The Stallion Who Can Never Die

"My sister believes in trading with the neighboring kingdoms, seeing how we could help improve life in other lands while also seeing how those lands could improve life here. But my sister has seen many things the other kingdoms have in their possession that have the capability of destroying life in ways more monstrous then many of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria.

"The Gryphon Kingdom is one such place. My sister has told me of their main weapons of combat, muskets they are called. Ranged weapons that fire tiny projectiles that can easily pierce the toughest armour we have and rend through the flesh, embedding deep into the bone and causing excruciating pain. Though they are only capable of firing a single shot before needing to be reloaded, a process which takes several minutes, and I am told they are woefully inaccurate, they are devastating when used in numbers. My sister has done everything in her power to keep weapons like these out of the hooves of our subjects and bringing about untold pain and fear."

Luna displayed the pistol in front of Harness. "So to find a musket capable of firing more than one shot and being incredibly accurate is very concerning, and from the description by my guards, our enemies have weapons that are able to rapidly fire their projectiles in the dozens, which is, to put it bluntly, a terrifying prospect. So you can understand me when I ask you, with the utmost importance..." She leaned in close, her muzzle barely touching the Pegasus', Harness would've blushed were it not for her gaze, which seem to stare right deep into him. "...Where did you get this?"

The Pegasus sighed. "Luna, all I know is that it was found with me the night I appeared."

"Found with you?" The dark Alicorn leaned back from him with a raised eyebrow. "Why didn't you tell me you had something like this?"

"Because I didn't know until today." Harness hesitated before continuing. "The clothing and items I was found with were given to me just after you left last night."

Immediately Luna's eyes widened. "Did you..." Her voice faltered and the look of hope in her eyes dissipated when Harness shook his head slowly, his ears folding down.

"No... I felt like l was touching the surface, but I couldn't even scrape it." He sighed again and looked at his hooves. "Now... All I can do is hope for a miracle."

Luna placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder, causing him to look up, and see her sympathetic face, her eyes no longer hard and serious, but soft and showing concern. Concern for him, he realized. The knowledge of that brought his spirits back. His ears perked up and his chest puffed slightly and he smiled confidently.

"I'll be fine, your highness, it'll take more then one little disappointment to keep me down." With that, he pushed himself up to his hooves, and looked out at the two wounded Night Guards. "Will they be alright?"

"Hm?" Luna turned and blinked when she saw the two vamponies. "What are you two still doing here? I thought I told you to go and rest."

Her voice wasn't raised, but it was stern. Nightingale stood up straight, before cringing and slumping again. "We feel it is unwise to leave you alone, your highness, what if our enemies strike when we are not nearby?"

"If they do, then you will both be killed, you are too weak and injured to fight. All you'd do is make things harder for us."

"But, your highness," the vampony protested. "It is our duty to-"

"-To protect me?" The Alicorn asked with a raised eyebrow. "That was never your duty, I am more then capable of defending myself. Your duty is to be the extensions of my will, to act as my eyes and ears and blades and claws. Since you are unable to be my extensions in your current state, you must go and rest and heal. Those are my orders, now go."

Harness could tell that they considered arguing further, but one glare from Luna silenced their opposition. With a sigh, Nightingale nodded and the two made to take off before Nightingale stopped and turned to face her Princess. "I almost forgot, your highness, your sister wanted me to tell you to take as much time as you needed in the city and she said that she hoped you enjoy yourself."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "So my sister doesn't know?"

The guard shook her head. Luna nodded after a moment. "Alright then, thank you Nightingale, now go."

Flapping off into the night, Harness noticed they didn't seem to vanish completely as before. Luna continued looking after them, making sure that they took her words to heart.

"They'll be fine, all they need is some food and rest, and they'll be in good condition again." She turned back to Harness. "Let me apologize for the questioning, Harness, but it is of grave importance that these types of weapons do not become common knowledge to our subjects." She sighed.  "But it seems my sister has failed, as our enemies have weapons of even greater power than what the Gryphons possess."

She brought a hoof out to the Pegasus, who gratefully took it, being brought back on all fours. "But this need not concern you, Harness." She turned to the officers who stood solemnly around the body bag. "I will take my leave now, officers, tell your chief not to send an investigation team into the sewers." The police ponies looked at each other oddly, before nodding silently to the Princess, who turned back to Harness. "Come, I shall escort you back to your hotel."

Harness quickly shook his head. "No no, you probably have a lot to do, I don't want you wasting time on me."

"Is making sure that you, one of my subjects, safe and protected wasting my time?" Luna asked with a look as the two left the alleyway and walked down the empty street.

"Well no," the silver stallion stuttered as they walked out of the alley. "But there must be more important things you need to do, like helping to figure out what the hay is going on here?"

"Are you saying you don't want my presence?" The Alicorn asked with a smile.

Harness stuttered. "N-no! Of course not! I just- argh!"

So this is what it's like to throw somepony for a loop. The smug thought caused Luna to chuckle. "Consider that payback for last night."

She smiled in victory to Harness, who frowned, until he realized what she had said, he smiled deviously.

"Oh, was I too rough last night?" He asked with a low voice.

"No, I just wasn't expecting it, that's all." The Princess replied, completely missing the hidden meaning in the words.

The Pegasus chuckled. "Well, I do tend to surprise ponies with my skills, you saw first hoof what I was capable of." He gave her a knowing look, which Luna misinterpreted as the memory of last night and how he was able to break through her composure so effortlessly with his words and questions.

"I will admit," she said. "You do have impressive skill with your tongue."

Harness stared at Luna in complete shock. Did she just.. She did! Oh man, that was far better then what I hoped!  unable to hold back, he began laughing. Hard. So hard, in fact, his sides were heaving and he had trouble standing. All throughout the next few minutes, Luna stared at the laughing stallion in complete confusion, wondering idly if a sneaky Unicorn had cast some sort of laughing spell on him.

"Pray tell, what is so funny?" She asked when Harness seemed to calm down, though he was still chuckling. The question nearly drove Harness back into another laughing fit, but he steeled himself with a surprising amount of composure before he gave the Princess of the Night a look.

"Come on, Luna, you're smart, you must've seen the innuendo there, haven't you?"

Luna stared. Innuendo? What is he talking about...? She thought back over their conversation, before she saw what Harness had really been saying and how she had set herself up, her last words repeated themselves in her mind. Her eyes widened in horror, her ears folded back, her wings unfurled slightly in shock, and a bright red blush quickly appeared, easily visible even against her dark fur and the little light around them. Seeing Luna's look of horror and embarrassment drove Harness back into his laughing fit, this time rolling on the ground while Luna wanted nothing more than to fly away and hide in the night sky. But her hooves remained steadfast on the street, and she gathered the sad remains of her dignity and pride before glaring at the now wheezing Pegasus.

"Harness..." She said, trying to put in the same sternness in her voice as she had with her Night Guards moments before. For some reason, she wasn't quite as successful. Nevertheless, the stallion managed to stand back up, still chuckling. "Never do that again." She said simply.

"Sorry, Luna, but you set yourself up for that one, I just seized the opportunity." The silver Pegasus replied.

Oh sweet stars, give me strength... The Princess placed a hoof on her face. "Can we just... continue please?"

Chuckling, Harness nodded and the two continued down the street.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

White Stripe frowned as he looked out the window to his hotel room. Today had been a bad day, no, this week had been a bad week. So many things had gone wrong, were still going wrong, and the situation kept getting worse. Just one thing after another, and they showed no sign of letting up, even after the order had went out, something had still gone wrong, and now everything was in grave danger of falling apart, he could only imagine how her Majesty would cringe if she knew what an embarrassment everything had become. Ironically enough, it was her unexpected arrival to the city where things started going downhill.

He felt a vibration in his pocket, and sighed. Levitating out a small black rectangle, he flicked it open, revealing a shining blue screen that simply said 'incoming call'. He pressed a single key and held the cell phone to his ear.

"Yes?" He said simply.

"Shade..." The voice in the phone said, the Unicorn could feel the anger behind his calm voice, he cringed. "Did you not hear me when I said we put a pause on all operations and lay low while the Princess was investigating us?"

"The stallion had stumbled into one of the Rat's nest in the sewers," he answered. "The guards were just following standard procedure. If they didn't act, the rats would've gone berserk and start attacking the city openly, that would most likely set off a chain reaction with the other nests, causing the city to be overwhelmed and many innocent ponies killed, not to mention us being forced to reveal ourselves to protect the base."

The voice was silent for a moment, White Stripe knew he made the right choice on the matter. "Why did one of the rats go wild?"

"They're all wild, sir." White answered. "And you know one of them occasionally gets a taste for pony flesh. This one just happened to be discovered by one of the Princess' Night Guards, then began the chain of events we could not control, until we had no choice but to eliminate the nest."

The voice sighed. "It's gone wrong... It's all gone wrong..."

There was silence for a few minutes before the voice spoke again. "Shade, what I'm about to ask you will be the most risky task I've given you yet, but we cannot wait any longer. You must make haste immediately to Canterlot and find a way to draw the Princess away from the city, we must begin setting up the Extractor and initiate the final phase of the plan, but first you must draw Princess Luna away from the city, I don't care how it is done, I don't care if it means revealing your true loyalties, just do it. The fate of the Night, of our Majesty, of Equestria rests on the completion of this task, are we clear?"

"Perfectly, sir." White answered. "But what of the stallion? Don't we need him?"

"We still do, but first the Extractor must be constructed. We'll worry about the stallion once we are fully prepared, and then we will bring him in, even in front of her Majesty, or in broad daylight if we have to... Once the Extractor is built, then our Majesty will be victorious and her glory will be finally assured."

White nodded. "Understood, I will leave immediately."

With that, White Stripe shut the phone off, placed it back in his pocket, and immediately left his hotel room, if he left now, he'd be in Canterlot by morning, and hopefully by then he'd figure out a plan to draw Luna out of the city.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Much to Harness' amusement, he could still see the blush on Luna's muzzle, which caused him to smirk. "Look on the bright side, Princess. At least nobody was around when I make you blush like this."

Luna merely grumbled in reply, when she realized what he had said. "Wait... 'nobody'?" She gave the Pegasus an odd look.

"Uh, sorry, I meant nopony. Where did that come from?"

"That's not the first odd thing I've heard you say." Luna said, looking through her conversations with the stallion. "You've said quite a few odd things actually... Hell in place of Hay, God instead of my sister's name, and you are far more prone to swearing then many ponies I've met. What's odd is that you say them so naturally, and you don't even seem to notice."

Harness blinked. She's right... Could that have something to do with who I was? His thoughts were abruptly stopped by his stomach, which loudly growled. The Pegasus chuckled sheepishly. "Hey. uh, Luna? Could we take a quick detour and get a bite to eat? I don't think I've eaten all day."

"Certainly," the Princess said with a chuckle. "You should take better care of yourself, Harness, you may be immortal, but that doesn't excuse you from eating."

"Obviously..." The stallion replied. "What about you? Are you hungry?"

"Oh no, I'm fine I-" Another growl interrupted her, and it wasn't from Harness' stomach. The silver Pegasus laughed.

"Luna, when was the last time you ate?"

The Alicorn opened her mouth, then closed it when she realized, save for one time, that she hadn't eaten since leaving Canterlot. Her silence caused Harness to scoff.

"You're such a hypocrite!" He taunted. "Telling me that my immortality is no reason to skimp on meals, and yet you're no better."

"Please, I get enough of that talk from my sister, I don't need any more of that from you as well."

Harness chuckled and waved a hoof. "Relax, you've been busy figuring out a mystery surrounding this city, no big deal. And I'm sure your sister is just as big a hypocrite as you are when it comes to food."

Luna shook her head slowly. "Not the same kind of hypocrite as I am with food... (It isn't a nibble if it's half the cake)"

Harness chuckled. "Alright, well, the good thing about being hungry is that it's an easy thing to fix, you'll just have to eat with me then."

"Are you just saying that because I'm the one who has money?"

"Details, details..." Harness answered as he dismissively waved a hoof.

The Alicorn laughed, a feat which made Harness' heart jump. "Very well, Harness, if you wish, then we shall go and eat. Do you have any suggestions?"

The silver Pegasus opened his mouth, before closing it again and shrugging sheepishly. "I don't really know any place to go to..."

"No matter, I believe I saw one or two fine looking restaurants during my stay here, shall we take to the skies?" She smiled at him as her wings unfurled slowly in preparation. Harness stared, completely lost in the mare's beautiful face and form. Luna then turned away.

"Let us go then." With that, she took off.

Harness blinked, confused, he hadn't answered her, just stared at her like a dumb idiot (he made a mental note to berate himself later). He then noticed his wings were completely open. A blush came over his face when he remembered being told about how his wings can show his emotions, including sexual attraction. He quickly took off after her, glad that she had misinterpreted the meaning in his wings.

Luna, however, did not misinterpret the meaning, she was well apt in seeing the emotion in a Pegasus pony through their wings, and the blush that was just starting to fade from before had returned in full force. Luna was fully aware of her beauty, and it was not the first time she had seen a pony goggling over her, but her own uncertainty about her feelings for Harness brought about a strange feeling in her, a feeling that brought a smile to her face. Giddiness. Oh, it had been so long since she felt that fluttering feeling within herself, she had all but forgotten it. Even though she was incredibly beautiful, and that anypony could be just as attracted to her as that stallion, the fact that he was brought a feeling of elation to her. Harness was attracted to her.

And she was going out to dinner with him.

The Princess stopped mid-flight as the realization hit her like a shockwave. She shook her head and continued flying on, looking down at the city as she tried to find one of the high class restaurants she had seen before. Does it matter if it's a high class place? She asked herself. After all, this is just for Harness' sake, right? You could always eat later and on your own time... but she didn't want to leave him, not just because the stallion was key to the mystery over the city and was possibly in danger. Her heart continued beating furiously at the idea, she took a few breathes to calm herself. It's just a simple meal, she told herself. Nothing more! We'll just sit down, eat our meal, maybe trade a few words, and then I'll pay and escort him back to his hotel and that will be that! Do you hear, disobedient heart? We aren't courting. This is just. A simple. Meal!. Nevertheless her heart kept beating hard and she still felt giddy.

Moments later, she spotted the small, two story building, painted a dark green with a lighter green outline. Many large leaves adorned the walls, and acted as an overhang protecting the tables and seats laid outside in case it rained.

The Princess landed quietly on the street, standing before the restaurant. She admired its natural look as she stepped towards the building, but stopped when she heard a rather unsettling smack! next to her. Turning, she found Harness face first on the road, his wings still out, and his flank pointed to the sky. He groaned, then fell to his side. Luna eyed him with concern, looking him over for any serious injuries. When she didn't find any, she allowed her amusement to show in the form of a small chuckle.

"You really must work on your landings, Harness." She teased. "Honestly, I've seen children fly better then you."

The silver stallion merely grumbled in response as he got to his hooves, when he felt warmth flow from his nose.

"Oh dear," Luna said as she saw the blood. "We'll see if the staff inside can get you a paper towel to clean yourself with."

Harness frowned and used a hoof to cover his bleeding nose as the two ponies approached the restaurant.

Using her magic, Luna pushed the doors open, her wings open in royal fashion, a single bell jingled as the door knocked into it, signalling her arrival. Behind the registry, a cream coloured stallion with a gelled black mane, a small mustache adorning his muzzle. Upon seeing the dark Alicorn, his small eyes widened and he gaped, before closing his mouth and stuttering.

"P-p-p-p-Your majesty! Welcome!" He quickly bowed, before quickly looking over a small notepad. "I-I apologize, but I never saw your name on the reservation list."

"That's because I'm not." Luna answered simply. The waiter looked at her confused.

"I apologize for our unannounced arrival and I hope I'm not imposing on this fine looking establishment by requesting that my friend and I dine here." She glanced back at the silver Pegasus. "Also, can we get something for my friend, he injured himself on the way here."

"O-of course!" The waiter stuttered, before quickly grabbing a box of tissues and bringing them to Harness, who took them with a grateful look. "We were about to shut down for the night, but I'll talk to the chefs, and see if we can't extend our work period for you, your highness."

As he stepped around the registry, Luna spoke. "If it is too much trouble, we can return later."

The waiter continued on without a word, moving past the beautifully carved wooden tables and turning around a bend, vanishing from sight. The two ponies stood where they were, patiently waiting, Harness carefully rubbing his nose with tissues, cringing when he felt a twitch of pain. Luna eyed him curiously.

"It seems your immortality does not fix your injuries when you are alive." She commented as she stepped towards him. "Curious."

Harness stopped his cleaning as he looked up and stared at the Princess of the Night. The dark Alicorn raised a hoof, gently placing it on Harness' and pushing it away. The Pegasus' eyes went wide as he felt tingles travel up his leg and spine.

"What are you-?"

"It's alright," Luna whispered softly as her horn glowed. "Just a little something to help you."

Harness felt an odd tingle in his nose for a moment, then Luna's horn became silent. The silver stallion touched his nose tentatively, he still felt pain, but the blood had stopped coming out of his nostril.

"A temporary barrier to prevent more blood from coming out." Luna explained. "By the time if wears off, that little injury should heal enough so that it is no longer necessary."

"Wow, thanks." Harness smiled gratefully, to which Luna returned with a beaming smile of her own, her horn glowing again, levitating the box of tissues.

"Now, let's clean off the rest of that." She pulled out a tissue with her hoof and began vigorously, but not uncomfortably, cleaning off the rest drying blood, though Harness was embarassed slightly, he didn't protest. When she was finished moments later, she stepped back to examine her hoofwork, nodding approvingly. "Now you look presentable."

Before Harness could reply, the waiter returned with a triumphant smile. "The staff have decided to extend their work for you, highness." He moved past towards the podium, grabbing two brown folders underneath, before gesturing them to follow. "If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your table."

"Perks to royalty, huh?" Harness whispered, leaning in so the dark Alicorn could hear.

"mm," Luna simply muttered, keeping her eyes straight, prompting the Pegasus to give her an odd look.

The table the waiter led them to was intricately carved with numerous leaves, each one highly detailed and completely different from each other, swirling around in the wind. When Harness stared at it for a few moments, they looked like they were moving slowly, but a blink later and he saw that it was just a trick of the carving.

"Very fine work on the table here," Luna commented as she sat down on a plush green cushion, noting how the waiter most likely chose the table that was next to a window that had a clear view of the night sky, the near full moon shining high above, partially covered by the night clouds. Harness sat on another across from her.

The waiter smiled in reply as he handed them their menus.

"They were carved from a family of tree carvers," he explained. "It was said that long before Vanhoover was formed, a magical and sentient tree rooted here saved their lives and provided shelter and nourishment for them until it died. To honour and thank it, they made this building out of its remains, so that it could continue providing shelter and nourishment for them. Personally, I think we are honouring its name by having this establishment being a restaurant. Now, I leave you to choose your meal in private, call me when you have both decided."

The two ponies nodded and the waiter walked off, leaving them alone as they looked over their respective menus. At least, Harness pretended to, as he had no idea what he would want, never remembering eating any of the items before. He pondered Luna's reaction, or lack thereof, to his earlier remark. A thought came to him, causing him to glance up at the Alicorn. He placed his menu down and cleared his throat.

"Luna?"

She looked up and gave him a curious look. Harness opened his mouth but hesitated. Is this a good idea? What if it's another sensitive topic? Then again, we did spend last night talking about her sister's sex like and her lack of a sex life... You can't get more sensitive then that... Well, you can, but-

"Harness?"

The silver Pegasus jerked his head up, returning his focus on Luna. "Hm?"

"What is it?"

"Uh, well..." Fuck it, I'll bite, "...do you enjoy being a Princess?"

Before Luna opened her mouth to answer, the waiter returned. "I trust you have made your decisions?"

The Princess looked to the stallion, nodding. "I have, I'll have the Everfree Garden with a glass of water, please."

"I'll have the same." Harness commented.

The waiter jotted down their orders, took their menus and turned for the kitchen. They were silent for a minute before Harness cleared his throat. "Luna? You didn't answer my question."

"I know." The dark Alicorn replied, looking up at the night sky. "Did I ever tell you how old I was when I discovered my special talent?"

The stallion shook his head, not wanting to question her change of topic. Luna smiled softly as the pleasant memory came to her. "I was 6 years old. Back then, I always had trouble sleeping at night. You wouldn't believe it now, but it scared me as a child."

"The night scared you?" Harness couldn't help but snicker a little, Luna nodded with a small smile. "Back then, there was nothing but darkness in the sky; a big black void that looked like it would swallow you whole if you stared too deeply into it. There were no stars, no comets, no lights of any kind. Even the moon was dark, barely visible in the black. It terrified me to look up to it. It was hardly better when I looked around me, I saw the black pushing against the light from our fires, never ceasing its relentless assault. To make things worse I had trouble staying awake in the day, where my sister was most active. Most of the time I would sleep through the day, and awake with my mother and sister asleep, leaving me all alone in the dark.

"I practiced my magic, mostly illumination, to push back the darkness, but I would eventually tire out. One night however, my sister began tossing and turning in her sleep, she moaned occasionally and her face was contorted with fear."

"A nightmare..."

Luna nodded. "Yes, I had never experienced a nightmare, my dreams were always quite pleasant, and I remembered them all vividly. When I realized this, I tried to wake her, but my sister was always a heavy sleeper. She seemed so scared, I wanted to help her so badly, but there was nothing I could do. The next morning, when she awoke, I asked her about it, but she didn't want to tell me, feeling that I had enough fears with the dark already. This continued for a week, with the nightmares coming back to haunt her. It got so bad, she refused to sleep one night, and she and I stayed awake together. It was very nice, actually. But, as the sun rose, she fell asleep along with me and I knew her nightmare would return. I didn't enjoy my dream as usual because I knew my sister was suffering."

"You knew you were dreaming?"

"Every time. Anyways, I wanted so badly to help my sister, that was when I started to see her forming before me, like a mist that was taking her form. I focused on it and she came into view, and the scenery around her changed. She was surrounded by darkness, a pair of deep red, evil eyes pursued her, and her cries for our mother and me echoed around her. Somehow, I knew instantly what her nightmare was, what her fear was."

"Red eyes?"

Luna chuckled and shook her head. "No. It wasn't the creature chasing her that scared her, but it was the fact that she didn't know where she was and, worst of all, she was alone. Immediately, I leapt to her aid, my horn glowing brightly, illuminating the area around me, and bringing aspects of my dream with me, chasing away the monster and surrounding my sister in the wondrous ribbons of blue light that always followed me in my dreams. My sister looked at me in shock, as if she couldn't believe I was here. When I looked into her eyes, I knew instantly that she wasn't a figment of my dream, that it was actually her. I told her she would never, ever be alone. That was when I got my Cutie Mark, a crescent shaped moon. I had the power to go into other ponies dreams and help them face their fears. Celestia and I played in each other's dreams for the rest of the day." Luna smiled and chuckled a little as the memories floated through her. "She was also very jealous of me."

Harness raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

"Because I had discovered my Cutie Mark before she did."

Harness did a double take. "Woah, wait! Celestia was how old then?"

"11 years old, she wouldn't discover her special talent for quite some time afterwards. And I never stopped bragging to her about it. I occasionally still bring it up." She leaned in closely and whispered. "It's one of the few things that can get under her skin."

Harness chuckled. "That's amazing... but, I thought your special talent was night itself?"

"It is," Luna answered. "But when dealing with something as big as this, you have to take small steps in learning to control it. That was when my mother knew that I was destined for great things. Over the next few years, I faced my own fear and, with my mother's guidance, I created the first stars. Suddenly, ponies were far less terrified of the night, and many actually came out and spent hours watching the sky." She took a deep breath. "Oh, times were so much simpler back then..."

Luna was silent as she stared back up at the moon again. "There is a reason I'm telling you this. It was shortly after my sister and I, under our mother's guidance, had moved the sun and moon for a full day when we transformed."

"Transformed?"

"Oh yes, we weren't born Alicorns, you know. We were Unicorns, powerful ones, even at our young ages. After my sister controlled the sun completely for the first time, and I the moon, we underwent a magical transformation, becoming the first Alicorns in recorded history. Our strength and durability increased immensely and our wings allowed us the ability to fly and expertly control the weather. That was when our mother explained our destinies. We were to be the symbols of Equestria, and to guide the young nation and its populace. You asked me if I enjoy being a Princess of Equestria, of the Night." She looked at him straight in the eye, and smiled. "I do, for it's what I am. It's what my sister is, it's my true special talent, to guide and protect our subjects. It's exactly the same as my sister's, we just have different methods."

Harness nodded. "It's just that you didn't really respond to my remark about perks to royalty."

"Oh, I'm just not used to this..." She paused as she looked for a word. "...this closeness royalty has with its subjects these days. Before I fell and was imprisoned in the moon, we made almost every single decision in the kingdom and kept our distance from the populace, having them be in awe of us from afar. Now, it seems my sister lets many small decisions be made within the different communities and is only involved in the large politics of the kingdom. Yet, now she seems closer to her subjects then ever before."

Harness glanced around him, and noticed the waiter staring at them from the other side of the room, he immediately turned away from them when he thought he was being looked at. "Funny, it seems they still hold you in awe."

"Yes, but a thousand years ago, I would never have even considered coming to an establishment such as this, in fact I wouldn't have even left the castle unless the conditions were dire, the idea would've been preposterous otherwise."

"Why would it have been?"

"Harness, back then, the memory of Discord was fresh on the minds of our subjects. To them, we seemed like the only ones who weren't harmed by his reign of anarchy. If we tried getting close with them, they'd be far too reminded of Discord, as he got himself personally involved in the affairs of ponies all across the kingdom. After awhile, we got used to it. And now, I have to adjust heavily to this change of attitude in interacting with our subjects. I've gotten better now (they aren't fleeing in terror from me anymore), but it still feels odd to me."

Harness nodded and glanced down as his flank, examining his own mark. He frowned. "Our Cutie Marks represent our special talent, who we are, and what we're destined to do, right?"

Luna nodded slowly, already realizing where he was going with this.

"My Mark is the infinity symbol, but all it tells me is that I can't stay dead. I always come back. What does that tell me about my destiny? Am I just meant to die over and over again? What's the point of that?"

Luna bit her lip as several memories came to her. "I've... heard of many legends about ponies and their Cutie Marks, including some which tell of a pony whose destiny was changed after an incredibly traumatic and painful experience, thus changing their Mark. Perhaps you underwent some traumatic event that changed who you were, what your destiny was. It may have been so terrible that your mind couldn't handle it, thus the memory loss."

"It's... possible to change a pony's Cutie Mark?"

Luna hesitated. "That... is a very dangerous question, Harness. Attempting to change one's special talent, a vital aspect that makes us who we are, can have disastrous consequences. I don't know about the validity of the legends regarding the subject, but deep in the most secure archives, my sister holds the Puzzle of Starswirl. It's an incomplete spell that one of the most powerful Unicorns in history tried to create, he failed because he did not understand a vital aspect about magic. I don't know what the spell's intended purpose is, but in it's incomplete state, it had the dangerous effect of switching the Cutie Marks of at least two ponies."

"So they were suddenly good at different things?"

Luna shook her head. "No Harness, we are born with our special talents, nothing can take that away. Our Cutie Marks merely show what we can do, what we want to do, and what we are willing to do. Our Marks are a part of us, a pony spends their early life finding that missing part of themselves, upon realizing it, the pony and their Mark live in harmony with one another. But if the Mark is taken, and suddenly forced onto another, then they are no longer in harmony, they clash against each other. Because with the Mark also comes the memory of how they got the Mark. The ponies would find themselves unsure of what to do, memories of how they received their Mark conflicting with everything they've wanted to do after or before they've discovered their talents. They may go and attempt what they believe is their destiny, but they would not have the skills they were born to do to accomplish them, they wouldn't understand why they were terrible at it, and deep down, it would feel wrong to them in doing it and they wouldn't understand why.

"Not only would this affect those around the afflicted ponies as well, but I fear that, given enough time, the afflicted ponies would go mad, their once harmonious lives ruined beyond repair. When it comes to the magic and altering Cutie Marks, it can have disastrous consequences for everypony involved."

The silver Pegasus stared in shock. "All from an incomplete spell?"

Luna nodded. "Everypony that has tried completing it has accidentally activated it, so my sister has kept it locked away, for everypony's safety, but now she has a plan involving it..."

"A plan to solve it?"

"That's one of the end results, but it's not her goal..."

Harness sat still, waiting for the Princess to continue as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Forgive me, Harness, but I'd rather not discuss that particular subject."

Immediately, Harness nodded. "Sure, of course. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"It's not about me, it's... Well, it doesn't matter right now, it's certainly not important for what's going on in the city."

The two ponies were silent for a moment before Harness remembered what one of her Night Guards told her earlier.

"Does your sister know about what's going on here?"

The dark Alicorn shook her head. "Neigh, and it's best she does not, for now. To face our enemies, we must move carefully, else they'll make themselves disappear."

"You don't think your sister is capable of moving carefully in a situation like this?"

Immediately Luna shook her head. "No, she is not. She relies heavily on her magical abilities and her combat experience, no subtlety or careful planning. When there is a threat to her home and ponies, she will become almost single minded in eliminating that threat, ignoring just about any advice given by anypony. If we told her, she would have guards scouring the city and possibly bring the Elements of Harmony in, that would force our enemies to vanish, never to be seen again until it is too late."

"You're sure they can just vanish without a trace?"

"I wouldn't put it past them," Luna answered. "They've been here for sometime, I am sure, without anypony knowing of their existence. I've been studying the city's history in detail and they're just little things that, were it not for all that was happening, I would've ignored them entirely, but now, there is some connection... Ponies disappearing, unsolved murders, strange sightings of odd creatures, all of this has been going on for centuries."

Harness grinned and shook his head. "And we're at the center of it all."

Luna smiled. "I am afraid so, my friend."

They both chuckled before Harness gave the dark Alicorn a concerned look.

"Won't your sister be upset when she finds out you haven't told her?"

"She might be perturbed, but she will know that I acted with Equestria's best interests in mind, she knows I care about our land and subjects as much as she does. But, like I said before, we both have different methods of protecting them." Nevertheless, it was a conversation Luna was not looking forward to.

Harness nodded. "Right, right." He chuckled. "You'd think someone as old as her would've learned how to be cunning."

"Well," Luna replied. "With the very sun at her control, it's not surprising that she relies on her power to see her through. There are few things more powerful then the sun itself."

"...Such as?"

Luna placed a hoof to her chin as she thought back. "Let's see... there's the Elements of Harmony, there's Discord, the Horror, and the Traveler."

Harness raised an eyebrow at the last one, something about it... "The Traveler?"

Luna nodded. "My sister and I control the night and the day. These are powerful things indeed, but the Traveler had control, or at least knowledge, of something far more powerful. Time itself."

Harness blinked. "Woah, seriously?"

Luna nodded. "Indeed, I didn't believe it at first, but he saved our lives and the kingdom more then once, and he showed me and my sister things we never imagined were possible, both good and bad. His knowledge was vast and almost unending, and it was his greatest weapon against whatever tried standing against him." She chuckled. "The first time we met him, he recognized us immediately, even though we had never seen him before, this was before we had revealed ourselves to the land, mind you, so hardly anypony knew us. And apparently just before 300 years after my banishment, my sister ran into him again, only he acted as if he had never seen her before. And, from my sister's description, he had hardly aged."

The silver Pegasus whistled. "You know, a time traveler doesn't sound that unbelievable in comparison to everything else."

Luna laughed softly. "Speak for yourself, even today I find myself still amazed whenever I think about that stallion and his quirks."

"So, did he have an actual name, or was it just 'traveler'?"

"Only I called him Traveler, everypony else called him-" Before Luna could finished, she noticed the waiter approaching and clearing his throat.

"Excuse me, your highness." He said, bowing. "Your meal is ready."

As he spoke, two more staff carrying large silver trays and too tall glasses of ice cold water approached, walking gracefully next to the table and carefully placed the trays before their customers. With a flourish, the two staff ponies removed the silver domes, revealing Harness' and Luna's meals. An assortment of vegetables in many different colours. Peppers, Tomatoes, onions, and all kinds of leaves. The staff pony that had carried his meal immediately sprinkled some black spice and lightly drizzled a clear sauce onto his salad. He nodded in appreciation as the three ponies backed off, bowing.

"Enjoy," the waiter said as he departed. With that, the two ponies lowered their heads to their dishes and began to eat. The salad was very nice, each bite gave off a satisfying crunch and an explosion of exotic flavours. Though Harness didn't feel he was picky, he felt it could use more of that sauce. As the meal progressed, Harness' thoughts mulled over the day, from the clothes, that pistol, the beast, and its disturbing familiarity, and how he just reacted by shooting it. The soldiers, with the strange weapons, obliterating the beasts and their nest. And now here he was having dinner with the Princess of the Night. Harness briefly wondered if he would ever have a predictable day, before he began wondering about something else.

"Hey Luna?" Harness said after swallowing a bite of his salad, deciding to just be blunt.

The dark Alicorn merely looked up at him in reply, waiting for his question.

"Is this a date?"

Dear Celestia, that blush... Luna didn't answer for several seconds as she stared, wide-eyed at the silver Pegasus, who merely smirked. She swallowed her bite before finally speaking.

"Really, Harness..." She said, her tone surprisingly neutral. If it weren't for the blush and the staring, it might have fooled Harness. "In light of everything that is going on, why would I start dating you?"

"Because you find me attractive and had an opportunity/excuse to do so."

Luna stuttered indignantly. "May I remind you that this was your idea, Harness?"

"Yes," Harness said, his smirk only growing. "Your opportunity right there. Your excuse being you can pass this off as just a simple meal."

The Alicorn stared in complete shock. What is he, psychic!?

Harness meanwhile continued smiling. Damn, I'm good at this. He shifted his face into a pout. "What's wrong? Are you suggesting you do not want my presence?"

Luna gawked. He turned my own brief victory against me... I can't win against him, can I? "Harness... I assure you, this is not a date and we are not courting."

Harness nodded slowly, hiding the fact that those words hurt. His ears folder down slowly as he went back to his meal.

"However..."

His ears perked up and he looked to the beautiful mare biting her lower lip, a blush on her face. "If thou wouldst-argh- if you want to... and if nothing happens that requires either of our attention... we could... court... tomorrow..."

Harness felt his heart jump and he smiled. "I would be honoured to, your beautifulness."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was one of the best dinners Luna had ever had, but it wasn't because of the food. When she was working up the courage to ask him, her heart was beating at a rate faster then she could remember and when he said yes... its rate nearly tripled she was amazed that she had maintained her composure after that. After paying for hers and Harness' meals, and providing a generous tip for their extra time and work, the two winged ponies took off into the night sky, flying towards Harness' hotel room.

During the flight, Luna's mind began to conflict with itself. Part of it was berating her for allowing her heart to get in the way of such an important task as solving the mystery of the city and defeating the ponies who no doubt posed a threat to her home. But, as the other part of her mind argued, Harness is likely at the center of it all, and his protection is key, her feelings for him would only motivate her protection of him. And then... what? Once the mystery was solved and the ponies defeated, what would become of her and him? And what about his amnesia? What if he regained his memories and found out he was married or had a family or... she shook her head as they approached the hotel. They would cross that bridge when they got to it.

After they landed (for Harness, it was a face first landing), the two ponies looked at each other.

"So, when and where should we meet?" Harness asked, keeping his voice steady.

Luna thought it over for a moment. "I will come meet you here just before the sun sets."

The Pegasus nodded, looking at her for a moment, before turning towards the entrance doors. He took only a few steps before turning back. "Hey Luna."

"Yes?"

"You mother... What was her name?"

Luna hesitated. She had never told anypony her mother's name and wondered if Celestia would approve if she did. "Her name was Clover. Don't tell a soul..."

Harness nodded and smiled softly. "Sleep well." He said.

"You shall." She replied with an equally soft smile and watched as he entered the building, before unfurling her wings and flying into the night sky. She had no intention of turning in early tonight.