=Father of the Night 18=

>Good. God.
>You love this bed.
>You tried to, for the most part, -not- spend Bruce's family's money on stupid shit.
>No exotic imports, no frivolous spending, nothing that would waste undue funds that were rightfully Bruce's when he came of age.
>But by all that was holy, did you not regret buying this bed for a second.
>It contoured to your body in juuuuust the right way to make it almost possible for you to ignore the hoof prodding between your shoulder blades.
"Nnnnnggggggggg..."
>"Mister Anonymous."
>You know that voice...You roll over and open one eye. 
>Bruce is standing on the bed next to you with his mane combed, his face washed, and his tie and lapel pressed and dressed.
"...What is it, Bruce?"
>"I merely wanted to inform you that I will not require you to pick me up after school today."
>You rub your face. [spoiler][/spoiler] "Is Big Mac taking you to school and picking you up today?"
>Bruce shakes his head. "I will be going into town after school today, I do not need to be walked home."
>He hops off the bed and makes for the door.
"Wait." you say rising up halfway.
>"Hmm?"
"I'll...go with you, yeah."
>Bruce looks back at you with a small grimace. "You...don't have to do that, sir."
"No, no it's fine."
>He turns and takes a small step towards you. "Is there any reason you want to come along?"
>You don't think so good this early...
"You're...my ward and I'm supposed to help you, that's why."
>Bruce turns and slowly trots out of the room. "If...that's what you want, Mister Anonymous."
>Yeah...that was what you wanted.
>Your head crashes down to the pillow and your eyes snap shut.
>Right after you sleep in...

>Afternoon in Ponyville was as it always was. Ponies were going about their lives in peace, visiting friends, doing jobs, spending time with family.
>You follow the path through town and come up on Miss Cheerilee's school right as the bells start chiming and the students are released.
>You take your place on the fence next to Big Mac and the other waiting guardians. Mac and you share your customary silent nod to one another as you wait for the kids.
>Bruce, the girls, and some grey pegasus colt you didn't recognize all walk out of the schoolhouse talking amongst themselves. It made you happy to see Bruce able to actually hold a conversation with kids his own age without seeming like an immense weirdo.
>He still -was- a weirdo, but it was good to see he could hide it.
>Bruce and the other kids meet you and Mac at the fence.
>"Mister Anonymous. This is Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Rumble. You know Applebloom."
>You nod to each of them in succession. [spoiler][/spoiler] "Scoots, Sweets, Rumbler, Bloomer."
>The girls giggle at their nicknames, Rumble remains stoic.
>From a nearby tree with her father, a pink filly yells "Blankflank and Freak Brigade!"
>Bruce grimaces as his friends look a bit downtrodden.
"Hmm...Diamond Doof, right?"
>Applebloom snickers as her and her friends walk over to Big Macintosh. Rumble flies off to meet another grey pegasus.
"Take care of 'em, eh Mac?"
>"Eeeyup." he says, as always.
>The girls wave goodbye to Bruce and he turns and walks into the town.
"So what are we doing here?" you ask following.
>"I've business in town."
>A-huh, you gathered.
"What kind of business?"
>Bruce picks up his pace a bit. "I'm going to put money in it. Now come along, we shouldn't dawdle."

>Bruce and you walk through the town after school.
>You hang back a bit and let him lead the way. He knew where he was going.
>Imagine your surprise when you come up on the town hall and Bruce walks up the stairs.
"What in the world are we doing -here-?" you ask.
>"I've asked to meet with the mayor."
>That takes a second to process in your mind.
"The MAYOR?"
>He nods. "Is...that a problem?"
>Shit.
>You rub the back of your head. [spoiler][/spoiler] "Uh, now, just...aren't you a little young?"
>He shrugs his shoulders. "They accepted my request. I assumed they know my age."
>With that he trots inside and leaves the door open for you to follow.
>And follow him you do. Through the lobby and up the stairs to the mayoral office.
>Off to one side of the room, a familiar guard captain sits hunched over a desk filling out paperwork.
>"Captain Shining Armor." Bruce says.
>Armor peels himself away from his papers for a moment and looks Bruce over. "Hrmm...you must be the kid that garnered so much attention from the mayor. She's in there." he says gesturing to the door.
>Bruce nods and walks towards the door.
>"Is...he coming along too?"
>"Who? Me?" you ask pointing to yourself.
>Bruce looks to Shining Armor. "Anonymous is my guardian. I need him to make what I'm attempting to do here official."
>Wait, huh? Did he plan this?

>Shining Armor rolls his eyes and magics the door open.
>Bruce and you both walk into a circular office with a desk in the middle. Behind the desk sits a tan mare with a grey mane reading over a booklet.
>She looks up from her desk at the two of you entering.
>"Ah, Mister Mane, Mister...Anonymous."
>Sometimes not having a last name sucked.
>"Please take a seat."
>The two of you do as the mayor trots out from behind her desk. "I'll admit, Mister Mane, I'm not accustomed to getting petitioners of your...stature." she leans on her desk. "Your name carries weight even here."
>Bruce nods. "Then I'll be brief, Miss Mayor. I want to put money into this town and make it a safer place, one where we -don't- need some sort of costumed vigilante outside the law running around hunting down thugs."
>Nice misdirection, sport.
>"Mhmm..." says the mayor. "And how might you accomplish that, Mister Mane?"
>Bruce reaches into his saddlebags and produces a small binder. "In here is my proposal to increase the guard presence in Ponyville as well as add another set of train lines from here to Canterlot where the guards are more sequestered."
>The mayor arches her eyebrow.
>"Ponyville is in a transitory state. We are large enough to have more organized and plentiful crime, but not large enough to warrant an increased police force on our own. My hope is that increasing traffic from here to Canterlot will do that for us."

>The mayor hops off her desk and trots to the window overlooking the town.
>"An increase of train activity would allow faster trade between Canterlot, the capitol and a major trade and industrial center, and our town. The monetary gains we would reap from that trade as well as an increase in tourism  and through traffic on the lines would be substantial." Bruce continues.
>The mayor holds up a hoof but continues to look out the window. "You reasoning makes sense, Mister Mane. But I for one relish our town's more domestic and homey feeling and I know for a fact many others do as well. Your proposition will eliminate that feeling."
>You rub the back of your head and try to shut the hell up, you have no idea how this works.
>Bruce doesn't trip. "Advancement does not equate industrialization. With proper control over zoning rights, you can still maintain your small town feeling while still reaping the benefits of being a growing city."
>The mayor stares out the window for a few minutes more before turning around and walking back to her desk. "You make a compelling case, Mister Mane. Leave your proposal here and I'll look into it."
>Bruce bows his head and hops out of his chair. "Thank you Madame Mayor. I wish you a good day."

>The two of you exit out of town hall and start down the road home.
>You let out a whistle as you walk. 
"Damn, Bruce. I'm impressed."
>"Hmm? What about?" he asks.
"In there, you put on quite a show in there."
>"Show?"
"You convinced a politician to hear and possibly accept a proposal from a nine year old, that's rather impressive."
>Bruce winces as the two of you near the town boarder. "I'm...not a very good example of a normal nine year old, sir."
>As the two of you are about to cross a bridge out of town, Bruce stops in his tracks and holds up a hoof.
>"Halt." he says.
>You practically trip over him and look around.
"Uh...Bruce?"
>He stands there with his eyes closed and his ears twitching in both directions, taking in the sounds of the outskirts of town.
>"I hear...crying." With that, Bruce turns around and runs back into town, ducking into the open door of a house on the side.
"Hey! Get back here! That's someone's house!"
>You run after Bruce into the house expecting to get an earful from whomever lived there only to find the house empty.
>Huh...that's weird.
>You catch sight of Bruce's tail disappearing around a corner upstairs and give chase.
>As you run, you do indeed hear the sound of someone crying, a young girl by the looks of it.
>You get to the top of the stairs and run into the room the sounds were coming from. Bruce has hopped onto the bed of a little unicorn filly, blonde mane and a purple-ish coat. 
>She was sobbing uncontrollably into her pillow.
"Uhh...Bruce, do you know this girl?"
>Bruce nods and lowers his head. "Dinky...? I saw you weren't at school today, is something wrong?"
>Dinky pulls away from her pillow and nods. "I-I looked everywhere...She wasn't here this morning or this afternoon..."
>You scratch your head.
"Uh...Who's not here, Dinky?"
>She winces and looks up to you both with teary eyes. "I can't find my mommy." she says.
>...
>Ah crap.