"Why the hay do they gotta send me on these late night runs?" Grumbles the pegasus named Buck Shot as he pulls a Canterlot Ice wagon through the streets of Canterlot. He's an earthy brown stallion with a light tan speckled rump like an Appaloosa, a crimson red mane that matches his tail, and deep cobalt blue eyes.
The stars and moon above are shining bright above the city when he arrives at the gates of the the royal palace. Princess Celestia herself had sent a message to Canterlot Ice Co. ordering ice to be delivered to the Grand Galloping Gala.
"Halt!" commands the guard watching the gate "state your business here."
Buck motions silently to the wagon behind him. The guard nods in approval and opens the gates to let Buck in. Buck drops off his wagon at the buffet where the chefs need it to keep the dessert chilled and the drinks cold; as he unhooks himself from the wagon he takes a clipboard out of a box on the front and tucks it under his wing, now he needs to go find the princess and have her sign the receipt saying she got her ice.
Buck begins wandering around the Gala searching for Princess Celestia. As he takes in his surroundings he feels out of place and awkward among all the well dressed elite of Equestria, he reaches up with one hoof and straightens out his black Standard Oil Co. hat and slicks down his mane a little to at least make himself fell like he looks better. The gardens of Canterlot are a far cry from the quiet town of Ponyville where he grew up. Buck pauses and perks his ears as he walks through the crowd, through the music and chatter he can hear a familiar voice calling out.
"Come and get em! I got apple crisp! Apple turnovers! Apple muffins! Apple tarts! And apple pie!"
Buck takes his clipboard in his hoof and flies up above the crowd to see where the familiar voice is coming from, he turns and sees a stand set up in the garden being run by a single blonde mare. Buck grins wide and begins making a dive on the snack stand, the blonde mare looks up just in time to make eye contact with Buck before he tackles her.
They roll across the lawn before the mare pins down Buck "Now just what the hay..." she stops mid sentence and her green eyes get bigger "Buck?!"
Buck smiles "Howdy to you too Applejack!"
Applejack laughs and gets off Buck "Been a long time since I seen you Buck, whatcha been up to? Aside from charming young mares of course."
Buck rolls his eyes "I been keeping out of trouble. I heard about you and your friends defeating Nightmare Moon; that's bucking awesome!"
Applejack blushes a little "Oh, it was nuthin. Twilight did all the hard work, we just followed her lead."
Buck nods "Still impressive. Say, you got any of Granny Smith's good 'Apple Pie'?" Buck winked and Applejack.
Applejack lets out a sigh "Naw, I'm afraid not. The revenuers have been poking around too much for comfort lately so we had to shut down the still, hopefully we'll get started back up with the next harvest. But even if I had some I sure as hay wouldn't be bringing it to Canterlot!... But I do have some Cider."
Buck smiles "I haven't had good cider since I left Ponyville, gimme a mug!"
Applejack fills two mugs from the tap and hands one to Buck, Buck raises his mug in the air "To old memories!"
Applejack raises her mug to his "And making new ones!" they tap their mugs together and both take long drinks from their cider.
Applejack turns around and sets her mug on her stand while Buck empties his and hands it back to her. He picks up his clipboard and tucks it under his wing before hugging Applejack "Hope I see you later Jackie!"
Applejack chuckles at Buck calling her by the same nickname he used for her when they were both little and hugs him back "Hope I see you later to Bucky." She winks at him and Buck grins back before he walks away and disappears back into the crowd, continuing his search for the Princess.
Seeing an old friend was just what Buck needed to put him in a good mood, though the cider in his veins didn't hurt either. He trots through the crowd whistling to himself as he heads inside the ballroom to search for the Princess.
Not finding her anywhere he walks up to one of the guards and ask "Y'all know where the Princess is?"
The guard looks down at Buck "What Reason do you have to see the Princess?"
Buck takes the clipboard with the receipt out from under his win and shows it to the guard "I need her signature for a delivery."
The guard steps aside and points down a hallway behind him "She should be in the east tower."
Buck salutes the guard and heads down the hallway towards the east tower. As he trots down the empty hallway the noise of the party slowly fades away till it's little more than ambient noise drowned out by the clopping of his hooves against the smooth polished floor.
Buck climbs up the spiraling staircase in the east tower, as he ascends the staircase he begins to hear a quiet sobbing of somepony who didn't want to be heard. Buck continues on till he reaches the balcony on the top floor where he comes across the sobbing pony, a dark blue mare pegasus with a mane resembling the night sky above. She sits near the edge of the balcony with her head resting on the railing.
Buck quietly approaches the sobbing mare and sits down next to her. The mare sniffles and turns her head slightly to look at Buck through one teary eye. As she turns her head Buck now sees her horn.
Buck instantly realizes that she's not just a pegasus, she's an alicorn princess! He jumps to his hooves and bows down before her.
The princess turns her head to face him with a slight look of confusion "What art thou doing pegasus? Why aren't thou running away from me scared?"
Buck stood back up and looked at the princess "Why would I run away from you? You aren't scaring me or trying to hurt me."
Another tear rolls down the princess's cheek "Thou. Thou aren't afraid of me?"
Buck looks at the princess confused "Why would I be afraid of you? Should I be afraid of you?"
"Doesn't thou know who I am?"
Buck scratches his head for a moment, he shrugs and smiles innocently "The loveliest princess I've ever seen?"
She blushes slightly and tries to smile through the tears "My name is Princess Luna. What is thy name pegasus?"
Buck tips his hat to the princess "Buck Shot, but everyone just calls me Buck." He sits back down next to the princess.
Princess Luna kisses Buck on the cheek "Thank thou Buck, thank thou for showing me kindness."
Buck's cheeks turn as red as his mane and he smiles up at the princess "No problem, I just got one question though; why are you up here alone instead of down at the Gala?"
Luna sighs "Not everypony would see me as thou does Buck; most would still see me as who I used to be... Nightmare Moon."
Buck's jaw drops in disbelief, the sweet princess he's been talking to was once Nightmare Moon?! "What happened? I thought Nightmare Moon was defeated by the Elements of Harmony? How could you have been her?"
Luna explains "A thousand years ago a dark power overtook me and turned me into Nightmare Moon. When Nightmare Moon was defeated by the Elements of Harmony the dark power that had taken over me was destroyed. I was Nightmare Moon but Nightmare Moon wasn't me. Doest that make any sense?"
Buck lets all this new information sink in "Yeah, I reckon it does make sense. At least to me, but I can see where others might get confused."
"Buck?"
"Yea Princess Luna?"
Luna looks up at the Moon "In the thousand years I spent banished to the Moon everyone I'd ever known or ever cared about had passed, all my friends are gone... Buck? Would thou be my friend?"
Buck smiles shyly "You want me to be your friend?"
Luna wipes the tears off her face with a handkerchief "I would be honored to call thou my friend, in a thousand years nopony else has been as kind to me as thou have."
Buck looks down "But I'm just a commoner, an everyday pegasus, and you're a princess!"
Luna grins "But thou is not just an everyday pegasus. Thou saw me in distress and went out of thy way to comfort me when thou did not even know who I was; thou is not everyday, thou is once in a thousand years!"
Buck blushes and hugs Luna "I would love to be your friend Princess Luna."
"Please, just call me Luna, no need for formalities among friends"
Buck smiles "You got it Luna." He relaxes on the balcony and feels his clipboard under his wing, now reminded of the whole reason for him even being there he ask Luna "Luna? Do you know where Princess Celestia is right now? I need to get her to sign a receipt for an ice delivery."
Luna stands up and stretches her legs, Buck now sees that even though she's not as big as Princess Celestia she's still taller than himself "Of course Buck, if I know my sister Celestia she's probably at the cake buffet right now."
Buck follows Luna back down the stairs and into the empty hallway.
Luna stops in the hallway "I'd better stay in here out of sight as to not cause a commotion in the Gala, think thou; I mean, you, can find Celestia?"
"I reckon I can, but I'll have to leave after I find her. How will I get back into the castle to see you?"
Luna takes out a security tag and gives it to Buck "This should get you through the gates. My room is at the top of the north tower."
Buck smiles and tucks the tag under his hat "Thanks Luna, when should I come back to see you?"
"Sure you cannot stay here after you find my sister?"
"Well, I reckon I can fly back to work to drop off the order form and come back here real quick. That work?"
"That would be delightful. Meet me at my room when you get back"
Buck tips his hat "Can do, Luna." He then continues on his way down the hall and back into the Gala. Sure enough, just as Luna had said, Princess Celestia was standing near the dessert bar holding a piece if cake and a fork with her magic as she converses with some important looking ponies. Buck trots over to Princess Celestia and stands beside her waiting patiently for the conversation to end so he wouldn't interrupt her.
As Buck waits patiently for the conversation to end one of the rich unicorns notices him and points him out to the group "How did this rift raft get into the Gala?"
Buck and Princess Celestia glare at the unicorn until Princess Celestia addresses him "How dare you insult one of my subjects right in front of my face!"
Buck looks up at Princess Celestia "It's alright Princess, I'm used to it."
Celestia turns away from the group and slowly walks off with Buck close behind her, she turns to Buck "They shouldn't treat you like that Buck, I don't like it"
Buck stops in his tracks "You know who I am?"
Princess Celestia smiles "Of course I know who you are, I'm Princess Celestia!" she chuckles quietly "And your boss gave me your description and told me to look for you when I made my order."
Buck rolls his eyes and pulls out his clipboard "I got your receipt right here, all I need is your royal signature and you keep your copy." Buck holds out his clipboard and Princess Celestia takes it and his pen and signs it using her magic before tearing off her copy of the receipt and returning Buck's pen and clipboard.
Buck tips his hat to Princess Celestia "May you have a wonderful night Princess Celestia."
Princess Celestia smiles back "May you have a wonderful night too Buck."
They both chuckle at how silly they sound trying to act formal before they part ways. Buck takes to the skies the moment he gets outside and he quickly races back to work to drop off his papers before heading back to the castle.
