Under the sky of black (Private, Rusty & jadensong) [Dead]

[Rusty]

    The great city of Canterlot was without a doubt a crowning jewel of pony civilisation. It was a busy place full of ponies of all races from every corner of Equestria and beyond. During the day at least. When the sun sets and the princess of the night begins her watch the streets of Canterlot are suddenly a lot emptier. The very fact, that drove her into conflict with her sister all that long time ago. But now, that was just a tale on the pages of books of old.

    And yet, even though most ponies were sleeping at their beds, there were some, that not even were very much awake, but prefered to stay active at night. One of those ponies were a young night guard - squire called Rayne. He was one of those who loved the night, the cold silver beauty of it. And yeah... also he was a batpony, so it was probably not all that suprising, was it? Somepony could find the streets at night empty, he saw them as calm. At some nights he was training, but this was not one of them. He was just slowly moving through the city, enjoying the beuty of the night. It was very clear sky this night. The stars were bright and the full moon was just 2 nights ago, so it was not as dark, as one would have expect. And Canterlot have it's own share of beauty in the pale moonlight.

    But this night, Rayne was uneasy. As much as he loved the night, it felt really lonely sometimes. And this was one of those times. Canterlot was a big city, where ponies were not rare sight at night, but most of them was just walking somewhere and have little to no mood for talking. Finally, he came to some benches, that were located close to one of the parks. He just sat down and watched the moon, as it was slowly moving throughout the night sky... it was calming and really pretty...

[Jadensong]

"What a beautiful night to take a stroll of Canterlot." Jaden Song spoke softly, taking in the clear skies of night while standing in front of the entrance to Canterlot's guard academy. The stars and moon seemed brighter then most nights, giving Canterlot a soft glow of beauty and peace. Since the full moon was only a few days ago, the young teen wished she could see it today as it was her few days off to relax from training. Of course as much as she would have liked to watch the full moon that night, she was a cadet and had to get up early in the morning to train. Oh how she dreaded missing that night, but tonight seemed to make up for it and Jaden was very much content with it. As she was continuing to look at the night sky in awe, a few voices that sounded quite low reached her ears and for a moment, the young unicorn seemed to pay it no mind. But as the whispering grew a bit louder, her face turned from being amazed to one of clear annoyance. Jaden let out a small sigh before turning her head to the source of the sound.

Two guards that were guarding the academy were chatting with one another and from the looks of it, was just about to start their rounds. Jaden narrowed her light blue eyes before sighing once again, this time her horn lit up to levitate a light blue bag onto her back. "Let's go some place quiet." With that in mind, Jaden Song started to make her way to one of the many parks that Canterlot had. Along the way there she glanced over at a few ponies that happened to be awake as well, though they didn't seem to be in a happy mood or didn't want to be bothered. She was fine with that, since she rarely spoke to ponies during the night and was happy to leave them be. Yup, Canterlot was indeed a lot more peaceful at night but still a bit lonely at times. Tonight however, would soon change that.

Jaden Song quietly hummed to herself as she slowly reached the park, her light blue eyes half closed and a small smile on her muzzle. Though, once it came into view, so did someone else. Jaden couldn't help but pause, her smile no longer present on her face and instead had a look of wonder. Sitting on a bench was another pony, but she could tell this wasn't just a pony but a Batpony. She just stood there for a few moments, thinking to herself as she stared at him. She could only guess that he was part of the night guard, but couldn't quite tell. She could tell however that there was a sad look on his face and couldn't help but frown a bit. Wanting to be polite and at the same time make up for her staring, Jaden Song moved toward the young batpony with a smile. "Hello there. A beautiful night isn't it?" She asked calmly, stopping just beside the bench that the batpony sat on.

[Rusty]

Rayne knew, that some ponies, especially young one are often frightened by the darkness. He never understood it. The princess of the night guarded her subject at night, she was guarding even their dreams. But then again, Rayne saw better in the night than most ponies, perhaps this was the problem? Even though the Sun was nice, and the sky in the daylight was beautiful, it wasn't half as awesome as the black sky dotted with silver stars, dominated with the great ball of silver called the moon.
But he was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of somepony. It was a unicorn, perhaps a year or two older than he was. "Oh, hi there. Yeah, yeah. It really is, right?" he said. He was little too suprised to react differently. But he quickly get his act together. He spread his wings, one of them was visibly scarred, 2 big scars. And another one on one of his ears. He propelled himself off the bench. "Hi there, I am Rayne, proud squire of the night guard" he said, smiling. Even though he usually love the silence and calm of the night, this time he was really glad for company. "What can I do for you?" he asked. After all, squire or not, he was still a member of the night guard (and really proud to be one) and this young lady may wanted something or perhaps need some help? Or perhaps, she too just wanted to have some company? Who could have known.

[Jadensong]

(( Almost had a Writer's block. xD))

Jaden song's smile faded slightly, nodded a bit in agreement. It was a beautiful night and it was all thanks to the princess of the night for such a night. She hardly noticed him being surprised or spooked, but did give a look that said she was sorry. As the batpony got up from the beach however, her eyes shifted to his bat-like wings.
Batponies were known to have different wings from Pegasi, their wings looking like leather instead of feathers and eyesight that was a lot better then other ponies. But this wasn't why her gaze was on his wings, it was because she noticed two big scars on one of his wings and couldn't help but frown. Something happened to him that caused that to happen, but she quickly banished the thought from her mind and chose to find out later.

Shaking her head a bit, she looked at Rayne and smiled. So he was part of the night guard and like her, had a break from training. This thought, along with the fact that he was a squire confirmed her previous guess when she was staring at him. However, when he asked about what he could do for her, she simply shook her head slightly and looked to the night sky. "Nothing really." Jaden spoke softly, her tail flicking once before returning her gaze to him. She couldn't help but admire how quick he was from being sad to being cheerful, but she knew it was only because she was here. It was a guard's duty to help other ponies in need, even if they were sad or down. Taking that to mind, Jaden song's horn glowed a light blue aura as she enveloped the bag on her back and levitated it to the bench near her. Once she put it down, she simply smiled at Rayne. "But I thought you would like some company or somepony to talk to." She said. As much as she didn't like talking, she couldn't turn a blind eye when somepony was sad or upset and wanted to at least help them in some way. Raising her right forehoof to her necklace, she nodded. "And my name is Jaden Song, cadet of the royal guard. Its a pleasure to meet you, Rayne."

[Rusty]

//I have some trouble replying later. Don't know why, sorry for slow replies

Was this just a coincidence, that 2 soon be guards met in the middle of the night. Now Rayne felt little silly, that he offeredd his help, but after all, it was just his job. But when she said, that she thought, that Rayne could use some company, she was one hundred percent right.
"Yeah, sure. Thanks. I could really use that now." he . There wasn't some huge problem, no terrible secrets or dark things coming to pass, it was just loneliness at the moment.
"I am pleased to meet you." he quickly added, when he realized, that he should really be more polite. Especially, since it seemed, that she came because she saw a sad pony sitting on the bench. He could be a little stuck, when it came to social customs from time to time. Especially in the middle of the night, when he really didn't expect the company.
"So... you're a cadet of royal guard you said?" he suddenly said, to disrupt this akward silence. "I mean... that's awesome, right?" he said, not making the the situation much better. "Yeah, sorry. I am really not good at starting converstaion..." he said the truth, giving kinda akward smile. Weird, those kinds of problems were rare with Rayne, as a guard, he was more than able to comunicate with other ponies. Even though night guard were mostly operation in the night, when most ponies were asleep.

[Jadensong]

(( It's ok.^^))

Jaden song lowered her right forehoof, nodding once while listening to Rayne talk. Another one of her thoughts confirmed, giving her a small sense of pride. Though as always, her pride was short lived as the young unicorn remembered that she is here to help somepony and not act like a prideful idiot. Though once Rayne stopped talking, she couldn't help but blink once as she completely forgot what he was saying and found herself being a bit dumbstruck. Great. Not only that she missed what he had said but now there was an awkward silence between them, which made her feel even more stupid. Twitching her ears a bit, she turned her gaze over to her bag and stared at it for a moment. If she can recall, she had packed a few snacks into her bag before leaving the academy, along with a book she was planning on reading. Though since she can't read the book tonight, at least the snacks gave her an idea. However her small train of thought was broken as the young batpony spoke again, breaking the awkward silence.


Turning her gaze back to Rayne, she nodded to his questions before chuckling a bit on his comment. "It's quite alright." she spoke, smiling. "Yes, it is awesome. Though also a bit tough if your not taking it seriously." Jaden added, turning to take a seat next to her bag. Once she sat down on the bench, she looked up to the night sky, while her dark green and light blue tail laid beside her. She didn't want to admit it, but she too was terrible at making conversations, which made her feel out of place at times. But being the calm type as she was, it wasn't long before she thought of something to make it better. Still aware of the silence, she turned her head back to Rayne and spoke in a calm tone. "Anyway, I guess you can say that being a cadet is just the first step. I don't know if its the same training as yours, being that your a squire of the night guard." Jaden paused, waving her left forehoof a bit. "I can only say that its only as fun as you enjoy doing what you love to do. Which I enjoy very much." She finished, smiling. "What about you? Do you enjoy being a squire?" Jaden asked quickly, trying to keep the conversion going.

[Rusty]

Rayene was quite relieved, that she is still taking to him. It was a good thing. That meant, that she didn't instatly branded him as fool. He listened, as she was speaking. It seemed, that she was taking the whole guard thing quite seriously. And that was also good.
"Hehe, I know exactly what you mean. I may not be the most serious pony on the face of Equestria, but I am taking my job very very seriously. Even the traning." he said. Being guard was serious job after all. One had to be capable of taking responsibility not only for himself, but also for everypony he was guarding.
"Well I know that there is difference between guards and night guard, but our job is the same, well mostly..." he said and blow his mane from his eye. Night was perhaps time, when most ponies were asleep, but also time where some... shady characters were more active. Accoring to rumors anyway. He was not really that experienced.
"Enjoying being squire? Sure! It's great. I mean yeah, it is a lot of work, lot of traning too. But than again I have the opportunity to learn from the captain herself! And I stil have a lot to learn." he admited. He wasn't arogant enough to think, that he knew enough to become guard yet. But he also knew, that one day he will. And he was looking forward to that day.
"Have you ever experienced something interesting? I mean as a guard cadet?" he asked curiously.

[Jadensong]

((Sorry for the late reply! Kinda had some problems at home.))

As Jaden listened to Rayne, she could agree to what he was saying and nodded her head a few times before turning her gaze to her bag. Remembering what she was thinking earlier, her horn lit up and opened her bag while chuckling a bit at sudden cheeriness in his voice. She was glad that the conversation was going well and as she was taking out the two apples she had packed with her magic, Jaden's ears twitched once upon hearing how he had a lot to learn. He was right about that. He did have a lot to learn and in turn, so did she. Being a Cadet or a squire was only the first step in becoming a guard and yet they both still had a long way to go. Jaden's eyes narrowed at this, thinking for a few moments as her magic held the apples in mid air. She still has much to do if she wanted to improve herself and protect those in need. "A long way to go." She muttered softly to herself, blinking as she heard Rayne ask her a question. This of course also broke her concentration and the spell she had fizzled out, which caused the apples she was holding in her light blue aura to fall onto the bag with a soft thud.

"Oops. Sorry." Jaden Song said, her tone a little sad as she looked at the batpony with a slight frown. Her head quickly turned to the apples and sighed as her horn lit up once more, picking the apples back up. Turning her attention back to Rayne, she levitated one of the apples to him. "Here. I packed a few snacks, since I was planning to read tonight. But now since we are keeping each other company, I thought why not." She spoke calmly, smiling a little before remembering what he had asked about. Jaden couldn't help but sigh. "No, sadly." She began, levitating the other apple onto her right hoof. "Aside from the test they give before passing as one, not much goes on except training and studies. The test was quite difficult though, since it involved both the mind and health of one's self. Still, I haven't quite done much interesting things yet due to-" She paused, taking a glance at the apple in her hoof before looking at him again. "...not receiving a mentor yet. But I guess in a few days they'll assign me one." Jaden finished with slight annoyance in her voice, her gaze turning to the moonlit sky once again. She'll get a mentor soon, but for now she will have to be patient. Putting aside that thought, Jaden chuckled. "What about you, Rayne? I know there must be a lot of things interesting about the Night guard, right?" She asked, turning her gaze back to him with a look of wonder.

[Ashti Sandburst]

Due to request from the players, the rp is restored.

[Rusty]

(Yeah, speaking of late reply...so so sorry)

Unicorn magic was something, that Rayne always thought very interesting and useful. Even mundane, boring things, like picking up apples from one's bag suddenly seemed much more interesting, when one was using magic to do so. Though it probably required a lot of consentration, since as soon as Rayne said something he broke his companion's concentration and apples landed in the bag again. Rayne did also really love apples. Looking at them made him remember, that he is actually really hungry. Fortunately for him Jaden offered him one. "Thanks a lot. I really love apples." he said and took the apple. But since they were still talking he didn't start eating right away. Instead he listened. Sometimes nodding in agreement. "I can relate. Granted, the training is really hard and sometimes requires not only physical performance but also creative thinking. And of course the Night guard is full of awesome ponies and everything, but since I am still training I am not really doing many interesting things. Yet.. I hope it will change soon. Otherwise I think, that we are doing mostly the same stuff you do... only, you know, at night." Rayne smiled. Though he knew only basics about the royal guard, he imagined, that there can't be much difference. The only one he could think of were slight differences in training, mostly because the Night guard could use night itself to it's advantage, since to Rayne's knowledge most bad guys he heard about were not nocturnal. "But I am positive, that if we're patient and mind our duties, we will mage guards in no time!" he said. After all, what could possibly go wrong...

[Jadensong]

Jaden Song chuckled softly, half glad that things was going well. -The apples were a great idea after all.- She thought, while nodding to Rayne's words and taking a small glance toward the apple in her hoof. Jaden wanted to take a bite out of it, but she also didn't want to be rude and decided to wait instead. As Rayne mentioned about most of the their training being the same things, she agreed in her mind. Both the Royal Guards and Night Guards trained the same way, improving to protect the Princesses of both Day and Night. Both had to work on creative thinking, Learning how to counter curtain problems, as well as tend to the different parts of Equestria.

It was an important job, protecting ponies from harm whether it was major or minor. Jaden smile returned, as rayne spoke about staying positive and being patient. "Agreed." She began, nodding once. "With patience and hard work, we will."

Jaden smile faltered a bit however, her thoughts once again caught in words that were all to common to her. -What if they never find me a mentor? What if I never become a guard? What if I...- Her eyes widened, as her smile disappeared from her face. -...I fail.- She thought, slight panic gripped her and her green-tipped ears fell a bit. Failure. Such a word that she hated and feared at the same time. For if she did do such a thing, she would never forgive herself. Jaden was so wrapped up in worry, that she forgot that Rayne was still right next to her.

[Rusty]

Rayne was puzzled awhile. Jaden suddenly looked really really troubled. Perhaps Rayne was insenstitive. After all he was one step closer to the final goal, so talking like making it into guard was piece of cake could be considered unkind. And yet all he was trying was to rise her self-confidence.
"You know, there is really no need to worry about that. After all, when you are doing your best and you made it so far, there is just no way, you could fail..." he said. He wasn't sure, if that will help in any way... or if he just make the whole situation worse. Yeah... he wasn't really that good in motivational speeches. "And I think, that your superiors would be really stupid, if they overlook you. And nopony wants to be stupid... so... uhm..." was that the stupidest thing that was ever said? Because if not, it was out there. It was probably better to stay quite. Rayne just now felt stupid and that part about feeling stupid was valid. Because he didn't like feeling stupid. Granted, night guard had smaller chance to have his speech making ability tested, but even he might need to evacuate some buidling or square, and with this kind of babbling like this would probably made the chaos even worse. How weird was that. "You know what I am trying to say, right?" he asked with hope in his voice. But it was trangely conforting, that he is not the only guard-to-be that is nervous about the whole thing.

[Jadensong]

Jaden's ears slowly raised, hearing Rayne's voice and blinked. -Was I that worried....Oh great.- She thought while letting out a long sigh. He was true, she had nothing to worry about but yet the thought of failing made her even more scared. The young unicorn even fliched, turning her head away from Rayne with a slight frown. Fail. Such a word she feared and yet tries so hard not to do so.

Yet here she was, caught up in her own worry and Rayne was trying to cheer her up. -What am I doing.- The young unicorn thought, turning her head a bit as Rayne spoke up once again. -Here I am being insecure over something pointless and some pony is trying to cheer me up for it.-

Jaden closed her eyes, letting out a small chuckle as she turned her head to look at the young bat pony. His mentioning of her superiors being really stupid to overlook her, cheered her up a bit and as he asked her, nodded slowly while giving him a slight frown. "I Know what you mean, Rayne. It's just...well..." She said, sighing. "I just tend to over think things."

Glancing at the apple still in her fore-hoof, her horn lit up and lifted the apple to look at it closer. It red shine seemed to give it a faint glow, even though her light blue aura was wrapped around it. Looking to Rayne, her frown disappeared and was replaced with a small smile. "Sorry. But Thank you." She spoke softly, turning her attention to the apple and took a bite out of it.

-Yup, good as always- jaden thought, swallowing before turning her attention back to Rayne. "So...um...what do you wanna talk about?" She asked, giving a hopeful smile even though it was small.

[Rusty]

During most of the time, Rayne was just worried, that he made the whole situation worse. Jaden seemed like she herself was not exactly sure how to react on his silly attempts of cheering her up. Rayne looked into the skies just for moment. The calm darkness of night sky was calming him down. If the princess of the night really is watching all of Canterlot she is probably laughing a lot now.

Fortunately for him, Jaden understood, that he meant well, even if he meant well really clumsily. She begun to smile and that was always a good sign. Rayne took his apple and took a giant bite out of it. It tasted great. He was chewing it slowly, enjoying the taste awhile.

"Well... that is a good question. I think, we should really talk about something... not work realted. It seems that it is making as nervous... or in my case even more nervous than usuall." he said openly, after he finished the apple. He was not entirely sure, if that was a good iea, after all it was the one thing they had in common... but it didn't go all that well so far.

"Uhm... were you always living in Canterlot?" he asked out of bloom. After all he himself wasn't living here all his life. And it was as good topic as any to start the converstation a little. "I moved here... after I decided I want to join the night guard... but uhm... that is a long story..." and he ended with the topic he was trying to avoid... yeah, that's Rayne for you...

[Jadensong]

((So Late...>.<))

Jaden song nodded her head in agreement, before turning her attention to the half-bitten apple hovering in front of her. -Yeah, not work related. Don't wanna have that problem again.- Jaden thought, letting out a chuckle. Listening to Rayne talk, Jaden finished off the rest of the apple and stared ahead of her in thought. She has lived in Canterlot for quite a while now, ever since she could remember. In fact, she could only recall living in a foster home with other fillies and colts like her. -Yup...I always have.- Jaden thought, blinking a few times as she spotted another pair of ponies walking through the park.

It looked like they were on their way home and were wearing fancy clothes, which were more clear to see as they walked under a park light. A gray stallon wearing a black suit with a matching top hat and a light blue mare that was wearing an odd gray dress with a white hat. It seemed they were taking the long way, which was quite rare since most rich ponies here ususlly go home before nightfall. Then again, there was always a reason for everything. As they disappeared from view, Jaden's eyes slowly narrowed before face-hoofing herself with her right fore-hoof. - I wish the ponies here would at least have some common sense not to dress like that during the night. Rich ponies...- Jaden thought, lowing her hoof before glancing to Rayne with nervous chuckle. "Sorry...I did it again didn't I?" Jaden said, looking to Rayne with a sad look in her eyes. "My apologies. To answer your question, Yes. I've lived here ever since I was a filly." Jaden said, nodding once before looking around the park. "I lived with other fillies and a few colts in a foster home, so I kinda had to help out a lot." Jaden spoke, a hint of cheer in her voice. "Yet with all the good things about Cantorlot, you think they would have better manners or common sense around here." Jaden said, rolling her eyes once. Oddly enough, Jaden had switched the topic herself in order to avoid the question that many ponies usually ask first. Plus, she really didn't want to repeat the answer.

Looking at Rayne again, Jaden smiled. "So! Since we are on that topic, what do you like about Canterlot?" Jaden asked, yet narrowed her eyes slightly with a smirk.