The Moon's Precious Little Star

Where in Tartarus am I!? Galatea angrily thought to herself as she looked around the light-crushing darkness that currently enveloped her. It was near impossible to see anything; even when she looked down at her claws, they seemed blurry, almost as if the abyss around the griffoness wouldn't give her eyes a point to focus. Even though she had been "conscious" for a few moments, Galatea felt like she had spent an eternity floating around in this soul-crushing darkness. Suddenly, the void surrounding the griffoness began to warp and bend like water before reading, leaving her standing in the middle of Orion's bedroom. Utterly confused by what was going on, Galatea, not wanting to deal with this nonsense any longer, made for the door and attempted to grip the doorknob: only for her claws to phase right through it as if it wasn't even there. Again and again, she tried to open the door, only for her talons to continue passing through until she was ready to burst from anger.

"What is going on here? Someone come and open this blasted door!" Galatea angrily yelled as she began to frantically bang on the door, hoping that some pony would hear her. When no response came after several minutes of pounding, Galatea sighed in frustration and gave up, especially since her claws were starting to hurt. Rubbing her sore talons, she backed away from the door and spun around, figuring that if the front door wasn't going to work, then she would get out through the balcony. Almost as soon as she decided on her plan of action, the young griffoness noticed a strange shimmering mist out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly feeling an overpowering curiosity develop, she forgot what she was just about to do and made her way over to the fog. Reaching out, Galatea ran her talons through it for a few seconds before it unexpectedly moved and began forming the shape of a pony and a bipedal creature that looked a lot like Orion. When the haze finally finished forming, it had indeed taken the form of Orion, as well as a stage stallion she had never seen before. The Orion standing before the young griffoness would have been a near-identical copy of her friend if it weren't for the blank look in his eyes and the creepy smile plastered on his face.

"Oh, Galatea, I didn't see you there!" The copy prince stated, his tone and cadence cold and almost ethereal, almost as if it wasn't coming from his vocal cords, but the deepest recesses of her mind. "Have you come to save me?" He abruptly asked in a mocking tone. "Have you come to whisk me away and bring me back to the castle and my 'mother'?" Wait, what is he talking about? we're already at the caslte? When Galatea looked around to confirm that they were indeed at the palace, she noticed that instead of Orion's lavish room, she was standing in a cold and sparsely lit dungeon. "Well, you're a little late for that; I don't want to leave; how could I ever just up and abandon my master like that? He would be devastated, not to mention that I could never live without his loving affections." The words of the fake Orion brought Galatea's attention back to him, and she couldn't believe what she was hearing; this wasn't her friend, the Orion she knew would never talk like this, more would her abandon his family for anything. The young griffoness opened her beak to chew the false Orion out for being so weak, but her voice wouldn't come out. She repeatedly screamed until her throat was starting to hurt, and yet no matter how hard she tried, Galatea remained mute. This doesn't make sense? Why can't I speak? I spoke not that long ago! Though she would never admit it to any creature, panic was starting to overtake the young griffoness, and she found herself shaking from the fear welling up deep within her. As Galatea began to bang on the door once again as she slowly became more and more panicked, she failed to notice that Orion and the strange stallion had turned to face each other and started aggressively kissing. Hearing the sound of moaning behind her, Galatea looked over her shoulder, and what she saw caused her blood to boil. Wishing to stop this revulsive sight from continuing, Galatea spun around and prepared to charge the stallion with the intent of seeing him flying out of the balcony doors, yet, when she tired, the griffoness found herself rooted to the spot. Unable to move, Galatea was forced by whatever messed up cosmic force to watch her friend make out with some strange foalcon in what seemed like slow motion. After what seemed like an eternity, Orion separated from the stallion and slowly got to his knees. Having a good idea as to what would happen next, Galatea helplessly struggled to stop this, but no matter how hard she tried, Orion continued to inch closer and closer to the stallion's sheath.

Shooting up into a sitting position, Galatea gripped the sweat-soaked sheets of her bed as tightly as she could, tearing long streaks through them as her claws shredded the bedding. Sweat dripped off of her feathers and beak as she sat there, staring at the blanket she had gripped in her talons. Blast it all; that's the fourth time this week that I've had that stupid nightmare! Why can't I get over what happened? Orion already told me it wasn't my fault, so why!? Galatea angrily thought to herself. With her blood beginning to boil, the young griffoness raised a claw and swung it at the wall, stopping only a few centimetres from striking it when she remembered where she was. The first time she had this nightmare, Galatea put a hole through the wall, resulting in her getting yelled at by four grown ponies for about half an hour. She looked around the room to see if any of the sleeping thestrals had been awoken by her responses to her nightmare. When she saw that none of them were awake, Galatea let out a sigh of relief. The last thing that she needed right now was for the others to know she was suffering from nightmares; if Galatea had to deal with any more animosity from them, the griffoness was sure she would likely kill one of them in anger. Now fully awake and knowing that there was little chance of her falling asleep again, Galatea threw the blanket off of her and out of bed to do some late morning exercise.

"Alright, you sorry excuses for soldiers of the night, get your lazy flanks out of bed!" Drill Sergeant Take Down yelled as she flung the door to the barracks open with as much strength she could muster. Awoken suddenly from their peaceful sleep, the thestrals all around the room threw off their blankets and scrambled to stand at attention. The only creature in the room that didn't panic at all was Galatea, thanks to her already being awake and ready by the time Take Down came in. All around the room, the griffoness could see her fellow recruits glaring at her; with a sigh, she rolled her eyes and focused on the Sergeant, doing her best to ignore the thestrals. Ever since Galatea joined the night guard, she was the odd one out, being the only non-thestral inducted in a long while. The young griffoness faced a near-constant stream of harassment and pranks from her fellow recruits. The worst part of the whole experience was that the Sergeant liked to pay close attention to her based on her connection with the royal family. Not only did this mean that High expectations were placed on her at all times, but based on this, the thestrals of her company saw her as a brown noser, which in turn made their taunts and jeer all that more malicious.

"Okay, you worthless excuses for guard mares and stallions! Tonight I have an extra special treat for you! Galatea could see the other recruits tense up upon hearing those words all around the barracks. Sergeant Take Down walked into the room and stopped in front of Galatea, looking her in the eyes, which she hated, knowing full well that high expectations were now placed on her shoulders. Her connection to the prince and recommendation from princess Luna made her a favourite of every officer looking to elevate their status in Canterlot. This, in turn, was the birth of the rumour about her being a brown noser, especially when she would go above and beyond to prove to all the naysayers that she could make it in the night guard. "Tonight, you are going to fly around the base of the mountain as fast as you can until you drop! We need to see how long you foals can fly for, so hurry up and get moving; I want to see your tails out this door in the next few minutes!" Immediately, all the night guard recruits rushed around the barracks putting on their armour and collecting their weapons. Many purposely bumped into the griffoness as they made their way out the door. They always did this whenever they had to go out for training; Galatea figured it was a way for them to let her know that she wasn't welcome without angering the Sergeant. Yet, they didn't figure out that it only served to make her more determined to prove them wrong.

"Look at that oversized chicken! You'd think that she'd be embarrassed with how much flank kissing she does normally, but to go this far is just sad," one of the thestral mares towards the back of the formation said none too subtly. Galatea, leading at the front, heard her statement and turned her head to glare at her. The mare glared back at her, feeling absolutely no shame in being overheard. Rolling her eyes, Galatea looked away and went back to paying attention to her flight path before letting out a tired sigh. Almost as soon as the exercise started, the griffoness quickly overtook the other recruits, and she had no intention of slowing down or stopping for any reason.

"Oh, don't listen to that whorse; she's just jealous that she can't fly as fast or as long as you." Galatea looked over her shoulder and saw Night Whisp, one of the only night guard initiates that didn't seem to hate her guts, fly up next to her. "Tartarus, half of these mares wish they could be you; they just won't admit it," Nigh Whisp stated in an exasperated tone, to which the griffoness looked at her skeptically with a raised brow. "I'm serious! Not only did you pledge to join the night guard to protect your friend better, but you're also excelling at most of the exercises, thanks to that determination. Many of the mares find it rather romantic, and even that stallions find the display of loyalty commendable," Night Whis explained with a mirthful chuckle. The mere thought of her and Orion being together in any romantic way made the griffoness shudder in disgust; they were friends, good friends, but that was all they were and the idea that she joined the guard as a way to show that love made her scoff with indignation.

"Yeah, well, I wish they would take that kind of attitude on a nightly basis rather than harass me all the time!" Galatea stated with an annoyed growl. "Besides, they're all fools if they think that I joined the night guard as a show of love. They don't know me, Orion, nor our situation, and the fact that they're projecting their fantasies onto me makes me want to strangle them!" The thestral mere tuned her head and looked up at her flight companion with concern; she knew griffons had a temper, but this seemed to go above and beyond the usual. Not only that, but whenever a pony would ask her about the time the prince was foalnapped, she would visibly tense up. Then one could see a dark look form in her eyes, one that screamed she was contemplating murder.

"You know, if you'd just explain what happened between you and the prince, as well as what happened when he was foalnapped, I'm sure the others would back off a little," Nigh Whisp absentmindedly stated, to which Galatea tensed up, and looked at the thestral like she suddenly turned into an orthos and sprouted a second head. " I mean, you've told me many a time that you don't like imagining you and the prince together romantically, but whenever some pony asks you what he is to you, you snap at us! What are the others supposed to think whenever you get so defensive?" Just as Night Whisp had stated, when she looked up at the griffoness, it looked like she would take the thestrals head off. Luckily, she knew that Galatea was all bluster and that nothing would happen to her, but Night Whisp did have to admit that being glared at like that by an apex predator caused a chill to run down her spine. The griffoness continued to glare at her flight companion for several minutes, and just when Night Whisp was about to tell her to knock it off and forget what she just said, Galatea looked away and let out a tired sigh.

"Alright, I'll tell you, and only because you are the only one in the company that doesn't currently hate my guts." Utterly shocked, Night Whisp did a double-take and looked up with wide eyes at Galatea, who didn't take her eyes off from in front of her, continuing to stare forward. After a brief moment of silence where she thought about backing out, Galatea began explaining to Night Whisp what happened between her and Orion. Night Whisp listened to what she was told without interruption, even when the griffoness told her about the other fillies and colts trapped in that dungeon. Once Galatea finished telling that story, Night Whisp had a lot to think about and looked ahead with a thousand-yard stare. "Now you know, and while I'm sure that some pony will tell the company about this at some point. I should tell you that if you relay what I just told you to any creature outside of the guard, I'll wring your neck, regardless of our friendship!" Galatea stated darkly, to which Night Whisp nodded her head and reassured her friend that she wouldn't tell a soul, not that she would want a civilian to know anything about this anyway. Satisfied with the response, Galatea nodded her head and looked away from Night Whisp to focus on her flying, and when she did so, she realized that sometime during her storytelling, they had both fallen to the back of the formation.

"I'm sorely disappointed in you two!" Take Down yelled at Galatea and Night Whisp as she paced back and forth in front of the pair. The instructors expected all the recruits to keep a certain pace during the exercise to gauge the flight capability of each of them adequately. Thankfully, enough leniency allowed a pony to pull ahead without getting yelled at; the only thing they weren't supposed to do was slow down. Yet, during their conversation, that was precisely what the two of them did without realizing it, and while it was an accident, the instructors believed it was on purpose. "I told the two of you along with the rest of the company what I wanted to see, and yet, the two of you decided to start reminiscing about something in the middle of the exercise and did the one thing I told you not to do!" The drill Sergeant continued to yell, all the while the other thestrals snicked annoyingly behind her back. As if some divine being was looking out for them, Take Down spun around and stomped her hoof so hard Galatea was sure she heard the floor crack. "Who said you could laugh, you worthless excuses for soldiers!" It's all fun and games. Well then, can any of you care to explain to me what you did wrong?" Take Down asked the rest of the company, and all they could do in response was look at each other in confusion and shift in place nervously. Expecting some sort of answer, the Sergeant angrily tapped her hoof against the floor while she waited for the recruits to answer her question. When it was clear that none of the thestrals were going to speak up, Take Down let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "Well, if none of you are going to answer me, then I think you need a little more exercise to clear your minds." All around the room, the recruits groaned in dissatisfaction, followed by them glaring at Galatea and Night Whisp as they exited the barracks once again.

Finished with their punishment, the company marched back into the barracks, each one of them groaning from the pain they felt all over. As each thestral entered through the door, they had their wings hanging by their side and dragging along the floor. The only creature that didn't have its wings scraping against the floor was Galatea, and that was thanks to the fact that Griffons made for excellent endurance fliers. Thestrals, on the other hand, were more of an ambush flier, managing small bursts of speed that outclassed all others, but were only able to pull this off every few minutes. This type of flight made them exceptional city guards, allowing them to hide in the shadows and surprise any criminal or invader with ease, but, unfortunately, it made them poor choices for the military. That's what the previous exercises were for; to keep them flying until they felt like dropping in the hopes of improving their stamina. So when Galatea and Nigh Whisp slowed down, they messed up the reason they were even out there in the first place.

"How in Tartarus are you not tired!?" Night Whisp asked Galatea through pained wheezes as she tried to catch her breath. Not knowing how to answer without coming off as cocky or conceited, Galatea looked over her shoulder and smiled before making her way over to her bunk. As she crossed the room, the griffoness took note of the looks the other recruits were giving her, and she knew that she wasn't going to get a good day's sleep at this point. "No, seriously! Are you even mortal? I'm pretty sure that even the princess' would be tired after that!" Galatea let out a sigh and hopped up onto her bed before turning to address her compatriot.

"First of all, I am tired; who wouldn't be after what we went through. Second, I know princess Luna, and that would be considered a light warm-up for her. Third, the reason that I'm still standing so easily is thanks to the natural stamina that all griffons possess," the griffoness explained while flashing Night Whisp a prideful smirk, which resulted in said thestral rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"You say that, yet you still don't seem tired at all." Growling under her breath, Galatea was about to snap at the pestering bat pony when the door to the barracks suddenly opened, revealing one of the many butlers that worked at the castle on the other side. Not expecting any visitors this close to dawn, the entire company looked up from whatever they were doing to see who it was.

"Can I help you?" Drill Sergeant Take Down asked the stallion as he slowly scanned the room. As soon as his gaze fell upon Galatea, he practically shoved the Sergeant out of his way. Crossing the room, he stood in front of the griffoness and levitated an envelope out of his coat pocket. Taking it from him, Galatea turned it over and took note of Luna's signature, immediately understanding that the princess was summoning her. With his first task complete, the stallion turned and walked out of the barracks without a word, with Galatea following closely behind him.

Standing at attention outside the throne room, Galatea waited for the princess of the moon to call on her once she finished with night court. The young griffoness initially tried to pass the time by talking with the two thestral guards posted on either side of the door. Unfortunately, her plan didn't work out, as the guards wouldn't allow their professionalism to falter just so a rookie could entertain herself for a few minutes. With her initial plan in the dirt, Galatea decided to be the perfect example of a guard and stood stock-still in front of the doors while she waited.

It took some time, but after what felt like half the night, the doors to the throne room opened as night court concluded, and the ponies there to attend filed out of the room. Galatea watched the ponies leave the castle without moving her head, and none of them were what she was expecting. Given that it was as late at night, the young griffoness expected to see nobles with mundane problems that were overblown to high heaven. Yet the ponies she saw exiting the throne room were the poor and downtrodden; ponies that lived outside of Canterlot and didn't have the luxury of near twenty-four-seven security to keep them safe from the horrors of the world. While she watched from her vantage point, Galatea could see entire families pass her by with relieved smiles on their faces. Piecing things together, she figured that these ponies dropped everything to come to the capitol to beg the princess for help, placing all their hopes on her assistance.

Once the heard of ponies cleared out of the castle, the lunar princess' assistant, who Galatea never learned the name of, called out to her, allowing her to enter the throne room finally. The second she stepped foot into the room, Galatea felt herself being lifted off of her feet and pulled through the air towards the princess, who wrapped the young griffoness in a tight hug.

"How are you doing, Galatea?" Luna asked the griffoness, who could only respond with a startled squawk as the princess of the night squeezed her tighter. "It's been so quiet in Orion's room without you and the other two to keep him company," she stated when she let Galatea go from her nearly life-crushing grip.

"I'm fine, Princess Luna," Galatea said between breaths. "And I'm sorry that I haven't been by in a while, but it's not like I can just up and leave the barracks whenever I want." Luna nodded her head in understanding in response to the young griffoness, though she did tell her that all she needed to do was ask, and Take Down would get a letter allowing her to leave the barracks any time she wanted. Galatea immediately shook her head and told the lunar monarch that she wouldn't abuse her standing with the royal family like that, especially since she wanted to do this the right and proper way. Luna scrutinizingly eyed the griffoness, knowing full well that she wasn't telling her the whole truth, but decided to let it go ultimately, trusting that Galatea would say to her what was going on in due time.

"Well, It's good to know that things are going well for you; unfortunately, Orion hasn't been having the best time since you, Dusk, and Blueblood stopped visiting regularly." That immediately got the young guard's attention, and she looked at the princess with worry plastered on her face. "Don't worry, it's nothing too serious; fortunately, he's just been a little lonely lately," Luna stated reassuringly, to which Galatea let out a relieved sigh. "Unfortunately, there is something else that is worrying me at the moment," Luna whispered near conspiratorily. "It seems that the magic Orion uses is parasitic. It feeds off of his more negative emotions, allowing him to cast spells that should, at the very least, take a few weeks to master, yet he does it with little effort once he becomes frustrated with his failures." Luna explained, and though her tone was as soft and calm as she could make it as not to worry the young griffoness, it only served to make her sense of dread grow even worse. While Galatea didn't know much about the mechanics of pony magic, she at the very least knew that there was only one type of magic that was parasitic, and it was something that every magic-capable creature was taught never to use.

"Are you telling me that Orion is using dark magic?!" Galatea all but screamed, stating the princess, who quickly used her magic to clamp the griffon's beak shut.

"Do you want to scream that a little louder; I think there were ponies on the other side of the city that didn't hear you!" Luna whispered angrily. Galatea mumbled an apology to the princess through her magic sealed beak and mimicked zipping her beak shut. Nodding her head, Luna released her from her magical grasp and walked over to her throne. "I understand your concern, Galatea, but I assure you that the magic Orion uses isn't dark magic, but any creature would be forgiven for thinking so." Though the princess once again tried to use a reassuring tone to calm the griffoness, it did little to alieve her of the growing unease in the pit of her stomach. As part of their training, Galatea and the other recruits were forced to learn about dangerous magic and what they needed to look out for to protect the princess in the off chance some pony tried to use it against them. So the mere thought of one of the other recruits recognizing the similarities and preemptively harming Orion put Galatea on edge immensely. "On a more positive note," Luna suddenly stated, breaking the young griffoness out of her negative thoughts. "Both me and Orion have taken to stargazing before and after his lessons. He has an insatiable need to know about the different stars and constellations. I was elated when he asked about the night sky, and the first time, we spent the entire night staring up at the stars." The sheer happiness Galatea heard in the princess' voice brought a smile to her face and even managed to alleviate some of her fears. "So, is there anything that you need to talk about?" Luna asked the griffoness, who tapped her beak for a few moments before nodding her head and telling the princess what she was thinking.

Galatea and the lunar monarch continued to talk for the rest of the night, only stopping when Luna's assistant reminded her that she had other duties to attend to before Celestia rose the sun. Shocked at how late into the night it was, Luna dismissed the griffoness, who, with a salute, left the throne room and returned to the barracks. By the time Galatea returned to the barracks, the castle had begun the morning guard rotation. One by one, the thestral guards stationed all around the palace left their posts and returned to their beds as the ponies of the day guard replaced them. In the barracks, the bat ponies of her company were getting ready for bed when she entered. Almost as if they were one singular organism or linked in some great hive mind, all the thestrals in the room looked up at the griffoness. They all creepily stared at Galatea for a few moments before returning to what they were previously doing. The only one that didn't behave like the rest was Night Whisp, who immediately stopped what she was doing and made her way over to Galatea.

" So, what did the princess want to see you about?" The nosey thestral excitedly asked with a twinkle in her eye. It was clear to Galatea that her bubbly bat pony friend was sitting here the entire time, hoping that she would come back and share some juicy gossip with her.

"She just wanted to see how I was doing." Night Whisp stopped dead in her tracks and stared back at Galatea in disbelief. Her brain only started working again when the griffoness looked over her shoulder and flashed her a cheeky smile. She then began a barrage of parid-fire questions in the hopes of an explanation, to which Galatea promptly ignored. If what the princess told me is true, then the danger that Orion might face in the future is even greater than we once thought, but this time I'll be there to protect him!