He trailed his fingers along the spines of the books, skimming the titles of the new and old books mixed together on the polished oak shelves. Turning away from the bookshelf he walked across the darkened room towards the massive circular four poster bed. Large deep royal blue curtains hung from the canopy over the bed shrouding the inside from the world. Gently he shifted the sheet curtains to the side and looked at the pristine silvery sheets covering the bed and by the pillows he noticed a single white plushy that mimicked the other ruler of the nation. Until that plushy everything in the room had made it feel more like a guest room than somewhere someone would use consistently. The room felt empty and lonely with its lackluster furnishings and desolate wall decor. If he was being honest with himself the room felt almost like a lavish prison cell more than it felt like a bedroom. Turning away from the bed, he sighed as he thought about his own room back in the kingdom. Devoid of any personal touch, it was even sparser than this and yet it still felt more lived in than this lonely room.
His head swiveled towards the doors abruptly as the sound of hoofsteps from the hall reached his ears. He silently darted across the room into a corner where he crouched down so the bed would shield him from the imminent light of ponies entering the room. A silver dagger was quietly pulled from his belt and held against the backside of his arm as he tensed up ready to strike. Slowly the doors creaked open and his breath hitched as he caught sight of his mark for the first time outside a photo.
A striking blue alicorn with a mane full of stars stood in the doorway. Her gentle curves gave her a graceful appearance while her stance spoke of a hidden strength. After she nodded to the guards she turned into the room and scanned it slowly. Her piercing gaze scrutinized every small detail of the room and our guest found himself enraptured with the aquamarine orbs. His stomach fluttered in a way utterly unfamiliar to him as her gaze passed over his small darkened corner of the room. Without warning her search came back to rest on his hiding spot and for a moment he felt his muscles tense before the beautiful mares eyes continued on. The alicorn's muscles tensed ever so slightly before relaxing as she stepped into the room without care.
His mark slowly entered the room relaxed, flexing her wings and rolling her shoulders with a small sigh as she removed the jewelry that hung against her chest. The mare’s horn lit up followed shortly by a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. As the candles flickered to life a dim light cast flickering shadows into the corners of the room causing him to shrink back deeper into the corner in which he hid. The resplendent alicorn crossed the room to a small table were a tea set had been laid out with care by an unknown party. Slowly he shifted into a crouched position and moved silently across the room. He froze in midstep as he a teacup was suddenly presented to him and his mark spoke to him for the first time. “Would you care for some tea?”
He stood completely still for a moment before moving around his target and taking a seat. He watched her slide the tea cup across the table to him and motion to the sugar. “Would you please pass me some sugar.” She smiled warmly at him as he passed it on, letting a few drops of a paralytic drop onto one of the cubes. He picked up the cube and offered it to her, the mare gratefully accepted and began to stir it in.
Luna eyed the assassin suspiciously. “If you're here for what I think you are I regret to inform you that it’s a lost cause. My sister and I are quite hard to kill.” The assassin nodded and took a biscuit and some sugar for his own tea as Luna spoke up again. “May I ask your name?”
The assassin paused for a moment, this was not how it was supposed to go. First you infiltrate the room then you wait for the target to relax before striking from the shadows and leaving without anyone the wiser of your presence. He had done it hundreds of times before and never, not a single time, had he ever been offered tea in the middle of his attempt. This went against everything he had learned, against every single teaching his mentor had given him and yet, he felt compelled to accept the tea by some unknown feeling in his gut. With a small sigh he threw caution to the wind, it’s not like indulging this mare in one last conversation before she died would be a problem for him. “Tis only fair I suppose. My name is Gale. May I know yours?” Gale paused, he never asked to know who he was targeting. Not knowing the name made it easier for him to distance himself from his mark and made the guilt from his line of work just a little easier to bare. Mentally Gale shook his head, something about this mare was messing with his head. He knew he needed to end this quickly before he lost the will to finish the job.
“Tis Luna.” Luna tittered lightly. “You seem troubled by something, though I must admit I am as well. I do not believe I have ever seen a creature such as yourself. You have a physique similar to the griffons but your hands remind me of those belonging to minotaurs. Your feet are also quite the odd shape. To be honest I would believe you to be a minotaur if not for the beak in your mask. Though I do not believe minotaurs are ever so skinny or short, you would barely be as tall as my sister if you were to stand side by side.”
Gale paused and tapped his chin while he organized his thoughts carefully. “I am not from here. I am from far away. As for what troubles me, well you trouble me. I found myself fascinated by you and this room. This is your room but it is so...empty. If I had not found a few of those trinkets or seen that doll on the bed I would have believed myself in the wrong room.”
Luna blushed and hid her smile behind her cup of tea. “I see. Does your kind...” She trailed off and watched as Gale leapt up and silently caught her tea cup. Her eyes fixed on his as panic took root in her chest.
“I’m sorry Miss Luna, it won’t hurt. I gave you a paralytic that’s known to numb pain. Please forgive me for what I have done and am about to do.” He reached out and caught her as she tilted sideways and fell towards the floor. Laying her gently on the floor he pulled a syringe out and stuck it in her neck. “This will halt your lungs and your heart momentarily. I know it’s frightening but it will be painless.”
Luna felt him stroke her neck and in a strange way it comforted her as the darkness consumed her vision. Gale placed his fingers below her jaw line and took a deep breath. “I am sorry for that miss.” Lifting her into his arms Gale rose and moved her to the bed where he tucked her in gently and closed her eyes. Turning away he went to the table and began cleaning it off and removing his presence from the room. He took a sip of the tea he had been offered and sighed. “Oh, this is quite delicious, I should have taken up her offer to enjoy it with her. ” He snuck over to the window and opened it before jumping out, aiming for a large cherry tree in the garden below.
~ ~ ~
Luna sat up and coughed hard and felt a hoof rub her back, “Sister, I am glad. The doctors were very worried, they found traces of a very potent poison in your system.” Luna turned to look at Celestia bringing a gentle smile to her lips before she continued. “I am surprised, this is the first one in some time. Do you remember anything about him that might help us find him?”
Luna took several deep breaths, savoring the feeling of air in her lungs. For a moment his words flitted across her mind causing a mild blush that only deepened as she remembered his actions which then caused her to frown and look at her sister. “He was good, very good. He was not from here as well. He wouldn't say where he was from but he mentioned it was quite far away. I fear I may have been a bit...carefree in dealing with him. I never would have imagined that an assassin would be able to acquire a poison capable of harming us.”
Celestia patted her sister’s back and offered her some water. “It is troubling, he must have a very powerful backer. We are lucky the maids noticed something when they came in to collect the tea set for washing.” Celestia snickered lightly. “Who knows what would have happened if the assassin had locked the door before he left.”
“I will have to thank them personally.” Luna fell backwards on the bed and sighed. “He was a strange one Tia. I don’t think I have ever had an assassin apologize for his actions before he commits them. He might be the worst assassin or the cockiest one I have ever met. Did you know he even gave me his name, his name.” Celestia’s eyebrow lifted ever so slightly in disbelief. “Yes sister, he gave me his name. It’s not one I am familiar with but it’s certainly a place to start.”
Celestia nodded her head and stood up. “I will have the guards look into it later. For now though, the doctor would like you to remain here for observation.” The door to the room opened as Celestia approached it and a guard entered with a notepad. “Iron Helm here will take a description of the assassin from you so we can start looking right away.” Celestia smiled one last time before she moved to leave.
“Wait.” Luna called out suddenly stopping her sister. “Could you perhaps escort me to my room? I don’t much like hospital rooms and, well, I kind of want to rest in my own room.” Luna looked at her sister pleadingly.
Celestia smiled warmly. “I’m sorry Lulu, I need to get a head start on figuring out who is backing the assassin. I will have the guards help you to your room instead and make sure the doctor knows to check on you there in a little while.” Celestia stuck her head through the door and nodded to the guards on either side of the door. “As you heard, my sister would like to return to her room to rest, please escort her and make sure she is safe from any further attempts on her life.” The two guards saluted smartly. Luna slid herself out of her bed as the guards moved to her sides to help her. “Rest well sister, I will tend to the moon and stars tonight.”
“Thank you sister, you keep vigilant. I do not want you to fall victim as well.” Celestia nodded and held the door for her sister as Luna left and began to move down the hall away from her.
“Be safe sister” Celestia whispered after Luna.
~ ~ ~
Gale sat on the bookshelf in the corner of Luna’s room staring down at the midnight blue alicorn, his expression hidden by his mask. “What is it about you Luna, I could swoop in right now to end you but something is staying my hand.” Gale shook his head to clear the strange thoughts and feelings swirling around in it as he watched the gentle rise and fall of the covers that lay over Luna’s sleeping form.
Lowering himself from the bookshelf he quietly crossed the room and stood beside the bed. Luna’s face was scrunched up in a fearful expression so he reached over and placed the alicorn plush next to her head. A caring smile softened his features under the mask as her expression turned peaceful bringing a light chuckle rumbling up from his chest. “What are you Luna? Why is it when I look upon your face I feel as though killing you would be a grave sin? I have killed so many others but you, you make me pause.” Gale leaned over and moved a bit of her astral mane to the side. “You make me question that which I have never questioned.”
Gale jumped as he heard a click and dropped to the floor, rolling under the bed for cover but he held a bit of the bed skirt up to watch the pony who entered. A pair of golden shod hooves moved carefully across the room after the sliver of light from the door disappeared. A creaking sound accompanied the dipping the bed’s mattress on one side and he heard a motherly voice speak up. “Hey Lulu, I see you still have that doll I got you after you returned. I’m so glad he failed, I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Gale held his breath as his eyes darted about looking for an exit. His stomach felt sick for some reason and it made him very uneasy. Everything about this job was wrong and it was driving him insane. He shouldn’t feel this way about taking a life, he never had before. Part of him told him it was because he got to know her a little bit but the rest of him knew that was a lie. His thoughts were interrupted as the voice spoke again.
“I love you Lulu.” The bed creaked as the golden hooved mare shifted. “See you tomorrow.” The mattress rose and four hooves gently tapped against the floor. Gale watched as they went across the room and then a bit of light that vanished as fast as it had appeared. Rolling out away from the door Gale peaked over the bed to look for anypony who might still be in the room.
Upon seeing no pony he rose to his feet and looked at Luna again. “I can’t stop now but I truly am sorry.” Leaning over he brushed a hand over Luna’s cheek. “I don’t know why the idea of harming you feels so abhorrent to me but I must continue, rest well for tonight while I search myself for answers. I will return on a later day.” With that he turned and left through the window again. Luna smiled in her sleep and murmured. “Gale.” as she rolled over.
~ ~ ~
Luna lay in her bed staring at the ceiling, her thoughts swirling around as she tried to figure out anything about the assassin. He seemed uncharacteristically kind for someone in his line of work for starters. There had been a few kinder assassins over the years but never before had she met one who would apologize for what they did. Gale truly seemed concerned about what he did, he certainly didn’t take any pleasure in it like most assassins she had seen. His willingness to exchange pleasantries and even idle chattered was very unusual for those who dealt in death, and well poison was common it was almost unheard of to use a poison to lessen the pain of death. Luna shook her head and snorted.
“Troubled, Luna?” Luna’s head snapped up and she saw Gale sitting at the foot of her bed leaning against one of the posts that held the canopy of her bed. Without thinking she fired off two bolts of arcane energy and a loud scream. Both bolts struck him square in the face lifting him into the air and sending him spinning across the room. His unexpected journey came to a sudden halt with a loud cracking sound as the tea table was obliterated by his back. He rolled to a stop against the wall, his feet sticking comically into the air over his head.“Oh no, no, no, no.” Luna jumped from her bed and rushed to his side. “Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead.” She paused for a moment as the oddness of what she was saying struck her but shrugged it off.
As Luna approached she noticed a scorched mask lying in the wreckage of the table. Leaning down beside Gale she saw blood running down his face on side and a burn alongside the right half of his face. The cheek was blackened and the skin cracking in places but overall bloodless. A pit formed in Luna’s stomach as ran a hoof over the burn before gently wiping a bit of the blood away from his face. She then moved a tuft of hair to the side to better see his face with the utmost care.
His eyes were closed but she could tell they were smaller than those of a pony. He had a nose that was proportional to his face, not too large or small in comparison to the features around it and thin lips. His face had an almost gentle look to it but there were scars and lines that criss crossed all over his face and head that told the story of a hard life. The most notable scar ran from over his left eye and down his cheek, crossing over his lips in the corner and crossing his chin. It ended just below his right ear, a chunk of which was missing.
Luna lifted a hoof to move more of his hair and froze when she saw two ice blue eyes staring up at her. With a chuckle Gale rolled to his side and popped his neck. “You pack quite the punch your Highness. If that’s how you fight as well, I should be counting my blessings and hope you never decide to fight me with all you have.”
Luna shook her head. “Please, call me Luna and I am sorry for that. You startled me and after this last month you can understand why I would be leery of you.”
Gale pulled himself up and leaned against the wall, cradling one arm. “It’s okay Luna.” He clenched his teeth and straightened his arm. Placing his shoulder against the wall he leaned forward and then slammed back with a grunt of pain. A loud popping sound caused Luna to wince as his shoulder collided with the wall. Gale sighed and leaned back, moving his shoulder up and down a few times. “Might I trouble you for a cup of tea please?”
Luna nodded and grabbed the shattered table and chairs in her magic, fixing them as she righted them and placed them back where they were before. “Of course, I would love a chance to talk to you some more.” Her horn lit one more time as she pulled her tea set out of the pocket dimension she kept it in and began preparing the tea. “Usually I would use magic for this part but I want a bit more time to talk.”
Gale smiled and nodded. “It’s fine, we shouldn’t rely on magic too much. Can I ask you why you keep coming back to this room? You must have realized by now that it is most likely that I will be waiting for you upon your return.”
Luna paused for a moment. “Only if you will tell me who you are, my assassin.”
Gale paused and looked around, trying to decide if it was a worthwhile trade. On the one hand he would get to know more about this mare he couldn’t seem to kill but on the other he was risking giving her to much information. A few more moments of contemplation and again he came to the conclusion that it was worth his time. “Okay.”
Luna smiled and poured two cups of tea. “It’s a little complicated but this room, it was a gift from my sister.” Luna paused to sip her tea. “When I came back she gave it to me and I feel safe here, even if it is a bit of a prison.” Gale raised an eyebrow and sipped his tea as though to say go on. “My sister wants to protect me but she also wants to keep me watched. I did some horrible things and I understand why she doesn’t fully trust me and this room represents that. It is in a tower far from other ponies and hard to get to by any means besides simply walking. There are wards in place to prevent people from entering by magic but, they work both ways.”
Gale placed his tea down and scratched his chin. “I see but then why is there so little here. This room feels lived in but empty, it feels lonely.”
Luna hung her head. “It reflects me. A lonely mare locked away from the world.”
Gale reached over the table and patted her hoof. Leaning back in his chair he pulled his hand away and took a sip of his tea. “I know how you feel. I...I am not from this world. The story of how I got here is, well it is rather sad and in a way it led me to my current profession. When I first arrived I was with my family but that was a short lived blessing.” Gale paused, his eyes looked towards the wall with a faraway gaze that lasted for a minute before he shook himself free of his memories. “From the moment we arrived we were not allowed rest, we were forced to flee time and time again.” His face darkened as he remembered his first few cruel days fleeing the denizens of this world. His knuckles turned white as his hands clenched into a fist at the thought of what happened next. “It happened while I was away from them, I had gone to gather food believing that we had found somewhere safe to rest. Upon my return from gathering I found my family dead and a group of griffons milling about the camp. The griffons took me in and trained me, I owe them everything and to repay that debt I offer them my service as an assassin. Though I do not give it to them alone, there are others who have purchased my services. To this day though, I have been unable to find the pony who killed my family.”
Luna watched Gale speak, his eyes full of remorse and sadness for what this world had taken from him and done to him. His shoulders slumped forward in admittance of how much he had lost to this world as he finished speaking and silence fell. She waited for a while in the silence before she spoke up again. “So who hired you to kill me?”
Gale took a sip of his tea to clear away the shadows that surfaced in his mind every time he thought of the past. “I cannot say,” He smiled coyly up at Luna. “I am a professional if nothing else.”
“I understand.” Luna turned away from Gale and leaned a leg on the table to prop her head up. “Are you going to keep trying to kill me?”
Gale nodded once. “I have no choice in the matter.”
Luna sighed. “What makes you think you will succeed if you didn’t before.”
Gale laughed lightly. “Misguided optimism.”
“Really, well then please get your attempt over with so I can unlock the doors you locked and have the guards take you away.” Luna turned to face Gale and smiled for a moment before it faltered. She watched in confusion as the world tilted and out of the corner of her eye she watched the floor rise to meet her.
“We can’t allow that Princess, I am sorry again.” Gale stood up and walked around the table and kneeled by her side. “I am surprised you didn’t notice the injection, was my face that entrancing.” He pulled out a long stiletto blade. “No matter, please forgive me for the pain I am about to cause you.” Taking a deep breath he slid the blade into her chest from behind her shoulder. Luna felt it slide through her lung and into her heart and then back out. Gale rose to his feet and wiped the blade clean on the tablecloth. “Sleep well princess.” Turning away he finished the tea before exiting through the window again, pausing only to run back and grab his mask.
~ ~ ~
“Again, Luna!” Celestia almost screamed her exclamation but held back only to be considerate of how embarrassed her sister must have felt. “I get that he has exceptional skills but you have thousands of years of experience. I don’t think you have ever had this much trouble with an assassin before.” Celestia poked the gauze patch the sat behind Luna’s shoulder. “Again you survived by a narrow margin. If it wasn’t for your unicorn magic kicking in to slow the blood and your earth pony vitality this one might really have killed you.”
Luna smiled and then winced as a bolt of pain passed through her chest. “Ow. He’s different than the others Tia. He doesn’t want to be doing this. Every time he makes an attempt we talk and I learn a little more about him.”
Celestia looked into her sister’s eyes, a little bit of worry shining through her harsh look. “Luna, you can’t keep this up.” Her voice softened and her eyes watered a little. “He’s better than either of us thought, you need to take this more seriously. This is the sixth time he has come so close. Even our magics have their limits.” Placing a white hoof on her sister's shoulder she sighed. “I know you hate it but the extra guards are for your protection and even though you're fascinated by him I need you to understand how dangerous he is.”
Luna huffed slightly, wincing as her lung tried to take in air. “I can’t help it sister, this one is just so different.” She looked up at her sister with a mixture of excitement and joy. “He claims to be from another world, another world sister. Do you know what that means, he has an entire worlds worth of knowledge in his head. A culture we can’t even begin to fathom guides his every action, actions that were taught to him by our world.”
Celestia perked up. “Another world you say?” For a moment she tapped her chin. “That...that might explain some of what I have found. There were a few rumors I uncovered which back this theory up.”
Luna sighed lightly. “Does it?” She gave her sister an incredulous look and received a nod in affirmation. “He said that he came from another world and from the start he and his family had to run from everything in this world. Does this also back those rumors?” Another nod from Celstia. “He didn’t elaborate on anything but he did say that a pony killed his family and the griffons saved him. He also said they trained him and assassination is how he repays the griffons. What do you make of this?”
Celestia sat tapping her hoof to her chin rhythmically. “That story sounds familiar. I think there was a guard who had a story that was something along those lines but the griffons were the antagonists.”
Luna’s ears perked up and she turned to her sister. “Then, Gale is being lied to and manipulated?”
Celestia nodded. “Most likely, assuming the griffons are responsible for the majority of this assassin’s tasks.”
“I would stake my moon on it.” Luna sat up with a wince and looked her sister in the eye. “If that’s the case, somepony needs to tell Gale.”
Celestia furrowed her brow. “Not yet, let's get all the facts first. We need to know more about him still, like how long he has been doing this and whose version of the story is true.”
Luna nodded and smiled. “Perhaps this one can be saved sister.”
Celestia nodded. “I would hope, I do not know how to deal with him otherwise. His skill and devotion to his jobs leaves us very few options.”
Luna sighed. “I like it when we can save them rather than the alternatives.”
“Me too sister, me too.” Celestia stood up and headed for the door. “I hope this one understands reason.” She left the room and spoke to her guards to find the guard the rumors spoke of and to keep an eye on her sister’s room in case he showed up there.
~ ~ ~
Celestia lifted the thin thread in her magic to examine it closer, such a simple trap had marked yet another win for the assassin. She wasn’t sure why he kept at it when he must know that he was never going to succeed at this point. She let the thread fall from her grasp and looked at one of the two firing mechanisms that were on other side of the open doors. Simple spring loaded dart launchers, yet so effective.
She looked down at a guard who walked past and then back to the dart launcher. “To high to hit a guard and it would hit me in the muscles of my neck. The perfect height for my sister and my sister alone. The thread to, I could set it off but again the dart throwers are in the wrong spot for me.” She held up the dart that had been salvaged from her sister’s neck.
“Guard, this dart, could it pierce your armor?” Celestia held the dart for a guard to look at it.
“I don’t believe so your highness. A dart of that type would at best pierce skin and a thin layer of clothing. It’s not used very often because of its fragile nature.” The guard bowed and turned to go scour the room for more clues. Celestia watched him, she knew they wouldn’t find anything new just like every time before.
“One more question, would you call the assassin targeting my sister kind?” Celestia mulled over the word as she spoke it. To her it sounded like an alien concept almost but she could remember a day when kindness could be ascribed to a killer. Most saw killing as so abhorrent that it could never be kind or good but a long life and many battles had taught her different.
The guard tilted his head up in thought for a minute or two. “I would say he is your highness. Never has anyone else been hurt in his attempts and he even goes so far as to leave her in a comfortable position.” The guard looked around the room. “I know an assassin's job is to the kill quietly which he excels at but he never uses a painful method. Most of the attempts have seen her numbed, sleeping or been quick enough that the body doesn’t feel it.”
Celestia nodded to the guard, letting him go to continue his job while she stared at the dart for a minute. “What drives you? Why do you keep foolishly trying to do such a futile task?” She turned and left, a pair of guards noticed and trotted after her. They walked in silence for a while before Celestia spoke up. “Have you found the pony I requested yet, the one who saw what happened to whom we believe was the family of our assassin friend?”
“We are bringing her in now. She’s been spending her retirement in Ponyville.”
Celestia nodded to guard. “Good work, make sure somepony is there to greet her.” The guard saluted and peeled off into another hallway, leaving Celestia alone with one guard. “What do you think of this assassin?” Celestia flicked her eyes to the guard that had stayed by her side.
The guard paused for a moment, the corners of his mouth turned down in thought for a moment before he looked up at his monarch. "It's...” He paused unsure of how to continue. “It’s the strangest thing. I've never seen an assassin with skill like his fail to eliminate his target on so many occasions. He works with deadly precision, but can't seem to accomplish the deed. It's like there's always just too little poison in the tea, or the blade just barely misses the artery, like something is holding him back.” The guard shook his head a little. “And it's not just his attempts on Princess Luna's life, but how he leaves her that baffles me as well. Always left in the most comfortable position possible for her wounds. And always preceded, so claims Luna, by a lovely chat, as though it was nothing more than afternoon tea! Baffling isn't a strong enough word for it! It's almost as if he.....if...."
"He cares for my sister?" Celestia offered to the guard with the hint of a smile.
The guard leaned back a little, his ears folding back. "Well, I know it's not my place to say....." He trailed off and straightened himself out. "But I agree. There's more to this assassin than anypony has yet to guess.“
Celestia nodded slowly as she turned the corner and a pair of guards by a door stiffened. “I see. Maybe you're right. Luna does seem to like him.” Celestia opened the door and her sister smiled at her.
“How’d it go?” Luna coughed a little and when the sheet she had used to cover her mouth was pulled away a red stain adorned it.
Celestia eyed the red stain worriedly. “It went fine, a most intriguing set up. Are you sure you're okay Luna?”
Luna rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “Maybe. The doctor says the poison isn't completely clear yet so I might be coughing up blood for a day or two but otherwise I am out of danger.” Luna covered her mouth as a coughing fit took her. Celestia rushed over and rubbed her back as she coughed. “Thank you Tia. Any luck on the guard who saw his family?”
Celestia smiled warmly. “Yes, she is coming by tonight. I sent some guards to pick her up and we should be able to talk with her in a few hours.”
“That is wonderful news sister. Maybe with that knowledge we can save him, and he can stop trying to kill me.” Luna smiled and clopped her hooves. “We might even be able to have tea without me wondering what he slipped into it finally.”
Celestia hung her head and sighed. “Really Luna, really. This isn’t normal, it’s dangerous and unhealthy to be so careless around somepony as dangerous as this assassin. He has been trying to kill you for two months, two long months. He’s not trying to bring you flowers, he’s trying to take your life!” Celestia found herself rubbing her temples.
Luna chuckled and patted her sister's shoulder. “I know but I think I have been getting through to him, even though these last few attempts he hasn’t bothered to talk to me.” Luna paused and tapped her chin while reaching for a new tissue to cover her mouth. “Maybe he’s bored of me.” She covered her mouth and coughed halfheartedly.
Celestia paused. “Maybe he’s lost interest in you and now he’s getting serious.”
Luna crossed her hooves and stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “He wouldn’t do that Tia. He might be getting serious but I bet there's a good reason for it.” She glared at her sister. “You don’t know him like I do. Whatever his reasons are they are important to him. He may be getting serious but it’s not because he has lost interest.”
Celestia shook her head and sighed. “Well, I hope his reason is a good one. I need to leave now, rest well sister dearest.” Luna smiled and nodded as Celestia left the room. Turning down the hall she let her mind wander as she thought about the assassin running loose in the castle. Trying to figure out what he was and why he kept going through all the failure.
~ ~ ~
The gentle sounds of the night slowly filled the room as the sole window in the room slid open. A gray form flowed over the window sill and down to the floor where it collected itself and took on the shape of the person that it had always been. Keeping to the walls and the shadows the figure moved as silent as a mouse towards the bed where a pony lay hidden by the covers. As it reached the bed a glint of moonlight reflected from a long blade held in its hand. With a puff of feathers and a soft thump the dagger flashed down into the empty bed distorting the pony shape that lay in it.
Luna stepped out of the shadows on the far side of the room, a disapproving look on her face. “Evening Gale. I see you're done playing.” She rose to her full height and stared down at him, her horn slowly glowing brighter as she gathered her magic.
“Please stop this, please. Please just, just let this be over.” Gale’s shoulders slumped forward as he whispered to himself. His head lifted slightly as he turned to Luna, his eyes brimming with tears.
Luna froze as she stared into his eyes. She could see nothing but defeat and helplessness written on his face as his head dropped down and he lifted his arms from his sides in acceptance of her spell. The room was silent for several minutes as Luna searched for the words that would not come to her mind as she stared at the broken assassin.
Gales wrapped his arms around himself and slumped back against the wall, his head tilted towards the ceiling as a tear ran down his cheek. Luna tracked the tear with her eyes until it plinked on the floor. As the tear hit the floor she surged forward and pulled Gale into a tight embrace using her forelegs and wings. Gale responded by burying his face in Luna’s chest as sobs shook his entire body and for several minutes that was all that could be heard in the room.
“It’s okay now Gale.” Luna whispered the phrase over and over as she gently ran a hoof over the would be assassin's head reassuringly.
Gale pulled away and wiped his face. “No it’s not. Nothing has been okay since the day my family was killed by your kind. Nothing is okay.”
Luna tilted her head. “What do you mean your family was killed by my kind?”
Gale swallowed a few time and shook himself as he pulled away from Luna and slide to the floor with his back against the wall. “I guess it doesn’t matter now, I can’t do what he wants anyway.” Gale pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. “I don’t really know where to start so I will just start with why I am here. Almost two decades ago I came to this land with my family, how I do not know, but it started out poorly. Our first contact with the creatures of this world nearly cost me my son.”
Gale lapsed into silence as his mind was consumed by thoughts of his past. After a moment he spoke up again but his eyes seemed focused on something only he could see it. “It really wasn’t so bad at first. We hid in the woods and pretended it was a camping trip for a while but then one day while I was out the ponies attacked. I don’t know how many there were but I came back from hunting and saw a pony standing over the bloody corpse and watched as a griffon swooped in and scared it away. After that they took me and after they saw how well I could fight they trained me. After a while the griffon king came to me for a favor and so began my career as an assassin.”
Gale looked at Luna and frowned. “Life was fine for a while but then he came to me and said he wanted me to go to the land of the ponies and kill the weaker of the two ruling sisters. From the moment I saw the picture I knew you were different but I just didn’t know how different you really were. I don’t know what it is but something about you calls to me, even though we are such different creatures. Now though, now this stupidity is going to cost me the chance to revive my son.”
Luna gasped and pulled Gale back into a tight hug. “I am so sorry. I had no idea. How hard things must have been for you, and that only makes this that much harder.” Luna let Gale go and looked into his eyes. “I know you won’t want to hear this but your son, he is dead and so is your wife.”
Gale’s face shifted from sadness to confusion to anger and he rose slowly to his feet, a snarl twisting his face in rage. Reaching over the bed he pulled the dagger from the pillows and leveled it at Luna. “NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE DEAD. I SAW MY SON’S BODY, THE KING SHOWED ME BEFORE I LEFT!”
Luna shook her head and stood, watching the dagger follow her as she rose. “The pony you saw that day, she was trying to protect them.” Luna shook her head sadly. “She saw the griffons dive bombing something and ran to aid them like she was trained to but arrived too late. She fought to defend their bodies and it cost her one of her eyes.Your son and your wife are dead, there is no doubt of that. Whatever the king showed you was not your son, most likely it was a doll created by magic.”
Gale’s dagger clattered to the ground as he dropped to his knees. “NO! NO! NO! LIES, YOU'RE LYING” He dove forward and up into Luna’s neck, lifting her front legs up as he forced her backwards against the far wall. “YOU'RE LYING. MY SON IS BEING KEPT ALIVE BY GRIFFON MAGIC, HE ISN'T DEAD.” Gale pulled a second knife from his belt and held it to Luna’s throat as he growled.
Luna shook her head slowly and lifted one hoof to place it against Gale’s cheek. “Why would I lie to you? After everything you have done to me I have no reason to lie to you, it would accomplish nothing,” A tear fell down Luna’s cheek. “Why would I lie to you about this Gale?”
Gale pushed the dagger forward causing a bit of blood to begin pooling on the dagger's edge as he moved his face forward until it was nearly touching Luna’s. He sat there for a moment before jumping back and letting Luna fall. He began muttering to himself as he paced back and forth in the small room, his arms waving wildly until he suddenly came to a complete stop. Turning back to Luna he helped her to her feet. “I am sorry Luna. I...I have to go now. I need to think, I need to find out for myself.” With that he ran to the window and jumped through it.
Luan followed closely and watched as he fell towards the ground before spreading his arms and stretching a piece of fabric connected to his arms and his sides. The fabric billowed and caught the window and Gale glided out over the city and faded into the darkness. Luna turned away from the window and used her magic to unlock the door revealing her sister. “It’s as you thought.” Luna frowned. “Now all we can do is pray.”
Celestia stepped into the room and nuzzled her sister. “It’s for the best. He will find his answers and then he will find himself. There is no reason he won’t ever return here.” Celestia moved her wings forward and placed them on her sister’s shoulders. “Do not cry over this because there is still a chance he might return.”
Luna nodded and leaned forward into her sister’s chest with her horn placed alongside her sister's neck as she sniffled. “I know sister but I don’t know if he will be the same when he returns.” Celestia guided her sister to the bed and motioned for the guards to call the doctors.
“Don’t despair and instead hold onto your memories of him, even if they are a little...bizarre.” Celestia smiled warmly at her sister as the doctor came in. “I am going to have the doctor take a look at your neck and then you will get some sleep and I will see you in the morning Luna.” Celestia leaned down and planted a small kiss on her sister’s forehead before left the room and closed the door behind her.
~ ~ ~
One year ago Luna had watched a strange creature she had never before seen jump from a window and vanish into the night. Things had quieted in castle and the attempts on her life had trickled to a stop but the creature had stayed in her mind. She wasn’t sure what had happened to him or if he would ever return but today's paper made her and her sister shake. The headlines from the Griffon Aries were all about the assassination of the griffon king.
Luna and Celestia both had no doubt about who had done it but the political implications were staggering. It had been generations since the last time a king had been successfully assassinated and both of them remembered how it had unsettled the world. The war it had nearly caused would have engulfed the world and most likely would have ended the independence of the griffon nation.
Luna looked at her sister as her sister looked at her. “He is truly a master of his trade Luna.”
Luna nodded and put her paper. “I wonder if he survived it or not.”
“You’re still thinking about him?” Celestia sipped her morning coffee.
Luna blushed ever so slightly. “Yes. He was such a strange creature. So kind and so alone and so afraid. I felt it the first time I saw him.”
Celestia smiled. “Well I hope he returns and you can tell him how you feel. I hope he can return those feelings as well.”
Luna sighed and shook her head. “If he truly did this then I doubt he will be returning.” Luna rose from her seat. “I will be off Tia, I think I want to watch the sunrise a little before bed.” Celestia nodded as Luna left the banquet room and trotted through the familiar halls. She passed guards and servants alike, nodding to each but lost in her mind the entire time.
Before she knew it she arrived at her room and stopped. “If he did come back he would be here wouldn't he.” She put her hoof on the door. “But why would he return here? What reason would he have?” Luna hung her head and sniffled. “I miss him and I only knew him for a few short months.” She snickered a little. “Pining after one who not once but repeatedly succeeded in incapacitating me.”
Pushing the doors open Luna smiled to herself as she thought about her strange assassin and all that had happened while he was there. She stepped into the room and kicked the door shut with her back leg and paused, the room felt off. The drapes on her bed flapped in a gentle breeze and the smell of fresh tea permeated the air around her. Her head snapped towards the end of the room were her table used to sit and then around the room as she looked for it. She noticed her currents by the balcony doors wave and she grabbed them in her magic yanking them open.
Luna’s breath caught in her throat as she looked onto the balcony and saw a familiar shape with his back to her. Slowly she took a few steps before she jumped towards him and glided onto the balcony. Her wings flared as she pulled herself to a complete stop inches from a cup of tea that had presented itself to her. “Would you care for a cup of tea Princess?”
Luna gently took the tea and smiled. “Gale.” She breathed his name and her wings fluttered back to her sides as he turned his head around to face her.
It was the same face Luna had come to love except for a new scar that ran from the left side of his face and under his eye to end just under the ear on the opposite side. Luna reached out with a hoof and he flinched back when one of his sleeves fluttered in the wind drawing Luna’s eyes. She frowned and lifted the sleeve with her hoof and watched it slide off. “What happened to you?”
Gale sighed and motioned to the other chair. “I tendered my resignation, it was less than peaceful.”
Luna looked at him questioningly. “In the papers this morning, was that you?”
Gale smirked, “As I said before, my resignation was not received well. The emperor was not fond of the idea that I might turn against him and he knew it was likely.”
“Did you do it for me?” Luna took a sip of her tea as she took the seat on the other side of the small table.
Gale shook his head no slowly. “It was time for me to retire, my name was getting to be a little too well known.”
Luna looked out over the city. “So, what are you going to do now?”
Gale put his tea cup down and sighed. “I hear Canterlot is a city of many opportunities and I was thinking I might try and find a place there. Maybe even try and find myself a job, though I can’t say I’m in need of money.” He chuckled dryly to himself. “Maybe I will just find a nice apartment somewhere and enjoy the quiet life for a little while.”
“Where would you live?” Luna glanced over to Gale as he stood up and approached the railing.
“I don’t know. Somewhere peaceful, quiet, secluded.” Gale leaned over the railing. “Finding a job isn’t a big worry for me so I figure finding a comfortable place takes precedence over a job.”
Luna sipped some more her tea and her brow furrowed in thought for a moment. “Perhaps you could find a place here in Canterlot and get a job among the castle staff. I hear the night guard has a few positions open.”
“It’s a tempting idea but, well I don’t want risk hurting the princess who lives in the castle.” Gale turned around and moved back to the table. “I may have retired but I made my share of enemies over the years and I don’t think it’s worth it to stay in Canterlot and risk them coming here.”
Luna frowned and swirled the tea in her cup. “You know them though, you could easily defend the princess from them.” She looked up with a hopeful expression. “And they both have their respective guard units who are pretty good at protecting them.”
“Ha, I am living proof they aren’t.” He scoffed and chuckled. “Really though, they aren’t bad but I spent a few months here avoiding them quite easily. If I could move around so easily the others can too. It’s just not safe for me to stay.”
Luna shook her head and looked out over Canterlot. “Then why did you come back?”
Gale froze for a second. Why had he come back? “I...I don’t know.” He sighed and sunk back into his chair. “I shouldn’t have, it would have been easier if I didn’t.”
Luna reached a hoof across the table and placed it on his hand. “Are you sure about that?”
Gale stared at the hoof resting on his hand. “No.” His hand shook a little as he pulled it away from Luna.
Hurt, Luna turned away from Gale and bit her lip. “It wouldn’t have been easier for me. I have spent these last several months worrying about what happened to you. There were some nights I could hardly sleep because all I could do was lay there thinking about what might have become of you.” Luna turned and looked Gale in the eyes. “I don’t know if you have feelings for me but I know that I have fallen for you.”
Gale stood up suddenly, his chair clattering to the ground. “I can’t Luna. I want to, gods know I want too but I can’t.”
He made for the door to her room and stopped when Luna put a wing in front him. “Please, stay Gale.” Luna’s voice cracked and they both stood completely still for several moments before Gale pushed her wing to the side.
“I can’t. Not only do I not know who might come after me but what about your subjects. The nobles of Canterlot, your sister. I tried to kill you, I am a strange creature in a strange land. Do you honestly think they would be able to stand for you courting someone who tried to kill you?” Gale’s voice shook but he didn’t move, he couldn’t. Nothing was stopping him from moving but he couldn’t bring himself to take one more step.
Luna’s wing fell and she turned towards him. “Who cares what they think. I know who you are. You are kind, loving, caring. Even now it’s not about what you want it’s about what is best for me.” She took a step forward. “You never wanted the life you had here in this world but you took it for the family you thought still lived. You are the most selfless creature I have ever met. I could care less what others think about and what you did because I know it’s not you.”
Gale hung his head and grabbed the shoulder where his arm had once hung. “That’s great for you Luna but we both know you have to care. It’s part of being a princess, image. What kind of image would you be presenting by dating the one who tried to kill you and might be bringing even more danger to your door simply by being there.” He turned around and looked past Luna to the horizon. He wanted to meet her gaze but couldn’t. “For you and everything you are I have to leave, find somewhere else. I can’t risk you are anyone else getting pulled into my fight.”
Luna lifted a hoof and dropped it with clop. “But you could protect me, and everyone else. You were the best who ever came for my life. Even if you can’t, you can teach the guards how to. You know how the griffons teach their assassins and I imagine you have studied other techniques as well. Teach my guards what to look for, teach them to defend me. Please, don’t leave again.”
The balcony was silent, neither of them knew what to say. Gale knew he couldn’t stay but he wanted nothing more than to stay. Luna could have cared less about anything else in the world at this moment, she had to convince him to stay. That was all that mattered, getting him to stay. Finally Luna broke the silence. “Gale, please. Please stay. I don’t care what I have to do, just stay please.”
Gale tilted his head back and swallowed the heavy lump in his throat. “Why, why do you want me so badly? What have I done? Why have you given me your heart?” Gale took a long deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Why, why do you torment me so?” He lowered his gaze and looked Luna in the eye. “If anyone else asked me to stay I could have said no, but it had to be you. You, somehow, someway, I earned your heart. I don’t deserve it, not me.” For a moment Luna wasn’t sure what he meant but then he smiled and stepped up to her. His hand cupped her cheek as he wiped a tear she hadn’t known was trailing down her cheek with his thumb. “I shouldn’t. It’s dangerous and foolish but I can’t say no to you.” He leaned forward gently and took her lips with his.
The world seemed to stop as he kissed her gently. The feel of his soft lips pressing against hers, his warmth and the tenderness with which he held her cheek, all of it was seared into her memory forever. This one moment was one she knew she would never forget, not for as long as she lived. Their lips parted and he smiled kindly. “Luna, I will stay. In exchange, before we go public, I will need to retrain your guards. Go over the security for the entire castle to show you the holes I found. Most of all though, I want to go public with who I was and gain acceptance from the ponies of Canterlot.”
Luna stared at him for a moment before pulling him into a tight hug. “Anything, anything you want.”
Gale smiled and patted Luna’s neck lovingly. “Shall we finish our tea and discuss everything I need to do before we let the world know what we have decided?” Luna nodded and released him long enough to let him take a seat she then took a seat next to him on the floor and leaned her head on his shoulder. Together they sipped their tea and talked of what Gale was planning before he would let Luna tell the world she had finally found someone.
In Canterlot Castle there are hundreds of rooms, most of them grandiose and ostentatious. Sweeping archways for doors with ceilings that seemed so high that clouds could form under them. The bedrooms had rugs from every corner of the globe and mattress stuffed with the finest and softest materials you could possibly find. Restrooms were tiled with marble and the sinks made of stones only found in the most expensive shops. Every single room oozed decadence and overindulgence, except for a few.
Two rooms no pony save the princesses and the ponies they most trusted had ever set hoof in, while others were hidden from the public and had no use for finery. There was one room that absconded from finer that was special though. Tucked back in a small corner of the private section of the castle was a quaint dining room. Now this room was no secret but only a few ponies even knew it was there; the chefs, a few maids and that was it.
A moderate-sized pine table stained by years and countless tea times sat on one side under a large window that was positioned to catch the morning sunrise or the moonrise at night. There were four chairs, one on each side of the simple table. The chairs were of a plain design with a latticework backing and worn, but still extremely comfortable cushions sewn into the seat. On the wall to the left of the entrance was a servant’s entrance that came directly from the kitchens. On the other side was a small beanbag couch.
In this room were two creatures. One, a large white alicorn who sat at the table calmly sipping her tea while looking over the morning newspaper from Baltimare. The other a human. He was lithe in appearance with ice blue eyes and scars covering his face, his right arm completely missing. He lounged across the couch with a casual expression as he chewed a bagel slathered with peanut butter. The air between the two was calm, though there was the barest hint of tension.
Finally the alicorn closed her paper and folded it carefully before dropping it on the table and turning her gaze to her acquaintance on the couch. She cleared her throat and he glanced over at her before sitting up. Celestia smiled. “So, Gale, I was wondering if you might answer a few questions for me.”
Gale shrugged slightly and leaned back in the couch. “I see no reason why I should not indulge you. It is in line with what I wish to do before I openly allow your sister to court me.”
“Indeed.” Celestia took a careful sip of her tea as she eyed her opponent for the mental joust that she was sure was coming. “My first question is rather straightforward. Do you like my sister?”
Gale smiled and swallowed a bite of his bagel. “Of course I do.” He looked at Celestia. “But then that’s not the like you are thinking. Do I like Luna like that?” Gale tapped his chin absentmindedly as he mulled over the question. “The simple answer is, no. That’s not to say I don’t see it as possible, rather I want it to be true. Luna is a wonderful mare and I see many qualities in her to be loved. I am attracted to her and most definitely desire a relationship to explore how I feel about her.”
Celestia blinked, she had not been expecting such a straightforward answer. From what she had heard of him he had a tendency to avoid answering questions. “I see, but according to her, you kissed her.”
Gale shrugged nonchalantly. “I was caught up in the moment and it felt right. I also said I did feel something for her, I just...well, I just don’t know for sure what it is I feel.” Gale waved his hand in a lazy circle above him. “It’s...she has all these amazing qualities and she is a fine mare but...well I don’t know if I can love her like that even though I want to.”
“I see.” Celestia nodded her head slightly as she absorbed what Gale had said. “So for you it’s quite complicated then. When would you say you first found yourself thinking you might have feelings for her?”
“Ah, the million bit question.” Gale leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling, tracing the mortar between the stones with his eyes for a moment. “Would you believe I don’t know.” Gale smiled warmly as he thought about it. “Maybe it started with the photograph, or maybe when she walked into the room but honestly, I don’t know when it happened. The more time I spent with her, aside from the horrible attempts to kill her, the more I found myself thinking of her differently.” Gale sighed in a way that was something similar to something a filly might do when looking at her crush. “Like me she was lonely but unlike me she was not lost. She exemplified everything I wasn’t but wanted to be. She was inspiring to my lost soul.”
A motherly look washed over Celestia’s face as Gale spoke and she couldn’t help but chuckle. “And now Gale, now that you have become a better stallion?”
Gale sat up and rested his one arm on his knees. He squinted at Celestia for a while, studying the look on her face as he looked for any hint of what she was thinking. “Now, now I feel free. She inspired me to be better and gave me the tools I needed to improve myself. She freed me from the griffon king’s lies and opened the door for me to find a new path. To me that means more than anything and it draws me ever closer to her.”
The room was silent as both occupants let their thoughts meander. Celestia found herself thinking of Gale in a more positive light, that perhaps he was not as cold as one might think an assassin to be. When Luna had first talked about how he was a kind soul she had been...skeptical, to say the least. As time had gone on it had only served to fuel her thoughts of how he wasn’t as kind as her sister thought. But now talking to him like this she could see it a little.
Gale on the other hand was thinking about Luna and how it had come to the days he now enjoyed. He remembered that first try and how he had hesitated a little and missed. By no means was he the greatest assassin in the world, sure he was good, but there were others who were better, and for him to mess up like he did was uncharacteristic of him. Then later he had simply watched her sleep instead of trying to kill her, only leaving after Celestia had shown up in the room. Then after that they had talked almost every time he tried and he had slowly opened up more and more to her.
Celestia looked up at Gale. “So Gale, why were you given the contract on Luna’s life?”
Gale paused, a wry smile on his lips. “If I told you ‘Because I was the best at what I did,’ would you call me a liar?”
Celestia chuckled a little and shook her head. “I mean no offense, Gale, but you are not the best. You are indeed good, but not the best. You have no natural weapons to speak of, you are small, you can’t see in the dark as well as many of our species. That’s all in addition to your lack of magical ability.”
“And that’s where it all comes together.” Gale smiled as Celestia lifted an eyebrow giving her companion an incredulous look. “I know, I know, you think I’m nuts. What kind of assassin doesn’t use magic and how does that make him better than some others?” Gale sat up on the couch, the cocky smile never leaving his lips. “It’s all because of cultural bias. Were I am from magic doesn’t exist, we don’t have any deus-ex-type cure-all that is magic. Every species on this planet who fears for his life wards against magic and builds their fortress with the species of this world in mind, not my species.”
Celestia’s eyes slowly widened as it hit her. “That’s...it’s almost brilliant.” Gale’s smile grew wider as he watched the revelation wash over Celestia. “Without your magic you can’t use illusion spells or silencing spells or any magical aid at all. Without that, none of the wards are tripped. That doesn’t explain everything though.”
Gale nodded and rolled behind the couch before speaking. “You're right, but I am smaller than any other species besides a few in this world.” He jumped out from the side of the couch near the far wall brandishing his bagel like a knife. “And it gives me quite the edge when eluding the guard. Simply put, I fit in places most species can’t and I have to rely on my skills alone.” With a poomph noise Gale flopped back onto the couch. “It’s really nothing special. I just don’t trigger the alarms that most guards look for.”
Celestia started laughing uncontrollably as the simplicity of it overwhelmed her. Finally she got herself under control and took a deep breath. “You are a very surprising individual, Gale. Very surprising indeed.” Celestia wiped a mirthful tear from her eye. “Your methods are so simple that we overlook them most of the time. To think our guards were bested because somepony wasn’t using magic and fit in places they wouldn’t have even considered.” While pouring herself a fresh cup of tea she shook her head slowly. “Back to Luna. What did you two talk about when you weren't trying to kill her?”
“Hmm.” Gale scratched his chin. “Nothing really. We just chatted, swapped stories. Sometimes I would listen to her vent about how she was treated and how she was tired of the other countries treating her like she was nothing. Luna loved to hear about my life before this one, and there were a few stories of this life she liked as well.” Gale shrugged and took another bite of his bagel. “In all honesty, we talked like friends meeting up at a restaurant do. It was nothing special or groundbreaking, just two lonely souls finding company in one another.”
Celestia let this thought stew for a second. It wasn’t overly odd but it felt odd. “So you’re saying that you, the one trying to kill her, would simply sit and talk with her like a friend?” Gale nodded nonchalantly. “Okay, but this wasn’t every time was it?” Gale nodded again. “That’s, well, unexpected.”
Gale shrugged and approached the table for another bagel. “I agree. I pride myself in professionalism in a job, but with her I just couldn’t find it. I knew I shouldn’t but I wanted to talk to her, connect with her. I wanted to know who Luna was and it really hampered my job. That little part of my soul that hadn’t been crushed kept staying my hand in the smallest ways. I would miss by an inch, the trap wouldn’t spring fast enough, just shy of enough poison. I could never bring myself to do it no matter how many times or how hard I tried.” Gale picked up a bagel and rolled it over in his hand. “It’s odd how simple indecision made me act out of character, unprofessionally. She caused me to lose what little balance I had and so instead of doing only what I came to do, I let myself see the target as a person rather than a target.”
“Until the last try.” Celestia dipped a biscuit in her tea and nibbled it. “The last time when you came into her hospital room. What changed for you to make you do that?”
Gale’s shoulders fell and he put his bagel down. “The king sent me a missive, he told me if I failed again it was over for my son. I know that he was lying now, but back then, it devastated me.” Gale shook the ghosts out of his head and picked the bagel up again. The serrated knife flung crumbs over the table as he violently shoved the blade through the soft bread. The last inch he tore apart without the knife and then he covered the halves in copious amounts of peanut butter before taking a violent bite.
Celestia pursed her lips in thought as she watched. The pain was still fresh in his eyes, it hadn’t had a chance to heal much but Gale was finding reasons to go on. Celestia tapped the table with the tip of her hoof a few times as she looked for another question. “Gale, why did you trust Luna when she told you about your family?” Celestia watched Gale closely as she asked. “She had plenty of reason to lie to you about them, not least of which was to get you stop trying to kill her.”
Gale froze mid bite and slowly pulled the bagel out of his mouth with a strange look on his face. “I’m...I’m not sure. I really didn’t have a reason to, but yet, I did. Sure we had talked and become some weird twisted version of friends but there was no reason at all for me to trust her. I guess in the end...” He trailed off and stared at the peanut butter covering his bagel for a second. “I trusted her because it gave me an excuse. I hated the griffon king and every griffon around him. They hated me and treated me horribly and then suddenly Luna gave me this great reason to turn on them.” Gently the bagel was placed on the table and Gale gripped his empty shoulder. “True or not,it gave me a reason to storm in and kill them all, to put an end to the life they had forced on me. It was a chance to escape.”
Silence filled the room while Celestia watched her breakfast partner shake. Whether it was rage or sorrow or some mixture of the two she wasn’t sure but whatever it was he felt it strongly. His knuckles had turned white as he gripped the old wound were his arm had once hung. He clenched his teeth together as he took sharp breaths that he slowly extended until he calmed down. Gale picked up his bagel and took a bite of it and chewed the bite carefully speaking up. “I didn’t trust her, it was just the reason I needed to fight back.”
“I see.” Celestia stood up and stretched a wing to pat Gale on the shoulder. “I’m sorry to bring that up.”
Gale shook his head. “It’s okay. Things are better now.”
Celestia smiled and sat back down and grabbed another biscuit to nibble at. “This is also bothering me, why did the griffons decide to train you? And why did you trust their word?”
“Emotional at the time and I had no reason not to trust them. I never saw who killed my family because I was away and the griffons told me a story that matched up with the carnage in the campsite.” Gale shook his head and sighed heavily. “I honestly don’t understand what they were thinking or why they chose to train me. All I had ever done was flee up until that point and even then I didn’t get violent I just broke down. There was no logical reason that I can think of for what the griffons did.” He shrugged again before walking over to the couch and flopping down into it. “Now I have a question for you. Why was Luna so eager to talk to me? She must have known what I was, so why talk to me at all?”
Celestia furrowed her brow in thought. This wasn’t something she had given any thought to. “I would imagine she just wanted somepony to talk to. The nobles may treat her with respect and courtesy but it’s all a facade. Very few ponies are willing to talk to Luna rather than Princess Luna and well you indulged her. You were willing to talk to her as a pony instead of as a princes. For her that means a lot more than you might think.” Celestia bit a larger chunk off her biscuit to give her time to think a little more. “I can’t say why it might have blossomed the way it did but part of it was certainly that she enjoyed having somepony see her as Luna instead of Princess Luna.”
Gale was silent for a moment. “Huh,” was all he said when he finally spoke again.
“I know it sounds strange when it’s said out loud but she really is a lonely mare.” Celestia smiled warmly and looked out the window at the rising sun. “Even if you two don’t work out I think she has found a friend in you.”
Gale smiled. “I hope that never changes. A good relationship is built on friendship in my opinion and she is the first one I have had in quite some time. I could never consider any of my competitors a friend and, well, the griffons were the griffons.” Licking a bit of peanut butter from his fingers he stared out the window at the horizon for a moment before looking back to Celestia. “But when exactly did she decide I was more than a friend?”
Celestia looked down at the paper, her mind running over the type Gale had been gone from Luna’s life. “I guess after you left sometime. Signs of it showed up while you were trying to kill her but it didn’t really solidify for her until you were gone and she was back to being more or less alone.” Celestia drifted off to silence for a moment before she continued. “Me and her, we aren’t so damaged as to think death is meaningless and not fear it but we view it differently than most.”
“We are ageless entities in a world of aging beings. Death comes to everyone but us no matter how much we may want it. When it does come for us our unique physiology often intervenes and keeps us alive so death becomes this thought rather than a reality for us. As such I think it holds less fear over us than those who face it as inevitable fact so while you may have been trying to kill her it didn’t scare or bother her like it should because she believed in some small way that you wouldn’t be able to succeed.” Celestia looked up at gale sadly. “No matter how good you were and close you came a part of her felt indestructible and thus had no fear of you.”
Taking a seat Gale leaned the chair back against the wall and rested his head against the slowly warming glass. His eyes slid closed in thought and for a while the room was quiet. “Do you feel the same as her?”
“What?” Celestia was startled for a moment before the meaning hit her. “Do I feel the same about death. The simple answer is no, I do not feel as Luna does about death.” For a moment she was completely still, staring deeply into the amber liquid of her tea. The stains on the bottom of the cup cast strange shadows in the tea, distorted by the refraction of light in the liquid. “Luna does not fear death because some part of her feels as though she cannot be killed, whereas I fear death because if I go I do not know what would happen to the sun.”
Celestia paused, swirling the tea in her cup so it lapped at the lip threatening to spill out. “My sister though. she has none of this fear. For example, a few years ago when we were planning to start up a winter solstice celebration, there was a planning mix up and the planning session ended up pushed back into the evening. I admit my own hoof in this because I believed Luna should have her own say in a celebration geared towards her night. Rather than sit in court with Luna and hear what she had to say on the matter the committee canceled with plans to reschedule for the next day.”
Gale took a deep breath. “That’s horrible. Why would they do that?”
A gentle tink sounded as the teacup Celestia was holding hit the plate a little harder than she intended. “Because they don’t care for her thoughts and opinions. The nobles of this nation and many others all see her as bothersome since her return. Luna is my equal in all but the eyes of the world nobles. It weighs heavily upon her that she is so unrespected. In her heart she feels as though she could pass from this world with little consequence. Unlike myself who is loved dearly by the world.”
Gale rocked his chair, thumping against the wall as he thought. “But what of everyone who is close? What about you, her guard, the friends she has?”
Sighing heavily Celestia lowered her head and shook it sadly. “Those give her pause but at the end of the night when she has left her empty court and retired to her barren room her thoughts turn dark. When Luna looks out over the world from her room all she can see is world that has no place for her. Her loneliness is not just because she has trouble forming connections but because she feels as though the world has forgotten her and thus the place in it she once had is gone. By finding someone like herself, an individual without a proper place in the world she on some level thinks it will give her a reason to stay, or at least that’s what I think.”
The room grew still as Celestia finished speaking. Her words hung heavy in the air, deep with meaning and telling much of how the two ageless beings had been hurt by time. Gale for one understood her better than he felt he should. He couldn’t relate to being ageless, but not having a place, that resonated deeply with him. When he had first arrived with his family he had had a place to be, but when they were taken he lost that place. The griffons hadn’t given him a place, only a role, a role he was reluctant to take but he had taken to because he was lost. His gaze drifted to Celestia and he saw her and Luna both in a new light. Loneliness dripped from the white alicorn like invisible tears. On her face hung a mask of sorrow painted with a smile and cheer to protect the fragile being beneath it. Gently he reached across the table and patted the diarchs hoof comfortingly.
Celestia stared at the hand on her hoof for a moment. It was odd, this man who had dealt in death for most of his life while in her world was trying to give her comfort because the craft he once peddled could never reach her. She chuckled weakly and pulled her hoof away. “I appreciate the sentiment, Gale, but I have come to terms with what I am a long time ago. Found ways to bring joy into my life even if I never allow myself to love. Luna needs that hand more than I. She has been hurt far worse than I ever have.” Celestia smiled weakly, sadness weighing on the corners of the smile. “Maybe someday I will find a stallion who is to me as you are to Luna but for now I am content with the friendships I have fostered.”
A soft thump accompanied Gale’s chair as it was righted. “Well then I hope to be added to that list. Your sister may court me and hold a place dear in my heart come the near future but I think I would enjoy having another friend in this world.”
Suddenly the door flew open and all four eyes in the room snapped to it. Luna stood in the doorway, a hoof raised to shoulder level after having just flung the door wide. A bright smile wove from the corners of her lips into her eyes giving them a joyous twinkle. “Gale! How wonderful it is you could join us for breakfast.” She stepped into the room and kicked the door shut behind her. “How goes the retraining of the guard?” The seat beside Gale was taken and Luna leaned over to nuzzle him affectionately.
Gale returned her nuzzle by pulling her into a hug. “Not bad, mostly it’s just reminding them of the basics.” Chuckling he watched as Luna piled pancakes onto her plate. “As for my penance with the courts, I almost done with the list of assassins I am familiar with and the ones I know of that have hired them.”
“And my sister, how are you getting along with her.” Luna eyed her sibling as she spoke. “I hope you two haven’t been fighting.”
Celestia smiled at her sister. “No, not at all. We have been talking is all, getting to know each other. I think we have found some common ground as a matter of fact.” Gale nodded in agreement. “I think Gale has a promising future here in Canterlot.”
Luna smiled warmly and took a large bit of pancakes before responding. “I am glad to hear that.” She put a wing over Gale’s shoulders. “I hope to announce our courtship soon. I was thinking we could visit my friends in Ponyville this weekend as a trial run.”
Gale stiffened for a moment before shaking his head. He knew there was nothing to fear, it just made things feel more real if he did that. “I think I like the sound of that. I have been meaning to meet Twilight and her friends. Doesn’t the guard who told you about what happened to my family live there as well?”
Luna nodded. “Indeed she does. If you wish we can pay a visit while there.”
“I would like that.” Gale leaned against Luna and smiled as he fell silent. Not everything was perfect but he felt...happier. It had been a while since he had last felt this way and it warmed his heart immensely to feel this way again. Half-listening to the sisters’ talk he let his mind wander while enjoying the warmth of the mare he felt himself falling for slowly and for once he could see a future in this world that didn’t involve some sort of tombstone. He knew he had enemies out there, but then who didn’t. And what did it matter? If he had learned anything from his life as a merchant of death it was that you should cherish each moment of your life, because you never knew when it might end.
“At least now,” he thought with a smile, “I have a chance at a happy one.”
