A nightly guardian

A nightly guardian

Chapter 13

A thousand years ago part 2

Celestia, Luna, Zeo, Silk Light and Lyra Heartstrings sat at a table on one of Canterlot castles many balconies. They were having breakfast together, like they did every morning ever since that fateful day when Nightmare Moon had finally been destroyed, Zeo freed from his unjustified imprisonment and Silk Light had finally been born into this world. It had been two months since then, and the newly reunited couple had not wasted any time. Luna was pregnant once again, and the doctors were confident that the foal would be alright. She knew it would be, but she just didn't want to take any chances....

“So what will you do now Zeo?”, Celestia asked, taking a bite of her salad.

“Well isn't it obvious? I destroyed all of research into defensive and offensive magic. Now I can concentrate on my medical research again.”, he said with a chuckle.

“I think Celestia meant what you plan to do about the other Ponies. Some of them seemed pretty shocked when we revealed you to them yesterday.”, Luna clarified with a smirk.

Zeo frowned. The Ponies from a thousand years ago had welcomed him with open arms/forelegs, while the ones of the present era showed mixed emotions. Some of them had even fled the scene in terror as he stepped from behind the wings of Luna and her sister. That however could have also been caused by the revelation, that Silk had originally been Nightmare Moon. The royal family had presented both of them to the citizens at once.

“Well I guess I have to start over and show them that I am not as bad as they think I am. How did these rumors even come to life? I mean... I read some legends while I was in the hospital wing, that say that humans favor the taste of Pony-meat. What rubbish is that?”

He looked over to Celestia, who tried to look innocent but failed utterly in his opinion.

“No you didn't....”, he said, face-palming.

“It might have slipped my tongue.... Sorry about that.”, Celestia apologized, unable to hide the grin that was spreading on her face.

“What does she mean, dad?”, Silk Light edged closer to her father, looking into his eyes with curiosity.

He sighed.

“Guess it's no use hiding it now. Yes I have been living as a vegetarian for ALMOST all the time I am here. Celestia here caught me eating once, and it HAD to be the only time I actually tried eating a Pony....”, he tried laugh it off. The reactions of his companions couldn't have been more different.

Luna dropped the piece of melon she had levitated to her mouth, effectively having it smash right into her cup of tea which then proceeded to fly off the balcony, propelled by the impact of the melon on it's saucer.

Celestia broke out in laughter, and almost a pretty decent backwards dive off of the balcony as well.

Silk Light stared at her father in disbelief. Her jaw hung open, and her mind was unable to process what he had just said.

Lyra however looked more interested then anything. She had floated a notepad and a pen over to herself from her saddlebags, to write down any interesting information. She did that a lot, while being around the only human to ever set foot into Equestria....

“It's not what you might think....”, Zeo added, throwing his hands up in a defensive gesture.

“Then explain please. How did come to be that you tried to eat a Pony? I thought you promised not to...”, Luna demanded.

“Well.....”, Zeo began, looking at Celestia who was obviously enjoying this more then she had any right to.

“You remember those two Earth Pony settlements that did not want to be part of an united Equestria?”, Zeo asked his wife, trying to ignore the stare his daughter was giving him, and the excited look on Lyras face. Luna nodded.

“Well... Celestia sent me out to talk to them. I went alone, since I didn't want to take any of the guards with me. At the time you were still threatened almost every day, so I didn't want to weaken the wall of guards around you for my own personal benefit. Those rebells got wind of that and decided to ambush me. What they did not know yet at the time, was that I was able to do more then just medical spells. They sent two Earth Pony stallions and one mare after me, while I was traveling through the Ever-Free-Forest. Thing was, that they still decked me pretty good, until I got my first shield-spell up and running. After that it was a walk in the park. They were unable to break it and so I decided to give one of the spells Platinum had taught me a try. Let me just say, that I will never use that spell again, unless I have to. It was a fire spell. In one moment three Ponies stood before me, in the next I saw three delicious smelling piles of meat..... Don't get me wrong, the thought of eating them still felt strange for me, but I had gone without some for almost a year by then. Needless to say that my more primal instincts took over, and I took a taste of the mares corpse....”, he added, all the while trying to sound disgusted at his own actions.

“So how did it taste?”, Lyra wanted to know.

“Actually not too bad. You Ponies are definitely edible. The thing was that the moment I swallowed my first bite, Celestia here showed up. My fire spell had drawn her attention. It wasn't pretty at all, I can tell you.”, Zeo said, touching his left cheek in reminiscence.

“What happened? Did you two get into a fight?”, Silk asked, noticing her fathers movement.

“Yes we did. The moment I saw what he was doing I was determined to purge him from the face of Equestria. I thought he had attacked those Ponies for the sole purpose to eat them. At the time it all made sense, since there had been some strange disappearances all over the place....”, Celestia elaborated.

“But... You didn't have anything to do with those, did you dad?”, Silk asked hopefully, placing a hoof on his right arm.

“Nah.... We eventually found out that the rebells had been recruiting many Ponies off the streets. Due to Platinums wealths, I suppose they had no shortage in funding. At the time time however, I myself was wondering how they did that.”, he explained.

“So... I take it the fight was a draw?”, Luna wanted to know while taking a bite out of her melon, to try and hide her smile.

“In fact, no. If he had wanted to, he could have killed me.”, the Princess of the sun admitted.

Lyra, who had just taken a sip of coffee spit it out in utter surprise.

“He beat you?”, she managed to ask between coughs.

Before she could answer, Zeo broke out in laughter.

“Don't be so modest Celestia, it doesn't suit you at all. What happened to the mare that just loved to stalk me everywhere I went and play pranks on me? You should tell them the truth. I only won because YOU had skipped your flying lessons one too many times, to try and prove that I was dangerous to Luna.”, he laughed.

“Well....”, Celestia blushed.

“How so?”, Silk interjected.

“I tried to explain the situation to her, but she wouldn't listen. Since I knew she could blast me to bits if she hit me full force, I tried to restrain and silence her with my strands. It worked in the end, but only because...”, he broke out in laughter again.

“Only because I tried to evade him in the air and knocked myself out on a tree....”, Celestia finished his sentence. She didn't seem to mind that Zeos laughter only intensified at her stating this so bluntly. Instead a diabolic grin played around her muzzle.

"So you two talked it over and you understood, Princess?", Lyra asked, never stopping to write down what she was hearing.

"After a lot of screaming, and false accusations made, yes. But I still gave him an ultimatum. Either he can eat all the meat he wants or....", her grin grew even wider. Zeo stooped laughing abruptly.

"Or what?", Luna had became more then curious.

"Well or he could stay able to have a physical relationship with you.", Celestia smirked.

"Yeah... Told me she make sure that a certain something would be removed in my sleep.", Zeo sighed.

Again a shocked silence fell over the group, while everypony looked back and forth between Celestia and her brother in law. One was grinning ear to ear, while the other one was red with embarrassment. Luna was the first to find her voice again.

"So you stopped eating meat because...", she started, but didn't want to finish her sentence in front of her daughter.

"Yep. I am kinda fond of my body-parts and well you know....", he blushed even more, which had seemed impossible just seconds ago.

Lyra, who was more interested then embarrassed, made a mental note to ask about that later when she was alone with Zeo or Luna. She felt the building tension however and changed the subject for her friends sake.

"I was wondering Zeo.... How were you able to show me that fight against Nightmare Moon back then? You were turned to stone at that time after all.", she asked and Zeo jumped at the opportunity.

"Interesting question Lyra. Kinda surprises me you haven't asked about that before. Well you see, even when you are turned to stone, some modicum of self awareness. I was awake all the time, but I couldn't see or hear anything. After about two hundred years however, I learned that I could use small amounts of magic and sense others if they were in the archives. I began to observe what Luna was doing, even so I was unable to speak to her. My magic wasn't strong enough to establish a full mind-link, so I settled for the next best thing. When one is asleep, their mental defenses that the mind-link usually bypasses, are pretty much down. I wasn't able to establish two way communication, but I could at least show her dreams of the happy times we had shared together. When I sensed that YOU were around however Lyra, I was forced to take action against you. I didn't agree with Lunas plans to free me, nor with her plans to use my help to get rid of Nightmare Moon. My mind was fully awake, but I didn't know what state my body would be in if she freed me, nor if I would even be able to defeat Nightmare Moon, should I awaken weakened. That's why I used the same, less potent mind-link, to share my memory of that night with you. I wanted you to understand how strong she was and that I only won in the end because she went easy on me... Guess that didn't work out and I could have saved me my metaphorical breath. Silk here noticed what I was doing, and part of her broke away from the Death-Root, that lay dormant for quite some time now.", he finished, looking at his daughter so she could finish the story.

To his utter surprise, Silk looked everywhere but at Lyra. Then he understood. Zeo drew his chair closer to his daughter, and put one arm around her in an effort comfort her. He knew she still blamed herself for what had happened to Lyra, even so the Unicorn didn't seem to share those feelings.

"Come on dear. I know Lyra can be a little annoying...", he began.

"Hey!", the Unicorn shouted in indignation, but he went on.

“You were not the cause for her injuries, and she had already forgiven her several times over, hasn't she?”, he looked at Lyra who nodded rapidly, even so she still seemed a little angry that he had called her annoying.

Finally, Silk Light looked over to her mother, who had carried the burden, that everypony had thought she could turn into Nightmare Moon again at any time, for some time now. The older Alicorn nodded her agreement, and gave her daughter a reassuring smile. Sighing, she turned to Lyra who was watching with interest.

“The thing was, that the Death-Root-magic lay dormant, as my father has already stated. Most of myself however was still in it's grasp. The little bit that wasn't, used my fathers spell, to enter your sleeping mind. I enjoyed your company, and I really am grateful you tried to defend me from the Death-Root that had come to get the rest of me back. “

“I don't understand. In my dream you were nothing but a filly... But here you are, an almost fully grown Alicorn. Also, how was that stuff even able to almost kill me? Wasn't it just a dream? Not to mention all the damage it did to my bedroom....”

“That was yourself. The Death-Root had barely anything to do with it. When it attacked you, you were not entirely sure if you were dreaming or not. For quite some time you assumed that it was all real. In that moment your magic kicked in. It's kinda like a dog, that will make running motions while asleep, if it dreams of chasing a cat.”, Zeo interrupted.

“Great! So you're telling me, that I almost committed suicide?”, Lyra rolled her eyes.

“In a sense yes, but it is more complex then that. You were not aware of yourself using magic. So whenever you were hit, or flung around, your magic made that happen to your real body as well. A better explanation then Zeo used, may be sleep walking. Just in your case it's sleep-spell-casting.”, Celestia clarified.

“Still makes me sound strange.”, Lyra scratched the back of her head with a hoof, and suddenly remembered something.

“Wait! That memory you shared with me Zeo... At the beginning of it you had a conversation with Nightmare Moon. I didn't understand a word of it. What were you saying, and what was that strange language?”, she blurted out, excited to finally find out what had been said back then.

To her surprise neither Zeo, Silk nor Luna bothered to give her an answer, until Celestia cleared her throat to let them know that they were being impolite.

“You really want us to translate that for, don't you?”, Zeo asked.

“Yes.”, Lyra confirmed eagerly.

The three looked at each other, slumping their shoulders in defeat. They had promised to tell Lyra anything she to know about the incident, and now they were regretting it.

“See... That language we spoke... It was mother-tongue. Silk here has inhabited some basic knowledge from me, aside from some other things. Speaking like I did back in my world is one them.”, Zeo explained.

“Maybe it's better if we just them dad. Easier and less embarrassing then talking about it.”, Silk said, blushing slightly. Her father nodded, and both of them cast a spell that formed a sphere above the table. In it they could see the gardens of the old castle. Celestia lay on the ground behind Zeo, while he was facing Nightmare Moon. The two of them began talking, in Equestrian this time.

“Why are you doing this? Celestia has never done anything to harm you!”, the image of Zeo asked in a calm tone.

“Step aside beloved. I have to dispose of her. Her sun is threating my night.”, the image of Nightmare Moon responded almost lovingly, and everyponies eyes shifted to Zeo and Silk.

“Beloved? I love you, but not in that way. If I am not mistaken, and I'm not, then you are my daughter. And you are NOT the ruler of the night. Luna is. In other words, your MOTHER is!”, Zeos image stated a little more aggressive then before.

“My mother? If I am your daughter as you insist I am, then why do I have those memories of our time together in my chambers?”, the image of Nightmare Moon winked at Zeos image seductively.

“Memories of... Wait!”, Luna interjected, her face as red as could be.

The images in the sphere stopped moving, and everypony looked at Luna now.

“What is it? You don't want us to continue?”, Silk asked her mother curiously.

Luna tilted her head to the side, as if to ask if her daughter was seriously asking this question.

“You dug around in MY memories, mistaking them for your own?”, she finally blurted out, the embarrassment showing in her voice.

“You must understand that this night was the first time I was ever strong enough to come forward. I was always in the background in a state of hibernation. You had called me out before but only for short periods of time. These were not enough for me to gain a sense of myself. So yes, I looked through your memories, and found the night that I was conceived. I remembered every last detail of it, and I was confused that father told me that these were not mine.”, Silk elaborated, her face competing with Lunas in terms of redness.

“You... you don't remember those things now, do you?”, Luna asked a little fearfully.

“If you mean if I still remember how it is to sleep with my father, then be assured that I DO still remember, but now that I know what these are, I try to forget it...”, Silk giggled.

“Yeah.... told you we didn't really want to translate this for you.”, Zeo added.

“What else did you remember?”, Luna wanted to know, a tone of urgency in her voice.

“All twenty one.”, Silk stated bluntly, giving her mother a disapproving look.

“All... oh by Starswhrils beard! Luna you had... twenty-one? Seriously?”, Celestia gasped, and her sister averted her gaze in shame. Before she could try to defend her actions, Zeo spoke up.

“I knew all of them. It hurt, but I knew the cause. The Death-Root had made her desires stronger then ever before, and after Silks burial we didn't really talk to one another. Not a lack of trying on my part, but that was not her fault in the end. I don't blame Luna for any of it, just to make that clear.”, he said, jumping to his wifes defense.

“But... How was it that the Death-Root had such an effect.”, the ruler of the sun wanted to know.

“I think I can answer that.”, Lyra spoke up, and everypony, and a human, looked at her.

“Death-Root has differing effects. They depend on the intend of the Unicorn that makes the poison. In this case I can only assume that they wanted to discredit Luna, and make her look like she would jump into bed with every stallion that crossed her way. Assuming they were not actually trying to kill her that is. But if what you have told me is true, then the dosage was way to low to kill an Alicorn. Had Luna still been a Pegasus, then she would have succumbed to it after mere seconds.”, the mint green Unicorn explained energetically.

“Well, I don't think we need this anymore.”, Zeo said, and waved a hand to dismiss the sphere showing him and Nightmare Moon.

“Since we are talking about it anyway, I think you're right.”, Silk said, blushing a tad.

“So what happened next? You two seemed pretty angry after a while.”, Lyra asked, picking up her pen again.

“That was actually my fault. I started to describe each and every affair mother had to him, in detail.”, Silk said, looking away from her mother.

“YOU DID WHAT?”, Luna shouted, unable to hide her fury and embarrassment. This morning seemed to be full of embarrassing moments it seemed.

“Well... I tried to make an argument. I wanted to know how I could know all this stuff if he wasn't my beloved. In truth I did, and still do, love him, but now I know that it is NOT in a romantic way. I was just too young at the time to tell the difference. But I must say, that I would never have anticipated you changing yourself into a stallion so you could be with a mare.”, Silk defended herself, enjoying the look of disbelief on her mothers face.

“Changing... into a stallion? Is that even possible?”, Celestia asked amused.

“I don't know how far her powers go Celestia, but I can assure you that Luna can make a fine impression of a human woman.”, Zeo laughed, glad that the conversation was headed away from him and Silk. He just hoped that his wife would be a good sport about it, and not make him pay for it later.

“Zeomak Seline Salchar! I thought we agreed you'd not tell anypony!”, she hissed.

The conversation went on for quite a while longer, in which Luna had to assure her sister several times, that she did NOT use her shape-shifting skills for sexual activities only. From there the talk somehow got directed into dirty dreams, to which Luna just blushed. Everypony knew that she had the power of entering foreign dreams after all....

After a while however, Lyra brought the conversation back on track, and wanted to know how Zeo felt about never being able to go back and see his family again. She stated that, after a thousand years, they would surely have passed on by now.

“Why do you think that?”, Zeo asked surprised.

“Well... for one, your notes stated that a normal humans lifespan rarely exceeds even one hundred years. I think it's safe to assume your family is able to live for over a millennium.”, she said, a tad sadness in her voice. Lyra knew that she had just stepped into potentially painful territory, but she wanted to know nonetheless.

“Well and that is where you are mistaken Lyra. My notes are true, but you assume that time goes by the same way in my world as it does here. That assumption is incorrect. In fact, time runs much faster here in Equestria then where I come from. One year here, equals about one second in my world. And believe me, I am older then I look, even before I was turned to stone. If time would go by for me, the same way it does for you, then I should have died of old age by now. Instead, even so we celebrated my birthday each year, I have not aged a single day. I can tell you that in all the years I spent here, barely eighteen minutes have passed in my world. Everything I brought with me, including my body, will never sync itself with the Equestrian time. I exist out of time, and therefor will not age at a pace that is normal for you. Instead it will take several more millennia, for me to age a single year. I could go back right now, but if I did that, even only for a day, centuries would have passed by here. I don't that. I don't want to leave behind Luna or Silk, and they can't come with me, because I don't know what effects my universe would have on their Alicorn physique. It might make them age rapidly, so I have no choice.”, Zeo explained, looking a little crestfallen.

“Why... Don't you just ask your family to come here as well?”, Lyra added.

Zeo did a genuine double-take. He had never thought about that when he had completed the portal spell. His father was unemployed, and his grandmother was long dead. His sister was studying however, and he did not want to uproot her.

“Well... I don't know. I think I could ask.”, he said scratching his head.

“How would you go about that, if you can't go over there?”, Luna wanted to know.

“Easy. I still have this.”, Zeo answered, pulling his Smartphone.

“As soon as I open a small portal it will get a signal. I tried that already back then. I could simply call my dad and ask him if he would like the idea, of living for several centuries.”, he laughed.

Everypony looked at him with wide eyes. Celestia was not sure if she agreed to this, but if they were anything like her brother in law, she thought that it might not hurt to give them a chance. He had surely been a great help in Equestrias technological development. In the field of medicine his skills, had no rival either, so Equestria might benefit from this as well.

With a quick motion Zeo formed a portal that was no bigger then his palm. Immediately the device in his hand sprung to live, giving off a shrill sound, indicating that it had a signal. The others watched him for a few moments as his fingertips rushed over the display and he put the device to his ear. After several seconds he began to talk....

“Hey dad....”

The End?