The old world

“As Mayor of the Coalition colony on Marilus, I am honoured to present the Republic Medallion, the highest achievement in our government, to Princess Luna on this most glorious of nights” Everypony clopped their hooves against the pavement in the town square accordingly. As the princess of the night walked up to the stage, she bowed low to the unicorn. The smaller pony levitated the ribbon out of the silk lined case, placing the medallion around Luna’s neck. She then stood up to face the crowd. Summoning her powers, she cast a spell which absorbed all light reflected off the moon’s surface. The sight revealed left everypony in absolute awe and silence. A million points of light started to appear. There were bright yellows, pure whites and deep reds. Several seemed to sparkle with the colour blue. What completed the breathtaking view was the slow revealing of a long cloud, stretching across the sky, glowing several colours like that of an opal. Slowly, Luna let go of her spell and the number of stars visible returned to normal as the absorption of the sun’s rays ceased. Once the spectacle was over, the crowd erupted in cheers and clopping of hooves. Suddenly, the Princess slumped over the edge of the stage. Admiral Whitehooves rushed to catch her on his back before she hit the ground. Luna slowly lifted her head, smelling the sea salt in the Admirals mane.

“John… what, what happened.” She started to get up, but then, another wave of exhaustion hitting her, laid down on Johns back.

“Shhhhh, its ok Lulu, just sleep.” The Admiral was truly shocked that his mate had fainted. It filled him with fear, to think that she might become too weak to function as a healthy pony should. He pushed these thoughts out of his mind however, as he approached the Mayor. “Please, do you have an Inn the Princess could stay in overnight?”

“Yes, um, the town hall has a second story for guests and visiting government officials. You may use it, free of charge.” The Mayor smiled at him awkwardly due to the sound of the large alicorn, who was mumbling some very un-princess like comments in her unconscious state. Admiral Whitehooves blushed, as he realised she was talking about him and trotted quickly to his allotted room. Once inside, he gently laid Luna down on the bed and dragged a chair from the wall to the bedside table. Sitting down quietly, he maintained vidual while the Princess slept and recovered.

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Twilight continued to pace back and forth on the street as ponies walked by the town hall, enjoying their Saturday night out on the town. The street lamps were brightly lit, allowing the festivities to continue long into the night. It was an ironic twist of events; everypony was sitting down at the basic restaurants or dancing to the music being played in the town square. All the while, Luna was unconscious and Twilight waited impatiently for her to wake up so she could ask about her condition.

“Hey Twili’, from the looks of it, Luna will be asleep for the rest of the night.” Shining approached with Cadence. “We were going to go out to the square for a dance. Would you like to join us?” Shining gave his wife a sly smile. “Cavalier hasn’t got a partner you know.” This caused Twilight to blush heavily, her purple coat turning a bright shade of red around her cheeks. She nodded slightly and thought to herself as she joined the two, walking slowly by her brother’s side.

She had feelings for the young earth pony, that was certain, but she did not quite feel it was something she was comfortable with. She was especially worried about how Sparkling would view the situation. She had never known her father. “And for a good reason.” Twilight mumbled to herself.  She wondered if he had thought of her the same way. There was that time she had caught him staring at her flank, when he thought she wasn’t noticing. “Gee, you sure know how to pick ‘em, don’t you Twilight?” She continued to mumble to herself until she reached the brown earth pony. He turned around and flashed twilight a grin before greeting the trio.

“Hi Twilight.” He then turned to the couple. “And seriously, can I even talk to you two without saluting? The famous heroes of Marilus, I think you two will be on the front page of every newspaper in the Coalition.”

Cadence blushed and Shining gave him a friendly budge on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t be able to do any of it, if I didn’t have somepony like Cadence to come home to.” As he said it, Shining gave Cadence a quick peck on the cheek before the two gave their leave and started dancing in the moon light.

Cavalier glanced awkwardly at the pavement, not sure of how to initiate the conversation. He wore a cream waistcoat and dark blue coat which extended over his flank. Under the waistcoat he wore a high collared white shirt with a white cravat. He seemed ridiculously old fashioned, like somepony from a Jane Trotsten romance. Twilight nervously decided to take the initiative. “So, umm, would you like to dance… you know, with me?”

Cavalier looked up in surprise. “Yes, um, yes of course.” Up until that point, the relationship between the two had been rather awkward, since the incident when twilight caught him staring. But now, things started to go more smoothly and Twilight began to grow in confidence. The young stallion led her towards the centre of the square, where the music was loudest. From there the two held hooves and started to move their bodies, locked in an act of mimicking the beat of the music. When the first song finished, it was replaced by a slow classical piece. The pair awkwardly wrapped their legs around each other’s shoulders. They slowly began to dance, ignoring the looks of humour from Shining and Cadence, who were far more proficient in the art. Twilight looked deep into Cavaliers brown eyes, trying to work out what he was thinking. As the song ended, Cavalier led Twilight to a makeshift bar.

“I’ll have two vodkas, two bourbons, and two apple ciders.” The bar tender winked knowingly and poured all three drinks into a pair of mugs.

“That will be twelve bits please.” Cavalier reached into his coat pocket and produced the amount required. He then handed one of the drinks to Twilight, who picked it up with her magic.

“Are you sure we should be having so much alcohol?” Twilight had never been drunk before, being socially inept as she was, and the prospect of becoming intoxicated worried her.

“Trust me twilight, this is the best drink in Equestria, my own invention. I like to call it the Cavalier three.” Strangely encouraged, Twilight proceeded to down half the mug in a single sitting. When she coughed, Cavalier gave her a small laugh and flashed his awkward grin. “Slow down there Hun, no need to lose it in the firsts five minutes.”

“Oops sorry, it’s really good though. I don’t mean a little good, I mean really, really good.” She hiccupped and then covered her mouth with one hoof, apologising for the second time. Once they had finished their drinks, they continued to chat, steadily consuming more and more alcohol. After another half hour, they had another round before heading back towards the town square to dance further into the night. Twilight was quickly losing her grip on reality.

Neither were very good at dancing but it wasn’t necessary, as both were simply enjoying the ecstasy of the music, moon light and apple cider, which continued to be served. The night grew longer and the line of cider barrels grew shorter. To Twilight, everything seemed to be moving slower and Cavalier was gradually becoming more and more attractive. After the final dance finished, Twilight pulled Cavalier into a kiss, which at first shocked her. She didn’t realise she could be so impulsive. The two then ambled along to the local Inn. They somehow managed to ask for a room and received a key from a rather amused looking unicorn. After attempting for about five minutes to unlock the door with her hoof, Twilight noticed Cavalier extending a hoof with the keys. Once inside, they locked together and sunk onto the bed.

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As Luna started to come to, she woke to a massive throbbing in her head, juxtaposed by the pleasant feeling of having her decorative armour and shoes off. The princess could not think straight, at first speculating that she had been attacked. Her vision slowly came into focus, revealing a timber ceiling with complicated carvings. On the wall was a painting of ponies fighting the creatures they had encountered; only this depicted a large field with thousands of small figures. Tilting her head, Luna found Admiral Whitehooves Sitting on a chair, reading a book. “John, what happened…? I feel like I have been struck in the head.” She whispered just loud enough for the stallion to hear.

“Lulu, you’re awake, good… good. Um, this may come as a shock, but, you fainted last night, on account of that spell you did to hide the moon.” Whitehooves visibly flinched when Luna started to laugh. How could she have been laughing? Especially after what had happened.

“Well, I would have been very surprised if I hadn’t fainted. The control I have over the moon pertains purely to its movement. The light which the moon reflects comes from my sister. To block the light requires skills which I possess, but do not have absolute control over.” She held up a hoof as Whitehooves began to sputter. The stallion was confused as to why she would go to so much trouble. “Think of it as my gift to the ponies of Marilus.” The two sat in silence for a few minutes, John moved from the chair into the bed and Luna cast a wing over him. “John, I’m sorry for scaring you like that, I just knew that nopony there truly understood my night’s beauty, everyone except you that is, thus I decided to show it to them.”

“It’s ok, although I must say Lulu, you’re rather heavy.” He glanced at her with a smirk, but it was quickly replaced with a yelp as Luna swatted him with a hoof. “Seriously, you better watch that back hoof, you could hurt somepony.”

“Well, you deserved it!” Luna then proceeded to try and tickle John who laughed and fought back in earnest. Eventually the competition subsided and the two ponies giggled hysterically. The two drew in close and were about to kiss when the door suddenly swung open to reveal Shining Armour and Princess Cadence.

“Bucking Celestia!” The Admiral practically fell out of bed and Luna jumped up, trying her best to gain a sense of composure. “Umm, I mean, yes u-uh thank you, for your time, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, yes of course, you are relieved, Admiral.” As the pair continued to fake parting formalities, Cadence and Shining simply stood in the doorway, mouths agape.

“My Lady, Captain.” Admiral Whitehooves quickly trotted down the stairs to the town hall below. When he was gone, Shining and Cadence dropped to the floor, rolling around, laughing their heads off. When they got up the pair quickly stopped, as they saw a scowling Princess Luna.

“Your Majesty, we, uh, wanted to see how you were recovering and estimate a date for our departure.” Shining then exchanged a glance with his wife, who, he could see, was desperately trying to resist asking the question that was on both their minds.

“We will leave the day after tomorrow; I wish to further discuss improving relations between Equestria and the Coalition. The possibility of future trade might even be up for discussion.”

“Yes Your Majesty, and are you sure you are alright? That was quite a fall you took there.” Cadence took over from her husband, worried for her aunt’s health.

“I’m fine. Shining could I please talk to Cadence in private?” Luna made sure he understood it was not a request.

“Of course. I’ll go look after Clear Sky” He pecked Cadence on the cheek and then walked out, closing the door behind him. Once Luna was sure that he was out of ear shot, she sat down on her bed and sighed. She still felt reasonably weak from her spell and did not really enjoy being confronted by Cadence, especially in such, embarrassing circumstances.

“How much of that did you see?” Luna quickly regretted the question the moment she heard the answer.

“When you two were, shall we say, quite close.” Cadence giggled slightly, but caught herself and became more serious. “Does Tia know?” Luna blew some hair out of her eyes.

“Of course she knows. She doesn’t approve though.” Luna’s resentment at her sister’s hypocrisy was starting to show in her voice. “It’s like she expects me to be an emotionless statue. She has ‘fallen’, as she puts it, many times.” Cadence winced at the awkward direction the conversation was going.

“Do we have to talk about Celestia like that? She is my Aunt.” It was a valid point, but Luna was having none of it.

“Why not? She is my sister. She can simply go visit the ‘special service’ clubs, but I am not allowed to be with the pony I love. She has told me before that it’s all about ‘reputation’, which is why she goes magically disguised as a regular pony.” Cadence was shocked to find out that this had been going on, no less than with Princess Celestia. At that stage, Luna was starting to break down into tears. Cadence, not wanting her aunt to feel alone, sat next to her and drew her into a hug “What should I do Cadence? I love John so much, if I lose him, then, I might… Nightmare…”

“No, never say that. That’s not who you are. And take it from me, if you love him, nopony, not even Celestia can take him away from you.” Cadence felt the tears flow freely down her back as Luna wept. Once she finished, she gave Luna one quick hug before taking her leave, so that the princess of the night could get ready for the day.

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When Twilight awoke later that night, she was a bit surprised by what she saw. At that same moment Cavalier was also waking up. The two slowly turned their heads towards each other. Twilights eyes widened in horror and Cavaliers mouth hung open in shock. Both ponies screamed, at the top of their lungs until Twilight kicked Cavalier in the face, pushing him off the bed. Twilight jumped up backing away. “Cav, did we… um did we, you know?”

Cavalier slowly nodded his head slowly. “I think we did.” Twilight looked down at the ground, up at the ceiling, out the window, anywhere but at the earth pony standing, still as a statue, on the other side of the bed. Not knowing what to do, she did what she had done as a child whenever she had been bullied. She galloped to find Shining Armour.

For the receptionist who was still on duty that morning, her coffee break was rudely interrupted by a purple unicorn, galloping as fast as she could out the front doors. About ten seconds behind her was a dark brown earth pony, putting on his blue coat as he too, trotted out yelling; “Twilight, wait, I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen!” After he left the reception pony sighed to herself. She would definitely be washing the bed sheets today.

“Twilight, wait please” Cavalier was becoming desperate.

“Just leave me alone Cav.” She ran faster, trying to shake her pursuer. Eventually she gave up and turned to face the stallion, exhausted and tired of running. “How could you do this? I trusted you; I thought that we could be friends, more than friends. But no, you just saw me as some lonely mare who you could take advantage of!”

“Hey I never took advantage of you. I was drunk and I had no idea what was going on.” Trying to make excuses for himself was never going to work, but, Cav had to try and make Twilight aware that his actions were not meant to hurt anypony, least of all her.

“Really? So, you’re not just going to act like it never happened?” Twilight became suspicious, but part of her wanted to believe that Cavalier was of noble intentions.

“Yes of course, I would never take advantage of you. Please pardon my forward behaviour, but, has somepony taken advantage of you before? Is that the reason for your troubles?” Cavalier took a step closer to the purple unicorn.

“I-I’ll tell you another time. I have only ever told it to a few ponies. Please, can you leave me in peace?” Her pleading eyes were all too much for Cavalier, causing him to go weak in his legs. He looked awkwardly at the ground as he mumbled his answer.

“Of course Twilight, I guess I’ll see you later?” He looked up to see his dream mare gone. He let out a deep sigh. “I love you.”

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In the darkness, one of the creatures started to stir. The Praetorian slowly shook his head. What was his name? He couldn’t remember, all he could think about was the pain in his leg. He tried to take a step forward, only to fall onto the wooden floor, agony lancing up his left leg. He then looked down to see a large white bandage, covering his calf, partially obscuring his bright feathers. The Praetorian struggled desperately on the ground, his claws scratching uselessly on the ground at a strange angle. A single scream of frustration signalled his loss of hope, letting his lower jaw hit the ground with a thud. Marcus… that was his name, wasn’t it? Another name popped into his head, Andromeda… who was it? Sister, sister… it was his sister! How could he have forgotten his sister? What had happened, there was the battle, he and the other civilians had gathered on the opposite side of the force field. He was running, his sister on his back, sand and blood were the only materials Marcus was aware of. The sound of muskets, his brethren screaming in agony as they attempted to defend their families and above it all, the terrible scream of his sister. The scream of his sister as Marcus dropped her on the ground. His own cries of anguish, as he felt something, something burning hot, rip into his leg. Marcus picked her back up trying desperately to help her up the beach. Then the terrible pegasi were diving down, killing many of his friends, vicious snarls on their faces. He saw his parent's fall, his father dropped from a musket shot, his mother’s skull caved in from a ponies hoof. A pair of the equines dropped down behind him and everything went black, the last thing he saw was his sister being held down, and a bag being shoved over her head.

It was at this point that Marcus realised where he was. It was a ship, and he must have been in the brig. He bitterly tried to forget his parent’s deaths. All that mattered to him now was his sister. For hours, he pounded on the bars screaming for his sister. Over and over again he called out, but no one came. Eventually, he crawled back to his hay filled corner. There he found his bags, thrown into a heap. Once he saw them, he ripped one open and retrieved the poem his little sister had written for him. Eyes scanned the words, Marcus’ heart in his mouth as he read the last few words. “My world is you.” Crawling up into a ball, there was nothing he could do now but cry. He wept for his dead family, his destroyed home and most importantly, his missing sister.