The Silver Pocket Watch

The nights of Canterlot were cold and bitter, it was like this all year round. But, it didn't deter the princess of the night from going on her nightly stroll. The night sky was just too beautiful from the castle grounds to spend it sitting indoors, alone. As much as Luna would love the prospect of having a friend to enjoy it with, alas it was not possible... for her anyway.

Luna was antisocial, and hard to get along with for most ponies. It was almost as if she wasn't a pony at all, personality wise, that is. She was kind, and benevolent... but unlike her sister, she was stubborn and very old fashioned. But, in the many years Luna has spent on her lonesome, she has honed her duty of creating the night sky to a fine art. She had an eye for detail. Each night as she would lie awake, staring at the stars, she would set to work making the Equestrian sky look even more beautiful.

As Luna made her way around the Canterlot gardens, a glimmer in the shadows of a nearby shrub caught her eye. Curious, she made her way over to the source. Reaching out with her magic, she pulled the shrub back to make clear view of what was hidden beneath. It was a pocket watch! Luna was mildly surprised to find such a thing here, surely the ponies of Canterlot would be more careful than to let a precious looking item such as this, disappear from sight.

Luna lifted the small device up in her magical grip, turning it around to inspect it fully. The design, which seemed to be a dragon of some sort, was unlike anything Luna had seen before. It must be an original piece. It was made of silver too, quite a rare substance in Equestria. Whoever owned this was surely of high stature, "Hmm..." she hummed softly to herself, "I should take this fine piece with me, surely somepony will reclaim it..." with a brief snort, she whipped around and trotted back towards the Castle entrance.

Unbeknownst to the night princess, there was a low moan, that of agony coming from the tree above the shrub.

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Princess Luna shuffled uncomfortably around in her bed,’ugh, mornings… how I hate you so...’ she thought to herself, groaning as she pulled the duvet over her eyes to shield them from her sister’s accursed sun.

“Wakey, wakey Woona…” came a small whisper in Luna’s ear, in turn causing the dark blue pony to shriek and jump in the air, “Hehe, oh Luna, how I love your tendency to scare easily!” Princess Celestia jested with her sister, with a smirk.

Luna looked at her sister, and with a huff shot her a vicious glare, to which Celestia burst into an even bigger fit of giggles, “Sister, must you be so energetic in the mornings? I honestly do not know how you do it.” she sighed, and looked at her sister, who still sat with a goofy smile on her face.

“Now, now Luna dear. You know that we must look our very best for our subjects, and that means you should get a good night’s sleep!” she bopped her sister’s nose playfully. Luna scrunched her nose, and rubbed it.

“Okay dear sister, just give me a moment as I get ready.” Luna stated, giving her sister one last look of faux anger. Lighting up her horn, and with a flash, her mane and tail looked immaculate as usual. She made her way across to a glass case, in which held her regalia, taking off the security spells, and swiftly gliding it off it’s pedestal and placing it upon herself.

As she placed the chest piece on, Celestia noticed something hang out from behind it. Curious she trotted forward, and with a swift glow of her horn, pulled whatever it was out. It was a silver pocket watch, “Luna, what is this?” Celestia asked, confused.

“Hmm? Oh, yes… I found that in the gardens last night, whilst on my nightly stroll.” Luna watched over as her sister examined the watch, “Quite the work of art, is it not?” she asked, smirking at her sister’s sudden interest.

“Yes… I must say, Luna, I have never seen a pocket watch quite like this before. It’s quite marvelous.” She hovered the watch back over to her younger sibling, “You should continue holding on to this, in the case of somepony wanting to reclaim it. We certainly wouldn’t want something such as this going ‘missing’ in the lost and found.”

“Our thoughts exactly, dear sister.” Luna took the watch and tucked it behind her chest plate once again, “Now then… off to breakfast?” she looked questioningly over to the sun princess.

“I can not, no. I have received report of some creature being captured in the gardens. I was told to come urgently. The heavens only know what the guard has dug up this time.” Celestia giggled.

Luna nodded softly, “Alright then, sister. I shall speak with thee later.” with a brisk trot the two sisters left the room, Luna quickly locking it behind her and they went their separate ways.

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 “Princess Luna!” came the faint echo of a shout from the hallway, outside the dining area, “Princess Luna!” the shout became clearer as the pony closed distance between themselves and the dining area. There was sound of hooves clopping against the ground, getting louder and louder, before they reached the dining area’s doors, and with the faint fumbling of the pony outside pushing the door open, “Princess Luna! I have urgent news from Princess Celestia!”

A day guard stood at attention in front of her, his breath ragged and face frowning, “What is wrong, my subject?” Luna asked, annoyed that her breakfast had been interrupted.

“Your majesty, the creature we had seized earlier has awoken… and it-he speaks Equestrian!” the guard answered.

Raising an eyebrow in suspicion, Luna spoke with a skeptical tone, “Are you sure what you are saying is truthful?”

“Indeed, your majesty. Princess Celestia ordered me to retrieve you right away!”

“Hmm, all right. You may take your leave, I will make my own way to my sister.”

“But your majesty, I didn’t tell you w-” the guard was interrupted by a bright, dark blue flash, the night princess was gone, and the guard sighed.

Luna appeared in another bright flash by her sister’s side, “Oh, Luna! You gave me a fright.” Celestia stated in a light tone.

“Sister, what is the meaning of this interruption? What is it I have heard of this captured being? It has spoken in Equestrian tongue?” Luna still held her skeptical look, but Celestia just nodded and looked over to an iron door, which led to the dungeon.

Celestia trotted towards the door, and suddenly the sound of shouting caught Luna’s ear, “Loud, isn’t he?” Celestia grimaced, and opened the door for her younger sibling.

Luna slowly walked into the room, the lighting was dim, but otherwise the dungeon was a clean environment, unlike those from her time before Nightmare Moon. She scanned the surrounding area, and spotted two guards standing by a wall, staring into the far end cage with stoic expressions.

The sounds of shouting, and some rather… disturbing profanity came from the cage. Her curiosity piqued, Luna made her way over to where the guards stood, from this vantage point she saw what at first she assumed was an ape. But this creature was rather hairless, except for the long golden hair which sat atop his head.

But the one thing that stood out the most to the princess, was not the fact this creature was wearing clothing… but his golden eyes, those were eyes that have seen far too much sorrow, and death in their lifetime. They were the same eyes, she, herself had.

Luna was knocked from her thoughts as the creature aimed some of his abuse towards her, this time, “Hey you dumb moon horse let me go!” he said angrily.

Luna blinked, her thoughts processed what had been said ‘Did… did he just call me… moon horse?’ Luna giggled, how such a statement would be offensive to anypony, especially to royalty… but Luna couldn’t help but feel very amused at the creature’s antics.

“Creature, what is thy name?” she asked in a commanding voice, trying to cover up her giggles.

The thing behind the bars seemed to calm slightly, although he now seemed confused as to how the creature before him spoke in the same tongue, “Uh… why should I tell you anything!?” he exclaimed, looking at Luna with anger.

Luna giggled once more, “My, my you have such a short temper.”

“Hey! Who are you calling short!?” he was absolutely furious now, and this was the last straw for Luna… she finally burst into a rapid fire of giggles, she couldn’t contain her amusement with this strange being. But her laughing seemed to only annoy the creature further, as he screamed really loudly in anger, before finally flopping onto the cell’s bed and pulling the blankets over his head before giving out a long groan.

“Now, please forgive me for my rather rude introduction, friend.” Luna said calmly, as she approached the bars, “Can you tell me what you are?” Luna asked, looking to the creature with curiosity.

“Human…” He mumbled, before turning around in the bed to face the wall.

“Come now, we are not here to hurt, or upset you. I am sorry for our actions, I just haven’t had myself a good laugh in quite some time.” the ‘human’ turned back around, and sat up in the bed. He scanned Luna’s face, looking her up and down.

“Are you a chimera ?” he asked, although his temper had seemed to cool down more, by this point.

“Why, sir I am a pony.” she huffed, a chimera? She was nothing like those mismatched evil beings, “Why would you think we were a chimera?”

“Oh… uh, no reason!” he said awkwardly, smiling sheepishly and rubbing his neck.

“Hmm…” Luna hummed, as she scanned the human, “What is your name, human?” she asked softly.

"I'm the Fullmetal—" the human stopped itself mid-sentence. "I'm Edward, Edward Elric…” he said, although a look of brief sadness adorned his face.

Luna caught what he was about to say, ‘He is the Fullmetal? Fullmetal what?’ she thought to herself, “Well it is good to meet you… ‘Edward’. My name is Princess Luna, co-ruler of the land you are now in, Equestria. The pony with the sunbutt over there, is my elder sister, Princess Celestia.”

Celestia looked at her sister with utter shock, here she was greeting a new and intelligent species to Equestria, and she was referring to her as ‘sunbutt’ “Now, Luna—”

She was about to scold her sister, but was interrupted by the loud laughter from the human, Edward. Perplexed by this, she looked helplessly to her guards, who struggled to keep straight faces.

Edward grinned and went to fist bump Luna, but the guard took this as a sign of aggression and were about to attack, but Luna responded in kind and bumped her hoof to the human’s fist… unbeknownst to the world, a famous friendship had just begun.

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Hours had passed since the first meeting with the human in the dungeons, Luna had let Edward out and ordered the guard to bring him to an empty guest room. Celestia had a messenger invite Edward to dinner, once he had settled into the room. Luna, on the other hand was just excited to see her new, and rather odd friend.

The time was half-past seven, around the time Edward was invited down for dinner. He left his temporary quarters, and into the wide, and decorated hallways. He looked up and down the long halls, “Uh… I wasn’t told where to go.” No one was around, and he was in a castle, “Well, I might as well let myself get lost...”

He turned to the right and walked up the hallway, hoping he could find any sign of the dining hall. ‘I have to be careful what I say around these… ponies, as much as I like the blue one, I don’t know enough about them.’ He thought as he walked the same direction, looking up and down smaller side corridors, and increasingly getting frustrated, “This place is far too big! Gah!” he shouted in anger, stomping a foot to the ground.

“What a ruffian!” Edward heard a voice exclaim, from behind him, “I say, you ghastly beast, what hole did you come from?” the voice said in disgust.

“Who are you calling a beast!?” Edward shouted angrily, his face was absolutely seething with rage, he was about to hit the white stallion when a voice shouted from behind.

“Blueblood, how dare you insult a new creature to our lands, and an honorable guest to our castle?” Celestia looked down upon the white stallion in disappointment, “Come, now, Edward. I am sorry we did not send guards to retrieve you from your room.” Celestia said, and motioned to a door on the left hand side of the hall.

“But, Auntie I barely said a word to that thing!” Blueblood looked horrified, Celestia, though, just rolled her eyes and turned around and trotted back towards the dining hall. Blueblood was left sitting on his haunches, with a look of confusion, “Bwah?”

Celestia and Edward made their way into the huge dining area, and sat near the end of the table, where Luna waited patiently with a small smile adorning her muzzle, “Thou art rather late, wouldn’t we agree?” she giggled softly, to which Edward just laughed and nodded.

“I didn’t know where to go, so I kinda walked around for a bit.”

“That is quite alright, Edward.” Luna said, as she and her sister smiled to the human.

“Please, call me Ed.” He replied, and sat down at the side of the table, facing Luna. But as he sat, his leg hit the chair with a loud clanking sound, Ed just blushed and settled himself down.

“What was that?” Princess Celestia asked, confused.

Ed laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck,’Ah, shit… I have to be more careful, I can’t let them know too much about me.’ He panicked internally, and replied sheepishly “Yeah, that’s my automail leg…” he pulled up the trouser of his left leg, and showed the mechanical limb.

Luna gasped, but Celestia’s eyes widened, and stared at the limb, intrigued on how such a thing was possible, “Pray tell, how is your limb mechanical? Wouldn’t your body fail to accept such a foreign object?”

“Well, there’s a bunch of wires and stuff that connect to my nerves, and the stump where my leg ends was modified to attach the limb on with ease… but I don’t really know how it works, I always had my mechanic to fix it up and stuff…”

“Interesting…” Luna said quietly, “Please, tell me… what would happen if your limb was to break?” she asked.

“Well, normally I’d have Wi— My mechanic fix it up, but since I’m here… I dunno.”

Celestia looked intensely at the limb, before speaking up “Well, I could attach a spell to your limb and make it invulnerable… but it would be rather painful because of the nerves attached to it.”

Ed seemed to be in thought for a moment, “Well, I’m kind of used to it… it was practically unbearable having my automail attached in the first place… but why would it hurt?”

“It would hurt, because this spell is never to be used on living beings, as it would most likely kill them because of the pain. But, because your limb is ‘automail’ it doesn’t actually feel anything, but the pain would come because of the nerves attached to it, which give you the ability to move the limb.”

“Ah, yes. Okay, yeah sure… but maybe later, dinner’s here.” he pointed to the flood of ponies coming from the kitchen, each holding trays and bowls of different sizes. The ponies quickly and neatly set out all of the food for the two sisters and human. With a quick ‘thank you’ from each of them, the ponies went back to the kitchen, leaving the odd group to converse amongst themselves, again.

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“Edward, aren’t you going to drink that?” Celestia asked, looking to the human who sat glaring at the glass of milk in front of him.

“No.” He said, and turned his head away in disgust, folding his arms in a huff.

Luna saw this and laughed, “Come now, Edward… don’t you want to grow big and strong?” she joked, sticking her tongue out at the moody teen.

“Are you calling me small!?” he shouted, and the two sisters burst into loud fits of laughter at his expense. Edward just grumbled, crossing his arms again, looking down at his lap in embarrassment.

Luna lifted the milk in her telekinetic grip, and lifted the glass closer to Edward, unbeknownst to the annoyed boy, and she brought it up to his nose. Noticing this, Edward fell backwards off of his chair, to get away from the floating glass of milk.

“Gaah!” he screamed in terror, and ran to the far end of the room, but the milk followed him. He ran in circles around the room as the glass of milk followed closely behind.

He tripped over a bump in the carpet, but in time Celestia saved him from hitting the ground with her magic and the trio all laughed merrily at their own antics. Ed walked back over to his seat, and sighed tiredly, ‘Maybe I can get some information about their abilities.’

“Hey, I was meaning to ask… how do you do that stuff, with your horn… and the ‘spells’?”

“Hmm, yes, I can see why this would be odd to one such as yourself. You see, Equestria has an ambient magic surrounding the entirety of the world. Unicorns, and alicorns, such as I can harness this magic via our horns. Thus we can create spells, such as the common telekinesis spell you have surely seen us use many times by now.” Celestia explained.

“So, these ‘spells’ can you do anything with them? Like… oh, I dunno, Create something, out of nothing?” Ed asked,

To Luna, he seemed to be beating around the bush a bit, but she allowed him to keep whatever it was on his mind, to himself for privacy’s sake, “Well, yes we can. Although it takes a very powerful magic user, even one such as me or my sister find it hard to do. When we do create something, however it really does exhaust our magic reserves for a while.” Celestia continued.

“That’s… wow.” Ed looked down, he seemed to be deep in thought.

“Why the sudden interest, Edward?” Luna asked, cocking an eyebrow skeptically.

“Uh, no… it’s nothing, I just had a theory about something. But, ah forget it, it’s not important.”

He clearly looked troubled because of something, so for that the two sister glanced at each other and in silent agreement decided to drop it… for now, anyway.

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After dinner the trio went their separate ways, Celestia went to the throne room to finish up with the last of her work, and Luna had gone to her quarters to relax for a while to read, and Edward decided to go to sleep.

Celestia was rather worried with Edward’s sudden fascination with magic, but she decided to drop the subject for the mean time, and have her guards keep an eye on him. She didn’t want to offend the lovely teen, but she didn’t fully trust him, yet.

With that in mind, though, Edward was quite bright young man and he was wonderful to be around. She would have to spend more time with the young human, to get to know him more. Luna and Celestia made it one of their goals to find at least a bit of his background, for securities sake.

But that was for another day, for now they had opted to allow Edward to settle in and become comfortable around the two rulers. Luna was certainly warming up to him, this was a good sign as Celestia wanted to keep him close. She would like to learn more of his species, because to her knowledge he was the only of his kind in the country. Maybe the entire planet!

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Far from Canterlot, in the deepest reaches of the draco mountains, a dark presence was forming, it was weak and almost powerless… the one thing it needed to regain its form was the strange hero it stole from it’s home. But before the hero’s time came, it needed to gain some allies.

With that thought, the dark presence faded, and got to work, spreading its influence in the nations surrounding Equestria, ‘This victory, shall be magnificent...’