Knight of the Night

The night it all began was a Saturday. Nothing of interest marked this day for the most of it - To me, it was just another Saturday. I had the day off from work, so I had all day to do whatever I wanted to - Which, to be honest, was nothing much. I was always one to take advantage of a lazy day, and that night was no exception - I spent most of the day relaxing on the couch, watching my TV, getting up only for the essentials.

It was a tough life, but SOMEONE had to live it

I let out a small sigh as I noticed the sky outside. I hadn't even realized it was nighttime, and by now, it was near midnight. I slowly sat up, groaning loudly as a few loud pops came from my joints, followed by the oh-so relaxing feeling of stretching your muscles. I stood up rather slowly, and flicked off the TV, throwing the remote behind me. I rubbed my eyes groggily, weariness starting to take down my body.

I walked around the house, shutting off all the lights, and groggily stepped inside my room. I sat on the bed for a few moments, staring at my dresser. It seemed that something was off about it, but I just couldn't figure out what it was. I blinked,  squinted my eyes, and stared at it.

Wait... Is one of the drawers... glowing?

I got back off the bed, and walked over to it, making slow and quiet steps. I didn't know what it was, but no need to be reckless, right?

I slowly opened up the drawer, wincing as the light grew brighter and brighter, my eyes watering as it penetrated my iris's. When I opened it nearly halfway, a sudden blast erupted from the drawer, sending me flying backwards. I heard glass and wood crashing and splintering, before pain erupted from my back and head. I groaned and slid down something solid, dazed. A loud ringing filled my ears, and when I opened my eyes, a glaze was covering my vision. I shook my head a few times, trying to shake it off.

A low hum started building in front of me, getting louder and louder with every second. I brought my head up and focused enough to notice it was coming from where my dresser used to be - All that was left of it was a large hole in the wall, splintered wood, and a large white glowing crystal floating midair.

"What.... The fuck?"

Using the wall for support, I got myself off the ground, still staring at the crystal. The humming was coming from it, and as it got louder, the crystal started spinning, faster and faster, quickly becoming too quick to follow. I swallowed dryly, looking around for an escape desperately - I did NOT want to get blasted by whatever this was again. Unfortunately for me, the only door was behind it, and I would have to run past it if I wanted to get out.

Shit, shit! Not good!

I took a calming breathe, trying to keep a hold of myself. Don't panic, don't panic. It's not a big deal, just have to run past this.... thing, and I'm home free. Nothing too big, c'mon!

With that, I took off, sprinting for the door. Not two steps forward, however, the crystal shined much brighter, and I was thrown down by an invisible force, slamming hard into the floor. Something warm and sticky started coming from my nose, and a lancing pain came from one of my ribs. I coughed, trying to push myself up again, only to be forced back against the ground.

What the fuck is this shit?! I screamed in my head, and I frantically tried to crawl away, put as much distance between me and the light. No matter how hard I tried, though, I wasn't moving forward - The damn thing was forcing me towards the crystal!

I shouted wildly, digging my fingers into the soft carpet, but it was no use - I couldn't stop myself from being pulled towards it, and soon enough it somehow even lifted me in the air. That's when I was REALLY starting to panic - There was nothing underneath me, and the only thing next to me was the light and that damn crystal, which now was turning from white to many different colors, red, blue green, orange, and so on. I started punching at the air around me, trying to get whatever was holding me away, but no matter where I aimed, all that I felt was empty air.

I heard the humming grow louder, and the light grew brighter. I had to shut and shield my eyes, or otherwise it would have blinded me, it was glowing so bright. I yelled once more, and kicked out at where I thought the crystal was, hoping to somehow break it. My foot hit something solid, but instead of bouncing back, I felt it being dragged in - I screamed in terror, and tried to desperately to pull it back, but the force was too strong. In a few seconds, the rest of my body was pulled in with my leg, and I was gone.

In the middle of a gigantic, moonlit castle stood a tower. It wasn't a big tower, but neither was it small. It wasn't hugely wide, but it wasn't very narrow. It wasn't quite fancy, but neither was it simply plain. It really had no distinguishable features save one - This tower was the only one in the entire castle whose window was open, with a warm light shining from within.

Inside of this mostly unremarkable tower, however, was a very remarkable room. The walls were made of wood, with midnight blue painted over them. However, one could barely see the paint, what with hundreds of scrolls, maps, and astronomical charts taking space on the walls, in a very haphazard manner. The floor had a black carpeting, which if one were to walk on, would feel as soft as a kitten's fur. A roaring fireplace took up the center of the room, with a few fancy chairs surrounding it. The window had a very complicated looking telescope pointing out of it, though it looked like it had not been touched in quite a long time, dust being very clearly covering it.

A large canopy bed stood against a free wall, it's sheets and pillow the same midnight blue as the walls. However, the canopy was pitch black, and a mesmerizing painting of the night sky looked down upon the bed. They seemed to almost shine, and if one were to lay in it, they could nearly be tricked to believe they were actually sleeping under the stars.

On the other side of the room was a large desk and a chair, their occupant hunched over it. Papers and scrolls, inks and quills covered it, and the occupant was currently peering at a large scroll, a slight frown on her lips. She sighed and leaned back, shaking her head.

"Surely King Alaric cannot be serious. Does he really believe we would  just hand over the Griffon Kingdom the entire Hooften Peninsula?!"

Princess Luna sighed again and shook her head, her ethereal mane's stars shimmering inside of the deep blue. Her horn flared up, and a magic aura surrounded a quill, levitating it over to a fresh piece of parchment. Luna started to write her reply letter, letting the bold Griffon King that his terms were completely unacceptable. She thought of adding a few choice words to truly show her anger, but held off from it, knowing to do so would be foolish. With a irritated sigh, her horn flared brighter, and with a puff of smoke the parchment disappeared.

In the Griffon Kingdom, a servant would be terrified of a large smoke cloud coming from the hallway suddenly. She would run away screaming fire, forgetting about the candle she dropped on the wooden floor.

The entire Griffon Keep burned down that night.

Luna stretched her legs out around her, moaning slightly as she felt weary joints pop and stretch. With a loud yawn, she looked longingly at her bed, then at the stack of papers on the desk. She rubbed her face and sighed, quickly pushing the papers slightly back and stood up.

"The night's nearly over anyways. I'll just take care of the rest of it tomorrow."

She looks out her window for a moment, and paused. Her face turned into a sorrowful frown, and she walked over to the open window, carefully levitating her telescope away. She rested her hooves and chin on the window, and stared out at the nighttime sky and landscape. Despite the fact that she had created one of her best night sky's tonight, she could sense that very few ponies were awake, and those that were were too tired to care to enjoy her artwork in the heavens.

Tears formed in her vision, and she felt a warm drop slide down her cheek. She sniffed, closing her eyes.

Why does nopony ever seem to care? I tried my best, but yet they still ignore all of my work... They only care to send me paperwork, but never to take the time to just look at my stars....

Her face grew angry, and she opened her eyes again. She stood up, fury burning in her chest as she gazed down at the empty streets of the castle and the empty countryside around it, unaware of the draconic irises forming in her eyes, or her coat turning into a darker black than her normal blue.

Is that all I am to these ponies?! Some sort of paperpusher?! Somepony to take off all the boring work from their shoulders, while they have fun in the sun, worshiping and praising my sister at every moment?!

Luna snarled, her growing fangs glowing in the moonlight. The fury was rising, and she knew it would soon burst.

And it would have, too, if it wasn't for the sudden boom from outside, powerful enough to rattle her room,and the screams of a poor soul filling the air.

Luna immediately jumped outside, spreading her wings as she looked up at the noise, her fury forgotten, and her body normal. She could see quite easily in the dark sky, and could clearly see a falling creature rapidly approaching her, screaming as it got closer and closer to the ground. Luna speed up like a bullet, her wings creating powerful gusts of air with each flap. Her horn started glowing, and she caught the creature with her magic, halting it's rapid descent quickly. She levitated the still screaming thing inside of her window, keeping care to keep it within her magical grasp, before flying inside with it.

OhgodwhatthefuckhowamInotdeadfuckfuckfucki'mgunnadieohshitwhymenonon-

This was pretty much my train of thought right then. Not very heroic or brave in the least, but hey. I had had a rough night. I mean, first getting beat the shit out of by some damn force power, then nearly falling to my death, only to be somehow saved by apparently another force user? I was scared out of my mind, stuff like this only happened - well, never.

I was stuck inside of some fancy-looking room, but that wasn't my concern right now. My main problem was the fact that I was still being held in place by the damn force, and I couldn't escape it, no matter how much I move.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME! I CAN'T FUCKING MOVE, ohfuckfuckfuck, SOMEBODY, GET ME SOME FUCKING HE-"

A hard force it my cheek, a loud slap! coming from the hit. A much calmer, female voice spoke to my left, apparently the person who slapped me.

"Calm down, you are fine. There's no need to panic, it's alright, you are safe."

I slowly nodded my head, wincing at the slight sting in my cheek. Whoever this person was, they hit pretty hard.

Though, I admit, it did break me out of my panic attack.

I sighed, my head low in embarrassment. "Sorry, I just... Kinda freaked out of my mind at the moment, especially because I'm... floating. W-Who are you, though?"

I turn my head to look at my apparent savior, and immediately jump, at least as best as I can stuck mid-air. I blink a few times, staring at her.

It was a fucking horse. With wings. And a giant horn, that was currently glowing. The horse was staring at me, with what looked like a slightly amused smirk on her face.

"I could tell. I think you were a mile up when I first heard the screams. But I must ask, what are you, and what magic  did you perform to get up there? I have not seen magic users without a horn before, asides from the Zebra nations."

I blink again, staring at it with shock, as my brain tried to process all of this.

A winged pegasus horse talking to me? Zebra Nations?! MAGIC?!

....AM I ON FUCKING DRUGS?!

I shake my head quickly, closing my eyes. "Okay, dude, this is not happening. It's not happening, it's not real. You're not being magically levitated by a talking horse, no, no, you're not. It's, it's a dream, not some insane vision or something. Wait, do insane people dream about this type of stuff? wait, wait, no, it's a dream, everything is insane. I just need to... to wake up. Yea. Waking up. Pain drags you out of dreams right, so I just got to slap myself or something and I'l- Wait, no, that slap hurt. Wait, that slap hurt..."

Princess Luna, who had been staring quizzically at this strange being for it's entire rant, jumped back in surprise as it suddenly looked up, shouting "FUCK, THIS IS REAL!"

Luna blinked, and took a small step towards it, unsure on how to approach this. It was now curled up into a ball, shaking slightly, with it's face in between it's knees. She hesitated, before clearing her throat.

"Are... are you alright?"

The creature raised it's head and looked at her, it's eyes slightly red, looking as it was obviously trying to hold back tears. She noted that it had dried blood on it's face, coming from it's nose, and it looked pretty beat up with a few bruises already forming.

"Oh, I'm just peachy, thanks. I've so far been caught in an explosion, beaten down by some sort of crystal shit, nearly fell to my death, and am now either insane, or on drugs or something without my knowing it. But, you know, besides that, this night has been just perfect!"

It sighed, and looked ahead at the fireplace opposite from it. Luna gulped a little, standing and staring at it awkwardly, trying to figure out what to do. She slowly held out her hoof to it, giving her best comforting smile.

"I'm sorry, I realize this must be a tough night for you. But please, at least allow me to introduce myself. I am Princess Luna of the Kingdom of Equestria, and Ruler of the Night."

The creature looked at her, and sighed, putting it's strange paw in it's face. She heard it mumble something under his breath, before he removed his paw away, looking at her hoof. With another sigh, he grabbed Luna's hoof, shaking it slightly. "I'm... My name is Marcus. It's.... It's nice meeting you, I think."

I let go of her hoof, thinking to myself How is that so... soft? It's certainly not as dirty as I thought a hoof would be.

I shake my head inwardly, and slowly uncurl myself, trying to at least look like I wasn't about to break down. If this was real, I was going to do my best to go with it, then. I look at the ho- erm, Princess Luna, and point down to my body.

"Hey, uh, do you think you could get me down from whatever this is?"

I see her cheeks blush slightly, and nods. "Sorry, I completely forgot I still had you levitated."

Suddenly, the force keeping me in the air let go, and I landed wobbly on my feet, just managing to keep myself from falling over. I offer her a smile smile of thanks, and lean against the wall, sighing.

"Well then. This is... freaky. I dunno how to even describe how freaky this is."

Luna nodded, staring at me. "I can only guess. Still, might I ask, what exactly, are you? And where are you from?"

"Well, uh. I'm... I'm a human. I come from the United States of America. Florida, to be a bit more precise. I don't suppose you've ever heard of either of them, have you?

Luna blinked and shook her head, frowning slightly. "You're the first of these... Humans? I have ever even heard of, and these United States of America, or Florida....... Where in Equestria is that?"

I hung my head, staring at the ground. "Of course you haven't..... I don't suppose you've heard of Earth? Possibly Terra?"

Luna blinks, and her expression changes instantly. a wide smile appears, and with wide eyes she quickly gets close to me, nearly in my face. "You're from Terra?! Yes! I knew it!"

As quickly as she came, she rushed over to her desk, and started scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. I blinked a few times, and raised an eyebrow, staring at her.

"Uh..... What was that?"

Only the sound of her quill scratching against the paper answered my question, and I shook my head slightly. Confused, I decide to let her do her thing. After all, I wasn't sure of how things worked here still - If she was princess, I could probably get thrown in a cell if I did the least thing to offend her.

Well, she SEEMS normal, at least.... Well, as normal as a talking horse gets.

I walk over to a wall, and look at the papers and maps over it. Hundreds of notes and chat-things meet my view, and even if they weren't written in some weird language, I doubt I would understand them anyways, they looked so complex. I scratch the back of my head in confusion, and take another look around the room. I see the bed out of the corner of my eye, and sigh - Some sleep right now would be amazing.

Luna's voice comes from my side. "Sorry for the mess in here, it's been a few days since anypony but me have been inside of here."

I look over at her, surprised to see that she set down her notes already. For someone so intensely focused on it, I would have thought she would be absorbed in them for a while yet. Realizing I'm staring at her without saying anything, I blush a little and laugh, waving my hand.

"No worries, it's not too bad."

A flash of memory, and I think about the fact that my room is in considerably worse state right now. Thanks to that damn magic crysta-

Wait. Magic.

I whir around and face Luna, my face narrowed with anger. "Wait. You didn't have anything to do with sending me here, did you?!"

Luna returns my glare evenly, her face stoic. "No, I did not. I'm not the type to kidnap ponies from their homes, no matter the stories..."

Her face betrays a hint of sadness, and she looks away from me, staring down at her desk quietly. I immediately feel awful, my gut squirming with sudden guilt. Without even thinking, I step over to her and give her a hug.

"I'm sorry. I made an assumption. Are you... Are you alright?"

She stiffens at first from the sudden embrace, but luckily for me in a way, she accepts it, leaning into me slightly. I hear a soft sigh, and her voice comes out slightly choked.

"I-I'm... I'm alright. It's not something you would understand, anyways."

I pull back, still grabbing her shoulders, and look her in the eye. I don't know why, but I felt to compelled to comfort her, and dammit, I wasn't letting the one thing in this place that could help me feel like shit.

Besides, even if she was a horse, those eyes are damn adorable.

"Hey, you can tell me. I don't like it when my friends are feeling like crap, so please, let me help you."

She looks at me for a second, and asks with a shaky voice, "W-Wait.... You w-wish to be my... friend?"

I smile and nod, giving her a "Mmmhmm!"

She blinks for a moment, and looks down at the ground, though I spot a small sliver of a smile on her face for a second. She takes a deep breathe, in and out, before shaking her head, and looking at me with a small smile.

"Don't worry about it, f-friend. It's nothing important for now. But let us talk about your predicament here."

She nudges off my hands from her shoulders, and walks over to the fireplace, where she lays down on top of a large chair in front of it, and gestures with her hoof towards one opposite of her. I inwardly shrug and sit down in the chair, a relaxed "Ahhhh...." as I sunk slightly into it.

This chair is.... So comfortable.....

I hear a giggle from across of me, and I sit up straight, remembering I wasn't alone here. I chuckle at my slip-up, inwardly slapping myself for being stupid.

Luna speaks first. "So, tell me. How did you get here? I assume it was against your will from your reaction."

I nod slowly, recalling the magic force behind that crystal. "Yea, you could definitely say that. Well, it started when I noticed this glow...."

I tell her about the floating crystal, and the magic that forced me here. Luna makes a thoughtful "Hmm", and brings a hoof to her chin, her eyes staring in the distance. After a while she shakes her head, and looks at me apolitically.

"I'm sorry, I don't know of how this.. crystal, appeared there, or what magic it was that brought you here. As far as I can recall, I have not heard or seen of such a strange magic before. I will try some research through the castle archives, but I'm afraid that you might be stuck here for a while."

I sigh and nod, sudden weariness invading my mind. "I was afraid you were going to say something like that. How long do you think I'll be here for?"

Luna shakes her head slightly, not looking at me. "I... I don't know. It could take anywhere from a few months to maybe...."

She looked at the floor, biting her lips slightly. "....It could possibly take a few years, to maybe a few decades, if it's not in the archives."