Going to re-read and triple check later. At some point I'm going to add an appendix on Silverfield's bible.

Reddling stumbled out of his room towards Tops just in time for the green pony to turn and head for the practice fields. Tops was getting better at flying, and he seemed to simply glide through the air now. His cutie mark is a wing though, I bet he was one of the best fliers at whatever that cloud city the Equestrian degenerates live in. Even as Reddling let his thoughts wonder back to the propaganda he had been fed for his entire life, he couldn't fight the feeling of something more chilling rising in his chest. Despite the fact that Tops was obviously going to be their best flier, there seemed to just be an odd piece of the puzzle missing that Reddling couldn't quite place.

Reddling turned towards the fields and raced at them, feeling the cool night breeze rush through his mane. Last night was a complete and total blur, but at some point he had misplaced his helmet and it was now missing. Stopping in at the end of the formation Reddling snapped to attention and looked straight ahead at the pitch darkness of the field. Web's amber eyes glowed in front of them as she paced back and forth, casually observing the group.

Giving a quick glance to his side, Reddling noted that Midnight’s face looked like it felt as bad as his insides felt. Everything in the world was blurry, as if he was looking into a weird circus mirror. Every muscle was just crying for him to lay down and accept that he felt like a corpse.

“Reddling! How kind of you to join us!” Web said, cheerfully chiming his name and winking. “Today, you start training! Real training!” Reddling just groaned and Web giggled. He always felt like her eyes focused more on him than the other recruits, but he could never be sure. Foggy memories of the night before washed up with her face, various discussions of mares between Midnight and Bruiser. Reddling hadn't remembered saying anything, but he had kept many disjointed thoughts about Web to himself.

Web snapped to attention as the sound of wingflaps in the distance filled the air, her cheery facade vanishing as she again became completely serious. A large bat pony landed next to her, folding his wings as he did so. His armor was thick and heavy, something that seemed far prettier and more protective than the protection afforded by the Night Watch armor that the five recruits were wearing. As he turned to face them, Reddling blinked at the pony's thick armor. It was impossible to see any of his coat, for the parts not covered in plate were covered in either leather or chain mail. The pony's face was totally obscured, leaving only faded eyes to stare out at them with all other features banished to the shadows within the helmet.

On one side, the pony carried a spear, and on the other side, he had a sword belted on. The ends of his forehooves were both adorned with a set of folding claws. All in all, he cutting an imposing figure on the dark backdrop of the landscape. Reddling was waiting for a crack of thunder somewhere overhead with a flash of lightning, but no storm picked up for the guard that had joined them.

“ ‘Lunar’, Captain of the Night Guard.” Web introduced him. Reddling laughed to himself a little in his head as he considered if that was the pony’s actual name, or just one he took to maximize his edginess when introduced to other ponies.

“Web, you are dismissed.” Lunar said. Web gave a quick salute, then flew back towards her quarters, leaving the recruits alone with captain, who’s profile seemed march darker without the brightness of Web next to him.

“You have spent the past few days settling into you new positions. Now you are going to learn some real, practical skills.” Lunar’s voice was fierce, and there was no room for questioning when he made his statements. The authority of this pony was so absolute that the other five stood a little straighter, stiffing up as he appraised them. Web gave one blink over at the recruits before she was gone, vanishing into the darkness and leaving them alone with their Captain.

You’re not going to break me. They did not break me before, I will not be broken by you. Reddling thought to himself, listening to Lunar’s patriotism as he spewed his two cents.

“The Night Guard exists to protect our most valuable assets. To defend us from the deadliest dangers. To go where nopony else will go, and to do the things that nopony else will do. You will be the best, or you will die.” Lunar suddenly broke from his speech and turned to the latter half of the line. “Tops, Nightshade, Reddling, In the air, now!” Lunar's scream took all three of them by surprise. Reddling stared blankly at the captain for a second before he found gears to make his wings work. The air filled with the sound of beating wings as the Captain turned back to Midnight and Bruiser.

“You three may land when the sun comes up.” Lunar said, his voice returning to its normal level. Reddling felt his mouth twitch as he looked down at Lunar. Nightshade’s face was both visibly surprised and angry, although it was hard to make out if Tops had any feelings about this at all.

“Midnight, Bruiser. You may not fly tonight. There is a pile of rocks at the top of the mountain. Bring them here. Whoever brings the fewest will receive additional training tomorrow instead of the day off. You are dismissed.” Lunar turned instantly and walked away, shadows reaching out of the ground and licking at his sides as he strode off the practice field.

“What happens if we all bring an equal number?” Reddling asked, smirking slightly as a little idea formed in his head. Lunar turned away from his shadows, his stone cold eyes staring at Reddling.

“Then whoever speaks out of turn the most shall receive additional training tomorrow. During the day.” With that, Lunar turned away again, and there was a rush of wings and hooves as everypony began to move up the mountain.

The path up the mountain was not treacherous from what Reddling could tell, although flying had made things somewhat simpler. The night turned to early morning before there had been a noticeable change in the amount of rocks laying around at the peak of the mountain. Each stone was rounded and stacked with the rest of it's kin, ready and waiting to be hauled down the mountainside.

The piles of rocks stayed fairly even between Tops and Bruiser, each of them trying to haul a few rocks at a time. Nightshade and Reddling had both slipped behind slightly. Bruiser's large size had afforded him the ability to pull a very slight lead, and Tops flying ability was simply leaving his other airborn companions in the dust.

Reddling had spent most of the morning very smug about how his pile had steadily been growing over Nightshades and Midnight's, leaving him a comfortable distance from last place. Despite the aching in his wings, he took a breathing run as he headed back up, picking up a single rock and heading back down. He had not seen Nightshade for some time, but he wasn't worried yet. Reddling began to gloat to himself in his head as he traced the path back down to the piles of rocks, looking proudly at his own pitifully small pile of rocks that sat next to another pile nearly as tall as a small tree.

Reddling felt his neck pop as he did a double take, freezing in midair as he stared at Nightshade's pile. It had gone from being a small pile lagging behind all of the others to a crazy pile that was larger than all of the others.

How did she? She couldn't have gotten all those rocks here so quickly, not even if all of us gave her our loads of rocks!

Reddling turned, flying back towards the peak furiously for another load of two rocks, feeling anger grow in his chest as he huffed at the darkness surrounding him. Once he reached the peak, Tops left, carrying another load. Grabbing two rocks, Reddling turned back around and ducked quickly behind a boulder, laying his wings against the back of it and peaking over at the various rocks. There was a sudden surge of shadows and Nightshade burst from an unnatural darkness, quickly grabbing a few rocks before thrusting herself back into the darkness, vanishing from sight before Reddling could even call out to her.

Turning down to the mountain, Reddling saw Nightshade reappear, phasing in and out of dark shadows that his eyes could not penetrate. She was a little more than halfway down the mountain, before Reddling passed her, glaring at her sourly.

Nightshade didn't have time to meet his glare. It was like all her life vanished in an instant, and she dropped her rocks. Reddling watched as Nightshade tumbled out of the sky, getting entangled in a tree as her rocks smashed into branches before heading to the dirt path below. Dropping his rocks, Reddling turned and headed for the tree, perching himself on a branch above Nightshade.

Nightshade was a total mess from all the strain; her wings were shaking terribly, and bits of froth and foam hung onto the edge of her mouth. Her breathing only came out in ragged gasps between the angry inhaling of air as she sobbed at her own incompetency.

“Nightshade, shut up.” Reddling said, trying to peel her off the branch and carry her towards the camp. Nightshade, instead of taking the help, gripped onto the tree branch, clenching to the bark with gritted teeth.

“NO! I don’t want your damn pity!” She screeched, her wings flailing about as Reddling worked her away from the bark of the tree.

“You dumb bat, I do not pity you- I’d expect you to do the same for others.” As soon as Reddling had her peeled off the branch, she pushed him away, turning about and heading back for the peek to get another load. Having dropped his rocks as well, Reddling turned to follow her back up.

“You… are only holding yourself back.” Nightshade muttered as they both collected rocks.

“We’re only as strong as our weakest link.” Reddling snorted at her. Nightshade took to the sky, looking quickly at him and giving a smirk.

“And… for tonight’s test, so far, that’s you.” Nightshade’s voice was edged with daggers, even through the gasping. Reddling scowled at her as they took flight back to camp, throwing both their rocks on the pile.

“I’m not the one camping in trees.” Reddling retorted sourly. Neither Tops nor Midnight's stacks had been growing for some time, and Reddling kept his eyes on Tops as he flew past them. Top's glanced at looked at Nightshade’s stack for a moment, then at Reddling. After a moment, he dropped the rocks on his own pile, looking a little withdrawn.

“You two alright?” Tops asked, and both Nightshade and Reddling nodded, although it was difficult to tell which of them was more bitter about it. They flew back up as the moon began to set, but this time Reddling did not grab a load. Although Bruiser had been making regular drop offs, Reddling could not recall having seen Midnight for hours. Scanning the trees below him as he headed back up, Reddling eventually spotted the crumpled body of a pony laying slightly off the path. Flying down to the blue bat that lay against a rock, Reddling hovered there, looking at his fallen comrade.

“Ah! Reddling! I have failed my assignment!” Midnight cried, trying to lift himself up before falling over again. It wasn't exactly obvious how Midnight had fallen to this spot, but he had clearly taken quite a tumble based on the various twigs and rocks in his mane. Cuts and bruises not withstanding, he seemed to be more ashamed than he was hurt.

“Get up, nobat is failing... Come on, you can do this." Stopping for a second, Reddling tried to think of something encouraging to say. "You’re going to do it for the Night Mother! For Princess Luna!” Midnight's eyes flashed as he collected a few rocks laying by him and put them in his saddlebags, taking off down the mountain again as Reddling followed him, watching overhead to make sure that he arrived safely.

“ ‘Tis a disservice to yourself to hold yourself back on my sake. Finish your assignment as best you are able, and so shall I.” Midnight urged, limping his way down the mountain as he nursed a sprain in one of his back legs.

Despite the suggestions of his companions, Reddling found himself spending the rest of remaining morning making sure everypony else got back to camp as the sun began to glare in their visions. Midnight had simply collapsed as the heat of the sun overtook them, and it was not clear how much longer Nightshade's wings would hold her up as she swooned around in the air. Luckily, Captain Lunar wasted no time in arriving when the sun peeked itself over the distant hills.

“You may land.” Lunar said to the three bats in the air. Reddling felt himself fall as he hit the ground, remaining upright. Tops swiftly landed gracefully, although his wings were shaking from exhaustion. Nightshade simply collapsed into the dirt between them, gasping for air. The entire clearing smelled of salty sweat, it's only feature some groaning ponies who could hardly- or for some, simply could not- stand up. His entire back felt tight and hurt in ways that he didn’t know were possible- and frankly, weren’t possible until a few days ago.

Even through the pain, Reddling felt his eyes stare at the sinking moon. There was something about seeing that silver figure dip into the horizon, bidding him goodbye as the sun reminded him of his new form. The day and night cycles were a reminder that he was a bat pony now, meant to soar on leathery wings through the night and see things in a way that other ponies could not see. Thank you.

“Midnight, you will report to me tomorrow night, in Canterlot. Go see Web about that limp. She will also have your weekly stipend for all of you. You are dismissed.” Lunar turned and left instantly, quickly disappearing into the brightness of the sun. Bruiser, Tops, and Nightshade trotted ahead as Midnight limped along. Reddling stayed at his side, making sure none of his friends- none of his companions, succumbed to the sun.

“So, any idea what happened last night?” Reddling tried to break the ice as Midnight sighed. The trip to Web's quarters was slow with his limp, and Reddling was not about to offer him a shoulder, it was simply too much of a personal space violation.

“I too cannot recall the exact events of last night. It may explain both of our poor performances.” Midnight offered.

“No, we performed poor because we both trained poorly. I blame the cave.” Reddling said sourly, looking out at the forest with anger.

“This is twice now that I have failed. I shall resolve to not let it happen again. Thank you, Reddling, for your words of encouragement before.” Reddling gasped a bit as Midnight leaned against him, no longer able to limp on his own. Midnight was almost twice his size, and that made it quite a challenge to help hold him up. However, what continued to irk Reddling more was not holding up the Equestrian stallion, but rather the fact he had to touch a degenerate.

“We are all children of the night. We stand together.” Reddling muttered as he shifted Midnight’s weight around, trying to find a comfortable way to drag the pony along. Midnight nodded and smiled happily as they approached Web’s quarters. Tops, Bruiser, and Nightshade were already making their way into the mess hall in the distance when Midnight and Reddling pushed open the door to Web's quarters.

There was a sound of a knife unsheathing and Web suddenly flashed into view, a tiny dagger appearing in her mouth like a flash of lightning. As soon as she had a chance to make out the two stallions stumbling in however, she sheathed her knife and relaxed, giving them both a smile.

“Reddling!” Web squeaked at him before turning to Midnight more plainly. “Midnight, How’d it go!?”

“Sorry…” Reddling offered, still looking at the sheathed knife on her desk.

“During our trial, I fell and wounded myself. The Captain instructed me to see you.” Midnight said. Web just beckoned him over picking out a few vials and jars from around the desk she was seated at.

“Ah! Let Web kiss it and make it all better.” She let out a giggle.

“Web, that’s not funny- He’s hurt.” Reddling was stern with his voice as he began to scan the room. There were various jars in here, some of which seemed to have what Reddling guessed to be fish in them, although the colours of the liquid were quite odd.

Web gave a smirk as Midnight limped to her. “It’s not funny, because it’s not a joke. Sit down.” Web turned to a cabinet as Reddling took a closer look at Web’s quarters, realizing that he was not looking at jars with fish, but rather something much more sinister. Various mortars, pestles, and miniature charcoal burners lined a shelf next to exotic things. Some jars held small snakes in them, while others held large spiders, still alive and moving. Each of them seemed to be attacking the boundaries of their cages, trying to get at each other while other creatures that Reddling could not even identify remained suspended in different green, red, and black liquids between the living creatures.

The doorframe greeted Reddling's backside as he backed up in horror at what his eyes beheld. Web gaze turned her head away from fixing Midnight's wound to giggle, swishing her tail back and forth before returning from the cabinet with a few rolls of gauze and a jar of grey-purple fluid.

“Reddling, are you alright?” Midnight asked, he himself averting his eyes from the various horrors lining the walls.

“I … am perfectly, yes, that.” Reddling whispered. Midnight opened his mouth to protest but quickly conceded as he grimaced, gasping in pain. Web made quick work of his wounded leg, but whatever she had put on it left the air with the faint smell of burning flesh Reddling had become all to familiar with from the day before.

Web's work was flawless, and in little less than a minute Midnight’s wounded leg had been skillfully bandaged. Midnight let out a few quiet hisses at the fluid that was burning at his leg. When he stood up however, he seemed to already be better, no longer limping at all.

“There, all better! Keep it dry for the day and you’ll feel right as rain in no time at all!” Web said.

“He has extra practice tomorrow, hope it doesn’t rain.” Reddling said dryly, still leaning on the doorframe.

“Extra practice? Have fun!” Web said to Midnight, giving him a quick pat on the back.

The floorboards were depressingly dark in Web's domain as Reddling tried to focus on what he wanted to do next. He had quite a few thoughts that had arrived in his mind at the thought of nearly being alone with Web, as well as what to do with some of his money. He was not totally blind to signals or his own mind, but Midnight was still here.

“Web, you’ve been here for awh-while, what does that mean?” Reddling queried.

“What does what mean?” Web asked confusedly. Reddling just shook his head.

“Forget it, uh, Midnight, you want your weekly stipend don’t you? You must be starving, maybe you can go get some food before bed still.” Midnight looked at Reddling confusedly before nodding as Web pulled out two envelopes.

“Yup!” Web handed one envelope to Midnight and put Reddling’s down on the table.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Midnight said, testing his bad leg a little bit as he made his way towards the door.

“So Reddling! I heard you might have wanted to send some bits back somewhere? Or something?”Web asked, opening up his envelope and looking up with those bright eyes again. Reddling eyed Midnight for a moment, then looked at Web.

“Do you know where they’re going?” Reddling asked.

“I have no idea!” Web decreed.

“Right, Midnight, could you leave us alone?” Reddling hissed, eyeing the sun that was leaking inside from the open door as Midnight nodded, bidding them both farewell and shutting the door behind him with a clawed wing. Once Reddling could no longer head Midnight's hoofsteps, he spoke again. “Do you know where Silverfield is?”

“Oh yes, to the south. Why?”

“I’m from Silverfield- That’s why I sound funny, and I need to send some money home to my nephew, okay? Not a word to the others though.” Reddling tried to layer every word with as much seriousness as he could, selecting them carefully as Web’s face perked up, a spark of enlightenment on her features.

“Ah, Ahh! That makes sense!” Web cried. “Why you joined, and fled the cave… yes, of course, I believe I can make that happen. Just fill out some shipping information.” She took out a small sheet, and Reddling picked up a pen, writing down a box number for the only post office in Silverfield he knew of, which stood at the very northern border, the last safe place for Pegasus mail services to drop off letters.

“Say, do you know any fun clubs or something? Or anything fun to do on the outpost on a day off?” Reddling asked, trying to not come across as too awkward while filling out the various boxes and reading the fine prints. Web only giggled her response at first, then put a hoof on her chin, thinking.

“You are a, hm, 20 minute flight from Canterlot! There, anything is possible! Most anything.” Web took the paper from Reddling as he signed his name on the bottom. Reddling felt his face start to burn as a few thoughts raced in his head. He had only been in the Night Guard a week, but already it felt like a new home. The idea of asking a degenerate out was not simply because he had grown fond of her- but also to better learn the Equestrian ways.

“Well, I was wondering if uh, maybe you’d like to go hang out somewhere with me?” Reddling looked at Web, and she gave him a slightly confused look. Reddling quickly breathed in and added, “Uh, without the others.”

Web’s face changed to surprise as she squeaked, standing up. Reddling shut an eye as the squeak turned to giggles, then a giggling squeal. “Reddling!”

Reddling felt a blush on his cheeks rise up as he opened his eye, glad that Web had not yet decked him for such a ridiculous idea.

“I mean, do you want to go someplace? Only if you want too, that is.” Reddling murmured.

“I’ll take you out and show you the city, and if the hustle and bustle of the city is too much for you…” She put her hooves on his shoulders, leaning in and looking at him with those oddly bright eyes. “I know some nice, pretty, private caves under the city.” Reddling gulped as she continued,“But today… you stink. Take a shower and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“R-Right! What time, Web?” Reddling said, still transfixed- no, hypnotized by something in those eyes. Something unnatural that held him there like a spell.

“I’ll see you when the moon rises, Reddling.” She let go of his shoulders, still smiling as he fumbled his way out of the door.

“So, it’s a date then?” It was Reddling's turn to squeak now.

“It’s a date!” She squealed, catching the door and staring at him seriously. “But I will say, it’s not a good idea to get too attached to your peers in the Night Guard. There’s a good chance that I might be given an assignment one day, and come back in a bag.”

Reddling winced at the warning, looking up at her. “Well, there’s an equal, “ or possibly greater… “chance that can happen to me, we’ll both have to make sure we make it back so we can have dates like this.”

Web’s smile almost seemed to betray something darker for a moment as she winked at him. “Then we’ll have fun while we have the chance. Pleasant dreams, Reddling!” She turned, showing him the large black spider she had for a cutie mark right before Reddling shut the door.