Dear Diary

It’s the next day. Luminous is waiting for Ms. Shard to arrive.

Finally, she hears a knock.

Knowing that it’s Ms. Shard, Luminous said, “Come in Ms. Shard”.

Ms. Shard came in, she looks surprised.

“Hello Princess Luminous, I’m surprised you’re here”, Ms. Shard said.

“What do you mean by that Ms. Shard?”, Luminous said in an innocent tone, even know she knows.

“Well you are always out and about with that coltfriend of yours”, Ms. Shard said.

Well . . . that backfired.

“Dark Knight is not my coltfriend!”, Luminous blurted as her face got redder.

Ms. Shard laughed and said, “I’m sorry your highness, I was just joking around”.

Luminous thought about it for a second. Her and Dark Knight? Maybe . . .

She shakes her head to regain her focus.

“Never mind that. Let’s begin the lesson”, Ms. Shard.

“Before we start, can I ask you a question Ms. Shard?”, Luminous ask.

“It’s ‘May I ask you a question Ms. Shard’. The ‘Can I’ statement is talking about capability. The ‘May I’ statement is asking for permission. And I know you were going for a permission statement. Besides, the ‘May I’ statement is more polite than the ‘Can I’ statement.”, Ms. Shard corrected.

Luminous rolled her eyes and said, “Right. May I ask you a question Ms. Shard?”.

“You may”, Ms. Shard replied.

“Did you know my mother?”, Luminous ask.

“Of course I did, she was the Queen after all”, Ms. Shard said as she was levitating some books out of her saddle bag.

“Um no, what I meant was, did you personally know my mother?”

Ms. Shard dropped her books, in shock.

Ms. Shard regained her focus. “Why would you ask that question?”, she said in a nervous tone.

“So you did know her! I can tell it from you tone”, Luminous said.

Ms. Shard looked down and lowered her ears. She was spaced out.

“Ms. Shard?”, Luminous called out.

Ms. Shard regained her focus and lifted up her head. “Sorry, I had flashbacks”, she said.

“Please Ms. Shard, you have to tell me the truth”, Luminous pleaded.

Ms. Shard sighed, admitting defeat. “Fine, I did know your mother”

“Then please, tell me what you know.”, Luminous said.

“I wish I could dear. But . . . I can’t.”, Luminous says as she was picking up the books.

“What do you mean, you can’t? Is this my father’s doing.”

Ms. Shard, getting tired of resisting to Luminous’s stubbornness, nodded.

“I knew it”, Luminous said, falling on her bed.

Ms. Shard goes to Luminous.

“It’s always him. He ruins everything”, Luminous says in disappointment.

“You may think that but, he is just doing what he thinks would be best”, Ms. Shard says.

“And what would that be?”

“Your protection”

Luminous rolls her eyes and gets up. “It’s always that. These secret he’s been hiding, it’s always for my protection”

“Princess! Stop this at once”

“Then please, please tell me the truth”, Luminous pleaded.

Ms. Shard could see Flurry Heart in Luminous. She misses her.

Ms. Shard took a deep breath, and let it out. “I was your mother’s maid. And we quickly became friends”

“I knew it.”, Luminous said.

“But how did you know I knew her?”, Ms. Shard asked.

“Um”, Luminous said as she’s trying to think of an excuse.

“Well?”

“It was a dream”, Luminous blurted. Luminous wasn’t technically lying. Without that dream, she wouldn’t known what she knows right now.

“Hmm. I see.”, Ms. Shard said, as she was packing the books back in the saddle.

“Wait, you’re going already? What about my mother?”, Luminous said.

“I’m tired of your stubbornness Princess, that’s why I’m leaving.”, Ms. Shard said as she walks to the door.

She turns back to Luminous, and says, “And if you really wanted to know, your mother was having an affair”

“W-What?”, Luminous said in shock.

“She disobeyed the King. It was her foolishness that led her to her death.”, Ms. Shard said and left.

“It can’t be . . .”, Luminous says.

Dark Knight is at the Rookies Knights Quarters with the other rookies. He and the other rookies are running laps.

An adult pegasus stallion with a light goldish brown coat with a brown mane blows the whistle and yells, “Come on rookies! Faster!”.

The pegasus is Commander Stonewall. The commander is training the rookies for a tournament they will be having later.

The Commander blows the whistle again and says, “That’s enough rookies! Take five”.

The rookies stopped running. Some fainted and some are panting. Dark Knight and some of his friends were doing push ups while making fun of the ones that fainted and are panting.

Then Dark Knight saw her. His focus was all on her. She was walking to the Commander.

The rookies around him were laughing at him, as they noticed who walked to the field. One of them punched Dark and he regained his focus.

“Huh?”

“Dude, this is like the hundredth time you’ve done that”, one of the rookies commented.

He got up from his push up position, rubbed the back of his head, and blushed. “Shut up guys”, Dark Knight said in embarrassment.

“No offense Dark but, don’t you think the Princess is way out of your league?”, one of the rookies asked.

“Love will always overrank every league”, Dark Knight replied as he is back in his trance, staring at Luminous.

“Geez, love has made you really cheesy”, another rookie said.

“Who cares if I’m cheesy”

“And what about her overprotective father? Spoiler alert, the King?”, the other rookie added.

Dark Knight snapped out his trance. The group, even Dark Knight, knows that if the King found out that his daughter was dating someone, it’s off with their head.

Then the group heard the whistle. Commander Stonewall called out for Dark Knight. The group turned to the Commander. Luminous waves at Dark Knight.

“Oh, you’re going to be dead soon Dark”, one of the rookies teased.

Dark Night rolled his eyes and flew to the Commander and Luminous. “Commander Stone Wall”, Dark Knight said as he saluted his commander/coach.

“Uh apparently, the Princess has chosen you to help her with an important royal duty”, the oblivious commander says.

“Yes, totally for a very important royal duty”, Luminous said.

“Totally”, Dark Knight said.

And the two left the field.

It’s was silent for a minutes as they left. Dark Knight turns to Luminous and sees she’s sad.

Tired of the silence and kinda concerned, he says, “So what’s up Lumi? You okay?”.

Luminous sighs and says, “I just really need you right now Darky”

Dark Knight blushes. He’s surprised on what he just heard.

Luminous, now realizing what she just said, blushes. “I mean, I need to walk with somepony”

Dark Knight raised a brow.

“I mean! I need to stalk with somebody!”, Luminous tried to correct herself again.

’What are you saying Luminous?! It’s just Dark. Calm down’, Luminous thought.

“Ugh, what I meant was-“

Dark Knight bursted out laughing. Luminous is still embarrassed. Dark Knight looked at Luminous. “You are cute when you look embarrassed”

He stopped laughing and put his wing over Luminous. Luminous turns away from him, trying to hide her tomato face.

“You need somepony to talk to?”, Dark Knight said after he calmed down.

Luminous turn back to Dark Knight and nods.

“Then let’s go to your room. Race ya there”, Dark Knight says as he flys down the hallway.

Luminous smiles and follows Dark Knight.

It’s the night time. The red moon is down and the red crystals are glowing.

Dark Night and Luminous are laughing. They are sitting on Luminous’s bed.

“Thanks for hanging out with me, I needed it”, Luminous said.

“I’m always here for you Lumi, remember that”, Dark Knight said.

Luminous yawns.

“I’m gonna get back to my quarters”

“Wait”, Luminous says, stopping Dark Knight from leaving. It was quiet for a minute.

‘Say something Luminous’, she thought.

“Thank you”, Luminous said.

Dark Knight winked and left.

‘Dang it Luminous!’, she thought.

She sighed and shook her head. After talking to Dark Knight, she decided to give her mother another chance to explain herself. And so she took out the diary from under her pillow and opened it to the next page.

As she was about to read, the lamp starts to flicker. Then she felt a breeze. She turned to the window and noticed it was open. She closed it with her magic.

Wait . . . she doesn’t remember opening the window.

Luminous shrugs.

Luminous then heard a whisper that said, “Luminous”.

Luminous jumps. “Luminous, you are just hearing stuff. Snap it out”, she told herself.

She pauses for a moment to see if she here’s anything else. Nothing. Luminous sighed in relief.

She turned back to the diary.

Ms. Shard walks into the throne room. The king is sitting on his throne, reading some documents.

“My King”, Ms. Shard says as she bows.

King Sombra put his documents down and asked, “Did you do it?”.

Ms. Shard nodded and says, “Yes my King, I’ve told your daughter what she needed to know”.

“Good. One of my spies caught Luminous going to the secret room and bringing something out. Did you find out what it was?”

“No your majesty, but I am eliminating some options.”

“Whatever it is, you better figure it out.”.

”Sir, there is something else I have to tell you.”, Ms. Shard said.

”What is it?”

”Apparently, you daughter has been having visions.”

”Visions?”, Sombra says as he thought about it.

Sombra continues, ”This would explain her recent actions and behavior towards me”

”So what are we going to do my king?”, Ms. Shard asked.

”I’ll think of something, but for now, keep a close eye on on my daughter”

Ms. Shard nods.

Little did the two know, somepony from outside the throne room was listening. It was Dark Knight.

Flashback

It’s the day before the big day. Every creature in the castle is in a rush, preparing for the big day. The creatures don’t remember the last time the Shadow Realm has a royal wedding before, they are excited. Well . . . not every creature is excited, not Flurry Heart. Of course Flurry Heart isn’t that excited for her big day. After all, she just met her future husband two days ago.

She always dreamed of getting married. Getting married to someone who she actually loves, to be exact. She always believed in true love. Her parents were the power couple that represented it. But now, she guessed that will never happen to her.

Flurry Heart is walking around her new home. She’s kinda lost. ‘It has to be nearby somewhere’, she thought. She looks around while she walks. And then, bump. Flurry fell down.

“Oh shoot. Are you okay?”, a voice asked.

Flurry opened her eyes to see a pegasus stallion guard who looks like the same age as her. Her heart skips a beat. A blush slowly glows up on Flurry’s face.

“Uh, y-yeah”, Flurry said.

The stallion rubbed the back of his head and smiled. “Sorry about that”, he said and he lended a hoof to help Flurry up.

“N-no, it was my fault. I should have watched where I was looking”

“Wait a minute . . . You’re Lady Flurry Heart!”, the stallion said after his realization. “I’m so sorry m’lady”.

“No no, please don’t apologize. Like I said, it was my fault”

The stallion nodded.

It was silent for a minute. The two just stared at each other. Flurry was lost, her heart was beating fast, ‘Is this love?’, she thought.

Flurry finally took his hoof and he helped her up. She shook her head to regain her focus and said, “I am sort of lost. Do you mind if you escort me to the library?”.

“Of course”, the stallion said. “But you know it’s going to be a long walk, the library is way on the other side of the castle, you know that?”

Flurry shrugs, “I could use the walk”.

It was quiet for a moment, it was a bit awkward. So Flurry decided to talk. “Soo, are you new around here?“, she asked.

The stallion scoffed and said, “I’m pretty sure I was here first”

Flurry chuckled and said, “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to make conversation”

The stallion smiled. Flurry turns to the stallion and she smiles.

“Thank you”, Flurry Heart said.

The stallion turns to Flurry Heart with a confused look. “We haven’t even reached the library yet”, he said.

“Oh, I’m not thanking you for that. I mean I will because-“, Flurry says as she hears herself getting out of topic. She shakes her head and continues, “I’m thanking you for this moment”.

“What do you mean?”, the stallion asked.

“Every since I got here, I’ve mostly been very busy. And when I’m not very busy, I feel . . . very depressed, to be honest”, Flurry says, trying to keep her smile from turning to a frown.

“It’s the wedding preparations isn’t it?”

“Well . . .”

“Don’t worry m’lady, once you are married to the King, you’ll live happily every after and be treated like a Queen because, you will be one”

Flurry rolls her eyes. “That’s overrated”, Flurry said, which made the stallion chuckle. He stops chuckling when he sees Flurry’s face, she looks sad.

“Did I say something wrong m’lady?”

“I don’t know if I would understand”

“Just lay it on me”

Flurry breathed in and out. “To be honest, I’m not looking forward to getting married”

The stallion looks shocked. Flurry continued on, “Between you and me, he’s technically forcing me to marry him”

“Wow . . . that’s tough”, was all that came out of the stallion’s mouth.

“I know, not the kind of way you would expect somepony to get married”, Flurry said with a chuckle. She continues, “But thank you for making me feel actually happy for the first time ever since I got here”.

“I guess it’s my duty, m’lady”

Flurry smiles at the stallion but then looks down, and she frowns. The stallion sees Flurry frowning. “Hey, you know what cheers me up when I feel down?”

Flurry lifted her head and turns to the stallion. “And what would that be?”

“Flying”, the stallion says as he spreads his wings.

He starts to flap his wings. “Care to follow?”, the stallion says. Flurry giggles and starts to flap his wings.

The stallion flies down the hallway.

Flurry Heart smiles and follows the stallion.

The two finally reached to the door of the library. They flew down while laughing. “That was fun!”, Flurry says. Flying always made Flurry feel better. She’s forgotten how much fun flying was due to all the stress.

The stallion bowed and said, “I have to get back to my post”.

“Wait”, Flurry says, stopping the stallion from leaving. It was quiet for a minute.

‘Say something Flurry’, she thought.

“Thank you”, Flurry said.

The stallion smiled and left.

‘Dang it Flurry! Why didn’t you ask for his name?!’, she thought.

But then, she thought about it even more. She’s getting married tomorrow. She can’t fall in love now. She shook her head. She turns back to the door of the library and opened it.

She walked in to see the King. He’s on a chair reading a book. He levitated the book down. “Hello there dear”, Sombra says.

Flurry flinches. ‘Dear?’, Flurry thought. Hearing that kinda grossed her out.

Flurry bows and says, “Greetings, my king”.

“Please, come join me”, Sombra says as he pointed to the chair next to his.

Flurry nodded, and did what he asked. It’s been two days since she has seen the king. And between those two days, she had one question that had been in her mind.

“My king, may I ask you a question?”, Flurry asked.

“Of course dear, anything for you”

Flurry took a deep breath and let it out. “Why did you choose me?”

“Well . . . do you want me to be truthfully honest?”, Sombra said. Flurry nodded.

“Well before you came here, my kingdom has been . . . . in riots. My royal advisors suggested that I needed to find myself a queen and get myself an heir to calm down the creatures. You know how peasants are with royal stuff.”.

“Oh . . . I see”

Sombra continued, “I needed a Queen that has the beauty that would attract the shadow creatures back to me. I also needed a powerful one that would produce me a perfect heir. And lucky for me, I heard of a young beautiful alicorn mare.”.

That broke Flurry’s heart. She frowns.

Sombra, seeing the frown, says, “Now don’t frown, all your job as Queen is to look beautiful and produce me an heir. Afterwards, you’ll be treated with the finest luxuries”.

Suddenly, Crystal Shard walks into the library. She looks surprised. “My king! I did not expect you to be here”, Crystal said.

“Hello there Crystal, do you need anything?”, Sombra asked.

“Uh, yes. It’s time for Lady Flurry Heart’s lessons”, Crystal says as she turns to Flurry. Flurry looks sad.

“Of course, you two get to it. I must go anyways”, Sombra says as he leaves the library.

Crystal Shard bowed until he left. When he did leave, she turned back to Flurry. “Flurry? What is the matter?”, Crystal asked.

It was quiet for a moment. Tears start coming down from Flurry’s eyes. Flurry suddenly said, “All I’m here for is to look beautiful and produce an heir?”.

Crystal Shard lowered her ears and said, “I was waiting for the right time to tell you”.

“Tell me what?”, Flurry asked.

Flurry is on her bed and she opens her diary to the next available page. She starts to write.

“Dear Diary,

This is my last day until tomorrow. I thought I was ready to marry King Sombra until what I’ve learned today. The king only wanted me for my beauty. He also only wanted me to produce him a perfect heir. Who knew my love life came to this. What was more disturbing was what Crystal Shard told me. She told me of a royal custom that I had to do afterwards the wedding. Not only that but, I have to keep doing this ‘custom’, until I’m ‘baked’ ”

She stop writing. She took a deep breath. And let it out. ‘Calm down Flurry Heart’, she thought. She continues to write.

“Enough of that, even though today’s been a bad day for me, I did experience something good. Maybe this can brighten my story. I met somepony today. He helped me feel happy for the first time since I’ve got here. Sadly, I never got his name but, I am grateful he was there. Thank you.”

She stops writing and closes her diary. She thinks about the stallion. She blushes as she thinks about him. ‘No Flurry! You can’t be thinking about this stallion! You are getting married tomorrow!’.

She then got lost in her thoughts again and starts crying. Not only will she lose her freedom to marriage tomorrow, she will lose something else too. Flurry can’t bare losing this at a young age. But . . . she promised, she has to go through with it. She inhaled and exhaled deeply. And she went to sleep.