirking, although he appeared to be the sober stallion of the party. Reddling peeled himself away from the bar counter and wandered over to a comfy armchair in the corner, laying back in it and breathing carefully.

“Aha Reddling, what the hell was that?” Bruiser laughed, setting his beer down temporary and turning to face the room, which suddenly seemed to be a lot smaller.

“I-I think I need to sit for a moment.” Reddling said to himself, as Midnight blabbered some nonsensical words that he couldn’t make out. “P-Poison, what proof is that?” Reddling said, looking up at the bartender.

The earth pony checked the bottle blankly. “195.”

Reddling felt his head hit a table, suddenly finding himself next to Midnight as he groaned, the room spinning and time working in odd ways as the alcohol began to make everything feel pleasantly numb.

“Ah! Reddling, you are insane!” Midnight proclaimed next to him, holding him up and laughing as the smell of his heated, alcoholic breath hit Reddling’s face. Reddling opened his mouth to refute the claim, but then quickly closed it, finding that he really had no counterargument on any level.

“Well, hopefully this won’t hurt all that much soon.” Reddling said as the earth pony turned, cleaning some glasses and muttering to himself.

“Ah, Reddling, watch, watch!” Midnight said like a little child. He turned towards the earth pony and let out a high pitched squeal, directing it at the bartender. The earth pony’s ear twitched ever so slightly, but otherwise he made no response. Midnight giggled softly, leaning on the table for support. “He can’t even hear it…”

Reddling blinked for a few seconds before it dawned on him exactly how powerful the squeals they could make was- Non bats had such poor hearing.

“It must be a shame to be limited in life.” Reddling said bitterly. The base of his wings gave a sharp twinge, reminding him of just what he really meant with that statement.

Midnight burst out into a fit of uncontrolled laughter, wrapping a hoof around Reddling’s shoulder and yelling out at the room. “Preach it!”

Reddling smirked at the earth pony evilly. “I guess it explains why he’s such a jerk though.”

“Damn bats…” the earth pony muttered, refilling Reddling’s shot glass and putting a larger glass of water on the counter before turning out of the room, muttering pain numbing words to himself. Tops screwed up his face for a bit, looking at Reddling painfully over the comments that were being made. Reddling blinked at Tops, and pushed the booze out of his mind for a moment of clarity. Something about the expression just seemed… odd, like there was something Tops wanted to say, but couldn’t quite get it out. The green pony stood up and began to head for the door.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Tops said quietly, pushing through the doors and leaving. Reddling broke away from Midnight, catching the door before it slammed shut.

“Tops, we need to hang out sometime, I’m sorry I was so, uh, kinda shunny on you the first day when we tried to talk!” Reddling felt his speech fall apart slightly halfway through his sentence, but Tops smiled pleasantly, tilting his head to the side.

“Don’t worry about it.” Tops said complicatedly as he continued his trot back to his quarters. Reddling turned back to the room, watching everything spin as he seated himself in front of the shot. The earth pony had reappeared and kept a hoof over the glass, giving Reddling a glare.

“Are you sure you want another shot?” the earth pony said. Reddling nodded viciously as he passed the drink to him.

“Hey thanks, Buddy.” Reddling said, gulping the whole shot down again, waiting for the burn to roll in once more.

“Don’t ever call me that again.” The earth pony said, frowning. Behind Reddling, he could hear Bruiser let out a cheer a Midnight gave a loud hazzah. Everything seemed so awfully far away suddenly though, like he wasn’t actually there.

When Reddling woke up, he felt the oddest sensation on his body. Giving a stretch, he felt a horrible pounding in his head cry for movement to stop. Every limb was sore, and his wings were hanging backwards freely, full of aches and pains. Trying to give one more stretch, Reddling found himself falling. The world blurred behind his closed eyes as he crashed on his chest into the ground, giving a horrible groan of pain. There was a small “tee hee” nearby, and Reddling bolted up, totally awake now as his eyes snapped open and he stared for the source of the noise.

It was a bright and sunny day in the mountains outside of Canterlot, and a few birds took flight as they finished pulling worms out of the ground, moving away from some falling rocks that slid down the path. Although the scream was not audible to the birds, there was no mistaking the vibrations of the poor bat’s scream halfway up the mountain.

It was roughly an hour of sobering up before Reddling found his bed, rolling into it with vicious tears in his eyes. Collapsing into his pillows, Reddling eventually found sleep, but it was not a restful sleep. Memories of the cave had returned with soberness, and he found himself remembering Silverfield, remembering all its wonder and horrors. Remembering his earlier memories, and his first trip into the town of Silverfield.

And when he got back.

Reddling found himself alone in the old castle he had called home. Castle Celes was not grand, in fact, most of it was inaccessible due to being in constant disrepair. Still, Redding was used to being alone here, and it had a certain quaintness when the halls were quiet.

Today lacked that quaintness however, as another set of hoofsteps echoed with his own. Turning around, Reddling looked to see who was following him, but felt a hoof hit him in the face. He landed on his side, a feathery wing sitting disjointedly out from his body as a black cloaked figure drew nearer. It’s features were distorted and horrible under the darkness of their hood, but in the same instance, it was a cheekless smile. The monster lurking under the cloak was something horrible that Reddling knew he had to get away from. He grasped desperately for his knife but found it was not at his side as a sickle hooked against his back, dragging itself forward over his disjointed wing, filling the world with red as blood flew around him, swirling dreamily.

Reddling’s scream drowned in his throat as cotton seemed to press itself over his mouth. The world had suddenly grown dark, leaving a comforting black curtain. Reddling felt oddly at ease even though everything was flashing red and there was a glaring, unearthly pain in his side. The figure raised its weapon for one more cut as Reddling found his voice.

“Help me! Please!” The small cries of the colt did not echo as he pleaded for some intervention he did not think would come.

Suddenly the figure hesitated for a moment, then there was a blast of a purple and black beam. The cloak fell on the ground as the wind blew away dust, erasing the creature right where it stood. Their sickle fell to the ground with a clang as they melted away into nothing. Reddling had his remaining wing wrapped against him as he panted, looking at the dust pile as there were heavy hoofsteps behind him.

“Who-?” Reddling questioned, turning. There, with her horn still smouldering from the blast, stood Princess Luna, her face dark and eyes fixed not on the foal before her, but rather where the phantom once stood.

“It cannot hurt you any longer.” Princess Luna said in her majestic voice. Luna leaned down on her knees beside him turning her eyes to face him now. She looked smaller than normal, although her mane was just as starry as it normally was. Her eyes appraised his blood soaked side. She put a hoof on his side, rubbing above the wound.

Reddling sniffed in disgust at the obvious being pointed out as Luna wrapped a dark cloak around his back, covering both his wounded and bloodied side as well as his still good wing. The pain vanished instantly, and Reddling suddenly felt much more balanced. His wings seemed to be in harmony once more, and he turned, tossing himself off the ground and looking up joyfully at Luna. The familiar feeling of feathers did not warm him however, and instead he felt a different warmth, a familiar warmth he suddenly could not place.

“Farewell, Reddling” Luna turned to leave, and Reddling found his eyes transfixed on her as she left, his mind running through thoughts of utter terror as he wrapped his bat wings around him. Luna was his enemy, his foe, and yet she had given him new life, a new chance to live in a way that his backwater country had not provided.

Luna stopped and turned as the world began to deconstruct itself around them. Her hooves vanished as she looked back, her expression twisted. It was a horrible look of pain, and of pity.

Reddling sat up in bed, gasping and gripping at his tangled sheets and grabbing his back, making sure his bat wings were still intact. His mane and back were covered in sweat, and he found his pillow to be damp. Darkness was falling under the crack of his door, and although he did not feel well rested at all, he climbed out of bed and tripped over his armor, which lay in a heap on the floor next to his knife.

“Reddling? Are you up?” Came Tops’ voice from outside his door as a hoof rammed itself against the wood “Oh, Reddling. You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry.”

“Nn, Tops, yes, one moment… just let me finish… starting… putting my armor on.”