The Man and The Moon

"Sir, I've finished your armor, it's light and your movement will be unhindered as requested."

"Oh, thank you..." I say in response, however, in going to give him a formal thank you I realize I don't have his name. "Uh, I'm sorry, but I don't think I ever asked for your name."

"It's Moonstone."

"Thank you for your efforts, Moonstone." I say as I dawn the armor, the lightweight material fits perfectly, and in moving my arms and legs it does little to impede my movement. "The fit is perfect, there is a little resistance with moving but it's nothing I can't adjust to."

"Thank you for your praise, I'm glad I was able to satisfy." I walk over to the mirror decorating my wall to see how it looks, it has a pointed helm with a face guard shaped in the face of a wolf. Attached to its sides are two huge horns which curve upwards. The shoulders are fairly pointy, wide and small in size. They're decorated with three sword handles on each side, they're all pointing downwards as if a sword has been pierced through the shoulder guards. The upper arms are protected by rounded, fully covering rerebraces which sit quite well under the shoulder plates. The lower arms are covered by vambraces which have several rows of barb-like spikes on the outer sides. The breastplate is made from one large piece of metal but crafted to mimic the appearance of the muscles of a minotaur. It covers almost everything from the neck down and ending at the groin, but the sides are only covered near the bottom. The upper legs are covered by pointed, layered metal cuisses. The lower legs are protected by greaves which have metal leaves covering the outer sides. The color is a deep purple with a golden trim along each piece of armor. A crescent moon is emblazoned on the back of the breastplate pearl white in color, setting it apart from the much darker purple and gold. Turning back to Moonstone I give him a nod and say.

"This is great, hard to tell this is your first time crafting for a human."

"Thank you, it was tricky, I had to have some of the boys capture a minotaur in its adolescence so I had some reference to go off of."

"You captured a minotaur child?"

"Well, yes, it was the closest thing your anatomy, I mean aside from the hooves and snout your bodies are identical."

"Was it harmed while you were capturing it?"

"If it was I didn't notice it." Looking outside towards the sky I note that the sun was still in the sky, giving me time before my shift starts.

"Let me see it." He looks taken aback at my request almost as if it was the last thing he expected me to say.

"Uh, I'm sorry Sir, but why would you want to see it?"

"Because you captured it to model my armor, and it sounds like it's still alive, so take me to see it."

"Very well, Sir," He grumbles as he turns and begins trotting out of the room, "Right this way." I follow closely behind, as we begin entering parts of the castle I haven't seen outside of building plans, it's when we begin to descend that my confusion sets in. The lower levels of the castle are where the libraries and research labs are located, either way, if it's unharmed and in acceptable keeping, I'd be happy. After about five minutes of walking downstairs, we pass the bigger than life libraries and reach the bottom, we walk in a narrow hallway, the hallway itself is off-putting, it was metallic, and cold unlike the warm white marble of the upper floors leaving me slightly on edge from the atmosphere alone. There are doors on either side of us each labeled with a number, and we stop moving when we reach the double digits, he walks to a door labeled '12', punches in a number I couldn't see, and triggers it to open. As we enter I see a few lab-coats looking at monitors, paying them no mind I scan the room, and I eventually see the young creature in a steel cage, curled up in a corner, it's red fur was starting to come in, and it looked skinnier than it should be, but with only having experience with the adults, it's only an educated guess.

"Why is it in a research lab under the castle." I inquire, less like a question and more like a demand.

"Well, to be honest, Sir, with how they age, and from the tests, we've done it should be taller, bulkier, and well, it should've gotten its fur ages ago."

"So you're seeing if somethings wrong?"

"Yes."

"Cage is rather small isn't it."

"We didn't see a need to put it in a larger one."

"Well do it. If, you're going to do medical check-ups on it, at least make sure it's able to get comfortable. I mean look at, it's curled up, can't even lay down, cold, hard metal. Conditions are appalling."

"Aye...."

"Alright, sundown is almost here so I'm going to see the princess." Turning, I walk out of the room, and shortly after I hear Moonstone messing around with the cage. Walking up the stairs the trip certainly seems to be shorter, possibly due to the fact that the trip down was the first I've seen this section of the castle. Of course, the hustle to get to Luna for the start of my shift is also driving me to make the trip up as short as possible. Eventually, I reach the first floor and look out the window, the sun was still in the sky but it wouldn't be for much longer. Turning away from the window I make my way up to Luna's room, and to my luck, the rotation from solar to night guards hadn't begun, I smirk to myself at this and walk up to the guards posted, they give me a nod that I promptly return before knocking on Luna's door.

"Yes, who is it?"

"Edward, your highness, reporting for duty. Permission to enter?"

"You may." Turning the nob I open the door to reveal a very tired and worn Luna.

"Did you not sleep at all this morning Princess?"

"No, We're what one would call... Oh, what was it... A day hound? Well, whatever it's called We just get swept up in doing our hobbies and lose track of time until it becomes dusk."

"Princess, with all due respect, that isn't healthy. You need sleep unless you ponies are capable of living without rest."

"No, ponykind do need to sleep to keep energy levels high and keep a good mental state, it's just that We just get sucked into what We're doing that everything else just becomes almost non-existent." Sighing I look at her and we immediately make eye contact and as we sit there for a minute I ponder over what I can do as her guard to make sure she gets enough sleep before eventually making a decision.

"Princess, as your guard, I don't have any authority over you, but I hope you can hear and accept the solution I'm about to propose."

"Proceed."

"I'll try my best to keep you awake and functioning tonight and in the morning see to it that you get the amount of rest your body requires."

"But wouldn't that require you to give up sleep?"

"No, I'll just go to bed after you fall asleep."

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense... Let us go with that then!"

"I'll never understand why you ponies are so trusting." I mumble to myself as Luna and I make way to the balcony.

Tonight is a lot like the last, relatively quiet with the only interactions being with Mythic Haze for status reports on how the night is going in the rest of the castle and on how the night guard recruitment is proceeding which is, little to none to say the least. The only real difference from last night though is that it seems to be going by faster, though I would've thought the disembodied voice would've shown up by now. 'Thinking back, how am I supposed to know if the things I see are the ones that no one else can?' I think it over some more before sighing and muttering, 'This is all too convoluted...'

"And what would be, too convoluted?" I jump at the sound of Luna's voice behind me, turning to her I see that she's completely out of her trance and actually talking.

"O-oh, nothing, isn't it early for you to be in the regular world so early?"

"It's fine, not every night requires our attention as heavily as last. Believe it or not but most ponies have an erratic sleep schedule and don't tend to sleep at night as often as others."

"Then what do you do when they sleep during the day?"

"Unfortunately dear Edward, then they'd be at the mercy of their dreams, whether they be pleasant or nightmarish."

"I see..."

"So what would be so convoluted Edward?"

"Oh, nothing, just trying to figure out a few things."

"Anything We could assist with?"

"I'm just trying to piece together all of the stuff surrounding my being here is all."

"Oh, We see. Yes, that is indeed a most convoluted matter, rest assured Edward, we have our top ponies on figuring it out. However, it may take some time since you appeared over the Everfree and the forest itself is home to many magical anomalies so pinpointing just which anomaly caused your appearance will be difficult."

"I understand, Princess."

"It's good that you do. Now come, join us for a stroll around the castle."

"Alright"

As we begin to walk she wastes no time in beginning another conversation.

"Remember Edward we must depart in two days for our summit with the griffons. I trust you to protect me on my way."

"Princess, as your guard it is my sworn duty and I intend to stop at nothing to see you safe."

She starts to giggle in response as if my reply was a joke of some sort.

"Edward, you don't need to be so formal with us. Call us Luna, and there really is no 'sworn' duty to uphold on your end, besides you haven't said an oath of loyalty yet."

"Well, Princess-"

"Luna."

"Well. Luna, it's just that where I'm from it's hammered into our heads to refer to our superiors as their title."

"Do you call that Joseph boy prince?"

"W-well no, but we're also very close."

"And we aren't?"

"No, we are it's just that-"

"We're not close enough for you to use our given name and not our title?" She stares at me with an unamused expression but before long her face breaks and she begins to laugh again. "Oh, the look on your face! Dear Edward, We were only playing with you, though we do prefer you to call us Luna it's fine if it's under your own time and comfort."

"Thank you, princ-... Luna."

"You are most welcome Edward, now come we must prepare for the summit."