>"Are you sure this is okay?"
>No.
>The only word that can cross your mind this early in the morning.
>Heartbeat woke you up a few days ago in the middle of the night, pestering you about a sleepover.
>Just to make her shut up and go back to whatever it is she does around your house during the night, you said she could invite one friend over.
"Yeah, it's fine."
>One batp0ny mare and her little filly stand in your doorway.
>The stars and the moon light up the sky.
>You check your watch in an attempt to find out what time you were awoken by the bane of your existence.
>Two in the morning.
>At least you don't have to work in the morning.
>"Okay then, good luck mister Anon."
>The mare starts to trot off, leaving her child on your doorstep.
>You look down at her, those big blue eyes catching your own.
"Come on in and make yourself at home."
>She rushes between your legs, drops her saddlebags, and darts upstairs with a screech.
>Her screeches are soon accompanied by those of Heartbeat.
>You shudder violently as you close your front door.
>It's too early for this nonsense.
>A yawn parts your lips as you walk upstairs and into Heartbeat's room.
"Alright, here are the rules. I want both of you to be as quiet as possible for the next four hours. I'll make your dinner at six, you'll be in bed by seven."
>They ignore you as you speak.
>You raise your brow and start scratching your chest.
"Heartbeat, what'd I just say?"
>She scoffs, tips her head back, and stares at you.
>"Quiet for four hours, dinner at six, bed at seven. I'm not a kid, Anon! I can take care of myself!"
>She is, in fact, a child.
>She and Sirocca are the same age, eight years old, and go to the same school.
>You don't exactly recall how you and Heartbeat met, and came to live together.

>The only thing you do know, is that Sirocca was an orphan, knew Heartbeat nearly her entire life, and was eventually adopted by some batp0ny mare.
>None of them have ever mentioned Heartbeat's origin, whether or not she lived in the orphanage with Sirocca, or why she came to live with you.
>She sort of adopted you when she started sneaking around your house one night.
>You couldn't complain, after all.
>She is a good kid.
"Whatever. I'm going back to sleep, try not to burn the house down."
>"Okay!"
>With a roll of your eyes, you leave the room and head back downstairs to your couch.
>Almost instantly, you fall asleep as your head hits the cushion.
>Shrill screams wake you, a blinding light flashing just across the room.
>Wiping the sleep from your eyes, you sit up and groan.
>Two little fillies sit in front of the television, watching an old vhs tape.
>You aren't sure what they're watching, most likely from your brain refusing to boot up from lack of rest.
"What are you two doing?"
>"Watching cartoons."
"It's..."
>You glance at the grandfather clock that stands beside the television.
"Two-thirty in the morning. You really couldn't have waited until dinner-time?"
>Sirocca and Heartbeat shake their heads and turn back to the television.
>Forget it, there is absolutely no way you're going to be able to sleep now.
>You get up and walk over to the little fillies.
>They stare at you briefly before looking at each other.
>"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Heartbeat?"
>"Yes."
"No."
>They latch to your arms and start screeching at you.
"I said no!"
>You start shaking and waving your arms, trying to get the fillies off of you.
>They hold on as tight as they can, and despite your best efforts, you fail.
>Filly cannot be removed.
>You slump down on the couch and sigh.
"Fine."
>Both fillies screech simultaneously and fly upstairs as fast as they can.
>Minutes later, they return with a large bag of markers, crayons, and pastels.
>So it begins.

>The skin on your face stretches as the fillies drag crayons over your face.
>The wet ink from the markers stains your skin as they color around your eyes and on your lips.
>The pastels smear over your cheeks as they try to apply a blush color to them.
>You always refused to buy Heartbeat any kind of make-up.
>And this kind of mess was a very good reason why.
>They applied absolutely no foundation, their blush is blotchy, the eye-shadow is uneven, and your marker lipstick is smeared.
>Looking in the mirror that they hold up to your face, you groan.
>You look like some kind of woman who relies on hard substance to get through the day.
>Or much like a very sad clown.
>There is little difference in those metaphors, though.
>"Do you like it, mister Anon?"
"No."
>Sirocca's mouth opens slightly as she gasps.
>Tears well up in her eyes.
>Please don't.
>Heartbeat starts patting her on the back as they hug, Sirocca's waterworks starting to flow.
>Rectify the situation, Anon.
"I don't like it. I... love it?"
>Sirocca pushes Heartbeat off of your lap and hugs you around the neck.
>Heartbeat falls onto the couch with a soft "oomph."
>The grandfather clock reads three in the morning.
>Time just does not want to speed up right now.
>"What's next, Sirocca?"
>The little pale purple filly hums softly and tilts her head as she thinks.
>"I don't know, what do you want to do?"
>Heartbeat rubs a hoof on her temple and hums.
>"I don't know, what do you want to do?"
>They repeat this scenario several times, before you finally get up.
>You briefly pick Heartbeat up and rub her side all over your face in an attempt to remove the "make-up" from your face.
>It does not work.
>She and Sirocca continue their "conversation" as you toss her back onto the couch and start to go upstairs.

>The joyless life of a single father is the life you chose.
>You will look for respite in any form possible.
>Which is why you went upstairs and crawled under your bed.
>They will never find you here.
>"Hi Anon!"
>With a deep inhale and exhale, you sigh loudly.
"Hello, Sirocca."
>"Heartbeat! I found him!"
>"Where was he?!"
>"Under his bed!"
>Heartbeat's head pokes underneath your bed.
>"Wow, Anon! You're really good at this game!"
>You didn't even know they were playing hide and seek.
>You just wanted some time to yourself.
>"It took us an hour just to find you."
>That would mean that it is currently four in the morning.
>You must have dozed off for a little while without realizing it.
>"Okay, Anon! We'll hide, you seek!"
>No.
>This is the perfect opportunity for them to go hide somewhere while you go to sleep.
"Sure thing, I'll try to find you as soon as I can!"
>You smile softly as they both crawl out from under the bed.
>The quieting of their giggles tells you that they've run off somewhere else in the house to hide.
>You crawl out from under the bed and look out into the hallway.
>No sign of them.
>Finally, some peace and quiet.
>You leap onto your bed and snuggle into its plush comforters.
>It's like sleeping on a cloud.
>You grab a pillow and bury your face into it, smiling at how quiet everything is.
>That is, until you hear a soft squeak.
>As you scan the darkness of your room, you fluff the pillow up, which causes it to squeak.
"Dear powers that be, I never bought squeaking pillows."
>You reach into the pillowcase and extract one small gray and pink filly.
>"Wow, Anon! You're good at this!"
>No, shut up, it isn't play time!
>"Come on, you have to find Sirocca now!"
"Fine."
>As you climb out of bed, you decide it would be best to start on this floor.
>Maybe Heartbeat's bedroom?

>Your search upstairs is fruitless.
>It was an enormous waste of half an hour.
>And now you were going to waste even more time downstairs.
>As you descend the stairs, you turn the corner and walk into the living-room.
>You look over at the curtains draped over one of the windows.
>Between then, a puffy purple tail reveals itself.
>She's not very good at hiding.
>You walk over and part the curtains.
>Instead of a little filly tumbling off of the window sill, a purple feather duster falls to the floor.
>You swear it looked exactly like her tail a minute ago.
"Where is she?"
>"I don't know. I wouldn't tell you anyway! That's not part of the game!"
>Yeah, this is gonna take a while.
>You actually really suck at thinking of good hiding places, so you'll never find her.
>As you turn from the window, you notice two pale purple ears sticking out of a pile of pillows on your couch.
>This is another trick, you can just feel it.
>Yet, as you approach and topple the pillows over, Sirocca reveals herself.
"Can I go back to sleep now, or is there something else you're planning?"
>The fillies embrace each other and start whispering in one another's ear.
>After a few minutes, they finally look up at you and grin.
>"Nope, you can go to sleep!"
>They dart up to Heartbeat's room as you start to massage your head.
>Following them upstairs, you head to your room instead of Heartbeat's.
>You don't even try to land on your bed in any reasonable position
>You just throw your body where ever it will land.

>As soon as your eyes close, they open once more.
>The small clock on your bedside table glistens in the moonlight.
>You barely make out its hands.
>Five thirty in the morning.
"Only an hour of sleep? Come on..."
>You sigh and roll out of bed.
>No point in trying to sleep for another half hour, you'll only have to get up again to make the fillies something to eat.
>Bones pop and muscles ache as you crawl out of bed.
>Might as well see what those fillies are up to.
>You walk down the hallway and into Heartbeat's room.
>The two little fillies lay on the floor, crayons and markers scattered between them as they color in some of Heartbeat's coloring books.
>They look up at you as you sit beside them.
>"Hi, Anon!"
>Sirocca waves at you.
"Is this all you've been doing for the past hour?"
>Heartbeat nods as she drags an orange crayon across a picture of the moon.
"Why are you coloring the moon orange?"
>"It's the Harvest Moon!"
>You don't know jack about the moon.
>"Wanna color with us?"
>Sirocca holds a crayon up to you.
>As you take it from her, Heartbeat nudges a coloring book toward you.
>She already has it open to a picture of a mango tree.
>You look at the crayon.
>It is blue.
>You may not know a lot about mango trees, but you're pretty sure they aren't blue.
"Can I have a green crayon?"
>"No. You have to be creative with your coloring, Anon!"
>Creative.
>With a blue crayon.
>On a mango tree.
>Okay, Heartbeat, that totally makes sense.
>You lay down on your stomach with the coloring book in front of you.
>Both fillies judgmentally stare at you as you start to color the trunk of the tree blue.
>Their murmurs of approval and a red crayon being passed to you show that you're "doing it right."

>Light starts to pour through the window as the sun rises.
>You should probably start getting their dinner ready.
>Sirocca's tummy grumbles softly as she drops her crayon.
>Heartbeat stares at her and drops her crayon too.
>Both of their mouths are agape, almost in utter shock of what just happened.
>You aren't quite sure yourself.
>Sirocca's face scrunches up as her tummy growls a little louder.
"Are you two getting hungry?"
>They nod and quickly latch themselves onto your back.
>Anonymous Transportation Service, now departing.
>You stand up and take the two fillies down into the kitchen.
>They climb up your back and peek over your shoulders as you gather ingredients for their dinner.
>"Can we have ice cream for dinner?"
"No."
>You throw some sliced mangos, apples, and bananas in a frying pan.
>As the fruits sizzle in their juices, you turn to the fridge.
"What do you want to drink?"
>"Blood!"
>"Me too!"
>Upon opening the fridge, you discover that you only have one cup's worth of blood left.
>Neither of their fangs are sharp enough to pierce your skin, and you don't have the equipment to safely draw blood from yourself.
>Heartbeat mentioned ice cream for dinner.
"How about fruit smoothies instead?"
>They both screech in your ears and start zipping around the room with an excitement that only exists in those two little fillies.
>With a sigh, you throw all of the necessary ingredients for smoothies into a blender.
>You return to the frying fruits and move them around so they don't burn.
>You flick the blender on, so it starts mixing all of the ingredients together, quickly turning them into a drinkable substance made solely of fruit, ice, and yogurt.

>With one hand, you pour the smoothies into a few glasses.
>With the other, you dump portions of the fried fruit into bowls.
>As you admire your work, you realize you truly are the number one chef in all of Equestria.
>Heartbeat and Sirocca bounce in their seats as you present them with their meals.
>Retrieving your own bowl and glass, you notice both fillies have drained their glasses and licked their bowls clean before you've even sat down.
"Couldn't have waited for me, huh?"
>They shake their heads and start giggling hyper-actively.
>Just as you take the first sip of your smoothie, Heartbeat yawns.
>This causes Sirocca to yawn, too.
"Ready for bed?"
>They hum in agreement and look up at you with sleepy eyes.
"Alright. Come on."
>You pick them both up and venture into the foyer, where Sirocca's bags have sat nearly the entire morning.
>But, looking around, you noticed they're gone.
"Where'd you put your bags, Sirocca?"
>"I took them upstairs while you were asleep. They're by Heartbeat's bed."
>You nod and turn back to the stairs, ascending them as you head to Heartbeat's room.
>Both fillies hop out of your arms.
>Sirocca digs into her bags and pulls out a onesie.
>Heartbeat pulls her own out of her closet.
>They hold them up to you, and you sigh.
"Okay, okay."
>You take Sirocca's onesie and unzip it.
>She sticks her hind hooves into it as you take her front hooves and feed them into the pajamas.
>Her wings unfurl into their covers and her tail sticks out of a small hole in the back.
>You repeat the process with Heartbeat, and as soon as she's snug in her onesie, both fillies jump onto Heartbeat's bed.
>You pull the covers over them and tuck them in.
>"Will you tell us a bat-time story?"
>A bat-time story.
>That's cute.
>You get up and close the blinds on the room's window.

"Which one do you want to hear?"
>"Tell us the one about Nightmare Moon and her guards and Princess Celestia!"
>"Yeah! The one about how Hollow Shades was founded and bat-p0nies came to be!"
"I don't think I know that one."
>You sit down on the side of the bed.
>"Can you make one up?"
"Well. Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal pony sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land."
>Heartbeat glares at you.
>Sirocca folds her arms and rolls her eyes.
>"Anon, we've heard this one a million times! Everyp0ny's heard it, and it's boring!"
"Good, maybe if I keep going you'll fall asleep sooner."
>They glance at each other very briefly and start kicking the blankets off of them.
"Please don't do that."
>"You have incurred our wrath, mister Anon!"
>"Time for you to pay the price!"
>They jump out of bed and launch themselves onto your face.
>Maybe if they were a little bit larger, they would have knocked you off of the bed.
>Maybe they would have given you a concussion.
>Unfortunately for you, your dreams do not come true.
>They giggle loudly as they push against each other and wrestle on top of you.
>Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll smother you with their onesies.
>You have never been a lucky man, though.
>Their giggles slow and soften as they stop wrestling on top of you.
>Soft kee's sound as they begin to snore, their dreams finally embracing them.
>With victory comes sacrifice.
>You feel your pancreas kill itself, and type twelve diabetes set in.
>You aren't even sure if there is a type twelve, but that's what you're going with.
>The fillies nestle into the crooks of your arms as you pick them up and put them back in bed.
>You look down at them as you tuck the covers against their bodies.
>This would be the perfect time for the universe to bless you with some early morning existential thoughts.

>It would be better to stew on anything the universe blesses you with over a hot cup of coffee and a view of the sunrise.
>With a quick trek downstairs and into the kitchen, you quickly brew a pot of the good stuff.
>And just as the sky's color changes from its deep purples to its pinks, you retire to the living room.
>You sit in your favorite recliner and look out at the mountains as the sun starts to peek over them.
>Sipping at your coffee, you smile to yourself as the sun paints Hollow Shades in a brilliant light.
"I am a slave to a little batfilly in a world filled with colorful, magic, talking horses."
>You slouch in the chair as you take another sip.
"Could be worse, though."
>One more sip and you sigh softly.
"I could be alone."