The Dog of the Lunar Republic

Two forces met that twilight. Two forces that held specific ideal that the other disagreed with. One was Celestia and her Solar Empire, the other Luna and her Republic.

It was a stupid war as well, as most are. Luna had dragged her moon from its linear orbit and pulled it to the side, allowing a very small part of Equestria eternal night. There were beings that reveled in this idea.

You see, night and day for all of Equestria, barring this small spot, could still exist but for the some that only wished for night, they had their haven. The beings were many as well. Ponies, Dragons, Lycans, Minotaurs and all other manner of creature that held the night dearest to them through personal preference flocked to this area. They named it the Everfree lands, where they felt they would be forever free to live the way they enjoyed, under the starry moonlight night sky.

But Celestia grew upset by this. Why should her sister have her own bit of the world and she not. Why should her sister have her own followers while Celestia was forced to host both night and day? The Solar princess never took into account that most ponies of her realm slept at night, for those that didn't had already left for the Everfree lands. Due to her misunderstanding and jealousy, the Solar Princess ordered her younger sister to return the moon to its rightful place.

Of course Luna objected to this idea but neither Princess was willing to attack the other. It stayed a stalemate for years until a rather ambitious Solar Guard led an attack on a settlement on the very border of the Everfree lands.
This of course drew prompt backlash from Everfree Republic and their Lunar Guard. From this it spun from control and grew into a full blown war of the two sides.

And this is what it culminated to. Just outside the Everfree, in the same settlement that the first spark of war had been born, the war would find its death.

~~~~~~~

"Telvanni, Take thine Night Corp. to the left flank, they art in dire need of reinforcement!" cried Luna as she felt the magical life force that all creatures of the night held drop drastically.

The Lycan, a rare silvery white hue to his fur that shone oddly in the twilight, lopped off in the direction of the left flank, his icy green eyes darting about searching out a path. Bounding amongst the havoc to war, Telvanni quickly found his way to the head to the left flank where a rather large stallion was tearing through any opposition the Lunar Guard put up.
Calling out to the Imperial Guard (the best that the Solar Guard had to offer) Telvanni laid his challenge for all to see.

"Snap Apple! Thou and I! Let us finally find out what is better, the Solar bitches Imperial Guard, or mine Mother's Night Corp. (the special forces of the Lunar Guard, you could find no better.)

"Ah dearest Telvanni. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever come out from hiding behind the Lunar whore."

With a snarl Telvanni lunged forward, swiping at the stallion. Snap Apple was large for his size, though quick on his hooves. Ducking back, the Imperial Guard spun about and bucked against the Lycan’s right shoulder. There was an audible crack, and Telvanni promptly reared up onto his hind legs and preceded the fight bipedally.

"Should've aimed for the lower legs Snap. It would have been more prudent of you to break one of mine hips rather than one of mine shoulders." the Lycan growled out as he swiped a claw across the stallions face furrowing a cheek.

"Ah, but maybe I don't want you dead yet. Maybe I wish for you to see the fate of your 'Mother' as my Lady Celestia uses the very power of Harmony to destroy her!" Snap countered.

Telvanni froze as his eyes grew larger. Celestia dared to use the power of the Elements of her own sister? Telvanni could not allow this. Kicking Snap's front legs out from under him, the Lycan tore off towards his Mother's position.

As the Lycan ran, he watched as soldiers from both sides feel in battle. The Solar and Lunar Guards brought each other down. The Wonderbolts, Celestia's air force, and the Shadowbolts, Luna's air force, tore each other from the skies. All because of a simple spat over the amount of light somewhere held.

Spurred on by the cruel thought of his Mother dying as the Element's were brought to bear against her, Telvanni burst into an extra bit of speed he didn't even know he had. And there they were.

"Dearest Luna! Please, surrender this fight. I only wish to be as one again!" pleaded Celestia.

Luna would have none of it though. "Nay, mine sister. Thou assaulted mine followers without just cause. Then Thou dare order us to surrender mine land and followers! We shall never surrender!"

Then it happened. Celestia pulled the Elements from an extra dimensional pouch and used them to fire a beam of rainbow light at Luna. But the beam did not find the Lunar mare. It found her adopted son. A Lycan the Princess had known since found alone as a pup. It found Telvanni, standing betwixt the two Princesses.

With a gasp of shock as the power coursed through his body, alighting every nerve ending with pain and agony, and Telvanni collapsed.

~~~~~~~

With a cry of agony that any mother would recognize, Luna swept down to the fallen form of her son, wrapping the unmoving Lycan in her hooves.
"Telvanni! Telvanni, please. Stay with us mine son. We needest thou! Please!"
Then something odd happened.

Telvanni's body began to glow brightly, then dissolved into light that drifted into the twilight sky. Where the body laid was a single sapling.

Then Luna snapped.
"SO MINE SISTER, THOU DARE TO TAKE WHAT WE HOLD SO DEAR FROM US? THEN PERISH!"
A being that was no longer Luna swept forward, but met her fate at the powers of Harmony.

Then the war was over as night gave way unto day.

~~~1005 years later~~~

'Go to the old castle I said, check out my suspicions I said. Why the war couldn't be as simple as it was explained in the history books right Twilight? By Celestia I'm stupid!' Twilight thought frantically as she raced through the Everfree forest.

She had been studying up on some inconsistencies regarding the war between Celestia and Nightmare Moon, primarily the fact that Nightmare Moon was unheard of until after Luna being banished. On top of that, she recently found out the Elements had been used three times, not two times by Celestia. Once against Discord, and another against Nightmare Moon, but there was a third time she'd found, but had no knowledge of. This had led her to the Temple of the Twin Sisters. Twilight had spent the day exploring the place, finding it had more akin to a live-in castle than a temple. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her though, and she'd stayed out in the Everfree til nighttime. Her mistake.

~~~~~~~

His mothers face was gone! He knew not where it had disappeared to, but one thing was for sure, he was not in the battlefield. Rolling, Telvanni accidentally put weight on his wounded shoulder. With a hiss of pain, Telvanni felt his shoulder and found it was actually dislocated, not broken. A much simpler fix. With a howl of pain Telvanni grimaced in triumph as he felt the limb replace in its socket.

Now it was time to investigate. His natural feel for surroundings told him he was in the same place he had been not 5 minutes beforepaw, and he started investigating.
'In a tree...'
This was something that caught Telvanni's attention the most. Who would have thought that he'd be in a tree? And upon further delving into memories, this where Celestia had planted the peace sapling days before the attack on the settlement here.
'If this is the peace sapling, it is not a question as to where I find mineself, but at which time!'

Telvanni couldn't say he was too surprised, magic had done odder things after all, like with his cousin Brandshei, poor fool was still clucking like a chicken as far as he knew.
'So I find Mineself in the future? How far, and what should’st I expect?'

There was a slam as the front door burst wide open and five ponies came rushing in, all locking their gazes onto the Lycan that was covered in blood and gore.
Immediately an orange mare in a cowbeast hat and a second pegasi mare came forward, placing themselves in betwixt their friends and Telvanni.

"Stay back you monster! What have you done to Twilight?! You....you killed her, didn't you!" snapped the pegasi.

Telvanni merely cocked his head at an angle to the right and held a confused expression. This pony spoke in the oddest of ways after all. "Twilight? Mine mind holds no knowledge of what thou art speaking about young pony. Pray tell though, what news of the war of Night and Day? How dost Princess Luna fare?"
Sure, the ponies seemed ready to kill him, but with no knowledge of his time period or surroundings the Lycan wasn't up for making threats or making enemies.

"Uh, come again there? Ah din't understand a single thing ya jus' said." asked the orange mare.

At this point a white mare with a fancy hairdo stepped forth. "That is because, darling Applejack, he is using oldspeak. It is how everypony talked almost one thousand years ago. Why he is using oldspeak I simply cannot comprehend. Allow me to speak to him though. 'Uhm, sirrah, what ist it that thou means by intruding upon our compatriots home? And why art thou covered in...blood?'"

Refreshed by the strange pony's understanding of proper grammar, Telvanni made to answer when an earsplitting scream and a cacophony of roars sounded from somewhere outside.

~~~~~~~

Twilight was tearing through the outskirts of town. Even with adrenaline pumping thick through her veins she could still feel her body shutting down. She had run nonstop from the Temple of the Twin Sisters to town, and the toll it had taken was too great. But her tree house was but a couple streets over! Just a little bit further!
Sadly the loose cobblestone did not agree and Twilight hit the ground hard. The mare made to get back up, but it was too much.
'I'm sorry girls, and Spike, poor Spike will be with the dragons when he finds out.'
Lifting her head from the dirt, Twilight stared in defeat as the two Manticores lunged for her.

~~~~~~~

The girls and Telvanni ducked out of the house, the first five fearing for whatever pony was in trouble, the latter out of curiosity. Running towards the noise (a slow jog for Telvanni) the six rounded the corner to see none other than Twilight, covered in scrapes and scratches, hit the ground hard after stumbling. To make matters worse, twin Manticores lunged at the prone pony's form and none of the girls knew how to stop it.

'Those things could kill me horribly.... but this is as good a time as any to play my paw and show them I'm a friend. With any luck I can distract the pair while they save the mare.'
Off like a shot, Telvanni bounded over the five ponies heads and ran a path to intercept the two beasts.
With a confrontational roar, Telvanni rammed into the nearest Manticore causing it to inadvertently strike the second. By some divine blessing of the Moon itself both Manticores failed to land on Twilight and Telvanni. The Lycan rolled to his feet the second he could get his bearings and found himself eyeing up the two beast, which were ironically doing likewise. Neither species having ever seen the other, Telvanni and the twin Manticores seemed to be at an impasse. Until the Manticores suddenly realized that they were both half a metre taller than the Lycan and outnumbered him.

Telvanni knew he'd stepped into some major shit, but he'd faced worse, Celestia ranking the top of the list. The one on his left lashed out with its tail, and Telvanni was quick to dodge right but was immediately sent flying by a blow from the second one. Landing in the bare spot that the mare had been in earlier told him that she had been saved.
'Right then, she's safe, I guess it is mine time to get these two out of town.'

Tossing some dirt at the pair of beasts Telvanni tore off along to route that Twilight had used to get into town. It led nearly directly into the forest. The Lycan was honestly more shocked at the fact that the Manticores couldn't keep pace than he was about to fact that it seemed the battlefield was now a small town. Stopping every now and again to let the pair catch up, Telvanni suddenly got a plan into his head. Nipping his fore arm lightly, but still drawing blood, the Lycan went about setting up a trail and a trap.

Snapping of some branches and leaving them set firmly in the ground at an angle behind a shrub, the tactician Lycan waited for the lead Manticore. Sure enough it came from amongst the trees and bee lined for Telvanni, promptly skewering itself on the branches Telvanni had set up. Smiling grimly to himself, the Lycan ran a ways more, realizing in the back of his head that he'd gotten turned around somewhere and was now back at the edge of the forest.

'Cannot lead it back into town, no time for a trap...guess I am doing this the hard way...damn.'

Turning and lifting himself from all fours into a crouch, the Lycan awaited with bated breath for the Manticore to leap from the trees.

~~~~~~~

As soon as Twilight was safe Applejack and Rainbow Dash were out following the trail of the three beasts. Finding it led to the forest, but too smart to actually head in themselves, the pair settled for waiting a comfortable distance from the trees to see if the canine beast would come back. Normally they would have left it be, but it had risked itself to save Twilight so they felt they owed it something. After about thirty minutes or so of waiting, Dash noticed something barrel out of the trees to their right a ways down the forest perimeter.

"AJ, over there, I think that it’s the dog!"

"Yah might be right partner, let’s go!"

Sprinting towards the Lycan, Applejack and Rainbowdash nearly froze in terror as a Manticore burst from the tree and was met head on by Telvanni. The pair could only watch as the beasts went at each other, the Manticore obviously having advantage in strength and stature, but as Rainbow Dash was quick to point out, the Lycan had his own advantages.

"That Manticore may outweigh him, but look at the dog. He's fluid and has a balance to him like a trained athlete. That and he's faster and smarter. See how he only hits the Manticore when he knows he can back away without getting hit? He definitely knows what he's doing!"

Sure enough it wasn't long before Telvanni had tired out the Manticore and managed to get in a few good blows. Then with a well manoeuvered dodge the Lycan firmly latched his jaws into the back of the Manticores neck, holding strong and twisting, hoping to snap its neck. Instead Telvanni found he simply had to hold the bite long enough to cause massive blood loss. As soon as the thing dropped dead and unmoving Telvanni took a couple steps back admiring his work for a second before collapsing into the dirt.

~~~~~~~

"Hey girls. How's he doing?" asked Twilight from her bed in the hospital. She hadn't looked up from her stack of book for a while now, but her friends had just walked back in and the mare wanted to know about the Lycan, as she had just found his species listed as extinct in one of her books, was doing.

"Well darling, not much better than you. He is still out cold, though washed off. The doctors said it was a mix of magical trauma, exhaustion and your run of the mill cold. Funny, I never knew the flu could get to somepony so badly, maybe it is because he is a Diamond Dog, albeit a nice one ofcourse." Rarity explained.

Twilight smiled as she felt her theory was about to hold better ground. "Rarity, you said he used oldspeak to talk, like Luna did for a time. You also said he seemed to not recognize his surroundings nor the Manticores, right?"

"Yes Twilight, why?"

"Manticores weren't known to exist up until about 700 years ago. Also, a species, the ancestors of the Diamond Dogs called Lycans were listed to have gone extinct over 900 years ago. From my studies, the being that saved me is in fact a Lycan! How is this possible you may ask? Well quite simply if he is suffering from magical trauma, I would assume he has accidentally been sent here from the past. That would also explain his body succumbing to the common cold, because our common cold would be much more advanced than what he would be used to!" Twilight cried in triumph, her theory fitting together perfectly. "But that also means he will likely be confused when he awakes. I should probably be there. Also, I we don't know what the Lycans opinions of us are. I've already sent a letter to Celestia asking for information on Lycans, granted I told her I happened upon the subject in a book." the mare admitted sheepishly.

~~~~~~~

Telvanni let out a groan as he lifted himself up into a sitting position. His limbs ached as if he'd run a marathon, granted in retrospect he may just as well have if you measured the distance he'd run the night prior. Moving his arm he felt a slight tug on it. Looking down, he found there was a tube attached to his arm somehow, and it led up to a small bag of liquid that he didn't recognize. He was about to grab at it when her heard a voice behind him.

"That's an intravenous drip. It puts medicines straight into your blood stream. You caught a nasty bug while you were out last night."

It was the lavender pony he'd rescued. She was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room he was in.

"Bug? I was not aware that I had caught a bug. Pray tell, what species of bug was it, and why does that pertain to my incarceration?" Telvanni asked.

Twilight blushed slightly at this. "Sorry, I forgot that you don't know our turns of phrases. You got sick from running around last night. You also suffered from dehydration, exhaustion, and magical trauma. This probably won't help you calm down, but it would be best to let you know that you are in the future, most likely due to a magical accident."

"Mine situation is no accident. Tis not every day that somebeast fires the Elements of Harmony at mine chest by accident." Telvanni growled bitterly, now aware that most everything he knew was gone. "And of the war, who won? I must know, t'was it Luna or Celestia!?"

"Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were at war? From my understanding it was Nightmare Moon and Celestia?" Twilight replied, puzzled by what the Lycan had said.

"Mine mind knows not of this Nightmare Moon, perchance there hath been wars after mine own war. The war I speak of was betwixt Luna and Celestia. Luna had grown jealous of ponies ignoring her night, as such she built a castle amongst the Everfree Plains and altered the moons orbit to be perpendicular to that of her sister's sun. Thus action allowed the land she made her castle on everlasting night while the mainland of Equestria and the other nations still had day and night. She then invited many species from far and wide to come share in her night if they so wished. I joined my adoptive mother in her castle amongst the Everfree Plains of course and many others came from far and wide to live in the dark where they felt most comfortable." Telvanni stated.

"Wait! So Princess Luna never halted the moon in place for Eternal Night? She just changed its course and nothing for Celestia changed?" Twilight gasped, shocked to the core by this major transgression of history.

"Of course not. Mine mother wouldst never have harmed her sister willingly!" Telvanni growled, mildly affronted.

At this point Twilight was very confused. "Okay, so you are telling me that you come from just over 1000 years ago, you were adopted by Luna, and Luna didn't halt the moon in place after all? But that would mean Celestia was lying! So why did she attack her sister?"

"It was actually an arrogant Captain of Celestia's guards that wanted better positioning. He thought that if he could force Luna into submission and make everything go back to normal then he would be better recognized by Celestia. Two days after Celestia planted a 'peace tree', which is your library by the by, on the edge of Luna's land and hers. I find it humourous that a mare named Twilight lives in a tree of peace on what was once the border of eternal twilight. Anyway from there things escalated and things were said. From there it led to war. I was actually in battle when Celestia tried to use the Elements on mine mother. I stepped in its path to save her, and now I am here." The Lycan finished with a slight frown.

"Aha! You just answered my latest study! I found out that Celestia was involved in three uses, not just two, of the elements of Harmony! You must have made up the one that was unaccounted for. But why wouldn't she tell anypony about that? That's really od-" with a flash a letter magically appeared in front of Twilight. "Oh, here we are, a message from Celestia herself! Now I can figure out what's going on!"

Telvanni's ears jolted straight up and his eyes widened. "Thou cannot tell Celestia of mine being here! Please, it wouldst be very counterproductive to mine health!"

"Well, the war was over 1000 years ago, I'm sure she has forgiven you." Twilight reasoned.

"I have made 2 attempts at peace with her, 5 attempts on her life when peace didn't work, and she really doesn't want me alive!" the Lycan sputtered fearfully.

Rather than press the issue Twilight conceded with the obviously scared Lycan. And in all respects he was out of his time in a new one and held every reason to fear Celestia.
'He tried to kill Celestia, are you crazy!'
Ignoring her logical thought process for once, Twilight came up with a new plan.
"So then, you want to stay at my library until you figure things out? You could also help me figure out your history and maybe get you home."

Telvanni just nodded.

~~~~~~~

Luna was caught between a rock and a hard place. She knew that Telvanni was alive, her link to her adopted son had just flared. That had her all excited and giddy, eager to see how he was doing. On the other side of that though was the fact that she didn't know how her sister would react to having Telvanni back. There had been a number of things that had happened between the two, and Luna was fearful for the safety of her son.
'I shall remain quiet for now, but I will be doing a 'Call to the Fallen' in the sky tonight. I hope he sees it. Wherever you are, dear Telvanni, stay safe.'

~~~~~~~

Telvanni had settled down on a rug in the main room of the library a while ago, intent on getting some sleep. The problem was that every time he was about to drift off, Twilight would come down and grab a book and rush back up stairs. Ever paying close heed, the Lycan took notice of the fact that Twilight had started grabbing books on constellations then later grabbing some on old languages. It was the ponies eleventh or twelfth time coming down that Telvanni finally spoke.

"Hast thou found something interesting in mine mother's night sky?"

The mare jumped for a second, surprised at Telvanni being awake, before answering. "Actually yes. The stars seem to be spelling something out, but I can't find the language."

Raising an eyebrow inquisitively, Telvanni stood up and motioned for Twilight to lead him upstairs. "I hast a feeling it t'was meant for mine own eyes."

Leading Telvanni up to her observation balcony, Twilight sat excitedly as Telvanni watched the skies seemingly waiting for something. After about ten minutes Twilight couldn't help but voice her disappointment.

"I take it you don't know what it is then?"

"Mine mind holds knowledge of this. I t'was but awaiting it to restart. Ready a quill and paper Twilight, for this is something thou art unlikely to cast sight upon again." Telvanni explained.

Twilight readied her quill and waited a few more minutes. Just as she grew impatient enough to attempt voicing her thoughts again Telvanni released a deep hum.

Lo, do I see mine Father.

Lo, do I see mine mother, mine sisters and mine brothers.

Lo, do I see the line of mine kin traced back to the beginning.

Lo, they do call to me, they bid me take mine place among them,

In the embrace of the night, where the brave and loyal may live forever.

As Telvanni finished Twilight felt a subconscious shiver trace up her spine. There was magic laced into those words, deep-seated and ancient.

"That was....wow, what was that?" the mare stammered.

Telvanni turned, a true smile gracing his muzzle. "That, Twilight, was the Death Prayer. It was recited by mine fellow soldiers before battle, and then after for the fallen. It is unlikely that you should ever hear that again, for it t'was an ancient way to honour the dead, or those that are lost. Mine mother seems to know I am alive though. That she is not alone."
As Telvanni finished his explanation a few tears slid into the fur below his eyes.

Twilight was touched by the emotion she felt pouring from Telvanni. True, she had been apprehensive of him after finding out he'd killed the two manticores that had attacked her(even Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack didn't exactly trust him) but the show of emotion, pure true emotion, was more than enough to make her realize that Telvanni was but a lost soul in need of friendship.

"I'm sure Luna will come and see you soon. Besides, you aren't alone her." Twilight reassured, patting the Lycans back.

"I thank thee Twilight. It is nice to know that thou dost not judge on appearance." Telvanni smiled back.

With a giggle Twilight explained that he didn't look all that scary, and he seemed fluffier than a Diamond Dog.

"Fluffy?" the Lycan rolled his eyes at being thought of as 'fluffy'. "I am not fluffy, I just prefer mine coat long. Also, I was more over pleased to know that my initial 'actions' when I hadst first arrived did not put you off. I understand that fighting and death is not something thy time is accustomed to, not my actual appearance."

"Well, you did save me after all. That ranks you as a good guy in my books, and I have quite a few books."

"That you do. You know, I had expected the end of mine war to involve more fun and alcoholic beverages to be honest, not killer bug-cats and saving librarians." Telvanni laughed. "Not that I mind rescuing a pretty mare, but still."

Twilight's cheeks grew a deep shade of red at being called pretty. Not that she found herself ugly or anything, but her time spent with the Princess and as an element mixed with all her studying meant she tended to set things as trivial as stallion aside for later.

Noticing the mares silence and blush, Telvanni bowed low. "Pray tell I did not offend, did I. If I have, then please accept mine humblest of apologies."

"Oh no, no you didn't. I've just, well, never been complimented on my looks by a stallion, er, male before." Twilight muttered embarrassedly.

"Oh...Well, I won't take mine comment back, but I apologize for my forwardness."

Twilight just shook her head. "No, I'm being silly anyway. You said that you expected partying? Well, Ponyville's resident DJ has a nightclub on the outskirts of town. It has music, partying, and alcohol. It's not really my thing, but if you want to go, I'm all for it!"
Secretly she was hoping Telvanni would agree. She found his old timey mannerisms nice, and his oldspeak kind of charming. The mere thought of spending time with him kind of made her heart jump, and not in the 'learn something new' way.

"I don't see why not. I just hope mine presence isn't too....alarming." the Lycan admitted.

"Well, you saved me, and I've saved Ponyville like, a hundred times now so they have no right to say anything bad about you, and to do so would reflect on me so you'll be fine." explained Twilight nonchalantly.

"So thou art a hero?"

"Oh, didn't mean to brag, or sound like I was bragging, sor-"

"Tis fine Twilight. Let us go partake of the festivities." Telvanni chuckled.

~~~~~~~

It didn't take long for Telvanni and Twilight to reach the other side of town to the club. After realizing Twilight was still quite sore from her episode the night prior Telvanni lifted her up in his arms and started carrying her. He'd noticed her blushing again, but upon questioning it was assured that she was fine.

As Telvanni drew closer he could hear a rhythmic pounding from the building.
"Is that war drums Twilight?"

The mare shook her head, making herself sneeze by accidentally having a few hairs from Telvanni brush her nose. "No, it called a bass. It's part of a kind of music that's popular these days. And, uhm, you can put me down now. I can walk through the door myself silly."
Honestly she was comfortable, and the Lycan made a good pillow, but she was sure her nerves couldn't take it if Telvanni walked in holding her like that.

Twilight led the Lycan into the club, both tilting their ears back a ways to block out some of the noise of the pounding music. The pair bee lined for the bar part to get a feel for the place, part to avoid a throng of ponies on the dance floor.

"So, this is how you party now. What were parties like when you were in your own time?" Twilight inquired.

The Lycan fidgeted slightly. "I didn't go to any parties in my own time. They all tended to be a little extreme for mine tastes."

"Like how?"

"They were all orgies." Telvanni deadpanned.

Twilight turned bright red.

After this the pair moved on to friendlier banter, Twilight explaining how Celestia helped her secure her magic and trained her, becoming something of a surrogate mother. The mare also explained that Princess Celestia was far from xenophobic and seemed rather vested in Telvanni accepting that Celestia wasn't crazy.

Telvanni in turn explained how his parents had disappeared and Luna raised him. He also explained numerous traits that Lycans had, and one in specific that Twilight had noticed but not realized earlier.
"So you see, Lycans as a species were always on the move. Therefore we naturally developed the ability to understand and pick up on newer languages. I'm sure you have realized at this point that mine grammar has changed for the most part, using more modern day terms and inflections."

"Wow, so how's that for a coincidence. You learn fast and are acquainted with Luna, and I learn fast and am acquainted with Celestia." Twilight giggled, the couple of drinks she'd had starting to get to her.

"So does this mean that both Princess have pupils? And Twi, glad to see you're cuttin’ loose, plan on going for a roll in the hay tonight?" laughed a tomcoltish voice.

Spinning around Telvanni and Twilight found the DJ Vinyl standing there.

"So I saw that my customers seemed to be avoiding the bar for most of the night, thought I'd come see why. Twi sure knows how to pick 'em"
Again the unicorn DJ was laughing uproariously, Telvanni chuckling a little as his ability to pick up on things clued him in to what Vinyl was talking about.

It also meant he could stop the joking before Vinyl accidently upset Twilight.
"Alright, ease up there. I don't want Twilight to upset. She's offered me quarters and rations and she's the one that went out of her way to cheer me up a bit tonight, so not embarrassing her is mine to priority"

Vinyl just rolled her eyes. If it wasn't for her skill in music her cutie mark would probably be her holding two ponies together with the words 'Now kiss' plastered next to it.
"I'm sure. Sorry for embarrassing you Twi, but you do make a cute couple in a way, even though it looks like some zapped Winona with a growth ray and brought her in."
Yet again Vinyl was laughing, but this time she turned to head back for her booth.

The two friends spent the rest of the night slightly distracted, their thoughts constantly hinting at the idea of something more than just friendship. And when they got back to the library it was very much the same situation.

~~~~~~~

The day had been effectively awkward. Vinyl had told Octavia of the new 'couple' that consisted of Twilight and Telvanni. Said grey mare then showed up handing them a list of good romantic date spots, fun date spots, and 'roll in the hay' date spots that had Twilight's cheeks nearly immolate and Telvanni mighty uncomfortable for what had caused Twilight's discomfort. Because he was staying at the library courtesy of the mare, not because he secretly liked her, though the latter held a spot too.

What Telvanni failed to realize was that Twilight also found herself crushing on himself. Sure he was a big furry extinct Lycan that didn't belong in the current time period, but Twilight was quick to look over that in lieu of the fact that Telvanni had saved her, not tried to kill her when he found out that she was Celestia's personal student, polite, charming in an old timey sense, and he seemed to genuinely care about her and her interests.
This was precisely the reason she was swallowing her embarrassment from the morning to ask Telvanni a question.

"Hey Telvanni. After some of the things you said, I've come to the startling revelation that the Temple of the Two Sisters is in fact the old Castle of the Moon you and Luna used to live in! I was wondering if you would mind going with me?" Twilight asked hopefully, nearly begging.

"Of course not. But may I ask why you seem so eager for me to accompany you?" asked Telvanni, eyebrow raised.

'Just tell him how you feel Twi, come on!'

"Because the last time I went alone two Manticores nearly ate me." the mare said with a shudder, not lying per se as much as avoiding the truth.

Telvanni just shrugged. "Makes sense."

~~~~~~~

Luna was preparing for a trip. She didn't know why, but something was calling her to return to her old Castle in the Everfree forest. It just felt like the right thing to do.
Now if she could just slip out without alerting-

"Going on a trip dearest Luna?"

The Lunar princess let out a yelp as she turned to face her sister. "I didn't hear you come in Tia. You could have knocked; it would have been a bit more polite." Luna snapped, a bit sharper than she would have liked.

"Have anything to do with your 'Call to the Lost'? Or that you have some of his old items in a bag there?" Celestia frowned, feeling that her younger sibling was hiding something from her.

"He has a name, Celestia! And I do not care how many times he made your day a living hell one thousand years ago. He was my son, such as you hold Twilight as a daughter. But it was over one thousand years ago, and it is time for you to move on." Luna growled.

"Then why do you have a bag of his items?" It was a shrewd assessment, but Luna was a master at deceit.

"Time to move on. I shall give my old home one last visit, and if things change for me, then I will come back a stronger mare for it."

This time instead of growing more suspicious, Celestia's eyes softened a bit. "I suppose had it been Twilight's tower and I in your position I would feel the same. I apologize sister, I know how much he meant to you, and you to him. I should not forget such vital things. On that note, remember what he took from me. I have experienced similar loss."

Luna knew what Celestia was talking about. She also knew it was not Telvanni's fault. Arguing that point would be useless though.
'I just pray that if I am correct and not insane, you can put your differences aside.'
"I understand. I will be back soon sister. Fare well in your slumbers!"
With that Luna secured her bag and took to the skies.

~~~~~~~

Twilight was picking the worst possible time to have second thoughts about entering the forrest. She was fine at first, but after getting to the edge memories of how close to death she came flashed through her mind. She tried pushing pat her fear, knowing that Telvanni would be there and such, but it wasn't working too well.

"You okay Twilight?"

The edgy mare jumped a few hooves before replying nervously. "Oh yeah. Just thinking is all..."

Telvanni nodded understandingly, more understandingly than Twilight would have thought. "A close brush with death will do that to anybeast. It will be fine in time, but I have an idea that may put you at ease."
The Lycan dropped to all fours, then lowered himself onto his stomach.
"Climb on mine back, I will carry you to mine old home."

"I wouldn't want to be a burden, its fine, I can walk."

"Twilight, I wore about 93 pounds of equipment in all but that latest fight. I'm sure carrying you will be fine." Telvanni assured with a smile, closed mouth though, apparently canines (the teeth) set ponies on edge.

"Well, okay, but how do I stay on?"

"Magic? And maybe a couple of vines?"

After about ten minutes of getting things situated Telvanni rose from the ground and stretched, ensuring that none of the vines securing Twilight would hamper his ability to run. Once he was sure of his capabilities the Lycan took off loping easily through the forest.

'Wow! I knew he was built for running, but this is amazing!' Twilight thought. The last time she moved near this speed was when her air balloon burst and Dash had to save her. This was much more enjoyable than falling though, and Telvanni had a nice earthy smell to his fur. It reminded her of the basement of her library (a place she enjoyed reading and studying at). Without thinking, the mare nuzzled into the thick fur on the Lycans neck. It was about that time she realized that Telvanni had stopped running.
"What's going on, why did we stop?"

Telvanni turned his head, smiling lightly "Ticklish."

Twilight looked at him, not quite getting it. "Ticklish? You stopped because you’re ticklish? I don't get it."

This time Telvanni barked a laugh. "You seemed to have found a cozy spot to rest your head on mine neck, and as it turns out, I'm ticklish there."

Twilight turned bright scarlet and pulled back so fast she came loose of her securing straps. Luckily Telvanni was able to catch her.

"I'm sorry Telvanni...I'm and idiot, I know..."

Going out on a limb, Telvanni nuzzled the side of Twilight's neck for a brief second and smiled. "It's sweet. Twilight, I want to talk about this later, I really do. But I'm getting this weird feeling in the back of mine head that it would be safer to talk about at the Castle of the Moon."
With that Telvanni lowered himself back to the ground and nodded for Twilight to climb back up.
"And if you want to find a comfortable place to lay your head, there's this one spot on the back of mine neck. You may not know about it, but I hear certain lavender mares find it comfortable."
With a wink and a laugh the Lycan was off again, bounding through the forest.

Twilight couldn't help but blush for the umpteenth time, but after a few minutes couldn't help but snuggle into the thick fur again. It was cold outside after all.

~~~~~~~

Coming up to the rear of the Castle, Telvanni noticed that the escape rope bridge had been pu up at some point, but also that it was broken.
But he also knew this particular chasm well.

"Twilight, strengthen your bonds and don't look up for my fur. Trust mine words please."

"Why, what's up? Oh, the bridge is out again? That's just perfect!"

"Twilight, your face to mine neck, it'll make things easier on you." Telvanni repeated, moving a good distance back from the ledge of the chasm.

"Why? What are you....oh please don't jump please don't jump!"

Digging into the ground Telvanni launched himself forward into a sprint and leapt right at the edge of the cliff. Twilight screamed and buried her face into the Lycans neck fur. There was a jolt and the mare lifted her head slightly.

"Telvanni? Are we dead?"

There was a laugh as Twilight suddenly realized gravity wasn't holding her to Telvanni's back, but instead pulling her to his rear. The crazy Lycan had leapt across and was climbing the other side!

"You are safe Twilight. How do you think I got this bridge set up the first time?" Telvanni said, still smiling as he pulled them over the edge and onto flat ground.

"You could have at least told me you've done it before! You scared the life out of me!" the unicorn stammered, trying to get her heart beat to drop.

Telvanni just smiled and started moving further into the castle.

~~~~~~~

"-because if there was ever a major breach in security it would mean that there would be a safe place for everybeast to go. Quite an ingenious idea, right?" Telvanni finished his dissertation on the castle security as they neared the royal suites. It had covered the reason why the rooms hadn't been touched by anybeast, as the doors could only be opened by a member of the Night Corp. or Luna. What it came down to is they probably all fell in battle before Celestia managed to get this far.

"I'm sorry your friends all passed away....What was war like anyway? It sounds like it was hard." Twilight probed.

"I do not speak of war to many, Twilight, and I will most definitely not speak of war to you. Leave the subject as thus and forget about it." Telvanni grumbled.

'It must hurt for him to think about it...Idea!'

"Anyway, these are the Royal suites. These varying doors had rooms for the Night Corp. Then of course mine mothers room." Telvanni gestured to a large ornate door that was second to last in the hallway. "And then we have my room."
Swinging open the door revealed a modest room with a low set bed and a few pictures here or there of what appeared to be a younger Telvanni ranging from teen to pup always accompanied by a smiling Luna.

"You and Luna look like you really cared for each other." Twilight said with a smile gesturing to what seemed like the most recent of the pictures. It showed Telvanni and Luna sighting amongst flowers on a hill staring up at the night sky.

A tear graced the Lycan's cheek. "Yes, that shows me and mine mother. Moonblossoms used to cover the Everfree Plains, and it is a shame it is now all forested area now." he admitted with a sigh. "It is late though. Why don't we both get some sleep?" Moving over to a trunk Telvanni pulled what appeared to be a padded blanket out and laid it on the ground before gesturing to his bed.

"You want me to take the bed? But this is your room, and I'm just a guest." Twilight stammered, slightly uncomfortable with taking the Lycan's bed after all this time.

"Yes, you are a guest. You are my guest and you are a lady. Besides if mine mother caught me taking the bed and making a guest sleep on the floor she would tan my hide. And the guest being one of the ponies that saved her? I wouldn't be able to sit for months and it'd hurt to walk for a week or two." laughed Telvanni.

Twilight shared in the laughter, finding the idea of Telvanni bent of Luna's knee humourous. "Alright then, night Telv."

"Night Twilight."

Waiting until she was sure that Telvanni was asleep Twilight quickly set up a spell that allowed her to see into other ponies memories. Sure it was a little invasive, but she was truly curious about this thing called 'war'. It hadn't been heard of in Equestria for 1000 years nor in its bordering lands for another 760 years. With her spell Telvanni wouldn't have to think about it, then he wouldn't be sad! Ingenious!

~~~~~~~

Telvanni woke up when he attempted to roll over and found he was rolling onto something. Something that was shaking badly. Opening his eyes, Telvanni saw that at some point in the night Twilight had gotten up and moved to his side. He also saw that the mare was having some sort of nightmare and that there were tears pouring from her cheeks.

"Twilight, Twilight. Wake up. Twilight wake up and tell me what's wrong."

When Twilight did wake up her eyes shot open and darted around the room as if expecting to be hurt. As the mare realized she was safe, she turned and wrapped her hooves around Telvanni's neck.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"Twilight, what's wrong, did you accidentally break something? If you did it isn't important." Telvanni soothed, nuzzling Twilight gently.

"No its....I'm sorryIwasreallycurioussoIlookedintoyourmemoriestofindoutaboutwarandI'msorry!" Twilight blurted before breaking into horrified sobs.

That explained quite a bit to the Lycan. "Its fine, Twilight. It's fine. Picture it a bad dream, none of it happened. It was just a bad dream."

Twi shook her head and hugged Telvanni all the tighter. "It's not alright! You had to live with that, you still have to live with that. I'm so sorry; I wish I could change it."

"Twilight..." Telvanni sighed, smiling slightly. "This may be a bit forward for me to say, but you already have changed my life. Now, I'm going to do with you what Luna used to do with me when I had nightmares. Believe it or not, I was just like you when the war started.
Shifting the mare so she was lying next to Telvanni's left side the Lycan draped his left arm over Twilights shoulders and drew her close in a hug before laying his head down, curling around the mare's chest and under her neck.
"So I hear that the back of my neck is comfy?"

This drew a giggle from Twilight. "Thank you. Goodnight Telvanni, love you."

It was out of Twilight's mouth before she realized it, and there was an uneasy silence as she waited to see how Telvanni responded, praying it wouldn't be negative.

Taking in a deep breath of satisfaction, Telvanni hugged Twilight all the closer. "Love you too Twi."

~~~~~~~

Luna smiled to herself as she found that the seal to the royal suites had been broken and saw pawprints in the dust. The most interesting part was the hoofprints that accompanied Telvanni's prints.
'Has somepony else come through with him? Or has he met somepony? Maybe Zecora. She does have a habit of frequenting the woods.'
Luna trotted down the hall opening each door along the way to see if there was anypony else. Finding them all empty, she opened her old room for nostalgias sake. It was just how she left it.
Smiling, Luna moved on to the final door. She opened it with the Telvanni's name half out of her mouth when she quickly stopped herself.

Before her was her long lost son Telvanni snuggled tightly against none other than Twilight Sparkle, who was similarly wrapped around Telvanni.
'That is just too precious! I wonder, could they have actually gotten together?! If so, I doubt even Tia will be able to resist how cute they look together.'
Staying silent, Luna trotted over to Telvanni's empty bed and laid down, for once eager for her night to end.

A.N~ So yeah, major thanks to Traintrax for telling me I derped the story bad, because when I went back and read it he was right. I was not fully focused when writing this originally and rushed it bad and I'm still trying to figure out why I even thought it was ready. Actually it was probably my A.D.D or something, but what evs.
So here is my redone version and its list of fixes.

Fixed the gender confusion
Fixed the shite pacing
Fixed the crappy rushed romance thing
Made it better in general.

Oh and go listen to Manticore by TheUlasht on youtube. Just trust me on this hahaha.