“I’m gonna do it. Today.”
A knight facing down a raging dragon couldn’t have managed the level of grim conviction in that single statement. The speaker’s expression mirrored his dour tone, the slits in his eyes boring into the face of his bat-winged companion. By contrast, his friend seemed to be caught somewhere between amusement and exasperation.
“Oh, today, huh? Just like all those other ‘todays.’ Face it, Shroud, there’s no way you can ever go through with it. You remember the last time you had a chance?”
The hard expression on Nightshroud’s face flickered as he recalled. He had jumped straight into her path, held up a hoof to stop her, and opened his mouth to declare his love to the world. Up to that point it had all gone exactly as planned, but then everything fell apart. All of the consequences of what he was about to do caught up with him in a flash. The surprise in her eyes changed quickly to confusion. As the silence stretched on, she gave him a look one might give a foal who’d said a bad word. She had just walked around him and left him staring at the place her eyes had been.
“T-this time’s gonna be different. I know what I did wrong last time. I just need to get it all out before she looks at me like that again. Simple.”
Blackwell rolled his eyes. “What you did wrong last time? What did you do right last time? You’re damn lucky you didn’t rattle off some ridiculous speech or you would’ve lost your job for sure.”
Nightshroud stoically held his head high. “Some things are more important than the job.”
“Not this job. This work is an honor most other ponies would kill for! Protecting royalty is one of the most important tasks in the nation, bar none.” Blackwell smiled mischievously at Nightshroud. “Besides, there’s plenty of hot tail around that can’t kick you through a wall. I heard Hover’s going into heat again soon.”
Nightshroud returned his friend’s smile. “What, you want me to become a slut like you?”
“Ha! Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it, little guy. You’re never gonna get any with an attitude like that.”
Nightshroud tut-tutted, waving a hoof in the other’s face. “Quality over quantity, Blacks. Sometimes I think you’d give it up to your sister if she was in heat.”
Blackwell grinned wolfishly, “You know me too well, Shroud.”
Nightshroud scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Now you’re just being creepy. Come on, we have to get to our post.”
The bat-winged pegasi replaced their violet helms and shut their locker doors. With prep finished, they stepped out of the barracks and onto the castle grounds. The moon hung low over the darkened horizon, ready to blanket another land in its soothing glow. A blazing star stood on the verge of bathing Equestria in its light, cloaking the lesser stars with its brilliance. The two friends took flight, soaring over the glittering towers and colorful steeples of Canterlot Castle. They reached the rendezvous with the night shift, alighting on an ebony tower where a deep blue alicorn stood. Nodding wordlessly to the two guards already in attendance, they took up their positions flanking the princess. The four pegasi watched solemnly as an azure glow grew around the tower. The moon slowly sank beneath the horizon as if beckoned into a soft embrace.
At the same time, a golden glow enveloped an ivory tower on the other side of the castle. Just as the moon had gently given up its seat of power, the sun rose gracefully to continue its endless vigil. Their daily duties complete for now, the two sisters began their descent from the towers to a private dining room. The two groups came together in a long hallway. Celestia and Luna nodded officiously to the four guardsponies who made up the night shift. Thus dismissed, they saluted and returned to their barracks.
Celestia breathed a quiet sigh as she turned to her younger sister. “Good morning Lulu. I hope there were fewer madponies in Night Court than there were the last few nights.”
Luna rubbed her eyes in exhaustion and frustration. “I know not the mechanism by which you keep your patience throughout the Courts, sister. If I hear one more dream request from some jumped-up noble, I’m going to drown myself in our morning oatmeal.”
Celestia gave her sister a look of morbid interest. “Dream requests? You’ve gotten more of those? I would think the last few ponies would have served as a suitable example.”
Luna shook her head. “I doubt they would have told anypony about the dreams they really received. Actually, it was Blueblood who had a request last night.”
Celestia’s expression of grim curiosity changed to one of full-on disgust. She knew who was usually the object of such requests, and the thought of Prince Blueblood asking such a thing was truly frightening. “He didn’t.”
“Oh, do not worry, Tia, he wouldn’t dare. Apparently the newest Daring Do book came out and the author saw fit to give her a… love interest. He was most displeased. He spent a rather worrying amount of time and care putting together the ‘perfect dream’ and decided to regale me with the entire thing during Night Court.” Luna gave an involuntary shudder as she recalled his ‘rescue’ of Daring from the Pit of Living Vines.
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Ugh. It’s amazing to me how he manages to be such a snob when he has so little class. I will forever regret teaching him magic. Do you remember what he did when the griffin ambassador was staying in the castle? I thought she was going to tear…”
The princesses continued to catch up, ignoring the guards trotting behind them. Blackwell had been giving one of the Solar Guards a thoughtful look for a while now. He was sure he hadn’t seen this guard before. He smiled imperceptibly. Time for a little fun.
Catching the new guard’s attention, Blackwell made a slow and obvious glance at the retreating alicorns, then back at the guard. Not quite getting his meaning, the newbie cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at Blackwell. Waiting a moment for full effect, Blackwell took another short glance at the ethereal tails waving in front of them, looked straight at the guard, and winked. The guard’s eyes widened as he stared back, aghast. His eyes snapped forward as the sisters chatted obliviously on. He began to blush furiously and nearly strayed into his fellow Solar Guard’s path before getting a sharp prod from his hoof and an angry look. Still blushing, he fell back into step, alternating between stealing small peeks at Celestia and looking away in shame.
All of this was lost on Nightshroud, who was listening to Luna giggling at Celestia’s rather animated recounting of Blueblood dangling off the west battlements by a talon. “And – haha – And then she looked him dead in the eye and she said, ‘Let’s see how well you can levitate yourself.’ I only managed to convince her not to drop him by telling her he was a colt in a stallion’s body and didn’t know what he was doing! He had to play along so she wouldn’t throw him off the battlements.”
“Oh, I remember that day! So that was why he wore a bib to dinner. He’s never been so quiet and well-mannered in his life. We really should have Redfeather visit more often.”
They sat down, still talking as the servants populated the table with a large breakfast. They began discussing the political matters of the day as a silent battle broke out behind Luna. Blackwell was nodding his head toward Luna in a ‘go on’ gesture to his friend. Nightshroud shook his head firmly and tapped his ankle; ‘It’s not the right time.’ Blackwell made sure Celestia was busy pouring caramel on her chocolate chip pancakes, and returned a rather rude gesture associated with eunuchs. Nightshroud decided to ignore the gesture and drew a circle in the air with his hoof, indicating that the deed would be done later.
On the other side of the table, a similar muted argument was in full swing. Apparently, the elder guard had realized what the younger one was fidgeting about. After glaring pointedly at him for a while, the elder decided to just ignore him. He would understand soon enough. Celestia had a tried and true method for dealing with this sort of abuse of trust. He just prayed she didn’t notice while he was on shif-
“Flash Sentry, is something wrong?” Celestia had turned around and was looking at the younger guard. The ghost of a smile played across her otherwise impassive face.
“N-no your highness, nothing’s wrong. Just- um- first-day jitters.”
Celestia allowed herself a look of slight disappointment. “I set a high standard for my Guard, Flash. I hope these ‘jitters’ won’t affect the execution of your duties.”
“Of course not, Princess.” Flash visibly steadied himself under the white alicorn’s cold but gentle gaze.
“Excellent,” Celestia crooned, smiling warmly. The Solar Princess turned back to her sister, her smile transforming into a devious smirk. Luna knew all too well what this meant for the poor guard. The elder Solar Guard had caught the edge of that smirk, and groaned inwardly. This was gonna be a long day…
“Well I suppose we should be getting about our business. I am rather tired after the night I’ve had.” Luna finished off what was left of her dinner and stood up. “You really should go easy on everypony today, sister.” Luna gave her a very pointed, if amused, look.
“Dear Luna, you of all ponies know how others will behave if given the chance.” Celestia stood as well, shaking out her mane a little unnecessarily. “Some ponies don’t deserve leniency.” Celestia’s smile had regressed to a more motherly persuasion, but the twinkle in her eye betrayed her. She turned, beckoning her guards to follow and trotting back down the hallway toward the throne room. As she left, Blackwell stared after her.
Yep, he thought as he watched her hips swaying entirely too much to be accidental, those two are in for it today. He almost felt bad for the newbie… Almost.
Giggling quietly to herself, Luna beckoned Blackwell and Nightshroud to follow her as she trotted slowly toward her quarters. After a minute, she calmed down and put on a stern frown. “Sergeant, you really shouldn’t enable such behavior from our sister. It is most unseemly.”
Blackwell stood tall and kept his face serious. “I don’t know what you mean, your highness. I have conducted myself with my usual dignity and grace all morning.”
“Hmm, yes, we suppose you have behaved as gracefully as you normally do, but that’s no excuse for disobeying our instructions. We do not want a repeat of what happened when Fancy Pants was a guest at the castle. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Princess, I understand. It won’t happen again.”
Luna glanced over her shoulder at the solemn-faced guard. “See that it does not.”
They arrived at a set of ornate double doors. Originally deep blue with silver accenting, light violet waves danced across their surface like ripples as protective enchantments receded and resurfaced against each other. The enchantments faded as Princess Luna traced her glowing horn down the doorjamb. Nightshroud decided to seize his chance. He stood in the middle of the hallway as Princess Luna threw open the doors to her bedroom. Drawing in a slow breath, he steeled himself to say what he needed to say. He opened his mouth to begin… just as the doors closed in his face. “We bid thee good day, gentlestallions.”
Nightshroud just stared at the doorjamb, his mouth hanging open. Blackwell watched from his post to one side of the door. “You know, I thought it would be kinda funny to watch you utterly fail at talking to her again, but that was just sad.” Blackwell trotted over to him and threw a hoof over his shoulder. “Come on, take up your position. We’ll meet up at Tankard’s tonight. I’m buyin’.”
Nightshroud glared at the door, his right eye twitching. Seeming to come to a decision, a grim smile crossed his face. Still staring down the door, he shoved his friend’s hoof off of his shoulder. “I’m holding you to that, Blacks.” With that, Nightshroud took a shaky breath, stepped forward, and shoved open Luna’s bedroom door. Stepping quickly through, he turned back toward his fellow guard and closed the door in his stunned face.
Blackwell stared at the closed doors, the color draining from his face. “He’s gonna die,” he whispered, half horrified and half awed. Cautiously, almost reverently, he placed an ear to the door and waited for the fireworks to start.
On the other side of the door, Nightshroud suddenly found himself very alone with the mare of his dreams. He also found himself very alone with a powerful demigoddess whose bedtime rituals he’d just interrupted. He respectfully removed his helm and held it in his hooves as he turned around to face the Princess of the Night.
Luna had just finished putting most of her royal regalia away when Nightshroud came barging in. She stood facing him now, a look of suspicion and confusion on her face. “Are we under attack, guardspony?”
“N-no your highness. I… I just have something I need to say.”
“We see. Let us start you off then: ‘Princess Luna, you should not blast me through the door for the following reasons.’”
“Princess, there is no good reason for you not to blast me through the door right now except that I must say what I came to! I… I have… you see…” He was faltering again. Why was this part so hard to say!? Princess Luna’s horn began to glow ominously. Seeing that his possibly last chance was quickly escaping him, he finally found his voice. “PrincessLunaI’vefalleninlovewithyou!”
A loud clang was heard from the other side of the door as Blackwell facehoofed, but neither pony inside the room seemed to hear it. Luna was processing just how to react. Nightshroud couldn’t decide whether he was shaking from giddiness or fear, but both seemed relevant right now.
“You’ve fallen in love with me,” Luna said slowly and deliberately, “so you decided to burst into my room unannounced when I was about to go to sleep.” Nightshroud wished she would decide between anger and disbelief so he could figure out how bad he was supposed to feel. “What are you afflicted with!?”
Nightshroud took a breath to steady himself. It didn’t work, but it was worth a shot. “Princess, I know how this must look to you, but I’ve thought a lot about this. I know you can freeze me or teleport me to the sun or just plain fire me, but there is nothing more important to me right now than you understanding how I feel. I’m asking you to just… just hear my side of things and if you want to turn me into a toad afterward, you have every right to do so.”
The glow from Luna’s horn stopped getting brighter. “You have one minute.”
“This… has been coming for a long time. At first, I convinced myself it was just a simple crush and I decided to bear through it. I thought I would just get over it eventually, but it only got tougher. Every time I was assigned to guard you, I found myself listening intently to everything you said. I started looking forward to escorting you to the breakfasts you would have with Celestia because, even though I knew you weren’t speaking to me, I felt like I was getting to know you.” As he continued to explain, his memories of each decision that led to this point bolstered his feeling that there was no other way for this to end. Luna didn’t seem to be any happier about the situation, but at least she was listening.
“I found myself wanting to know more about you. At one point… I decided that this wasn’t healthy for me, so I decided to try distracting myself with other mares, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. After that, I just accepted the fact that I wanted to be with you.” Nightshroud had been staring over her shoulder for a while, too afraid to look her in the eye. Now, though, he looked her full in the face. He was surprised by her thoughtful expression, but he couldn’t stop now that he was so close to getting everything off of his chest.
“Believe me, I know how it must feel for you to learn this about somepony who… who you trusted, especially under these circumstances. I wanted to stop you outside of your room, but I hesitated a bit too long.” Nightshroud knew he was rambling. His minute was probably already up. “Look, I know I don’t deserve you and that I’ve been pathetic about this whole thing. I know that you have every right to throw me out on my flank, but I couldn’t go on just stewing on this. I want to be with you and that’s all there is to it.”
Luna just stared at him. He tried to read her expression but beyond seeming deep in thought, she wasn’t displaying any emotion. “Yes… you have been pathetic about this,” Luna said quietly, more to herself than to him. “You’ve said a great deal about why I should throw you out. Do you think I have any reason to accept your advances?”
Nightshroud opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He had good points… right? “Uhh… give me a minute on that.”
A smirk began to creep across Luna’s face. “No noble blood? No fortune? No distinguishing achievements?”
Nightshroud’s ears drooped. “No, Princess, not really.”
“Nightshroud, look at me,” Luna said, smiling full-on and giving him a teasing look, “am I wearing my crown right now?”
“Um… no…”
“Am I, in fact, wearing any of my regalia?”
“No.”
“Am I proclaiming myself using the royal ‘we’?”
Nightshroud gave her a look of complete confusion. “No, though I honestly hadn’t noticed that part.”
“Then why do you still insist on calling me ‘Princess’? My name is Luna. While I’m off-duty, call me by my name.”
“Yes Pr- Luna.” Nightshroud responded, suddenly looking uneasy. Something seemed wrong. Why wasn’t she shouting at him? “You seem less angry than I expected you to be. Aren’t you going to turn me into a toad or something?”
Luna giggled. “Nightshroud, you underestimate yourself far too drastically. If titles and money meant anything to me, I’d have ten dates a week. You could have been smoother about it, but humility is a surprisingly difficult thing to find these days. Besides,” Luna crooned, lowering her voice, “I found your dream about the moonlit café quite romantic.”
Nightshroud puffed out his chest at the complement. “Yes, I did quite enjoy that dream. Did you like th-“ Suddenly, what she said caught up with the rest of his brain. His eyes shrunk to tiny slits and he blushed deeply. “Uh… you didn’t happen to watch all of my dreams, did you?”
A smug grin was plastered all over Luna’s face. “Ohh, maybe not all of your dreams, though I do tend to keep a closer watch over those I trust with my protection.”
“I see. I should apol-“
“Stop right there, Nightshroud. Believe me when I say that compared to some ponies’ dreams about me, yours are tame.” A smoky smile split her features. “Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time to fix that. While we’re at it, we should fix whatever possessed you to burst into my room and slam the door behind you. I’ve had somepony else try that approach before. It was a rather unpleasant experience.”
Nightshroud grinned sheepishly. “Right, that was a pretty boneheaded move.” Nightshroud scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “So, um, do you want to-“
Luna held up a hoof to stop him. “Later. I’ve had a long night, and I need my sleep. Also, you’re still on duty, guardspony.”
“R-right. We’ll… discuss this more later?”
“Indeed we shall.” Luna nodded toward the door, turning and dragging her hooves wearily toward her bed. As Nightshroud turned to go, he was halted by Luna’s voice. “One more thing, Nightshroud. For both of our sakes, do not take any dating advice from Sergeant Blackwell.” She shuddered under her covers. “Just trust me on this.”
“Yes, Princess,” Nightshroud said happily. He stepped out of Luna’s bedroom and closed the door softly behind him. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and turned to Blackwell with a massive grin on his face.
Blackwell was staring back at the closed double doors. “What does she have against me?”
Nightshroud shrugged, still grinning. “I dunno. What have you dreamed about her?”
Blackwell put a hoof to his chin in thought. After a few moments, he nodded sagely. “I suppose that’s fair.” He scowled at Nightshroud, who was still grinning from ear to ear. “You’re going to be insufferable about this, aren’t you?”
Nightshroud threw a hoof over Blackwell’s shoulder. “Blacks, you know me too well.” Nightshroud’s grin gradually broke into giggles, then into laughter. The laughter was infectious. Soon, Blackwell was laughing just as hard.
“I’m trying to SLEEP IN HERE!” A voice like thunder nearly rattled the two guards straight out of their armor. They quickly retook their posts and came to attention, staring straight ahead. As hard as he tried, Nightshroud couldn’t keep a smile from crossing his face.
Today was a good day.
Author's Note
So, I basically felt like writing a one-shot and this is what I came up with. Rereading it, I feel like this story might need a preceding chapter or some more development to give Nightshroud's conversation with Luna some more weight. Having said that, it's a one-shot and those are meant to be short and self-contained, so I guess I don't really know how to feel about it. I would appreciate any thoughts.
Hope you enjoy!
EDIT - Leaving this as a one-shot would be a bit lazy. I'm gonna try to expand on what I have.
Shadows flitted around the streets of Canterlot. Small groups of ponies in twos and threes meandered about, their silhouettes framed by glowing windows. Faint music and the buzz of conversation spilled from the doors of small bars and restaurants as they gradually filled with customers.
Blackwell strolled lazily down the sidewalk, enjoying the light bustle and the cool night air. He always loved the nighttime. It was a time when the whole city collectively threw up their hooves and said, “I’m done being serious for today!” Downtown Canterlot came alive as if each night was a mini festival and everypony was ready to let their manes down.
Rounding a bend in the road, Blackwell found himself staring at a rustic wood-and-brick structure. Boxy letters above the door labeled the establishment ‘Tankard’s Tavern’. Smiling easily, Blackwell shoved open the door and walked in. A grey-maned pony with a neatly trimmed beard looked up as Blackwell approached. “Evenin’ Blacks. The usual?”
“You know it, Tankard.”
Nodding, Silver Tankard reached beneath the bar and brought up a large steel mug. Filling it from a tap on the wall, Tankard asked, “So where’s Shroud tonight? It’s not like you to come alone.”
“Oh, he has a few things on his mind tonight. He has a mare to please now.” Blackwell chuckled as he accepted his mug from Tankard. “I don’t think he’ll sleep a wink tonight.”
Tankard raised an eyebrow. “That bad, huh?”
Blackwell shook his head. “You don’t know the half of it, Tank. Honestly, he’ll be lucky to survive this one.” Blackwell turned to walk away.
“Well, wish him luck for me.” Tankard called as he turned toward another customer.
Blackwell took in a sweeping glance of the tables. Spying his buddies, Blackwell trotted over to their table. A thin, bespectacled unicorn noticed Blackwell as he approached. “Hey Blacks, I’m glad you’re here. Rock-for-brains here is picking Fleur De Lis over Vinyl Scratch. Care to tell him how wrong he is?”
The brawny, brown-coated earth pony in question set down his mug with a thud. “Look, Crunch, I know ya have a thing for the wild ones, but ya gotta show at least a little consideration for class! If ya slept with Scratch, you’d probably wake up the next morning with a new lifelong friend, ya know what I’m sayin’?”
Number Crunch rolled his eyes. “That’s just a stereotype, Dust. Even if it were true, wouldn’t it be worth it to spend a night with that piece of flank?”
“I dunno about that.” Blackwell said, sitting down at the table, “Fleur’s got the whole quiet thing going for her. I bet she’d be pretty crazy in bed.”
Dusteye scoffed at his drinking buddies. “You two’re like colts. Always talkin’ about what a hot piece of flank somepony is. Don’t neither of ya care about character?” Dusteye paused to let out a massive belch. “I mean ya gotta have more to your standards than just a nice flank.”
Blackwell looked around the table. “You know who really has a nice flank?”
Number Crunch downed a mouthful of beer. “Who?”
“Princess Luna.” Blackwell stated matter-of-factly, taking another swig from his mug.
Dusteye rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Blacks, ya know the rules. Sure, the princesses have nice flanks. Tartarus, they have eternal youth, but ya can only name ponies ya can actually get with. Ya can’t call out Princess Luna until she goes out with somepony.” He took another long draught and set his mug on the table with finality.
“Yep,” Blackwell said, staring around the table, “that’s the rule, all right.”
Blackwell and Number Crunch locked eyes. For a moment Number Crunch just stared back, confused. Blackwell leered at him, waiting. Slowly, Crunch’s eyes grew wider as comprehension dawned. “No. Bucking. Way.” His gaze snapped to the fourth place at the table, as if just noticing it was vacant.
Blackwell nodded solemnly. For his part, Dusteye was far too interested in finding the bottom of his mug to think about what Blackwell was implying. Crunch’s eyes lit up. “So he finally-“
“Yep.”
“A-and she-“
“Yep.”
“They’re actually going to-“
“Probably.”
Number Crunch slowly set down his mug. “Wow… imagine that.”
Blackwell gave him a lecherous smile. “That is the point of the game, right?”
Dusteye set down his empty mug with a look of disgust. Glancing up to see his two friends grinning at each other, he gave them an incredulous glare. “What're you two jawin’ about? Ya find somethin’ funny?”
“Nightshroud actually asked Princess Luna out,” Number Crunch said in an ecstatic whisper, “and she said yes!”
Dusteye gave a snort of laughter. “No he didn’t. Blackwell here is just pulling your leg because Nightshroud couldn’t make it tonight.”
Blackwell fiddled with his mug, a sly smile stealing across his face. “I can find out where they’ll go on their first date, if you guys need proof.”
Number Crunch’s eyes grew wide at the suggestion. “Don’t you think he’ll be mad?” he asked in a barely audible whisper.
Blackwell smirked evilly. “Only if he finds out.”
Dusteye rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Oh, come on, Blackwell. Is this joke even worth it? You’re just gonna waste an evening and neither of us is gonna be surprised when we find out Nightshroud just went to bed early or somethin’.”
“Okay, Dusteye, if I’m lying I’ll buy two weeks’ worth of drinks. However, if I’m telling the truth, you have to buy me rounds for two weeks.” Blackwell spat on his hoof and held it out to Dusteye. “Care to put your bits where your mouth is?”
Without hesitation, Dusteye spat on his hoof and shook Blackwell’s heartily. “You’re making it too easy, Blacks. I won’t be fooled by a bluff that bad.”
“Okay, okay, so let’s go find them,” Number Crunch muttered impatiently.
“Hold on, Crunchy, I don’t know the specifics yet. I need to figure out where and when Nightshroud plans to go.”
Number Crunch gave a frustrated snort. “If he’s not here and he’s not on the date, then where is he?”
Blackwell scratched his chin. “Actually, I’m not sure. He said something about having a lot of preparation to do. He could be anywhere, really.”
“What to do… what to do…”
Nightshroud paced back and forth in front of his bunk, thinking hard.
“Come on, Nightshroud! You’re going out with a princess; you have to do something special.”
The moonlit café idea is out. Gotta surprise her with something… He scratched his head and noticed he was sweating. He took it as a good sign. Glad I’m taking this seriously. Don’t want to blow this chance.
He sat down on his bunk, kneading his head between his hooves. Eventually, he gave a frustrated sigh and let his hooves fall to his sides. “She’s thousands of years old… nothing is going to surprise her! She can even see into my dreams, so I can’t count on those for any help.”
Nightshroud flopped onto his blue-sheeted bed, disappointed in himself. Maybe something will come to me in the morning. He lay on his bed, thinking wistfully of Princess Luna. He listed off what he knew about her slowly to try to find something he could work with. Let’s see, she’s a princess, she’s incredibly powerful, she’s thousands of years old, she was banished to the moon for a thousand years, she…
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. Wait… she may be thousands of years old, but she hasn’t been around for a millennium. If I’m gonna surprise her, I need to show her a good time modern-style! Brilliant! He nearly clapped his hooves together in glee, but restrained himself when he remembered he was supposed to be a soldier.
Nightshroud reached up to the picture of Princess Luna he had hanging on his wall. The picture was a candid shot taken during Nightmare Night. Luna was sitting on a small stormcloud, apparently having just pulled a thunder prank on some of the hapless ponies running away. Taking it down carefully, he hugged it to his chest and kissed it for luck. Hanging it back on the wall next to his bunk, Nightshroud rolled out of his bed.
If I’m going to really win her over, I need to show her I’m thinking about her. Rubbing his hooves together like a foal about to play a prank, Nightshroud hatched a daring plan. Only a pony truly close to the princess could pull off a job like this. He tip-hoofed over to the duty roster, earning a sidelong glance from a passing Lunar Guard, and began copying down the names of the guards on shift that night.
This plan would take all of his cunning…
“Well, why not just tell him yourself?”
Blackwell looked up from his third mug of beer. “Wut?”
“Just give him some ‘friendly advice’,” Number Crunch muttered conspiratorially, pushing his round-rimmed glasses further up his nose, “Tell him a great place for a date is… I dunno… wherever you take mares. We can reserve seats and see how it goes from there.”
“Actually, I can’t. Luna told him not to take my advice on dating. Apparently, my romantic dreams aren’t good enough for her.”
Dusteye snorted into his drink. “Well, she’s damn right about that. I don’t think you’ve dated a single mare that didn’t either hate your guts afterward or want to put ya on a leash. Sometimes both.”
Blackwell smiled dreamily. “Yeah, but what a leash to be put on, am I right?”
Number Crunch blushed deeply and promptly started choking on his light beer.
Blackwell snapped out of his reverie. “Besides, the place I usually go wouldn’t really help us as far as checking up on Shroud goes. I think I heard mention of a moonlit café though. Either of you hear of a nice place like that?”
Dusteye scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Yeah there’s a place down at the end of Shady Lake Avenue like that. I think it’s called Flight of Fancy or somethin’.”
Blackwell made a gagging sound at the flowery name. “There’s not an icicle’s chance in Tartarus I’m going to anyplace called ‘Flight of Fancy’ with two guys. Hay, I wouldn’t take most of my mares to a place like that.”
Dusteye cast a jaundiced eye over his drinking companion. “You’re a real catch, Blackwell.”
“I try.” Blackwell shot back smugly. “Anyway, if I’m gonna find out where Shroud is planning on wooing the wuvwy pwincess, I can’t sit here chatting about it with you two all night. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
With that, Blackwell stood and left Tankard’s behind. Dusteye glanced over at Number Crunch with a disbelieving look on his face. “He’s serious, isn’t he?”
Number Crunch stared after Blackwell for a moment, then slowly looked back at his companion and shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Celestia trotted wearily down the stairs from the ivory tower where she had just set the sun. Today hadn’t been as rough as some days, but she still had to deal with Sir Huffington II’s proposal. She glanced wearily at the 300 pages she was levitating beside her. Hopefully Luna would have something to talk about tonight that she could use as a distraction from work.
Rounding the corner, Celestia saw Luna coming down the hall with her guard. Celestia blinked and looked closer. Was she? No, it couldn’t be…
Was Princess Luna actually prancing down the hallway?
The guards following Princess Luna seemed worn out, even haggard. Celestia decided that Huffington’s proposal could wait. Obviously, something far more interesting was happening with her sister and she simply couldn’t keep her mind on zoning laws tonight.
Happy with her decision, Celestia teleported the stack of paper to her study and continued onward with a bit more spring to her step.
“Good evening, Tia!” A lilting singsong followed by a short giggle greeted Celestia as the two parties met. “How was Court today? Fulfilling, I trust?” Luna teased heartily.
Luna’s giddy smile was infectious. Grinning back at the practically skipping alicorn, Celestia stuck her tongue out at her. “As fulfilling as it always is, sister dear. You seem to be in high spirits! Did you dream about a stallion last night?”
Luna playfully nudged her sister with a wing. “No, and you’re never going to guess what happened, so ha!”
As they reached the small dining room, they waited for their nightly meal to be set. Celestia cleared her throat and spoke to the assembled staff, “Luna and I have personal matters to discuss tonight. You are all dismissed for now. Guards, if you would wait outside.”
Bowing silently, the staff and guardponies quietly evacuated the dining room, closing the heavy wooden doors behind them.
Celestia turned to Luna, her eyes sparkling in the light from the chandelier hanging overhead. “All right, Lulu, spill it! Something is definitely up with you, and I’m not leaving this room until I know your secret.”
Luna smiled coyly, suddenly very interested in the glass of milk floating in front of her. “Oh, I don’t know, Tia, it’s really not that interesting. I’m sure what happened in Court today is far more relevant.”
Celestia knew Luna only teased like this when she had particularly juicy gossip to share. She leaned over the table, determination blazing in her eyes. “Spill.”
Normally Luna would hold out a bit longer, but she was bursting to tell Celestia the news. Practically throwing the glass of milk back onto the polished tabletop, she leaned forward as well and spoke in a whisper, “I have a date!”
Celestia giggled, smirking teasingly at Luna. “Oh, so Sir Moneybags finally won you over, did he? I always knew you two were meant for each other.”
Luna gave Celestia a reproving glare. “That flaccid blowhard? Come now, Tia, you can do better than that.”
Celestia put a hoof to her chin for a moment. “I do seem to recall a very nice stallion painting himself midnight blue and proclaiming the two of you to be soulmates. What was his name? I think he called himself ‘Obelisk’.”
Luna shook her head, grimacing in disgust. “His real name was Verdant Acre, and I’ll thank you not to bring up that… gentlestallion when we are eating. No, actually, it is one of my own Lunar Guards.”
Celestia gasped dramatically. She let her wings wrap around her body as if protecting herself from unseen eyes. “Why, Princess Luna, how scandalous! What will the aristocracy think?” Her golden regalia clinked as her body shook with repressed giggles. “Who was it that caught your eye?”
Luna sat up a little straighter. “Actually, I was the one who caught his eye.”
Celestia let her mouth fall open. “You must tell me all about it.” She tapped her hoof on the table. “Come on, out with it!”
Luna leaned closer in and told her story in an excited murmur. “Alright, you know that I sometimes watch the dreams of my Guard to keep an eye on them, right?” Celestia nodded. “Well, the dreams are pretty normal fantasies for the most part. Fame, money, power, lust, you know.” Celestia bobbed her head eagerly, urging Luna to continue. “I usually just ignore the dreams that are about me since I’m just an over-sexualized fantasy to most, but imagine my surprise when I come upon one that just features a courtship.”
Celestia’s eyes widened a bit. “A dream about just a date? No… happy ending?”
Luna shook her head. “Not this one. It was just two ponies; I and the Lunar Guard named Nightshroud.” A soft blush crossed Luna’s face at the memory. “He was imagining quite a scene. Moonlight was casting a glowing path across the still waters of a lake. My night sky was clear and sparkling. We were sitting at a table overlooking the lake in a restaurant far away from city lights. He was whispering something in my ear; something that made me blush. It was a little eerie, actually, seeing myself portrayed as a mare rather than a sex object.” Luna paused for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the table. She snapped out of it a second later and continued with the story. “Anyway, I was so curious that I decided to listen in. I only caught the end of what seemed to be a long confession, but the words I heard were ‘…so now you’ll never have to be lonely again.’”
Celestia saw the look in Luna’s eyes as she relived Nightshroud’s dream. A pang of jealousy pricked her heart for a split-second before she crushed it ruthlessly. Luna had been alone, truly alone, for a thousand years. If anypony deserved love and companionship after all their hardships, it was certainly her often-feared sister.
Celestia’s face glowed with a smile akin to the sun breaking the horizon. “That’s such a beautiful dream, Lulu. What happened next?”
Luna snapped out of her reverie. “The dream ended soon after that. For the longest time, I didn’t think anything would come of it. I knew who he was, of course, but a dream like that was so unusual I didn’t want to get my hopes up. His other dreams were nice too, but none were quite like that one so I figured it was a fluke.” Luna’s eyes twinkled as she seemed to regain the momentum she had lost recounting the dream. “Anyway, a couple of days ago, Nightshroud was assigned to my daytime watch. I honestly didn’t suspect a thing. When we got to my room, I bid him and Sergeant Blackwell a good day and shut my door.” Luna’s voice dropped in volume as she prepared for the reveal. “I put my crown away along with my regalia. Suddenly, I hear my bedroom door open behind me. I walk out of my closet to see Nightshroud shutting the door behind himself.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “He just… barged into your room? That’s… um…”
Luna nodded. “Creepy, I know.”
“Especially considering the rash of ill-considered assassination attempts we had after your return.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Please. Ponies these days wouldn’t know how to assassinate royalty if their life depended on it. I was rather vexed when they kept dousing me with lukewarm water, though.” Luna looked curiously at her sister. “What was that all about, anyway? They proclaimed your name when they did it.”
A self-satisfied smirk tugged at the corners of Celestia’s mouth. “I had some complaints a while back about how hot my midday sun was in the summer. I got a bit frustrated at one point, so I told them the heat was due to a sacred magical ‘blessing’ bestowed by the sun.”
“…Really?” Luna deadpanned.
“It kept most of the complainers at bay. I think a pony named Upper Crust passed out from heatstroke, but the cleverer ones didn’t pay it any heed.” Celestia glanced back at her incredulous sister. “Oh come now, Luna, it could have been worse, right? It was just sun-warmed water. Besides, you still haven’t told me what Nightshroud said.”
Luna narrowed her eyes at Celestia for a moment before continuing with her story. “As I was saying, Nightshroud burst into my room when I was getting ready for bed. Naturally, I wasn’t too happy about this. I was charging up a spell when he began babbling about having something to say. Then he said he’d fallen in love with me.”
Celestia gave a very un-princessly snort. “Subtle.”
“Oh be quiet, Tia, it was cute! He was so nervous and jittery I was surprised he could say anything at all. Once he got going, he seemed to pick up on what he wanted to say though. Apparently, he had been hiding his feelings for me because he felt they were based purely on superficial qualities.” Luna smiled warmly as she recalled Nightshroud’s words. “He said he even tried to forget about me by being with other mares, but he couldn’t. Eventually his desire to be with me was so strong that he couldn’t stand it anymore!”
“He said all that?” Celestia said, a genuine smile crossing her face. “That part is actually pretty sweet. You always were a sucker for the romantic fools, Lulu.”
Luna looked down her nose in mock-haughtiness. “Of course I am. I wish more colts grew into romantic fools. Who better to be a sucker for?” At this statement, Celestia gave Luna a sultry smile. Luna blinked, then threw her sister a dirty look. “You know what I meant, Tia.”
Celestia’s smile grew soft as she sighed. “Yes, Lulu, I know what you meant. In truth, I’m… a little jealous. I wish we could know our subjects more personally, but it seems like there’s less and less time in the day to spend away from petty politics. I’ve turned down advances from so many ponies who want to court Princess Celestia that I fear the ponies who want to date Tia don’t exist.“ Celestia’s gaze had grown cold and distant as she stared at the hardwood table. A glowing ember of resentment smoldered within her that she couldn’t seem to quench.
Silence prevailed in the octagonal dining room for a while, the feast on the table lying untouched and forgotten. Drawing a shuddering breath, Celestia cleared her throat and hitched a long-practiced smile into place. “But this news is about your good fortune, Luna. I am happy for y-“
Celestia was surprised to see that Luna had apparently vanished from the other side of the table. Silver-shod hooves encircled Celestia from her right side as Luna hugged her. Surprised at first, Celestia tensed up and looked into Luna’s moist eyes. “Tia, you don’t have to pretend with me. I was so happy with this news that I-I didn’t even think about how you might feel. I’m sorry.”
Celestia hesitated for a moment as the ember flared briefly. Slowly, she put her wing around Luna and pressed her sister into a tight embrace. Celestia rested her head on Luna’s shoulder as she allowed the plastic smile to slip from her face. “You’ve done nothing to be sorry for, Lulu. It’s just…” Celestia paused for a moment, trying to think of just how to express what she was feeling. “It’s just hard being alone.” Celestia hated those words coming out of her mouth.
Luna nuzzled against Celestia’s neck. “It’s okay, Tia. You aren’t alone.”
Author's Note
IT LIVES!
Hey guys, I'm so sorry for not updating this sooner. I had a lot of random stuff going on that kept me from finishing it for awhile, but I have help in the form of pre-readers and idea people!
Shout outs to Startreker243, TheGreatPandaKing, and Hopeless Appraisal for the patient pre-reading and astute observations that made this chapter happen!
