A nightly guardian

Chapter 5

Magic kindergarden

Luna sat in front of a particular door in the royal archives. Left of it, was the entrance to her own personal study, while her sisters was on the right. Ever since her return from the moon, she had felt unable to go inside, afraid of what she would find. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she remembered all the good times she had spent in there. The private study of her mate, her husband, had been the place for so many happy memories....

"You are still afraid to see for yourself?", a gentle voice from behind Luna called out.

"Yes.", the midnight blue Alicorn said, without turning around.

"Luna.... It has been a thousand years. I'm sure you could....", Celestia whispered, as she drew closer.

"I don't.... I can't.... Sister, I'm afraid of what I may find.... You know what it could be....", Luna said, sobbing.

"Of course I know. I myself sealed that door, shortly after I had to banish you Luna. But why would you be afraid?", the elder sister asked, wrapping a wing around Luna.

"But what if...."

Lyra had heard enough. She had wanted to keep her appointment with Luna, but had been a little early. Noticing the Princesses, she had approached them, until she had heard the sobbing. Not wanting to intrude on an embarrassing situation, Lyra had tried to sneak away, but the conversation had peaked her interest. What was it with that door? There surely was no seal on it now, or she would have noticed it on her previous visits. She had even tried the other day, to get inside. The door however, had resisted her permit.

Twenty-three minutes later

Lyra had watched Princess Celestia leave, while hiding in the relative darkness of the archives, pretending to look for a book. After she had made sure the elder sister had left, Lyra stepped once again into the brightly lit technology section of the archives. Luna was still sitting in front of the door, but she had stopped to cry. She did not turn around, as Lyra closed in on her, but her tone of voice made it quite clear that she had been noticed earlier.

"So you finally come out.... I didn't mean for you to find out this way Lyra, and I'm sorry.", Luna sighed in defeat.

"Ehm... Luna? I am sorry that I listened in. I was early for our meeting, and....", she tried to explain in a panic.

"I'm not mad at you Lyra, but please tell me.... how much did you hear?"

"Uhm... I left when you talked about the door being sealed.", Lyra said honestly.

Lunas ears perked up.

"So you didn't hear all of it? I am very sorry Lyra, but what Tia and I talked about will have to remain a secret for now then.", the Luna Princess said, turning around to meet her students gaze.

"But.. why?"

"If you had found out now, I would have to ask you to leave. I can not revoke the permit around your neck, but I would have refused to teach you any further. I am more then sorry Lyra, but if you find out too soon then...", Luna muttered, averting her gaze.

"So... you have a plan for me? What is it? Tell me! I am willing to do what ever I can to help you!", Lyra demanded.

"Yes... I do have a plan for you, but please don't think that I have lied to you. I have told you the truth, even if I have not told you all of it. I still want you to be able to help other Ponies, but there is a task I want you to help me with, and for that you will need the skills and knowledge that I am teaching you. That is all I have to say for myself. Do you still want to help me, even though I don't tell you everything just yet?", the dark blue Alicorn said, hanging her head.

"Of course! Luna, you are not only my mentor, but you are also my friend! If you think this is how it has to be done, then I trust that you will do the right thing. Besides...." Lyra combined the two spells she had practiced in secret over the last two weeks. Her body began to blur and became semi transparent, as she walked through one of the bookshelf's, sticking her head out of it to look at Luna again.

".... I haven't practiced so much, just so I can give up now!", she finished, making Luna laugh at her students playfulness.

The Luna Princess couldn't help but laugh, and be amazed at the same time. She had not predicted that Lyra would master those two spells this fast. It was the first step in the right direction, and also showed her that her student had learned to keep herself under control.

"Very well then.... You want to keep goofing around, or shall I tell you another story? The one I have in mind for today should be at least as amusing, as seeing your head stick out of a book about turning gears.", Luna said with a chuckle.

Emerging from the bookshelf again, Lyra looked back at the place where her head had been just seconds ago. True enough, it was a book about mechanics. Chuckling a little herself, Lyra followed Luna into her private study, that had kind of become the Princesses second home. Settling down onto one of the comfortable sofas, Luna began to tell her another story.....

Zeo awoke slowly. His whole body ached, and he felt weak. Turning his head, he saw a being of pure energy sitting next to the bed. The pale white flames that made out it's being, were only interrupted by fine lines that ran through it's body, like veins.

"Has nopony ever told you, that it is impolite to stare at ones magical circuit?", a familiar voice spoke from the flames.

"Luna? But... oh my god you are on fire!", he stammered, sitting up in bed.

"Shhhhhh.... It's alright. Open your eyes, and you will see everything is alright.", she cooed.

Zeo didn't understand immediately, but soon realized what his lover meant. Opening his eyes, he saw Lunas face only inches away from his own, and the flames he had seen earlier were gone. Had he imagined them? No. They had been way to realistic for a hallucination. Then he remembered what had happened before he had passed out. Quickly looking at his hands, Zeo looked for the blue flames that had erupted from them the last time he had checked.

"What... what happened Luna?", he asked a little shaken.

Nuzzling against his cheek, Luna tried to reassure him.

"Everything is alright dear. There just have been some... unforeseen complications from our.... unity."

"Complications? You mean those flames that came out of my body? I wouldn't mind if that didn't happen again, if I'm honest. By the way, how long have I been out?"

At that, Luna pulled back from him, so she could look him directly into his eyes. Since he now sat on the beds edge, Luna put her front hooves on his legs, to prevent him from jumping up in surprise.

"Three months. You have been in a coma for three months. The only reason you may not feel like it, may be because we stimulated your muscles with magic, while you were asleep. To be exact, I did it against my sisters advice. It's not a difficult spell, so I could manage it.", she explained, never breaking the eye contact.

Zeo slumped back to the bed from the shock. Sure it had been a shock to him already that he had actually slept with Luna, who wasn't even of the same species as him, but this? This was just a little too much to take in, so shortly after having woken up.

"So... what were those flames? And what did you mean when you said I was staring at your "circuit"?", he finally asked, still laying down.

Crawling into bed with him, Luna positioned her flank behind him so he could rest his head on it, while she rested hers on his chest. This way they could lay down comfortably, and still look each other in the eye.

"Zeo... when we were.... connected.. some of my raw magical energy, found it's way into your system. It seems that your kin was able to do magic in the past, but your magical circuit was.... damaged, so you became unable to. My magic that got into your system however somehow reactivated that ability, and healed the damaged parts. That is also why you were able to see my magical circuit. If you close your eyes, you will see me as a being of pure magical energy. That will be so, until you have learned to push your magical senses aside. The problem that has arisen from that however, is that you will have to learn how to use magic properly, or we will just have a repeat of what happened that night. Next time however, you might cause some more serious injuries on yourself, and that is why I have arranged for you to take magic classes with me."

"So, you're going to teach me about magic, huh?", he said,stroking her mane softly.

"No, I will not. I was not born with magic either. I told you how Celestia and I became Alicorns. She was a born Unicorn, while I was born a Pegasus. I have to learn many things myself, before I am anywhere close to be able to teach you anything. That is why Celestia has found a teacher that is fit for the both of us. In fact, I was about to head out in a few minutes, to meet her. If you feel up to it, how about you come with me?", she explained, gently rubbing his chest with the side of her neck.

Zeo thought for a moment, then nodded. For some reason he did not feel hungry or as if he had to go to the restroom. Why that was, he supposed he rather did not want to know. That he was supposed to be able to do magic now, just confirmed his suspicions, that he should better not wonder about anything in this world. Gently putting his hand on Lunas neck, he pushed her head aside so he could get up from the bed. Taking a quick sniff under his arm, he realized that someone must have washed him recently. Glancing back at Luna, he saw her smiling.

Luna watched, as Zeo walked over to the dresser and got some of the clothes the royal dressmaker had made for him. They were a little to wide now, since he had lost some weight during the time he had been out, but that suited her just fine. He had never been on the plump side, but definitely overweight. Now she saw that this was no longer the case. When he was finally ready, he stood in front of the bed, in the same clothes he had originally arrived in, except the new underwear and lavender shirt and his black coat.

"Do you really have to wear that thing?", she asked with a pout.

"Why? It's fashionable.", he said, before realizing who he was talking to. Sure his coat was not made of horse leather, but still.... Shaking his head, Zeo got rid of the coat, and put it back into the dresser. Instead, he pulled out an equally long coat, of the same color. This one however was made of linen instead of leather.

"Better?", he asked hopefully.

Luna nodded her agreement, and got up from the bed. She always felt uncomfortable when her mate wore that cloak made of skin. That had been the reason why she had asked the royal dressmaker, to make a replica out of another material.

As they both walked through the halls of the palace, it became apparent that the guards had gotten used to Zeos presence. None of them stared anymore, but greeted them respectful instead. Stealing a glance at Luna, Zeo couldn't help but notice that something had changed about her.

"Luna... I don't want to be rude or anything, but did you gain some weight while I was out?", he asked cautiously. He had asked another girl a similar question once, and it hadn't ended too well. In fact he had to buy new glasses afterwards. Luna however just looked at him with a smile.

"Indeed I have, and it's your fault."

"Wait... my fault? How could that be...", but then the gears in Zeos head started to turn, as he remembered the last thing that had happened, before the incident with that strange energy.

"No... you don't mean to tell me.... I mean.... We aren't even of the same species!", he stuttered.

"It didn't seem to be a problem for you at the time, I hope it is none now.", Luna said, looking a little downcast.

"Of course not! Man, I'm going to be a dad! I don't know how that would even be possible with a Pony, but I won't question a good thing!", he shouted out so loud that each and every guard turned into their direction. Luna blushed a little, and turned her head away from him.

"I have no idea either, but it seems that our species aren't that different after all.", she said in a whisper.

Zeo was now fully awake. Even the prospect of going to "school" once again, which he had always thought of as boring, could not soil the good news. But then he suddenly realized something.

"Ehm Luna? I mean... you are a Princess and all. Won't it hurt your reputation to have a child with someone you're not married to?"

"It will, and in fact it has already. Some Ponies didn't take the news too well, when we made it public that you are my mate. They took it even worse when news leaked out that you are the father of my foal.", Luna explained in a quivering voice.

Zeo put a hand in front of her to stop her. A little startled, and Luna came to a halt. Zeo knelt down in front of her,and pulled her face down to his, until their noses almost touched. Gently stroking the side of her face, he said what he wanted to say.

"Luna, I don't know how this is even possible or how it happened, but I have fallen in love with you. You are beautiful, kind  and you always watch out for me. I don't want you to think that I am only doing this because you are pregnant. I do this because I want it. So Luna.... will you marry me?", he said, never once looking away from her eyes.

Luna was stunned. She had expected anything, but not this. Drawing back a little, she stumbled and fell to her rump. For a moment an awkward silence dreaded to befall the pair, when one of the female guards that stood at the corner of the hallway began shouting.

"Oh C'mon! Just say yes already!"

This outburst provoked more then a few laughs from the other guards along the hall, while others looked at the mare in shock. Looking around, Luna caught a glance at the mare, and noticed a familiar magical aura whirling around her.

"Tia.... Seriously... Don't you think you are a little old for illusion spell pranks?", Luna said, as the guard transformed into Princess Celestia, causing every guard in attendance to bow quite low.

"Oh Luna, I seriously thought I had you there, but don't change the subject. I have said nothing so far, but it would only be appropriate if you two married.", the solar Princess said, while approaching her younger sister, and the still kneeling Zeo.

Zeo saw something he had never seen before. As Celestia approached him, he could see tendrils of what looked like colored smoke come from her. The "smoke" whirled around her as if it was a being of it's own, but the pure white Alicorn did not seem to notice it. Glancing back at Luna, he noticed that the same smoke came from her as well. Why had he not seen it earlier? Noticing the confused look on Zeos face, Celestia began to chuckle.

"Well, I still want an answer, but Luna it looks like your fiancée has developed mage vision. I remember it only too well when you first began to see mana.", she said, turning from Zeo to Luna.

Luna had quite the shock to digest, but composed herself relatively fast after her sisters good humored joke.

"Ehm... yes. Yes, of course I will.", she said, getting back to her hooves, and walking over to her would-be husband.

Zeo could not believe his luck. First he got transported to a strange world that was inhabited by... HORSES! Then he actually discovered that these... Ponies as they call them self, could actually talk and had some kind of society. To top it all off he fell in love with one of them, and slept with her which caused him to be able to use magic.... Not to mention that she was now pregnant because of him, and he suddenly began to see strange smoke coming from her body. It all crashed down on him in that instant. His mind, unable to process everything, denied any further input of information and just shut down.

Luna sat next to her collapsed fiancée, and looked up at Celestia. Her older sister however just shrugged.

"I think you should take him with you to your lesson. Maybe he comes around if he gets some fresh air.", she said, appointing some guards to carry the unconscious Zeo.

Two hours later

Zeo woke up for the second time today. His head hurt a little and something was tapping his face repeatedly. Noticing that something also smelled rather uncomfortable, he opened his eyes to find a small Unicorn filly poking him with one of it's hooves. Seeing the diaper around the little ones hindquarters, he could guess where the smell was coming from. As he tried to get up, he noticed that several other foals were sleeping either on or around him. A light red Unicorn mare came into the room he was laying in carefully. As she saw he was awake, she began to lift the foals off him with her magic, all the time mumbling apologies.

"I am so sorry your highness! The little ones seem to have taken a liking to you. Here let me help you up.", she said, offering a hoof to him. Instead, he put a hand on her back to give him something to get some leverage.

"Excuse me... but... why do you call me "Your highness"? Just Zeo is fine. And where am I?", he asked, already thinking that waking up to strange places, or strange news, had already become an uncomfortable part of his life.

"Well... ehm... Zeo was it? You are in the magical kindergarten located in Weat-street in the northeast part of Canterlot. You came here earlier, with Princess Luna.", the mare explained to him, not once letting him out of her sight. She was obviously uncomfortable around him, even so Zeo had absolutely no idea why. He had lain completely still, while she had freed him from his involuntary sleeping companions. The last thing he wanted to do, was hurting one of the little ones, by moving his comparably big body.

"Magic... kindergarten... Why would Luna bring me here? I thought we were on our way to some teacher for magic."

"Well of course. Princess Luna attends my sisters class two times a week, and she is doing great progress. I take it you are the new student we were informed about then?", she asked nervously.

"Student? I don't really understand. Would you mind bringing me to Luna? I think she has some explaining to do here...", he said confused.

"Of course. Please come this way.", the mare said, as she led Zeo to a room across the hall. Peeking through the small window in the door, he saw an emerald mare with blue mane and tail stand in front of Luna. Lunas horn was glowing as several objects floated through the room. Without knocking, he opened the door and stepped inside. Luna was so startled at his sudden appearance, that all the books, vases, chairs and pencils dropped out of the air. One particular well filled glass with tomato juice, had been floating right above the door, through which he had just entered. With a painful sounding thump, the sound of shattering glass and a short yelp from Zeo, it shattered on his head. Ignoring the annoyed look on her teachers face, Luna ran over to him, and started to speak in a rapid pace.

"Oh Zeo, I'm so sorry! I was just exercising my magical focus, I'm terribly sorry! By the way, I did say yes to your question, I just say this because I don't know if you heard it before you passed out and /(/&%)/(/"

She was cut off when Zeo put a hand on her muzzle, holding it shut as gently as he cut.

"Ouch! OK, I understand. My fault entirely.... And yes I did hear your answer before I passed out. All I actually wanted to ask you now was, why I am in a kindergarten...", he said slowly getting up from the ground. With all the tomato juice that had spilled over him, he looked like he had been in a terrible accident.

As he felt something warm and wet against his hand, he noticed why he was not getting an answer. He still had his hand on Lunas muzzle, and she licked it to make him aware of that. Immediately he removed it, not wanting to hurt her.

"We are here so the both of us can learn how to use magic.", she said matter of factually.

"And I am kind of disappointed that you don't seem too happy with my response.", she added, hanging her head.

Hugging her head to his chest, Zeo stroked her mane.

"I'm sorry. Of course I'm happy about it! Happier then you can imagine. But please understand that this is by far the strangest day I had, since coming here. It's just a lot to take in."

Luna nuzzled against him, when a somepony cleared their throat behind them.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but we are still in class. Now, I suppose you are "Zeo".... Well I have never seen a creature like you, but I guess if you have an affinity with magic then I can beat it into you if I have to.", the emerald mare said, stepping closer to the two of them, and cleaning the tomato juice off Zeo with her magic.

"I may not be good at Pony customs yet, but I think, since you seem to already know my name, it would only be polite to introduce yourself. I am sure our customs don't differ that much in that aspect.", Zeo said, pushing Luna behind him, and matching the cold unfriendly tone the emerald Unicorn used.

"She is..", Luna started, just to be interrupted by her teacher.

"I can speak for myself Luna, thank you. My name is Good Cheery. Miss Cheery for you. So now that I have introduced myself, can we get this over with and see what you can do? I don't have all day, you know.", Cheery said in an annoyed tone of voice.

'Not very cheery now is she... ah well, if that is how it has to be...", Zeo thought and stepped into the classroom.

Luna followed in his wake, staying behind him, as if hiding from the other mare. Zeo could feel that she was much more at ease now that he was at her side. Without a warning Cheerys horn glowed a dark red, and Zeo could feel something disappear from his right hand, even so he could not see what it could have been.

"Now... I have removed the seal the Princess put on your inlet. Show me what you can do. I need to know with what I am supposed to work here.", she spat at him, and already Zeo could feel the same thing he had on the night he had passed out. Energy was flowing into him through his right hand, and coursed through his body. It was not unpleasant like last time, but still hard to control. As he did not want to pass out again, he concentrated hard and closed his right hand for emphasis. As a result, the energy stopped flowing into him.

"Looks like Celestia was not exaggerating.... You really have absolutely no control over your magic. Just now you needed way too much concentration just to close your inlet. To be honest, I don't see the point in continuing with this. If I had my say, I'd just chop off the limb that held your inlet and be done with it.", the mare scowled.

"If you are done with your disrespect and sarcasm, you might actually be able to teach me something. If not, be gone. I'm kinda loosing my patience with you.", Zeo snarled at her.

Luna, who was still behind him, got a little worried. Sure the amount of magical energy he had pulled into himself was not much, but she had seen just how much his outlet amplified it.

"Oh? So you don't like my teaching methods? Probably think just because you bucked a Princess, you are something special, now do you? So why don't you show me just how special you are? So far I have seen nothing to peak my interest from you.", she challenged him.

Thinking for a moment, Zeo raised his left hand, opened it and aimed it at Cheery, palm first. Not really thinking about it, he let go of all the energy he had absorbed earlier, sending the other mare flying against the wall as a massive wave of pale blue energy erupted from his palm. She tried to fight it with her own magic, but was overpowered before her spell could even take hold. When Zeo was out of mana, she dropped to the floor, and Luna rushed to her side to check if she was OK. Cheery however brushed off her hooves, and struggled to get up by herself. Looking around the demolished classroom, she could not help but be impressed. She could have sworn that he had not absorbed more energy then a foal on it's first humble try at magic. Sure it had been nothing major. It hadn't even been any kind of spell. All that creature had done, was thrust all his absorbed energy right into her face. Her interest was definitely awakened now that she had seen his raw power. But she would have to be very careful. Was she as reckless as before, she could just as easily be killed. Straightening her mane, she approached Zeo with an approving smile.

"I must admit... yes you are something special Zeo. I underestimated you. But tell me, did you truly feel the flow of energy?", she asked more politely now.

Zeo was still dumbfounded at what he had just done. The room in front of him, was a complete mess. Tables, chairs and any kind of furniture had been pressed against the far wall of the room. Strange enough, nothing was broken or damaged in any way. Even the few vases that now lay against the wall, were unharmed. It was then, that he noticed Cheery was talking to him.

"Ehm... not really. I just let go without controlling it. I'm sorry if I hurt you by the way.", he answered her embarrassed.

"Now now my boy. No need to be sorry. I asked you to show me what you can do, but I must say that you are quite mistaken. You DID control that blast, or I wouldn't be standing here now.", she said with a smile. Her change in behavior caught Zeo a little off guard.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you didn't really want to hurt me, did you? Had that been your intent, you would have succeeded. Instead your blast just pressed me against the wall, and overpowered every attempt I made to draw magic into myself. That was mostly because, I was completely enveloped by your magic. There was no raw magic I could have drawn into myself. And I'm sorry for my earlier comment. Here, let me give you a piece of advice for your future dealings with magic. It's especially for your inlet. Just imagine a door. That door is your inlet. Can you do that?", she explained to him, completely ignoring Luna now. This creature was way more interesting then the Princess.

After three hours of practice, and several other outbursts of uncontrolled magic, Zeo had the hang of controlling his in and outlet. It still required him to think about them consciously, but Cheery had assured him that this would change the more practice he got. Luna had been satisfied to watch her mates progress in the meantime. It was impressing how fast he understood what Cheery was teaching him. It had been days before she had been able to control her in and outlets. But then on the other hoof, she had been studying under a different mentor at the time. Regal Script, the royal teacher, had been competent, but he had always expected her to know what he was talking about. Cheery on the other hoof, was more rough then him, but she explained everything from scratch. Luna wondered if she would be better at magic by now, had she learned from her from the start....

"So Zeo was kind of a natural at magic? Is that it?", Lyra asked excitedly.

"Not really. Cheery was just a very good teacher. Impatient and arrogant at times, but she never gave up on anypony. The reason she was so rough sometimes was, that she had actually been a military instructor before. Many Ponies who had been with the military before, now had different jobs. I even once met a stage performer, who had been a blacksmith during the war. Or a baker, who made the most horrible cakes in all of Canterlot. His former profession had been to cook for the troops in the field.... Stuff like that was pretty common back then. Most of them actually tried to fit into the society, while some others went rouge and became criminals. I can't count how many times the royal night guard had to move out, because some of them thought it a good idea to attack trade routes. There even were some nasty incidents, when somepony from the night guard recognized an old friend that was now with the bandits... Those occasions rarely ended well. Some of them we could convince to switch sides, while others didn't want to see reason and ended up in our dungeons.", Luna explained with regret.

"Ah! So the pupil is only as good as the teacher... I see...", Lyra nodded.

"Which is why I hope ever so more that you turn out a great student Lyra.", Luna said with a smile.

"You can count one me!", Lyra said, pounding her chest with a hoof.

"Well... Anyway... After some time in which Cheery had explained Zeo how magic actually worked, he was able to do simple levitation. It seemed like that development even surprised her. As I explained to you the other night, Alicorn magic is so much different from Unicorn magic, but the basics are pretty similar. That is why I was studying under a Unicorn, and why Celestia was able to perform complex magic shortly after our transformation. She has always been a natural at magic. But for tonight Lyra, I think you really should turn in. Next time I might tell you about my wedding, if you would be interested.", the night blue Alicorn said softly.

"Sure! I'd like to hear about it! But why stop now? It's not that...", Lyra gasped in shock as she looked at the clock over the fireplace. It was already 2 am, and she hadn't slept a single second yet. For Luna, she knew, that was not a problem. The Princess could stay up for several weeks if she wanted too, but Lyra would have to attend some other classes in the morning, which Luna had arranged for her. Hugging her mentor, she rushed out of the study towards her own room in the archives. She just didn't feel like returning to her room in the tower tonight....