Heartbeat
A few days. A week and then a Month. Days bled Into each other, and before she realized it had been exactly six months. Since what, you may ask? The letter and the poem. Both pieces of paper that meant so much to the night god, yet ‘twere the things that only she and herself knew about, to her knowledge and prayers to the heavens anyway.
A sigh, and yawn, escaped from her muzzle as she turned yet another right, around the-what she will forever see, as the twisting castle, she was currently living in. It was almost time for moonrise, and despite the yearning for her bed, she willed herself to keep going. Her room wasn't even that far from the balcony she was supposed to do the whole ‘magical rising’ thing from, actually, it only took a minute or so yet the drag in her trot forced her to slow down.
Another yawn escaped her muzzle as she took her final left, and found herself on the balcony. She smiled. Just in time.
A light breeze began, blowing away strands of her starry blue mane from her blue eyes. In the distance, she could see the harsh light of the sun begin to move. Lower and Lower yet still it began to reach towards the horizon. The sky had burst into bright colours of pinks and blues and purples and oranges and yellows, all colours blending together flawlessly, the sky getting darker and darker as the sun had already nearly hidden half of itself into the horizon. The night Princess activated her magic, and as the golden sun had now already halfway hidden itself, she began to focus her blue-au bringing the moon up into the sky, slowly, allowing for a beautiful twilight throughout the process, and as the sky began to settle from its large outbursts of bright pinks, purples, oranges, yellows and blues, it darkened even yet still. Small little speckles, stars, began to appear, tinkling in different beats. The moon now having nestled into its place, and the sun having disappeared, was glowing softly like a nightlight and added only a touch more colours to the sky, with its silver glow.
And with the moon glowing and the stars in the sky twinkling, Luna smiled 'and done' she thought, as the need to move finally took over due to the feeling of being awake. She looked up, seeing her sister in a tower across from her- in her study room, of course, as per usual!- and nodded to the alicorn of the sun, and turned and walked gracefully inside after receiving one in return. She sighed. The indistinguishably identical (and boring at that!) routine was about to begin.
Night after night, after she raised the moon, and as most of her sisters’ day guard had left to be home with their families, the night guard began to swarm into the castle for their shift. And as they came and went back and forth, going about their duties, she’d go about tending to the castle, her stack of paperwork awaited upon her desk within her cosy study, and the night garden she had started a few months ago- which was now blooming brilliantly- was a place she'd go and awaited to be called upon when a pony had a bad dream, and she’d have to do her (not) strenuous- but certainly not mentally and emotionally simple of course- job of soothing whichever pony, adult or child, of their inevitable fears, before leaving them to be- only so absolutely- desolate within their dreams and to contemplate their choices and paths of which they had most certainly chosen; and in returning to the real world to do - so to speak- the endlessly tedious Princess-y job of taking care of ruler stuff, and having the whole cycle start again and again vigorously only to spend her energy, and to rest easy during the day, and the whole process would start again and would most likely continue for the rest of her - immortal- life.
And yet somewhere in between of the draining cycle, she would have some time to think. Only think. And so, only think she would, as it was the sole thing she was able to truly do alone in her rotating activities of the identical things. What she would think about would only be apparent during the moment. After all, why- she wondered why indeed quite often- the alphabet was in the exact order they knew it as. Why wasn't it from S-A-Z? Was it for the exclusive purpose of a song? Just Why?! And she would continue to by questioning with something on a similar topic, such as why Equestria decided that it’d be a good idea to have words divided. And that thinking would progress into other things… Such as the letter and poem. Her face visibly fell as she walked towards her garden- the last bit of her in waiting cycle- and what was her fast trot, slowed and turned into what was almost a stop.
She’d searched- by stars she’d searched- for the pony that’d written those very words and embedded the very core of their heart and emotions onto a piece of paper and gave it to her. Both during the day and the night she hunted. Both in the dream world and not, and even spent restless hours trying to think of anypony- yet restless she continued to be even though she wore a mask of calmness that she focused only 40% out of her 110% of energy.
She took a deep breath. Too much thinking wasn't good. She held her head higher, and attempted to remove herself out of her swirling emotions of sadness, curiosity and touch bit of frustration, and began to quickly trot towards her night garden.
Maybe some fresh air would get her mind off all of those thoughts.
“Forever walking around for nothing” Blade thought as he trotted around the outside castle grounds for a second time.
Blade was a unicorn guard, stallion, 22 and single (only for anypony who was wondering). His coat was a dark midnight blue, his flank adorning a cutie mark constructed of two swords crossing behind the moon, and despite others saying he blended perfectly into the night sky, it seemed to correspond well with his slightly lengthly silver mane and tail. They matched, silver and blue, the colours of the night, his mother often comforted him with those words when he was bullied in school. But his eyes were a different story. They were a bright, emerald, green, and completely contradictive to his colour pallet. But, the usual saying was, it is what it is and its what was meant to be, followed by an agreement to never speak of the subject again or face the doom of an ended friendship.
He sighed. Night shift was equally as calm as it was boring. There was just simply too much time to think, moreover, there was plainly never anything to simply do. He admired the night, It was beautiful and it was never bustling with ponies coming from the left right and centre, yet one of the only reasons as to why he was here now was because the night guard were still not at their best numbers. It took time and training, and they did so with a limited amount of ponies at a time- as was smartest. Of course, he was slightly different, for he was transferring from a unit to another, so it would only make sense that it would take another two or three months to finally get away from the day guard.
He decided, a long while ago, that the current path he was on was his favourite. Trading patrol area with a night guard as they often did, he smiled. He dearly cherished this path. It lead to the night garden, a wonderful place that felt like a jungle, with all sorts of plants and newly added trees as the garden had begun to expand in the recent months.
‘It most certainly isn’t just me that likes this place’ he thought idly, as he turned a corner. Which, of course, was true. Many of the guards, both nocturnal and diurnal, adored walking within the palaces’ greenery, as a sense of peace washed over them. It was quite quiet as well as calming. It was dearly loved by all the palace workers, and nopony wanted to ruin it so good care was always applied to said place(s).
As he neared the garden, his heart began to calm, his- what used to be- constant state of alert toned down a notch (or ten) and he felt-what could only be described as- his soul and emotions settling in well with the environment. The many plants and trees lined up perfectly to the gray concrete path and as he began to near the entering arch, which had the most beautiful - in his opinion anyways- blue flowers: their stems curling and weaving around the large wooden arch that had been painted black.
A few steps ahead of he was, was a small pond, the water reflecting the silver stream of light that the moon emitted. The pond stuck out like an adult among foals, as it was basically surrounded by soft green grass, all year around. It had one or two lily-pads, no frogs (as adding ‘catch the frogs’ to the list of the guards’ duties would most certainly be bizarre and completely unnecessary) but they did have some goldfish that grew large and fat very quickly, whereas to the left side of the path, was only a large green space of which was yet to really be used.
Further from the pond- which was where he was momentary- were more arches, one straight after the other, only a meter apart, but each having mixed hues of all colours and tones. Vibrant green stems curled around each other as well as waved in and out and in and out of the arches, the diamond pattern of which was cut out originally was smothered in the very plants it held up. Of course, this was only possible because they were magically engineered plants.
Calming? Yes. Most definitely yes. And- he hoped, prayed to the stars- it would continue to be that way.
Irritation was growing by the second.
Luna had been stopped midway through her walk to the garden, forced to be teleported to her own study room and taken to the dream world. Midway through her walk.
Apparently, somepony had some trust issues and they were giving her nightmares. The fear of losing somepony the mare loved replayed again and again and yet again through her mind. It was- whilst slightly ridiculous- rather admirable that somepony was able to love another so much to the point that her mental state was solely based upon this one pony. Of course, Luna completed her cycle of hushing their fears and then proceeding to leave the- now- much more comforted mare to sort out what she wanted to do.
But then whilst walking from her room back towards the garden- she much preferred walking to teleporting as it never quite made her busy, and flying made it so she would get there faster- she began thinking about the mare’s fears. Yes, they may have slightly been silly in her eyes, but she couldn't help but feel fairly sad that she didn't have that.
Her trot then proceeded to quicken, for the fear that she may start crying, and stars forbid that anypony should see that- why, she’d have to disappear for another thousand years for it all to pass over!
And that's when the annoyance came in. At herself, when she gave into the darkness, it was because her role as Princess of the Night meant that she was the opposite to her sister- in abilities of course. She studies the darker arts, whereas her sister, Celestia, studied the lighter type of magic. And as the second, she was shunned. Lonely. It didn’t justify it, by gods no- but it did leave a deep enough scar for her to regret for the rest of her life.
Luna scoffed. ‘Now who’s the pathetic one, eh? Some ruler I am..’
And now, here she was, at the centre of her garden, the jungle feeling welcomed her, and she welcomed the sense of relief from the frustration that she had been feeling, of which the garden gave.
The Princess of the night breathed. And for the first time since coming back (aka some time), she truly felt at peace. As the wind blew through her mane, and the light flower glowed, the stars shined and everything felt right. It wasn’t cold, nor too warm, but the sound of silence soothed her soul and calmed her whirlwind of emotions and thoughts.
This is nice The night Princess thought as a butterfly landed on one of her forelegs. Peace and stillness. It was perfect.
Lunas’ ear suddenly twitched. Her head turned sharply, and she brought her head up and angled her body so that, if need be, she’d get out of there instantaneously. There was a figure, bulky pony walking, with a flashlight. Her eyes narrowed, using one of her (night-blessed) gifts, the image was instantly clearer. She saw armor- a uniform- and instantly relaxed. Having not exactly still fully gotten used to the night time patrols, she had no clue they’d patrol around her garden. Her body relaxed and she went back to her own business, of thinking and breathing.
He tensed, and as doing so, Blade realized he needed new armor, having slightly outgrown his current one, which was sitting nice and tight on him for the current time being. But these thoughts were pushed away, as his eyes spotted a -what seemed like- large pony figure laid at the centre of the vast garden.
Knowing that this may not be anything- for Equestria was mostly a tremendously peaceful place- he forced himself to slow down and took deep breaths to slow his heart-rate.
He flashed his light, of which he held in his magic, towards the figure, and abruptly tensed again and froze. Luna was there.
So much for trying to stay calm.
So you see, the one thing about Blade was that he was terribly well known between his comrades, to be immensely shy around mares- specifically those he liked, really liked. And- currently- the mare he liked was right in front of his very being.
Well- here goes nothing?
“P-princess? Your Highness, you gave me quite a scare. For a moment I thought you were-” he was cut off.
“Blade. Night Blade- correct?” Luna smiled as she saw the look of awe and confusion on his face. His head tilted to the right slightly.
That reaction. It nearly made her blush. She felt the heat wanting to rush to her cheeks- Why did that nearly make her blush?! This must’ve been the most bizarre thing that she’d nearly done since returning from the moon.
But she couldn’t deny that the reaction was actually rather cute.
“I beg your pardon Princess, you gave me quite the scare, but- returning to the matter at hoof, you know me?” His eyebrow raised, and his emerald eyes shone full of curiosity.
Luna smiled, “At that I do. Your being transferred into my guard is taking a while, I have yet a few more documents to fill in, you need to yet take the pledge.”
Blade laughed heartily, “It’ll be done princess, you’ve my word.”
Luna internally raised her eyebrow. Was he flirting with her? Or was it the opposite? Was this even classed as flirting? ‘What even if this world anymore’ in the interior, she laughed. New? Yes, most definitely so. Unwelcome? Most definitely not.
There was an awkward silence between the both of them, and for a moment, he wondered if he should excuse himself.
Blade was sweating, he could feel the heat between him and the armor. He wondered, also for a moment, if the princess could see straight through him- his false confidence. He prayed- hoped- that his deceitful confidence wouldn’t be shown. It was taking all of his efforts and more to not shake, to not run, even if his hooves were firmly glued to the ground.
And he pondered if he should take the risk of trying to be casual. Should he? Probably not. It probably wasn't worth the risk. But even so, his form relaxed to the max, and he turned off the flashlight that was floating in his magic that was pointing to the ground.
“Are those even necessary? It mustn't be so dark that you need a light?” Luna’s eyebrow raised, a small sense of hurt washed over her features, and that made guild build within him. He smiled softly, his voice turning soft.
“Of course not, Princess, ‘tis only be a mandatory thing that the day guards do when on night duty.”
For a short period of time, Luna was quiet. Her featured when from sad to surprised and now to curiosity.
Luna’s ears began to hear a ringing sound. Was he speaking some old Equestrian? Was that even taught anymore?
By Gods this stallion was different.
“Do you… I mean… How do you know how to speak old Equestrian? My sister told me it wasn't taught any longer?” Her words were slow, full of both shock and interest.
His eyebrow lifted slightly, “My father taught History, Equestrian Language was one of the main topics for his exams, and growing up I picked up the way he spoke whilst he was reading.” He smiled, “I remember him being surprised, needless to say, it took a while for me to start speaking modern equestrian. I do wish I'd kept studying it, I know very little at this moment in time.”
Luna’s eyebrow lifted, “taught?” She saw his smile fall and immediately felt bad.
“Aye, he passed away due to a heart attack a few years ago.”
“Ah, I’m sorry for thy loss.”
“ ‘Tis is okay, ‘twas a grieving time but it hath passed. All is well.” His smile returned.
Her heart began to beat faster. Damn it what is this guy? Whilst this most certainly wasn't a very Princess-y thought, Luna couldn't help but chuckle and smile. He intrigued her, he was different, and she knew it as well as he did.
She noticed his ears twitching. And he smiled once more.
“Ahem, well, I do believe I’ve the rest of the ground to hunt through, your Highness.” Her ears lowered slightly, admittedly, she did not want him to go, but she nodded nonetheless, and having done so, he began to walk away, flashlight already glowing and in his magic.
“Shall I expect to see you during night duty again?” Luna asked abruptly. Blade stopped in his tracks, he seemed to tense up, and he slowly turned around.
“Only if you’ll let me, Mistress” He winked before sharply turning and leaving.
Right then and there, Luna couldn't help but blush. ‘Different’ she thought as she stood up, knowing that he had now long gone into the distance, and just before she was about to leap majestically into the air to fly towards her study, she came to a rapid realization.
A grin appeared on her face. He had been flirting!!
Author's Note
Guess who kept to her Deadline?? 
TAKE NOTE HUMANS; Criticism is helpful, but don't be rude. 'Kay? 'kay. Tell me what you liked, what you found 'meh' and what you disliked and what you would burn, and don't forget to tell me why!!
Shia outttt~~~~
