The Bright Equestrian Moon

I wake up in Luna’s warm and close embrace. It feels like she’s holding me particularly tight this morning, although she’s still asleep. I keep close to her and try not to shift around too much so that I don’t wake her. I get the sense that she wants me to stay as a way to protect me. I mean, it’s obvious that she doesn’t want me to get hurt and that she’s worried, but there’s also been a sense of protectiveness from her. I really appreciate it, but I wish I could do something to protect her… Even though she’s clearly on a whole other level in terms of power compared to most other ponies. She probably doesn’t need protecting; the least of all by me… But it feels instinctive that I should at least try.

After some time, Luna wakes up and looks into my eyes. “Good morning, Travis dear.” She then gives me a peck on the lips.

I look back into her eyes and peck her back, tenderly stroking her mane. “Good morning, Luna sweetie.”

Luna gently rubs my chest with a hoof. “Do you have any ideas of what you might want to do today?”

I place my free hand on her hoof. “Well, I really liked archery yesterday… Would you mind if we did some more today?”

Luna smiles. “I would not mind at all. I would love to do some more archery with you today. However, archery will not take the whole day… Do you know if there is anything else you might like to do before or after archery?”

I smile back. “Awesome… And since the more I think about things, the more certain I become of joining the military… Perhaps we could have some friendly training and sparring with whatever ponies use in battle?”

Luna’s smile fades slightly. “I suppose that would be best for you… If you truly are set on joining the military.”

I nod. “I’m not one hundred percent sure, but fairly close… Maybe ninety or ninety-five percent sure that I’ll be going. It might be silly of me – since you’re so powerful and clearly able to protect yourself – but I also wish I could have the ability to protect you. Joining and serving in the Equestrian military will help me with that.”

Luna kisses my cheek. “I do not want you to risk your life for me, but I understand why you feel that way. It would be wrong of me to reject such an honest and true instinct. I just hope that you understand I have the same protective instinct over you.”

I return the kiss. “Yeah, I know and understand. It was easy for me to see that you were trying to protect me during court last night.”

“That is good, as long as you understand.” Luna stretches a little. “Shall we get out of bed and have a bath?”

“Sure, that sounds like a good idea.” I stretch a bit as well.

“Very well.” Luna gets out of bed and I soon follow her out. We go into the bathroom and run a bath, then we help clean each other; apart from our privates, like last time we bathed together. When we finish, Luna puts on her regalia, while I put on my still new clothes. It’ll be good to have some more clothes like this so that I can still be wearing nice clothes while these ones get washed. I don’t really feel like wearing my old clothes, especially since I will end up at court tonight anyway. Oh, I also still need proper shoes that go with my new outfit.

There is a knock at the door. “Princess Luna and Sir Travis,” It’s Midnight Blockade judging by the voice. “there is a cobbler here at the request of Travis, asking for permission to enter so that he may be fitted for new shoes.” I swear that Equestria has a strangely cosmic and impeccable sense of timing.

“Yeah, I did ask for a cobbler yesterday when I was getting groomed for the announcement. Let him in.”

“Yes, Sir.”

After a short wait, the doors to our chamber open and a light brown earth pony stallion walks in, bowing to Luna. “Good morning, Princess Luna and Sir Travis.” He has a semi-short and neat, light tan mane and tail, and hazel eyes. His voice sounds kinda deep, but not completely deep. He also seems to be wearing a couple of saddle bags and has a cutie mark of some tool; probably to do with making shoes.

I give him a friendly smile. “Good morning… What’s your name?”

He rises from his bow to look up at me. “My name is Tough Boot, Sir. I’m here because you asked for a cobbler. So, what kind of shoes or boots might you be looking to have made for you?”

“Well, I need some sort of dress shoes to go with this outfit…” I guess I also need something for when I join the military. I doubt they’ll have any boots a human could wear. “And I might also need some boots more suited for battle, but please keep it on the down low if possible. Only a few ponies know that I might see battle, and I’d rather keep it that way until announced.”

Tough looks me up and down, before nodding. “Dress shoes should be simple enough to make… And I might be able to do something about boots for battle, but you would be better off talking to the royal armourer. I can of course keep my lips sealed about you possibly going to battle.”

Luna speaks up. “I can take you to see the armourer after breakfast, if you would like. It would be wise to do so, so that you can be fitted for a proper set of armour.”

I look to her. “Okay, that’s a good idea, thanks, Luna.”

Luna gives me a kind smile. “You are welcome, Travis.”

I then look back at Tough. “I guess you don’t have to worry about the protective boots then.”

“That would be best.” He brings out a collapsible stool and some measuring tape from his saddlebags. “Put a hoof up on this stool.”

I nod and step onto the stool with one foot. “Just curious; have you ever made shoes for a foot like mine?”

Tough begins measuring my foot and shakes his head. “Not exactly like yours, but I have worked on non-pony shoes before.” He then takes out a notepad and quill from one of his bags and writes some notes. He’s pretty quick at taking all of the measurements. “You can take your ‘foot’ off of the stool now.”

“Right.” I bring my foot back down to the floor.

Tough puts the stool and tape away, while keeping his quill and notepad ready. “So, do you have any preferences for the material?”

“Well… On Earth, dress shoes are made of leather… I don’t expect you to have or use any, but perhaps you have some sort of alternative?”

He nods and dismissively waves a hoof. “Oh, it’s no bother to use leather. I believe that I got some from a griffon friend a while back.”

I give him a smile. “That would be perfect then.”

“Consider it done.” Tough writes a little in his notepad. “Is there anything else within my skill-set that you might like to have made for you?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so, I just need that one pair of shoes from you. How long do you think it’ll take?”

Tough puts his notepad and quill away, then strokes his chin. “If I were to start right away, I can have them ready in two days.”

“That sounds good.” I hold my hand out for a handshake. “Thanks for working on this, Tough, I hope you have a good day.”

Tough shakes my hand. “You’re welcome, Sir Travis, and I hope you do too.” He then bows to Luna. “And may you also have a good day, Princess Luna.”

Luna nods to him. “Indeed, farewell, good cobbler Tough.” He leaves with a quick, but not rushed pace. She then turns to me and gives me a peck on the cheek. “Shall we go have some breakfast?”

I smile and kiss her back. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” We head down our tower and to the dining hall. We both have pancakes for breakfast, while Luna has coffee and I have a hot chocolate. The food here is amazing as usual.

After the servants collect the dishes, we get up and Luna breaks the silence. “So, shall we go to see the armourer now?”

I walk over to her and wrap an arm around her withers. “Sure, it’ll be pretty cool to have some armour.”

Luna wraps a wing around my shoulders. “More importantly, it will give you protection if you go through with joining the military.” She leads me down some corridors to a part of the castle I haven’t seen yet, and we soon arrive at what seems to be a smithy, or armoury, or whatever it’s called. There’s a massive variety of weapons and pony fitting armour on racks along the walls. In the corner is a large, heavy set earth pony stallion sharpening a sword on a grindstone. He has a dark grey coat, with a rugged, silvery mane, tail, and thick beard. His eyes are the colour of molten metal and his cutie mark is a hammer and sword.

Luna speaks up over the sound of the grinding. “Steel Temper, is your brother here?”

The stallion pulls the sword away from the grindstone. “Aye, Princess, he’s in the back workin’ on some new ideas o’ his.” He points to a set of doors. His voice is a very deep baritone and almost sounds Scottish, but not quite.

“Very good, thank you.” Luna then leads me to those doors and she knocks on them. The stallion continues grinding the sword. “Excuse me, I would like to talk about making a request for a unique set of armour. May I come in?”

“Aye, please do, Princess.” This new stallion’s voice is similar to the last, although just a little bit higher pitched. Luna opens the door and we walk in. This stallion looks very much like his brother, except for the fact that his hair is slightly paler, he’s not quite as big, and his cutie mark is a hammer and a shield. Currently he seems to be drawing some designs onto a large piece of paper, but he soon stops to bow to Luna. “Good morning, Princess. Ye’re interested in ordering a unique set o’ armour ye say?”

Luna nods. “Good morning, Steel Fit, and yes, I would like you to make some battle-ready armour for Travis here.” She gives me a light nuzzle.

Steel Fit looks me over. “Hmmm, unique’s sure the right word, and for yer special someone no less. I wouldn’t’ve thought ye’d let ‘im go to battle.”

Luna shakes her head. “I would greatly prefer him to stay away from battle, but something needs to be done about certain matters, and he is quite set on going with the Equestrian military.” She looks at me with concern, then looks at Fit. “So, can you make something for him?”

He nods and replaces the paper on his bench with a clean sheet. “Aye. O’ course, I can. I wouldn’t be the royal armourer otherwise.” Fit looks at me. “So, Travis, have ye ever worn armour before?”

I make an uncertain gesture with my hand. I went to LARP a few times and some guy lent me some of his armour once or twice. “Kind of, but not really. I’ve worn some thin metal breast plate, bracers, and greaves, but I don’t know if they were actually battle-ready or not. It was for a pretend game, and I only wore them on occasion, since I was borrowing from somebody else.”

“I see…” Fit writes down some notes on the corner of the blank page. “Do ye think ye can wear full plate armour, or would ye prefer somethin’ light, or maybe somethin’ in between?”

“I’m not sure… If it isn’t too much trouble, maybe you can make it so that I can easily customise the set to be full or partial? If not, then maybe you could make a full plate set, as well as a more middle ground kind of set?”

Fit taps his quill against the bench for a bit. “Hmmm, it’d be best if I make two separate sets. Removing pieces from a full plate set would provide ye with more vulnerabilities than if ye were to just wear a properly made middle weight set.”

“Right, that makes sense; I’m happy with that.” I’m gonna get two sets of armour; that’s actually really cool.

Fit jots down some more notes, before looking at Luna. “Since this is for yer special someone, I’m assumin’ ye want me to spare no expense on makin’ it all top grade?”

She nods. “Most definitely. I expect the armour to be of the highest quality; on par with Celestia’s and my own armour. I want Travis to have the best protection possible.”

“Aye… Thought that’d be the case.” Fit continues to write notes onto the paper. “And how soon do ye need them finished?”

“They need to be completed as soon as possible; the middle weight set sooner than the full plate set. However, if they must be delayed, then so be it; corners cannot be cut in the process of making Travis’ armour.”

“O’ course, o’ course.” Fit writes ‘ASAP’ with quite a bit of emphasis on the page. He then pulls out some measuring tape and looks at me. “Lift ye arms for me.”

I nod and lift my arms. “So, you’ve worked with beings before who have arms?”

Fit starts taking all different kinds of measurements, just as much as Rarity made, if not more. “Aye. I once made a ceremonial armour for a minotaur as a diplomatic gift… Now show me yer hands.”

“Sure.” I lower my hands to be closer to his level and spread my fingers out.

He uses a very little tape to measure my hands, as well as the individual fingers on both hands. I would’ve thought he only needed to measure one hand, but I guess he’s trying to be as precise as possible. He then mutters to himself. “Hmmm, five digits; the minotaur only had four.” After finishing with my hands, he speaks up more clearly. “Can ye kneel down for me so I can measure yer head?” I kneel for him and he takes the measurements of my head. “That’s almost all I need for now.”

I stand back up straight. “For now?”

Fit gives me a nod. “Aye, almost. If ye give me any ideas for decoration or theme, then I can draw a variety of designs now. However, I’ll be needing ye back here tonight to choose which ye like best.”

“Well, I’d like to keep my theme consistent between formal clothes and functional armour.” I turn around and show him my cape. “So, try to base it around wolves and the moon.”

Fit writes down a little more, before putting the quill down. “Consider it done.”

“Cool, thanks heaps for working on this, Fit.” I hold my hand towards him. “So, see you tonight… Any specific time?”

Fit shakes my hand. “Yer welcome, and anytime tonight’s fine, although the later the better. I tend to work late, ‘specially when it’s designin’ armour for a unique form like yer own.”

“I guess we’ll come after night court then.” I look at Luna. “What do you think, Luna?”

She gives me a smile. “That suits me just fine.” Luna then looks at Fit. “We shall come by to see your designs after night court; so, expect us to arrive after ten.”

Fit nods with a smile. “That’s a good time; I’ll have come up with a bunch o’ designs by then.”

“Thank you for taking this order, Steel Fit; it is of utmost importance to have armour ready for Travis before he sees battle.”

Fit gives her a deep bow. “Yer more than welcome, Princess; it’s an honour to work on an order for ye.”

Luna looks out a window for a moment – probably gauging the time based on the sun –, then back to him. “I believe we shall be off now; we will see you tonight. Farewell.”

I smile and follow up. “Yeah, see you tonight, Fit. Bye for now.”

Fit nods. “Aye, see ye both tonight; may ye both have a good day. Good bye.” He then immediately sits at his bench to begin sketching ideas for my armour.

We leave him to do his work, and Luna gives me a gentle nuzzle. “Would you like to go out to do some archery now?”

I nuzzle her back. “Yeah, I’d love to.” We then make our way towards the gardens.