A nightly guardian

Chapter 3

Bedroom stories

When Lyra came home that night, her father waited for her in the living room. Before the stallion could say anything however, he noticed the second card that was now hanging around his daughters neck. Pulling on it, until the cord that held it broke, he levitated it over to himself.

"Hey! Give that back!", Lyra screamed angrily.

But her father did not react in any way to his daughters outburst, while he kept her at bay with his magic. Inspecting the card over and over again, he could not find anything wrong with it. This certainly was a permanent, lifelong, unable to be revoked permit to the royal archives.... Even Twilight Sparkle wouldn't be able to get his daughter something like this. What worried him even more, was that it carried the crest of Princess Luna....

"Where did you get this? Were you in the Princesses study and found this laying around? Lyra, I know you really want to go down there, but stealing from royalty....", he began, but Lyra interrupted him.

"As if! I would never steal! Maybe get a permit behind your back, but that you would think something like that of me.... Dad, seriously! I got that from Princess Luna herself!", Lyra tried to defend herself.

The blue stallion turned the permit over in his magic. There was no name on it, so his daughter COULD still be telling the truth. On the other hoof, he had not seen Princess Luna enter the archives for weeks. If she had gotten it from the Princess herself, then where did she meet her? Furthermore, what would make the Princess give this permit to some stranger?

Levitating his daughter over to one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace, he gave her a stern look.

"So... Lyra. You claim that Princess Luna herself gave this to you? Where did you meet her, and what did you tell her to make her give this to you?", he asked, still thinking his daughter did something wrong.

"Dad... Believe me! I met her down in the archives. We went into her study, and she told me that she enjoyed my company. To make sure I would be able to get down there again, she gave me that permit. So most likely, we will meet again tomorrow.", Lyra pleaded.

"Then I guess you don't mind, if I talk to her to confirm your story?"

"Of course not! I will go there again tomorrow. If she's there, you can ask her, and now give that back to me!", Lyra was desperate. If her father did not give the permit back, then he might just decide to make it disappear. He had never agreed with her studies about humans.

Lyras pleading did nothing to soften her fathers heart. Swinging a painting on the wall aside, he opened the safe that was hidden behind it. In it, he stored the permit.

"Until I have talked to the Princess, YOU are grounded. Now off with you. Dinner is ready, and we shouldn't keep your mother waiting.", he said, trotting off.

Lyra followed him, her head hanging low. This safe was magic proof, and she would not be able to break her permit out of there. Even though her mother had made her favorite, Cinnamon rolls, Lyra just prodded the food with her fork. Her mother, a light yellow Pegasus mare with white mane and tail, noticed that there was something wrong with her, but her father just shook his head. All night Lyra lay awake in her bed. Immediately after dinner her father had cast a spell on the front door and the first floor windows, making it impossible for Lyra to open them.

The next evening

Lyra was sitting in the living room, waiting for her father to come home. She could not wait for the apology that was surely coming her way, but she waited in vain. As her father came home from work, he told her that Princess Luna was nowhere to be found, and even Princess Celestia could not tell him where she was. Since she did not come by the library that day either, he had been unable to talk to her. Lyra was crestfallen at first, but then her ears perked up as she remembered the separate bedroom in Lunas private study.

"Dad! Have you checked if she is in her private study? She has a bedroom down there! I'm sure she has stayed there last night.", she called after her father hopefully.

"I'm sorry Lyra, but I am only allowed down there for the monthly check up. Do you even know what happens to somepony who wants to enter there without a permit, or is scheduled for a visit? Let me tell you: They won't get in at all! The doors will open, but behind them will be a giant brick wall. It's a safety measure, since down there are spell books that are not supposed to be accessible to anypony! They are dangerous, and powerful. That is one more reason why I don't want you down there, if I can help it.", he responded, without turning around.

The dinner that night, went like just as the previous one.

Several days had passed since Lyra had been in the archives, and her father always came back from work with the same message. He had not been able to get into touch with the Princess for a week now, and Lyra was starting to seriously consider to jump out of the second floor windows. They were sitting at dinner that evening, when a loud knock was heard from the entrance hall. A little irritated, Lyras father stood up from the table to get the door.

"Who in the name of Celestia would come by this late? The moon is already up.", he swore under his breath, when he opened the door.

"This better be important, it's.....", his eyes widened just as he wanted to lash out at their late visitor. In front of him, her mane flowing in a nonexistent breeze, stood Princess Luna. Immediately bowing so low, that his nose touched the ground, Lyras father changed his tone of voice.

"Your highness... It is an honor for you to grace us with your presence. I have tried to get into touch with you for over a week now, and I think it is important that we speak, if you would grant me the honor.", he said a little worried. Lashing out at one of the Princesses could very well cost him his job.

"Rise please. I am here, because I heard about your efforts to contact me. Also I believe there is a pony by the name of Lyra Heartstrings living here? I also desire to speak with her.", the Princess said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Sure.... please come in Princess.", the blue stallion said, leading her into the living room, and calling out to Lyra. Shortly after his daughter came into the living room, still hanging her head low, the Princess hugged her tightly. Doodies jaw hit the floor at this display of familiarity.

"I was worried Lyra. I had waited for you to come back, and then I heard your father had tried to contact me. Is there any problem, or are you already bored of an old mare telling you stories?", Luna said worried.

"No. I wanted to come back, but my Dad....", she gave her father a look of victory, ".... took the permit from me and grounded me. He thought I had stolen it from your study."

Luna released the mint green Unicorn, turning to her father.

"Mind to explain?", she said coldly.

Lyras father struggled to say something. Apparently his daughter had said the truth all along.

"Well... Princess.... I don't approve of my daughters obsession wit humans... it's not good for her. In her obsession I wouldn't have put it past her to get a blank permit from your study. That was why I wanted to talk to you for the past week.", he stammered.

"You know.... I am not that bad at magic. I can sense an imprisonment spell in this house. Adding to this, removing the royal permit that does not belong to you, is nothing less then theft. Your daughter is an adult mare. Imprisoning her in this house, is basically a crime. Taking the royal permit from her, is the same as stealing from myself personally.", Luna summed up, throwing a glance over to her friend who shook her head worriedly.

"But I am willing to let that slip. Lyra Heartstrings is my personal student. As such, she does deserve such a permit, and a room within the palace. If you don't mind that is.", Luna added.

Doodie looked up, directly into his daughters eyes. Lyra was just grinning, and nodded energetically. His daughter, who's special talent was music, was actually chosen to become a Princesses personal student. Even without her nodding her agreement, he would have happily agreed to it. Opening the safe, he got out the permit, and levitated it over to his daughter.

"If you don't mind Lyra, I will send some royal servants later to get your things. I await you in my study tomorrow.", the Princess of the night said, nuzzling her students neck gently.

"Sure thing Luna! I really look forward to it.", the mint green Unicorn responded, hugging her new mentor.

After Luna had left, Lyra explained, for what felt like the hundreds time, what had happened in the royal archives. She left out the topics she and the Princess had actually talked about, but that didn't really seem to interest their parents. It was well known that Twilight Sparkle got a generous allowance from Princess Celestia. Her parents hoped that the Luna Princess would do the same for her. She also had to explain, that Luna did not really care for ceremony, and preferred to be addressed with her name only.

The next morning was a hectic one. Several Pegasi guards, strapped onto several carts, had come to her home, packing all of her things. Lyra could still hardly believe that she would live in the palace from now on. It turned out that her room was in one of the many towers of Canterlot castle, just across the hall from Princess Lunas own bedchamber.

That afternoon found Luna and Lyra, once again sitting in her private study. They had gone over some documents, that Lyra had to sign, in order for her to be officially accepted as Lunas student. One of them had been about her "allowance" that she would now receive from the royal treasury. On seeing the amount, Lyras jaw had hung open.

"This is more then my Dad makes in a year!", she said shocked.

Luna just chuckled.

"This is nothing really. The income of the palace is quite steady, and we earn quite some Bits with train tickets. All of the railways are under royal control after all. The tutoring fees for the royal schools also add up to it. Believe me when I say, that this is not even a fraction of what we earn each month.", Luna explained.

"But then why don't you pay your servants better?"

"Oh they are paid generously. Each and every one of them can choose to live in the palace. Also they get enough of a salary to make a living, and still have some left to safe it for something. The reason why not everypony that works here gets a salary like this, is that we would be crowded with job applications. And compared to other places, we still pay them better then average.", Luna explained patiently.

After a while longer, in which Luna explained the meaning of each and every document, and a short break to eat a snack, the topic once again shifted to Zeo.

"What I wanted to tell you today, will be quite interesting to you I think. It happened only two days after Zeo and I had been to the royal dressmaker....", Luna began to tell her story.

Ever since he was only running around in his coat, Zeo felt uncomfortable. The nights were the worst, since he was not used to sleep naked. Sleeping in his coat, was just no option since the leather would not survive that for long. Because of this, he had asked Luna to turn around each time he slipped into bed, and under the covers. Soon they had gotten a second blanket, so they wouldn't have to share one.

In the nights following the arrival of the second blanket in the royal bed, Zeo slept even worse then usual. He kept turning in his sleep, and occasionally woke up because he had hit his cast somewhere. On these times Luna would use a basic pain-charm on him, so he could get back to sleep. The Princess was worried about her friend. In the mornings he was usually not as good natured as he used to be. In the afternoons, she would usually find him sleeping somewhere... This had to end.

Deciding that she had to do something about the current situation, Luna ordered a blanket that was big enough for the both of them, and removed the two separate ones from her bed. Even if Zeo would be uncomfortable with it at the beginning, it was at least worth a try. When he came into the room that evening, he stopped in front of the bed and looked a little confused. Luna on her part had already risen the moon, and way laying in bed.

"What is this?", he asked.

"You seem to be getting less and less sleep, since we tried it with two blankets, so I thought we should try it like this.", Luna explained.

"Well I guess I have no other choice.", Zeo sighed, as he put his coat on a chair near the bed, and crawled under the blankets with her.

This was the first time since she had taken off his clothes for the doctor, that Luna had the opportunity to compare his anatomy with that of a Pony. From what she was able to see, it wasn't that much different from what she knew about stallions. Sure he was standing on two legs, his neck was much shorter and almost everything was different from Ponies. But there were also similarities.

As uncomfortable as Zeo had felt at first, he could not deny that it was something different. On the nights before, he had always felt Luna through the sheets, but now he felt her right beside himself. The warmth radiating from her was.... pleasant. She even smelled nice, and nothing like he had expected from an animal. For the first time in days, Zeo slept comfortable, and fell asleep almost instantly.

Luna smiled when she saw that her friend fell asleep, almost instantly as his head hit the pillow. So her plan had worked out. Carefully stroking his hair with one of her hooves, she lay on her side and embraced him with her right wing. The contact made Zeo stir a little, and he moved closer to her unconsciously. Before Luna knew it, he was snuggled up in her furry chest. A little surprised, Luna couldn't help but smile some more.

"So you've just been lonely... Maybe we aren't that different after all.", she muttered to herself, before she rested her head on her pillow.

Back in the study

"So you actually cuddled with a human? What did it feel like?", Lyra asked interested.

Luna thought for a moment, trying to come up with a good example.

"Not to different from holding a Pony in your hooves actually. The only big difference was, that he had no fur. So.... imagine cuddling with a completely shaved Pony, and you should get the general idea.", Luna tried to explain.

"A shaved Pony? That sounds kinda disgusting...."

"Not really. If you hold a Pony, your furs touch each other which, I at least think so, gets quite uncomfortable after some time. With him it was something different. I don't think I have ever slept so well before. Humans are herd creatures as well you see. Being alone, and not feeling the warmth of another is not good for them. I may not be a human, but it seemed that he was still taking comfort from my warmth, and so did I.", the Princess explained, taking sip from her cup of tea.

"So... What your saying is basically that you enjoyed having him that close to you, instead of another Pony. Am I right there?"

"Yes. I know it may sound strange, but that's the way it i.. was. But the story gets better, believe me.", Luna said, continuing her story.

Celestia had set the moon and risen the sun. It was quite rare for Luna to neglect her duties, so she wanted to find out what had kept her baby sister. Trotting down the hallway to Lunas personal chamber, her thoughts went over a few possibilities. It wouldn't be the first time, that her baby sister would simply oversleep.

All this still going through her mind, Celestia knocked on Lunas bedroom door. Since no answer came, she opened the door with her magic and walked in.

"I'm sorry Luna I was worrying ab....", Celestia began, but her muzzle dropped open, and her eyes grew wide at what she saw.

There, in the bed, lay her little sister and that human. Her sisters right foreleg and wing were draped around the human, almost hiding him from plain sight. The human on the other hoof, was snuggled up against her chest. Celestia knew that kind of pose, and the only two implications in which it was acceptable for Pony-kind. The first one, was out of question. Zeo was by no means Lunas child. That only left one conclusion.

Luna slowly opened her eyes, as she heard somepony open the doors to her room. Seeing that the sun was already up, she realized that she must have overslept. As she raised her head, to see who was intruding into her personal chambers, she saw a shocked looking Celestia standing in the doorway. Her muzzle stood open, her eyes were as wide as saucers, and her wings were fully extended. Realizing what this must look like to Celestia, Luna tried to extract herself from the bed, but found that one of Zeos arms was wrapped around her.

"Tia, this is not what it looks like.", Luna said in a panic.

"Don't.... Better don't say anything. I am sorry if I interrupted something.", Celestia said, raising a hoof to silence her sister.

"No seriously! This is not what you might think it is Tia!", Luna called out to her sister.

Zeo woke up from all the shouting, and rubbed his eyes. When he saw how close he actually was to Luna, he threw himself backwards, and out of bed in shock. Laying on his back, he saw a white and pink blob standing in the doorway. Grabbing for his glasses on the nightstand, he put them on and finally saw that it was Celestia.

"So... ehm... good morning Celestia. Anything we can do for you?", Zeo asked a little self aware. He was still naked after all.

Luna stepped next to her friend, extending her good right wing, to shield his exposed body from Celestias accusing glare.

"Zeo... did you... I mean you and my sister... Luna... Let me see your neck.", Celestia stammered, coming closer to the pair. Luna was backing away from her sister, not wanting Celestia to check her neck.

"Celestia if I tell you we didn't, then we didn't. And I doubt he would bite me, even if we did what you hint at!", Luna tried to calm her sister down.

Seeing that Luna was in some kind of trouble, Zeo swallowed his self awareness and stepped between the two sisters. Putting his right hand on Celestias breast, he halted her advance.

"OK, could someone finally explain to me what all this fuss is about? Why would I bite Luna? I already told you Celestia, I don't fancy to eat another intelligent being.", Zeo tried to resolve the situation peacefully.

"You..... you beast! Answer me honestly! Have you, or have you not spent the night with my sister?", Celestia asked furiously.

"Well... of course we spent the night together, but we do that since I came here, so I still don't see....", but he was interrupted by a telekinetic blow from Celestia.

The solar Princess did not put too much force into the blow, beside her anger, so that human was still standing, but now had a split lip.

"So you HAVE done it! Luna I am very disappointed in you. What were you thinking? We are the rulers of Equestria! This is a scandal! If he has bitten you....", it was Celestias term to be interrupted. Zeo had moved his had upwards, from her breast, to her throat. She tried to remove it with her magic, but was in too much of a panic to focus the energy.

"Celestia, stop. I have gone two days without a smoke, so right now it's not a good idea to provoke me. So tell me, what this bite is all about, so we can go back to act like civilized beings again?", he said in a calm voice. The fire in his eyes however left no doubt that he was furious inside.

Luna wanted to interfere, but she trusted Zeo not to hurt her sister.

"Well.... If you two had been together... it's tradition to bite the mare on the right side of the neck.... It's tradition...", Celestia pressed out through grit teeth. His grip around her throat was loose enough to let her breath easily, but strong enough to make her uncomfortable.

Zeo took a deep breath, and released his grip on Celestias throat, before he walked over to Luna, gently brushing her mane to the side to expose her neck.

"Do you mind Luna?", he asked.

Luna, who thought he meant the brushing back of her mane, she shook her head, when she felt a strong bite on her neck, that made her wince a little. It took all her willpower not to draw away from Zeo, not to break off his teeth. There would be enough time to chew him out after this. Celestia just watched the scene in shock.

As she had regained her composure, she turned around, flicking her tail at Zeo and Luna and sighed.

"I am glad you finally found a mate Luna, but I really would have preferred it if you had chosen a Pony instead. You should go and see the doctor about that bite.", she said, before trotting out of the room.

"There, are you glad now? This was certainly not the right thing to do Zeo.", Luna reprimanded, when he let go of her, and raced to the balcony to spit out the blood in his mouth.

"What do you mean? She said something about tradition, so I did it. I'm sorry if I bit too deep though.", he said, scratching his neck.

"This is tradition if you had MATED with me, Zeo! She didn't mean, sleeping in the same bed!",Luna added, putting a hoof on her forehead.

Lyra was shocked, when Princess Luna made her mane reveal the scar that Zeo had inflicted on her that day.

"But... did he really not understand? I mean.... Your sister was quite specific....", she asked shocked.

"Well... I don't think he did. At least not at that point. Those "Cigarettes" he was alway smoking, were not available here in Equestria. The withdrawal was clouding his judgments and also his ability to understand what one was saying. Also his short temper was, as I learned later on, a result of that. We tried to explain this to Celestia, after I had gotten the would treated, and Zeo had calmed down. She understood that she had overreacted, and that Zeo and I were not in a romantic relationship. However, did that not change the fact that I had been bitten now. No other stallion would ever approach me with romantic intend ever again. Zeo was very sorry about that. He was not used to any of our "traditions" or any of our laws. So basically I was now his responsibility.", Luna explained with a sigh.

"So... your married Luna?"

"I won't tell you yet. That was however the start of the rumors in the palace. The doctor, that had treated me, had kind of a big mouth and told anypony who wanted to listen, that I had found a mate. Soon the guards who already knew Zeo, made the connection and the rumors began to spread all through Canterlot. You can't imagine the scandal. The biggest problem was that, so far, no Pony that was not involved with the palace, had seen Zeo. We had wanted to keep his presence a secret, but now we had to tell everypony the truth..."

Two weeks after the incident in Lunas bedroom, the royal sisters made a public announcement. Almost the whole population of Canterlot had gathered in the castles courtyard. The Ponies were mumbling amongst them self, since most of them had heard the rumors about the younger Princess having found a mate. All of them wondered who it might be, when the double doors to the palace opened and both of them stepped out in front of them. Both had their wings extended to hide something from view.

"My little Ponies, I have heard about the rumors that are going around, about my sister having found a mate.", Celestia began.

"The rumors are only half true. It is true, that I was marked, but that was merely a misunderstanding.",Luna continued.

"My sisters guest is unaware of all of our traditions, and the way our society works." Celestia explained.

i]"And that is because he is not a Pony, or even from this world.", Luna added.

"My dear sister was attacked some time ago."

"And I tried to teleport back to the palace."

"But her spell went wrong."

"And so a human was transported to our world."

"So let us present to you... Zeomak Seline Salchar. The first of his kind in Equestria.", the sisters said in unison as they lowered their wings.

The Ponies in attendance gasped as they saw Zeo, who was dressed in his black jeans, black shoes and a lavender shirt. Raising a hand in greeting, he adressed the crowd and stepped forward.

"Hey there! Glad to meet you all. Yeah, I'm sorry for that bite. I thought it meant something else, but if it really is tradition in this world, I guess I have no choice but live up to what is expected from me.", he said, walking down into the crowd of Ponies. Some of them backed away from him, while others prodded him carefully with their hooves. His left arm was out of the cast, but was still a little sensitive. From all sides, he was barraged with questions.

"Looks like our subjects take it much better then I had expected.", Celestia said to her sister.

"Well, I told you he can be very gentle and interesting. And, now that he can't hear us, let me assure you that he is still awfully sorry for attacking you."

"No need to apologize for your husband Luna.", Celestia teased her sister with a smirk on her face.

Luna blushed hard, and stomped her hoof down in irritation.

"He is not my husband! It was a mistake.", she said in a whisper.

"Didn't you pay attention to what he said? He said he would live up to the expectations placed on him. That practically makes him your mate.", Celestia chuckled.

Lyra was watching as her mentor blushed a little.

"So... you ARE married!", Lyra said.

"Well... I guess yes I am.", the Princess of the night admitted.

"So... those rumors..."

"As I said, I won't confirm, nor deny anything at this point. Let's just say, that we had separate bedrooms, but rarely were deprived of each others company."

The two mares talked about things, that did have nothing to do with Zeo after this. Luna was determined to take her role as a teacher serious. Originally she had not planned on taking on a student, but this Unicorn was reminding her too much of herself, when she was younger. The curiosity, the drive, the determination to learn... If she taught her the right things, then Lyra could maybe.... some day....