It was a normal night, or as normal as a princess who just returned from a 1000 year banishment could be. Yes, Princess Luna. She was so down, so much had changed. Bearers for the Elements of Harmony, she just got defeated, not to mention all the things she would have to catch up on in the 1000 years she wasn't there, and she didn't know a single pony (Excluding Celestia.) What was she to do?

As she walked into the castle, the new castle. Not the one she was familiar with. Now she had been in the new castle about two weeks, where she noticed many a guard. And as she watched them, she took note that they all noticed Celestia, all but one. He was different. Unlike the others that were white and brown, this one was dark grey. His eyes were also curious. She hadn't seen many ponies with yellow eyes. She didn't know if he was a unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony. At different points in time she saw what looked like bat wings, and other times what seemed to be a curved horn. She just shrugged it off for the time being.

The weird glances continued for the next couple of weeks. She wanted to learn more about him, so she did. She found out that his name was Night Storm, and he had joined about 11 years earlier. He had a perfect track record, he was tough, determined, strong, brave, and he seemed to have a distaste for Celestia. Luna noticed that the guard was always more entitled to listen to her, as he always seemed to try and look, act, and behave like a guard. Especially around her, like he was the most proper guard for her; a guard fit for the Princess of the night. She had him assigned to guard her bed chambers.

Over a couple weeks, Night Storm was exceeding in every task assigned him. She noticed that he always acted proper, tough, strong and brave. It was as if he wanted to make the best impression. So Luna made sure that he knew that he was doing fine. Whether it was nodding to him as she passed by, or telling him that he was doing a good job.

The guard never said much, and was usually so proper though that Luna had a hard time even seeing if he had feelings. He never showed any weakness, fault or flaw, and surely he never smiled. Luna wondered if she would ever get to see the real him. Or maybe this was the real him, and there wasn't to much emotion to begin with. This went on for so long, she wondered maybe he only did this because he, like pretty much all of Equestria; that he only served her so well, and without flaw because he was scared of her. She didn't like this feeling at all. It just somehow felt like maybe the only possible pony to make a friend with, was letting her down.

A few nights later, the guard heard something. He opened the door to the Princesses chambers, and he saw Princess Luna crying. Now he knew that she was a strong pony that never cried. But now as he watched, all his training and tough reputation was forgotten. He came in there with the full knowledge that he could, and possibly would loose his job. Maybe even worse. But he couldn't leave her like this, without a friend in the world. He realized his actions of mainlining his perfect record, might've hurt her feelings by him never trying to be nice, as a friend anyway.

She was lying face down on her bed. He gently picked her up, and gave her a hug. Now Princess Luna knew that some pony had come there, and she recognized who he was, and what he was doing. Now instead of pushing him away, telling him that she was fine, or more or less, fire him. She now started crying again, but into his fur, and he just held her more tightly. She eventually settled down, and the two of them just lay there. And something happened. There was a silent message and reassurance between them. And from that day forth, they were friends. He still tried to keep up the act in front of other ponies, but he now showed his more emotional side every now and then when they were alone.

Luna didn't like to go anywhere without him. So he got the promotion to be her personal guard. Now, their friendship grew and grew, until it blossomed into something else. Over the course of their friendship, Luna had discovered Night Storm to be a gentle, caring, kind, and amusing pony. He occasionally would crack a smile. And every now and then, if all was well, and they were alone he would even break out a chuckle here and there.

Everything was falling into place. Luna and Night Storm had found each other, and were good friends. Luna was slowly starting to get the hang of the new things 1000 years brought. And Night Storm was slowly, but surely, coming out of his shell. They both like to have long talks under the night sky. It was so peaceful, so calming... so right.

Luna would have previously told Celestia that she and her guard would be going out that night to patrol. And they did. They were still on the alert, but nothing it seemed was going to happen; that all was secure. They they would fly for a bit, not going anywhere specific. Apparently, Night Storm had the bat wings Luna had previously spotted. They weren't thin, but not to thick that you couldn't feel the pulse of his heartbeat.

When they were alone, Luna would teleport them to a silent meadow, where no pony else would stray, as it was so distant from everything else. Anyway, once there, they would just talk and lie in the cool grass as the breeze blew. The fireflies that glowed and danced to the crickets chirping music.

Author's Note

I hope that you enjoyed the 1st chapter. This was originally a one shot, but due to some request, it has become a multi chapter.