Soreness did not begin to describe the feelings wracking Reddling’s sides the next day. Each of his sides felt like an iron band had been applied to it, compressing his torso with each breath. Every muscle had been morphed into a rope, and moving brought a terrible tug of pain from nerves. Reddling tried to offer to himself that pain was fleeting, but that didn’t make it hurt any worse. He could understand why ponies might not like flying now, what with the rows of charlie horses cramping all down his backside.

Struggling over to his desk, Reddling managed to topple out what his paycheck had allotted him. After a few moments Reddling shook his head, standing up straighter and counting his bits three times. He had sent half of his stipend back south, hoping that Rainy would be able to live better on Night Guard pay than regular recruit pay. Forty bits was not anything for most ponies to write home about, but when all of his housing and other needs were paid for, it was a very respectable paycheck. Indeed, this pay was far more than his recruit pay had been. Of course, both paled next to living off of whatever work the church gave him, or his meager pay when he had been training for the assassinations.

As much as he hated to admit it, Reddling had been growing to love this life in it's own way. Although he was sure he could never hold the fervor that Midnight Tales maintained, there was comfort in the little things. Each setting and raising of the sun was a reminder however, that he was now a monster, and walked the lands with other monsters.

---

Night fell quickly as Reddling found his way into the mess hall. He had carefully polished his armor and tied a red and grey scarf around his neck. He had been sure the scarf had not been greatly brighter than his coat, but didn't really spare it much of a thought. Many things had appeared different to him since the transformation, and he was venomently writing this off as another oddity he didn't want to consider.

Reddling fetched a mango that he quickly munched on, letting the juice from the fruit drip onto the floor. Tops and Bruiser clattered in as Reddling felt some of his nerves rise. What if Web doesn't come to the mess hall? Or had already left for Canterlot without me? Why do I care anyway, this is just a ploy to fit in, look normal. I should be focusing on my mission.

Reddling soon found his fears gone as Web entered. Just as quickly as his fears vanished, he felt a new nervousness creeping up his sides, punishing him for trying to be close in this way to anypony.

Web made slight jingling noises as she approached. She wore a black necklace adorned with small bells right above her Night Guard armor. Her mane had been combed back in a more proper fashion, and her tail had been given a curl at the end. Reddling simply ruffled his own mane as she approached, trying to look natural as he tossed the mango's remains at a nearby bin.

“How are you doing?!” Web asked excitedly. Reddling just shrugged nonchalantly, remembering other situations like this before he had moved. It was not that Silverfield mares were unattractive, nor was it an issue of his own attractiveness, but every mare he had ever been close too had too many physical similiarties to him. Web was different from all of them though, and even more importantly, she was most definitely not related to him somehow in the last three generations.

“I’m not sure if that’s the word I’d use for it, but I feel something. Nervous I guess.” Reddling shrugged the question off. currently he was just happy to be going on a date with somepony that might not be his cousin.

“Nervous!” Web giggled. “Oh, it’ll be fun!”

“So that's what they call it- fun.” Reddling mumbled.

“Oh yes! Those boring city-ponies always shut everything down before there’s time for having any fun, so we'll have to make some of our own!" Web bounced a bit on her hooves, clearly impatient.

“They don’t have clubs or something? I thought every city had those- fine, we’ll leave soon.” Reddling hadn’t actually been to a city, they’d always been too imposing for him, and guard training before the Night Watch had always taken place in the wilderness with only some mimicked urban combat situations set up on training grounds.

“Well, let’s go!” Web pranced impatiently, looking wistfully at the door as Reddling shrugged. They headed out the door to a slight breeze as Web spreed her wings, looking up at the sky.

“Do you mind if we trot, Web?” Reddling asked, keeping his wings glued to his back as the cool night air greeted them.

“Aww, your wings are sore?” Web cooed.

“I’m not exactly used to flying…” Reddling said bitterly

“Did you stretch?” Web asked, ignoring Reddling’s statement.

“A little, not today though, it hurt.” Reddling looked behind him as his neck screamed at the movement.

“Do you know how to stretch?” Web asked. Reddling opened his mouth, but then closed it quickly, shaking his head as Web giggled. “Well, come here, and I'll help you out!"

Reddling found himself spending the next ten or so minutes being shown how to stretch his back and wing muscles carefully by Web. He was relieved that she didn’t feel the need to touch him or anything for the anatomy lesson, but rather kept her distance and actually showed how things worked. Tops and Bruiser both exited the mess hall and took a moment to observe the scene. Tops simply smiled, but Bruiser made sure that Reddling caught a suggestive wink from him.

Gross. Reddling thought as Web cried out with glee and took into the air. “Is that any better?”

Reddling gave his wings a flap, and felt his entire chest shutter as he gasped. Every muscle gave one long and pleasurable churn before fully loosening up. Everywhere it felt like small pockets of air were exploding between his skin and the former ropes that had been his muscles. Each time a small pocket of air popped, it left a wave of heat that seemed to travel over his whole body, leaving him with a pleasant burn that relaxed the mind and excited the body. Giving his wings a few more flaps, Reddling lifted himself into the air, looking over at Web.

“Not totally, it’s …adequate, thanks. Let’s get going.” Reddling lied.

“Lets!” Web turned towards Canterlot, flying slowly enough for Reddling to keep up. A few mountains passed by in the evening before they finally made it to the white city of Equestria. Reddling gasped and stopped in midair, hovering there for a moment as he took in the entire city. He’d seen pictures before, but he had never actually been to Canterlot. The city was more awesome in it's pure size than he could wrap his head around. The pure mass of the columns, buildings, and walls was not only intimidating, but gave a feeling of how small he actually was in the world.

Web gave a little giggle to bring him back to reality as she turned to him, smiling at his awe. “New to the area?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go.” Reddling said plainly. Despite how breathtaking the city was, he had to remind himself that this was the city of blood. Each gentle path of sloped white stone was simply a testament to the terrors of Equestria. Each wall was a levy for pools of blood that could not bleed free and soak the land. Above the pools of blood were curved pillars built by slaves, some of them forming the great arches of tyranny that kept the masses living in fear, whether they knew it or not.

Web led him down towards the white stone, and then turned sharply, moving him towards some slightly less well kept parts of the city. The stone here was dirty, and not polished like the upper tiers of the capital. Web did a little hop as she landed, turning around with an excited expression on her face.

“There’s so much to do! But one thing- All the restaurants close super early. How do you feel about a fancy breakfast?” Web asked, leaning forward and gazing at Reddling with those hypnotic yellow plates. Reddling backed up uneasily, looking up at the sky and observing the rising moon.

…Super early? It’s already dark out. It’s probably getting late for them. Reddling nodded to Web idly, keeping his thoughts inside once more as she cantered down the street happily. Various stores flashed fancy suits and coats that Reddling found himself enamored by. Silverfield had some nice clothes, but it really didn't have anything on some of the stores here. As the cobblestone grew dirtier their was a noticeable drop in the quality of clothing, but fine cloaks, longcoats, and some suits still stood next to reasonably fancy dresses

“I know just the place! Come on!” Web cooed, as if she were calling a dog. Reddling followed her, but he did not canter happily. Despite whatever he might feel for Web, he couldn’t risk actually liking her antics, alluring to him as they were. The ponies still out on the street gave both of them a wide arc as they passed by, the adults trying to avert their eyes. Reddling could feel as he passed through the street some of the smaller foals staring in aw, and perhaps, fear. The streets and buildings slowly became increasingly less and less pleasant the further Web led him, until he was quite sure they were in the poorer part of Canterlot. Soon most of the street was shadowed by the archways, and many of the alleys were dirty and unkempt. The lighting of the place only came from store windows and what little of the moon that managed to get below, instead of some public lamps that were present in the higher parts of the city. The cobblestones underneath were now uneven and grey, lacking the grandeur that Reddling has expected from Equestria’s capital.

“Uh, Web… Where are we going?” Reddling asked, scanning the buildings with his eyes as she slowed down so he could walk next to her. At this point they had been walking for several minutes, and did not seem to be reaching anyplace that Reddling would deem fancy. The cool night air was enough to give a prickling of the spine as the shadowy interior of Canterlot reflected faint lights marking that some lifeblood still flowed in the dormant part of the city.

“Breakfast!” She decreed, happily pursuing the underside of Canterlot. “But for them it’s dinner…” Web mused over this for a moment before turning, flapping her wings as she faced Reddling. She continued to hop backwards with a hoof on her chin as ponies scurried to give her an even wider arc.

“So, Dinner!” Web said excitedly, turning back around and leaping from one large cobblestone to the next.

“Web, things here look like they might make us sick. What exactly are we going to be eating for dinner?” Reddling questioned sourly, glaring at a earth pony who got too close. The stallion gave a start and backed away more as Web giggled insanly.

“Oh, this place has the best pasta.” Web said, quickly turning and striking out towards a restaurant that sat at the corner of two streets.

“Huh, and I was half expecting you to say blood…” Reddling said as he and Web trotted inside the restaurant. A server had quickly approached Web and was finishing a short bow, standing next to some cheap décor. Many different herbs seemed to be growing out of pots here, giving the greeting area a surprisingly fresh odor for being in the middle of a stone city.

“Ah! Welcome to the Basil Leafe Café.” The server said, picking up two menus as he looked at Web. “The two of you?”

Why is everything in Equestria named after a plant, fruit, or some sort of pun? Basil Leafe sounds more like a rabbit's nickname than a cafe... Reddling nodded to the server, glaring at him sourly.

“Right this way, madams.” The server said. Reddling nearly kicked a potted plant with his hind hoof as the server lead them to a somewhat gloomy looking booth.

“It’s sir.” Reddling hissed at the waiter as he sat down. The booth that he had led them too was dark and dimly lit, with blinds pulled down over a window to create more shadows and even less chance of natural lighting getting inside. Reddling took his seat in a surly manner and flipped open the menu almost as soon as the waiter had sat it down.

“-and it’s edgy, thanks.” Reddling remarked his mouth twitching as he waving a hoof at the booth, scanning the foodstuffs listed. The waiter had quickly retreated back to the front desk, where they were preparing to seat two ponies in long hooded cloaks.

Across the table, Web also took her seat, smiling and giggling just a small bit and not touching her menu at all. Reddling stared down the specials and plain dishes. He was honestly somewhat scared to try any regular Equestrian cuisine, he had been sick of a month when he first arrived due to their vastly different preparation and ingredients. Fruits and hay were not any issue for him to eat, they were pretty basic foods- however, this menu contained a list of items most of which Reddling could not even pronounce.

“Know anything good in here to eat, Web?” Reddling asked from behind his menu.

“Oh, yes!” Web squeaked. “The Pasta Primavera is fantastic! They put little bits of fruit in it!” She let out a tiny squeal of delight at just the thought of the dish, leaning back into the cushions of her side of the booth.

“Okay, I guess I’ll…” Reddling said, lowering his menu and looking over at Web, letting his sentence die. She seemed completely at ease in here, and had failed to even open her menu. Under the table Reddling could feel her flicking her tail in what he guessed was impatience.

“So uh, is that what you’re getting?” Reddling asked, and Web shook her head.

“Oh, I’m going to have one of their local specials.” Web said. As if on cue, the server popped up from behind an unlikely looking potted plant, cutting skillfully into their conversation.

“Would you fine bats like something to drink?” The server asked. The pony was clearly trying to avoid meeting either Web's or Reddling's eyes as they stared determinedly at their clipboard.

“Just water for me.” Web replied. Across the table Reddling was still cringing at the server's comment, feeling the word “bat” sink in and hit his insides like a pinball bouncing against all his organs. No matter how long he was trapped in this form, Reddling was not sure he would ever get used to being called a bat.

“Water…that, yes.” Reddling coughed out, raising his menu again to hide his face. The little letters on the menu swam like a soup in front of him; most of it garbled jargon he had taken no time to study.

“Are you ready to order?” The server queried. Reddling shrugged and pointed at what he hoped was what Web had suggested. “Pasta… primeval?”

“Primavera,” Web corrected. The waiter jotted down a few notes before turning to Web. “And I’ll have the rigatoni accipitridae-leo, please!”

“Pasta Primavera, and the Rigatoni special.” The waiter said, collecting the menus as they finished the notes and turning away. Reddling opened the blinds with a little turning mechanism on the side of the window, letting some light flood the area. Every night since his transformation, the moon had seemed to grow more and more friendly, a constant companion that he wished was always in the sky to guide him.

“So, Reddling… what is Silverfield like?” Web asked from across the table. Reddling pressed his hooves together, giving a little start at hearing the word aloud. Web’s question washed over him in a wave of warmth and homesickness as he looked out the window, staring up at the moon. The crescent gleamed with the same brilliance it had on the starry nights he had spent alone with a candle and book on the outskirts of town in his home.

“Well, it’s warmer, and the winters are shorter than they are in Equestria.” Reddling began, blinking his eyes and trying to think of things he could say that avoided mentioning The Church or his hometown specifically. “The fields of grass there are silver, all year round. Hmm, moon, I guess I never took in its beauty at night, but it’d probably create a nice lighting that would glimmer on… “ Reddling found himself getting lost in thought before he shook his head, coming back down to earth. “Uh, enough about Silverfield. I don’t recall your hometown?”

“Hmm, it does sound pretty at night.” Web mused, leaning forward from her slouch. “I grew up in Canterlot, actually!”

“Oh really? Must have been interesting…” Reddling raised an eyebrow. Canterlot, home of the unicorn ponies of Equestria. So did you know what it was like to lose a horn? Reddling mused over that for a moment as the server returned with two waters and some breadsticks, which he sat down on the table. Web must have been a unicorn, that’s why she knew how rough it was for somepony to lose their horn on the first day of practice, makes sense… I can imagine exactly how much that must have hurt.

“Oh yes! All sorts of interesting things to do and see! The museums, the architecture, the palace, the princesses, the artisans and nobles…” Web paused for a moment, although her excitement did not waver. “The wealthy elite of Equestria! Truly a city of opportunity!” She smiled brightly at the last bits she added. Reddling simply looked down at the table and ran his hoof over its polished surface.

The Princesses… “It must be a- well, it’s a big difference from Silverfield, that’s for sure.” Reddling replied, still running his hoof over the table.

“So,” Web began, grabbing a piece of bread and starting to gnaw on it. “Why’d you leave Silverfield?”

To fulfill my destiny! To gain honor! Because my cutie mark told me too! Reddling shrugged at Web. “I couldn’t stay there anymore. There are terrible things in Silverfield, and I couldn’t deal with it any longer.” Web made a small hum as she thought about that before Reddling lifted his head, trying to smile at her. “What about you though, as far as Canterlot goes? Did the cushions not have enough dirt on them for your tastes?”

“Ah, just some bad luck. So I signed up.” Web replied simply, waving her hoof at the sky outside to dismiss the question. She had picked up a breadstick and was beginning to devour it by slowly

“And you were a… unicorn before the guard? They seem to be, prevalent here.” Reddling asked.

“Oh no, I was an earth pony.” Web said simply, gulping down the rest of her bread.

“I had to learn what that was like…” Reddling whispered to himself under his breath.

Web giggled. “Ah most do,” Reddling looked up oddly as Web followed up her comment, “Pegasi have it pretty easy, really.” Reddling felt his insides tighten up at Web's words, and she shot him a sly, almost knowing glance. It would be impossible for her to know that he, Reddling Rain, was some assassin. It would be equally impossible for her to know any of the rest of his past.

“Hm, I wouldn’t know.” Reddling said. You keep your cool now. This is an invaluable chance to blend in, and possibly gain some information about Web. Don’t let her comments thrown you into a fluster, just ignore them if they're not important.

“That is a very interesting knife you have.” Web said, pointing at the weapon Reddling had belted on.

“Huh? Ah, my knife yes, thank you.” Reddling spat out, trying to keep the fluster out of his voice. Web had a hoof extended across the table, which Reddling was just staring at.

“May I see it?” Web asked. Reddling hesitated, putting his hoof on the hilt. It would look bad if he refused to let her see it, but if she knew how to read any Silverfield runes, then she might see through his disguise. The odds were she had no way of knowing them just like everything else related to Silverfield. Reddling carefully drew the blade, flipping it deftly in the air and catching the blade gently in his hoof, offering the hilt forward to Web.

Web ran the blade over her hoof a few times, gingerly examining the weapon. “This is a good knife. What do the runes mean?” Web asked, offering it back to Reddling.

“Ah, just some old stuff.’ Reddling lied. “It’s called Ausfall, each pony in Silverfield has a weapon like this forged from them when they are born. It's customary to give it a name when you come of age, so Ausfall it is.”

“Oh? And why’d you pick Ausfall?” Web asked.

Reddling was silent for a moment, and looked around the room. The waiter appeared in a doorway that must lead to the kitchens with two steaming plates of pasta. “Ah! That’s a story for another time, I think our food is here.”

Sure enough, the waiter quickly moved over, setting down and naming each serving before taking a bow. Reddling’s plate was a pile of noodles that had been inter spaced with sweet fruits and complimented with some mild looking peppers. Across from him, Web’s plate had some round pastas with some odd chunky red sauce over it.

Does she eat poison or something? Reddling mused at Web’s pasta. He couldn’t make out what it had been topped with, it was some sort of vegetable that he had not seen before.

“What kind of sauce is that?” Reddling asked, pointing at Web’s plate.

“It’s their special sauce!” She replied. Reddling just blinked at her.

“Well, I can’t imagine anypony would poison our food. “ Reddling started to slowly eat, tasting it carefully. The flavors complimented each other nicely, although Reddling still felt it paled in comparison to homemade cuisine.

A speck of red sauce flew past Reddling’s eyes and hit his plate breaking his thoughts apart. Looking across the table he could see that Web had dived into her food, and was now messily devouring it. With every careful chewing motion of Reddling’s mouth, he could see more specks of pasta, sauce, and some kind of fruit covering Web’s face, the table, and anything brave enough to be at ground zero.

I know that everybat else thinks you’re a little off, but… Reddling felt a giggle rising in his throat, which he quickly cleared so he could swallow his food. There is something about her that is undeniably adorable, like a cute yet creepy animal you feel the need to bring home with you, whether the rest of the village agrees to it or not.

Reddling more slowly picked away at his food, watching Web eventually reach the bottom of her dish. She gave the sauce one long lick before picking up a napkin and wiping her face clean.

“Would you like a dessert?” Web asked, cleaning off one of her fangs carefully. Reddling looked down at his half-finished dinner with slight bemusement.

“Do they have anything here as good as what you ate? We might be able to split something…” Reddling took another bite of pasta, chewing on it carefully.

“Hm, nothing as good as their entrées, no.” Web said, still tidying up the specks of sauce on her neck.

“Know perhaps a better place then? A Canterlot… uh, special cake of some sort?” Reddling offered. He was leaning forward now, studying Web as she stared out the window, looking up at the moon and the higher tiers of Canterlot. Her face looked suddenly sad, and her words came tinged with disappointment.

“…I’m sure there are some, none that I’d know though. Those are fancy places…” Web said bitterly.

“None you’d know? How is that so?” Reddling sat back, working his tongue at a bit of fruit stuck between his front teeth.

“Oh, you know. Never been a fan of sweets.” Web recovered. “Never mind, let’s skip dessert. Waiter! Check please!”

Fancy places you wouldn't know huh? Reddling pondered as the waiter bounced over, pulling out two slips, one for each of them. Reddling counted out seven bits for his meal, creating one nice pile. Across the table, Web had made a few piles of no less than thirty bits. Reddling remembered now that he still did not know what exactly Web did, but it was obvious that she made more than enough money at it to throw it around.

“Ready to go?” Web asked, looking up brightly from her piles of coins laid out on the bill.

Reddling shrugged. “Yeah, you still have to show me this… city.”

“Of course, do-“ Web’s face split into a mischievous smile. “Do you like flying?”

Reddling nodded vigorously and instinctively. Nothing else in the world could replace the feeling of having the wind rush past his face, the feeling of having air rush over his body as he flung himself to and fro in the air, soaking up every minute of being properly airborn.

“Oh, Canterlot… It’s such a fantastic city for flying! The arches, the spires, the towers… Reddling, would you like to fly the city with me?” Web offered him a hoof as she stood up.

“As long as by flying, it doesn’t include destroying anything or falling out of the sky, then okay.” Reddling said, ignoring her hoof and heading for the door.

“Yay! Let’s go!” Web rushed past him, heading for the exit. There was a noticeably happy prance in her movements now. She only stopped her antics briefly to lean on the waiter. “Tell Ironfeather I said hello!”

“Ironfeather?” Reddling asked outside of the Café, Web still bouncing along on her hooves. Web just giggled as she spread her wings and crouched down, a serious expression on her face as she looked up at the sky.

“An old friend. Ready?” Web giggled.

“Let’s not go too fast, okay? Let me keep up.” Reddling tried to mimic her stance, preparing to pounce at the sky. There was a flash next to him, and Web was off, zooming through the sky and nearly scrapping buildings as she flew towards the upper levels of the city. Reddling found his wings barely carrying him after her as he struggled to keep her in his sights.

The arches and spirals of Canterlot flashed by as Web led them both up towards the open sky. The moon caught her face briefly, revealing a fangy smile before she dove back down, doing a lazy barrel roll before swooping beneath a bridge. A few ponies stared over the walkway as Reddling swept after her, turning himself upside down and looking at the various Equestrians. A few small unicorn colts and fillies stared with wide eyes at the two bats, and Reddling gave them a smirk, waving up at them. The adults glared at the two bats, but the children’s eyes only followed along as they watched Reddling scrape just a bit of mortar on his wing-claws. After passing the walkway, Reddling gave his wings a quick flap. Turning away and zooming back towards Web, he could hear at least one little filly letting out a cheer for them.

Flying was getting much easier, but Reddling was still dismayed to see Web circling around a spiral tower, her hooves practically scrapping the white bricks as she waited on him to catch up. When Web reached the roof of the tower she circled twice, letting Reddling take a single breath before she rocketed down at the same bridge from before. Reddling followed, prepared to land, but Web showed no signs of slowing down as she hurled herself right at the small crowd gathered on the bridge.

In the final moments of her dive, Web pulled away, flapping her wings and sending hats flying off the heads of ponies as she climbed back into the air. Reddling closed his eyes for a moment as he looked at the white stones, and then threw his head forward, rolling in an odd somersault on the stones before jumping back into the air right after Web. Terrified Canterlotians jumped aside, tripping over each other as the tried to avoid randomly falling bats.

Yeah, screw you Equestrians. I hate your kind. Reddling taunted at them in his head, turning his face back to Web, who was headed in a decline towards the poorer part of town. Reddling stayed above her as she flew between clotheslines before lazily arcing upwards and landing on the roof of a large building. Giving her wings a satisfied stretch, Web watched Reddling land, trotting forward a bit and stopping just short of a skylight.

---

“Web… where are we?” Reddling huffed, stretching his wings out before folding them up. Web had been giggling her high pitched batty laugh for the duration of their quick rest.

“Oh, this brings me back…” Web said, more to herself than to Reddling. “This is a nice museum. Want to take a tour?”

“I don’t understand… uh, fine, but…” Reddling peered down at the museum from through a skylight. The place appeared to be closed, with one lone guardpony patrolling the floor beneath them. “They look closed, Web.”

“Oh he won’t mind.” Web said reassuringly. She lowered one of her claws on her wing, and gently opened the skylight. Reddling shuddered at this, watching the leathery membrane shimmer as she moved her wing with sure skill.

That has to be the most creepy, unnerving thing to have on your body. Reddling thought to himself. Opening things with their… claw things… Ucccck, it’s so weird! Web looked over at him quickly, shooting him a mischievous smile before swooping into the skylight and vanishing into the darkness below.

Reddling took a quick breath before plunging himself into the shadows, feeling his hooves touch down against cold stone. They appeared to be on the second story of some sort of natural history museum. The guard was below them on the first floor, patrolling with his flashlight.

“Web, what is this place? What are we here to look at?” Reddling asked quietly.

Web stifled her giggle, trying not to alert the guard. “Oh, just looking around. There’s so much nice art, but they’re only open during the day!” Web pushed her mane back and began to stalk forward, sulking off towards some exhibits. “They won’t mind…”

“If they won’t mind, why are we hiding?” Reddling hissed back at her. He was crouched down behind her just enough to let himself see over her shoulder, keeping his eyes open for any other guardponies that might be around.

Web simply giggled in response, trotting over to some different paintings. “Take a look at these paintings, Reddling. Aren’t they pretty?”

Reddling looked over at the paintings. Most of them showed landscapes with pretty mountains, although here and there one featured some ponies around tables or at celebrations. Others showed heroes in triumphant stances, from a nigh tiny unicorn defeating an mammoth earth pony to a purple dragon with a golden belly and horns with a golden blurr of light circling behind him.

“There was a lot of old art in Silverfield… I got kind of sick of seeing it everyday.” Reddling folded one of his hooves over the other, a surly look on his face as he stopped to study the pictures.

“They’d fetch a pretty penny if you knew the right buyer…” Web said, not bothering to imply if she was talking about the paintings on the wall or the ones Reddling had mentioned. In fact, Reddling wasn’t even sure Web was still listening to him, she seemed to have been off in her own little world since they had left the café. There was almost a look of glee on Web's face as she continued down the hall, waving for Reddling to hurry up.

With a groan, Reddling followed Web further down the halls as she sulked along the wall. Both of them pressed into the shadows as they heard the guard moving up to the second floor.

“Some of them were not in the best condition…” Reddling whispered trying to see if Web was paying atention to him. Web let out a somewhat loud giggle, turning to him and grinning.

“No silly, I mean these ones here.” Web replied, turning back to whatever task she had in her mind.

I do not like this situation at all. “Web, I think maybe we should leave.” Reddling whispered.

“Oh don’t be silly! When else will you have a chance to wander around a closed museum?” Web led them into an older looking part of the museum, her eyes flashing up at three different ponies on the wall.

“Next Sunday?” Reddling whispered, straightening up a bit to study this section of the museum. There were a lot of ancient looking artifacts on tables; Swords, crowns, clothes, belts, and all manner of tools. Three large portraits hung on the wall, each one labeled with a name.

Reddling ran his hoof over the words “Commander Hurricane” on one of the labels. The pegasus was very proud and intimindating, but there was a certain grandness to the armor and features that Reddling had to admire. Reddling looked for anything foreign in the area. Perhaps if they had things on Equestria's forefathers, they might have similar Silverfield artifacts.

I wonder if there is anything on Silverfield in here? and if there is, could I get away with stealing them? Equestria does not deserve to have our things. Reddling thought, looking around quickly at the walls. His eyes eventually came to focus on Web, who was ducking behind a miniature statue of a draconequus on the other side of the room. Dodging behind the statue with her, Reddling looked out from behind the creature’s tail to watch as the guard trotted in, scanning the room with his flashlight. Despite the cover that they had, Reddling was sure that the guard would see them.

Web had poked her head out from behind the other side of the statue and was now staring at the guard intently. As the flashlight swept the room, it seemed to shine a little less brightly, shadows licking at the room as the guard shrugged and turned away. Reddling was able to just make out shadows playfully licking at his hooves as he trotted past, moving away from the exhibit.

Can she … manipulate light? Some sort of distortion power I don’t have? ...That would be extremely useful, I shall learn it if I have the time. Reddling thought, looking around the room quickly again as Web let out a quiet giggle from the other side of the statue.

“See? No problem.” Web whispered, watching the guard trot away as the room returned to normal, no shadows licking at the lighting anymore.

“…Hmm. Is there anything on Silverfield in here, Web?” Reddling asked. The walls didn’t seem to have a single mention of the place, and he was beginning to believe that he’d find no citation of his home here.

“I don’t think so, no.” Web whispered, looking at an exhibit on how old earth pony belts.

Reddling let out a sigh, heading towards a section on prehistory that was packed with fossils. “Not surprising, they tend to forget about us.”

Web meanwhile, was pranced about gaily, looking at all the walls and exhibits. She didn’t seem to be enjoying any particular exhibit or part of the museum, but her joy seemingly stemmed from just being inside the museum.

“Web, have you been here before or something?” Reddling asked, and Web giggled in front of him.

“Oh, who hasn’t? It’s Canterlot’s biggest museum.” Web said.

Reddling glared hard at the back of her skull. “I’m not from around here.” He said somewhat angrily.

“Ah, but now you have been here! So it’s all okay!” Web danced with the bones, circling large and hopefully now extinct monsters.

“Yeah I suppose.” Reddling’s ear twitched as the guard’s hoofsteps echoed, and he turned to Web again. “Look, the guard is coming back, we can’t hide from him forever.”

“You’re right!” Web cried, ducking behind an exhibit. The guard’s light flashed towards their section, and Reddling quickly ducked down next to Web. The guard’s hoofsteps could be heard as he entered the area, and again, his light seemed to dim and flicker as he swept the room. Reddling shuddered as he felt Web’s soft breaths rolling over his shoulder and neck. Both of them had locked their eyes on the guard, who now looked somewhat alarmed.

“Get ready.” Web whispered, a small ting coming from her necklace as she pulled off a bell from it. Reddling turned his head around slightly to watch her motions, and nearly fell over as she raised her hoof and chucked the bell over both of their heads, sending it flying into the back of the guard’s head. Although the sound of the bell was too high pitched for a regular pony to hear, the guard definitely felt the bell hit him as his head jerked forward.

“Hello!? Who’s there?” The guard cried, turning around and jerking his flashlight all over the room. Web nodded towards a back exit and gave Reddling a small push before she darted out from over, streaking for the exit that they had entered from. The guard’s light caught Web briefly, but before he could move to stop her, Reddling had bumped into the guard, tapping him hard on the shoulder.

“Stop! Intruder!” The guard cried, turning around and grabbing for Reddling in a panic. Reddling could not help but note that the guard seemed to move much slower than him. It dawned on him as he sidestepped the guard and watched him fall on his face that perhaps it was not the guard that was slower, but he who was faster.

Leaving the guard to yell on the floor and hold his hoof up to his snout, Reddling ducked out the back exit. The skylight above showed a somewhat disfigured shadow of Web’s head poking in. She shot Reddling a fangy smile as he flew through the skylight, letting her slam it shut behind him, hearty laughs filling the air as she leaned against the roof.

“That was… a thing.” Reddling said dryly to her. Throwing himself in a position to get arrested wasn’t exactly what he had had in mind for a first date, but at the very least Web seemed to be very much enjoying herself.

“Oh goodness, let’s get out of here before they send pegasi!” Web cried, jumping into the air and beginning to fly up into the darkness.

Reddling leapt into the air, flying next to her as they made their way away from the museum. “It doesn’t matter, we could beat them anyway. You said you knew some caves? They won’t follow us into the dark, show me those.”

“Hah!” Web agreed. “Yes, Let’s go!”

---

Sadly, the underside of Canterlot was hardly as pretty as one might think. Web had lead him below the bottom tier of the city and into the blackness below. Most of the area was made of just building materials, large stones, and other support. Reddling paused to look at the buildings down here, and felt his hooves stop outside of some cave openings. Web turned around and brushed away some cobwebs that fell in front of her face.

“A long, long time ago, Canterlot was a gem mine. It attracted all sorts of unicorns for their magic mumbo jumbo, which ended up turning into what you see here today.” Web pointed at the lower tier of the city above them before motioning back to the cottages, stores, and other various unmarked buildings that scattered the underside of Canterlot. “They don’t use the mines anymore, but you can see that it was pretty popular…”

Reddling silently followed Web as she turned, leading him into a cave that sat on the edge of a small creek. The sound of water slowly moving through rocks and granite was calming, even if it did give the air down in the cave an odd moistness.

“I still don’t understand a lot about bat ponies.” Reddling shook his head as he caught up with Web in the cave. “I assumed we’d corner that guard and suck him dry or something.”

Web let out a burst of laughter that echoed in the cave. “Ha, oh, we’d get in so much trouble!”

“Bat ponies drink blood, don’t they? I mean hell, one just like, jumped and bit me before… before I was put in the special training with the others.”

Web looked at him appraisingly, like she wanted to give an offhoof remark but couldn’t quite think of how to say it. “Oh, not really…”

“Then why did somebat bite me? It hurt!” Reddling retorted. There was a string of something dark pulling in his chest, tightening the muscles that had not been used in a long time. The string was anger and pain at the unfairness of being altered without his permission. The anger of being tricked, and this time not by his own kin, but an enemy he should have known better than to trust.

“Well, that’s how… that part works!” Web made up. “But you need magic and stuff, and it’s all complicated.”

Reddling growled, annoyed and angry. “You don’t even understand. I always thought bat ponies were vicious vampires that sip on blood and stuff and..." Reddling stopped, taking a deep breath and working on recomposing himself. "I’m sounding so stupid right now, but what do they do with the biting part? Who bites all these ponies anyway?”

Web shifted uncomfortably, some shadows managing to fall over her face despite the endless darkness both of them were currently trotting through. “I don’t really know who does that biting.”

Reddling turned his eyes away, looking forward while Web stalled for a few moments, staring into the blackness. Despite the augmentation they had received, it was still difficult to see in places without any natural light. Vision of the place came more from what Reddling could describe as a supernatural sixth sense rather than an actual visualization with his eyes.

“I did bite a pony once… it just tasted like blood. They didn’t turn into another bat or anything.” Web said quietly off to the side.

“Did the blood taste good?” Reddling smirked to himself, keeping his face averted. Web seemed to be fairly serious for once, her happy façade dropping like a landslide around her.

“Eh… I mean, it was just,” Web paused again. “like blood?”

“I don’t really make a habit of drinking blood.” Reddling reminded her. “So, what pony did you bite? And also, if the stories are right, then if you want to make another vampire- uh, another bat pony, they’d have to drink your blood eh?”

“I had some downtime during a job and decided, what the hell? Let’s do it!” Web said, some excitement regaining momentum. “Also, where’d you read that?”

“Uh, old books.” Reddling said quickly. “I did some library work to help out my town in the mornings.”

This was of course a complete lie, and Reddling knew that. He also knew that Web didn't need to know the library had been in the burned out fort he and Rainy worked on whenever they had time. Web, oblivious to the lies, simply smiled and nodded. “That’s cool!”

“That’s one word for it.” Reddling said reservedly. “I’d like to try some blood, I bet it’s got something going on with it, why else would we have fangs?”

“Fruit?” Web offered as she lead the way into a vault-like cavern.

Reddling snorted. “I’ve never liked fruit that much to be honest. Not too much of it in Silverfield.”

The cavern before them offered some sort of light that was all its own, giving life to large crystal formations that were jutting out of the ground, sparkling and reflecting what tiny bits of light managed to survive in these mines. Reddling shook his head as he approached the crystals, watching his face distort in front of a purple one.

“I just feel like there has to be some weird secret! Something they’re keeping from us!” Reddling exclaimed to his purple hued reflection. Turning back to Web, he flicked his tail at the other crystal formations. “How long did you say you’ve been in the guard again?”

“Eight years.” Web said simply.

Reddling blinked at the number. Web didn’t seem to be more than a few years older than him at most, and even that seemed like he was pushing it. Based on how old she looked, she'd have joined the guard when she was twelve.

Pushing the thought out of his mind, he returned quickly to his previous ideas. “Huh, a well hidden secret then. I’m sure it’s something that we’ll all figure out sometime!”

“Maybe!” Web replied.

Reddling sighed, lowering his head and looking up as he started to trot along the other crystal formations. “I guess I was just hoping some of the old stories had some truth in them.”

“Maybe some truth.” Web offered with a shrug. “But you know, a lot of bat pony legends are exaggerated. Sometimes on purpose!”

“And maybe sometimes there is a truth in legends.” Reddling paused for a moment, picking his next words carefully. “I’d like to find the pony that bit me, and I’d also like to try blood sometime, I’m curious now.”

I'll kill the pony that made these unholy changes onto my body. Don't need to tell her that though. Reddling thought. “How’d that pony you bit like it, anyway?”

“If you want to try blood, maybe wait till an assignment. You might piss ponies off if you go around biting them randomly- Oh, and he was freaking out!” Web giggled. Reddling passed behind some orange crystals and quickly put a hoof up to his mouth , feeling for some kind of extra glands, like a venom sac or some kind.

Web motioned for Reddling to follow her as she hoped on some rocks, finding them another path to go deeper into the mines. “So, you really want to bite somepony then?”

Reddling looked at her sharply, “Uh, I mean, I wanna try, to see if I get special powers or something. And if not, well, blood is really… good for you?”

Web laughed. “Not really! Sometimes you can get diseases that way!” Web stopped, turning around and trotting backwards. “But… if you’re really curious, you’d have to be really careful… if you got caught doing that, you’d be in a lot of trouble…”

“Are you speaking from experience?” Reddling asked, following Web’s every motion with his eyes as she winked and turned around.

“You’d probably want help from somepony who’s good at sneaking into places if you wanted to do that…” Web ended her sentence with a trademark giggle.

Reddling trotted to her side dreamily, remembering the stories he’d read when he was younger. “Are you purposing we both go after a target? Oh, it’d be just like one of those old vampire books. We go hunting together, and find somepony…” Reddling licked his lips, running his tongue carefully over his fangs, “And bite’em!”

“Oh, no.” Web cooed, her voice reeking of mischief and sarcasm, “That would be simply awful.”

“It’s only awful if you get caught.” Reddling assured her. They both stopped for a moment, quickly looking at each other. Faint purple hues bounced off their faces, lighting up their faces as they both burst into laughter, giggling at their psychotic plotting.

“I’m sure I’m going to catch a little flak for our adventure earlier tonight, I might be grounded for a week or two..” Web let out another giggle. “But when I’m free, we're totally going out again."

“Canterlot is a big city, we’ll have to see the rest of it together at some point.” Reddling smiled, averting his face from Web. There was something he couldn't name rising in his chest, and he could no longer see Web as another one of those scum from Equestria. She was more than a tolerable Equestrian, and even if he couldn't name the intense fondness he was sure Web would hold an exception to the rule in his heart.

The world shifted back to reality as the faint sound of rocks crashing into each other in the distance alerted Web and Reddling. Both sets of eyes flashed forward to tare at the other exit of the tunnel.

Next Chapter: Tunnel Bats Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 28 Minutes