Luna couldn't quite believe her eyes. He was actually as young as she remembered him, to a T!
The features.
Sleek, perfect, coal black coat, grey mane and tail, that same large posture, well fit body, oh could it be true?
"B-b-b-black S-s-s-steel?!", Luna stuttered in her confusion.
"Yes. Black Steel. The one pony that you ever really spent time with, besides guards and other royalty."
Luna still couldn't believe it. By now, he should be a mound of dust in the ground. But...he was remarkably here, untouched by time!
She leaned in, touching him, making sure he was real.
"This...this is no joke? Not like the one Tia pulled a month ago?"
"No, this is truly me."
"But...how?????"
"Magic stasis. Or rather an active magic stasis. I lived off my own years long ago, to the age of forty, used a permanent black magic youth spell, then forced myself into an active stasis. Rather, I slept in a bed for about two millenia."
His story seemed very legit. The current spell accounts for this exact combination was very, very small, only about seven ponies having done it throughout Equestrian history, but the one stallion she ever had feelings for did it. Just for her.
Luna lunged at the stallion, pulling him into a strong hug.
"I...", she sniffed, "I missed you so much!"
Black Steel patted Luna on the back lightly, then parted from her, wiping away her tears.
"It's alright. I'm here now."
Luna sniffed, wipping her eyes dry.
"Do you still have the letters I sent you?"
"Alas, no. They were lost to time. they turned to dust in my hooves when I had finally awakened from my slumber."
"It's alright. I just wanted to know. We could share them again."
"Well, what really matters is that I am here, and we are finally together."
"You waited for two millenia just to be with me..."
"I know. Let's tke a stroll through the castle. I'd at least like to know what has changed since I've been gone, and seeing as you have been here longer than me, I'd say you can provide more, understandable information."
Luna smiled widely.
Even as they walked through the halls of the castle, Luna explaining all she knew about Equestria and everything, she still hopped around with glee, clearly very happy that an old crush was back, or for that matter, her first love!
The walk was a bit shorter than Luna had thought, since she really didn't know very much about Equestria and it's advances in time. Stopping in front of the dining hall, Luna stopped in the middle of her sentence.
"Oh! Why don't you try some of our new cuisine? The new foods here are just wonderful. We have buiscuits!"
"Oh. thank you, really, but I'm not hungry right now. Maybe later. And I kind of have something I need to do quickly."
"Oh come now, you've got to at least try something, or at least just sit with me as I eat. Company that isn't a lingering chef would be nice for a change."
Black steel shurgged.
"Ah, what the hay? I'll join you. I guess it won't hurt."
Twilight walked through the doors of the castle slowly, saddle bag on her back, and books overstuffing them, again. The saddle bag was old, no doubt, and even ripping at the seams. Twilight did her best to sew it back up, but reading a book while threading a needle through the fabric usually lead to very many hoof pricks.
"Ah, Twilight, my faithful student!", Celestia greeted, removing Twilight's saddle bag, the pack floating to a butler that hurried off, takng them to Twilight's room.
"Hello, princess!", Twilight smiled back.
"This is a bit unexpected."
"Well, I actually came to get a book. Nothing more."
"Oh, twilight, you're paying for a two trip train ticket, just to get a book. Why not take a stroll through the library, browse the shelves, I'll even let you stay in your usual room."
"Oh, Celestia, you don't have to, I mean..."
"I insist. No reason to be rude to you. Even if it's an unexpected visit."
"Well, I really did come for a book, but it was worth the trip, as it's a really, really big book."
"Hmm. I see. Well, I'll allow you to stay here if you wish."
"Thank you princess."
"Don't mention it.", Celestia winked.
Luna trotted in the doors herself, Black Steel by her side, the two deep in conversation.
"Oh? Has Luna found a very special somepony?", Twilight asked, watching Luna sneak a quick kiss from the black stallion.
"It...seems so. Though, I've not seen her interact with anypony, much less, even send a letter to somepony. In fact, the last she sent a letter to anypony, was over two thousand years ago."
"Well, sometimes love seems to blossom between even the most unexpected ponies, and at the most unexpected times."
"You're right. Do you need the key to the library?"
"It's Morn Wind, isn't it?"
"Yes. Oh, that's right! Library is open Morn Wind to Evening Dew. That gives you a full eight days!"
"Perfect for study."
"Well, one of these days I'll get it."
"Well, I think I should at least grab those books I had. One of them was a notebook I had titles and names in for books I need."
"Well, do what you do."
Twilight nodded and trotted off down the hall.
The library was empty, as it usually is. But, sands were blanketing most parts, oddly. Above, sand leaked in from cracks in the ceiling of the library. Odd as well. Levitating a large piece of wood to herself, Twilight stepped on, and levitated herself up, examining the crack. Casting an X-ray spell, she saw that beyond the walls of the Library, was a desert. There was no desert, or sand covering the library when she saw it through the castle windows.
Twilight realized the problem here, very quickly.
Going out of the walls of the library, one would be in an endless desert of marble white sand. But walking out through the castle hallway would be like escaping the trap. Twilight's horn let off a spark, and the spell dissipated, the X-ray showing the day sky outside.
With a smile, and satisfied, Twilight slowly began to lower herself, until she spotted Luna and the same Black stallion from before. She aimed towards them, and hovered a good story above them, the bookshelves allowing her no closer. But before she spoke, she held her breath.
Why did she hold her breath? Not very many ponies even know of a royal vault...
"But, I can't allow you in the royal vault."
"Oh come, now. Just one peak wouldn't hurt."
"Oh...alright. Just a peak, then we're out before even the guards can notice us."
Twilight disappeared in a flash of magic, silent, and unseen by the two below.The wooden board shielded them from it, though, it dropped on the shelves above them, making at least a noise that drew their attention.
"...Who is there?", Black steel asked, his horn aglow, ready to cast.
No answer. A razor thin wave of magic sweapt straight through the wooden board, cutting it in two, and making it fall to the ground just in front of them.
"Now why did you do that, love?"
Black steel's horn dimmed.
"Well, what if it were a spy, or an assassin?"
"But...who would want to..."
"You are the little sister of Celestia, are you not?"
"Good point. But...why such a deadly strike. This is the library, after all. What if a unciorn was browsing the bookshelves at a quick pace, and saw what they were looking for, only to step off just as you cut through it? Wouldn't that be rude?"
"Better safe than sorry."
"I...guess so...Just please don't harm anypony..."
"Now...vault."
"Oh, alright. I can dismiss the guards, but you will have to stay out of sight until I tell you to come out. Maybe hide..."
Twilight walked through the lower halls of Canterlot castle, nodding to every guard she passed. She had ran an errand for princess Celestia a while back, and she is lucky her authorization as the princess's personal student, allows her this kind of access. Plus, everypony knew she wouldn't abuse her privileges.
After passing hallway after hallway, taking turn after turn, she stopped. Just down the broad hallway from her was the vault. The royal vault which held the Royal Pony Sisters' most prized and powerful possessions, and even copious amounts of riches they have gathered.
It was locked, and only three ponies even knew how to, and had the ability to move the giant star metal doors. Star metal. The densest, strongest, and most magically resistant metal there ever was. Forged from the heart of a very star, it is virtually impenetrable.
It held behind it not just riches, and personal belongings. But centuries of working with world wide problems, somepony has to keep some things locked up...Like Discord...
Twilight stood just in front of it, and turned, nopony else but four guards right in front of the door.
"You don't mind if I do some studying here in the peace and quiet, do you?", she asked the first right guard.
"We are here only to guard the royal vault, until dismissed, your business here does not concern us, miss Sparkle."
"Good. All I wish to do is study."
Twilight's horn glowed, and an entire bookshelf from the canterlot library materialized on one of the walls, chucked full of dusty old spell books. Of which were her favorite.
What unicorn librarian doesn't like an old fashioned spellbook to pass the time?
Luna trotted through the halls, this time alone. Or as it seemed. Every guard she passed by saluted, then returned to attention. Every corner she rounded, she got closer and closer to her goal, till finally...
"Twilight?", Luna asked, waving a hoof to the guards. Each nodded, then disappeared in a flash of magic.
"Yes, Luna?", Twilight looked up from the mound of dust she had been studying.
"Uhm...what are you doing here?"
"Well, while it is nopony's business to remind the princess that only two ponies are ever allowed to see what is behind those doors, I make it a point that I'm not going to take chances with the many deadly objects hidden behind those grand doors."
Luna bit her lip, and as she opened her mouth, Black Steel dropped his invisibility spell.
"So, you were the one spying on us in the library. How very fake you are."
Twilight smiled.
"Did you know that there is actually a law, magically stating that when a conversation is held in earnest-"
"Celestia removed that law because of so many casualties in her own castle, don't think I haven't brushed up on my history."
Black Steel's horn glowed, ready to strike.
"Steel! What art thou doing in thy own name?!", Luna exclaimed, the old tongue quickly rolled from her tongue.
"She's just another mare, and I don't see why she even got past the guards!"
"Because she is my sisters personal protege!"
"Well then that's one less protege."
With a swipe of magic, he missed her, easily, by at least fifteen meters. Upwards. He fired off another magical strike, and it veered away on it's own.
"Black Steel. I actually found out who you really are. A gargoyle, or type of gargoyle with Equestrian unicorn magic through your rock layered veins because you fed on an unaware black stallion oh so long ago. Wow, even seeing you in this shape, it's astonishing not to see a single blemish after two thousand years."
"Twilight, do you insult my lover?"
"No, Luna. Unfortunately, he is not the lover you once knew. I found the exact letters that you sent to him, and him to you. The writing changed halfway through. This gargoyle doppleganger you see is just a beast in disguise, trying to get inside of the vault for the Celestia knows why."
"She's lying, Luna.", Black steel said sternly.
"I'm sorry, Twilight, but I truly think you are. Steel said that the letters were dust..."
"No. Far from it. When a letter is transfered along dragonfire, it too becomes as impervious to the elements and time, just as an alicorn would. In this case, he is lying not only about himself, he has no clue what half the letters he sent, were even about."
"Why are you slandering my name?"
"If you truly were THE Black Steel that had won Luna's heart, two millenia ago, you wouldn't speak in the modern Equestrian tongue. Your eyes are just eye white, and black dots, no color, your coat is made of metal filaments, which stood up when you passed by a metal suit of armor, or a guard. Above that, your horn isn't even a horn, but a thin cone strapped to your head."
Black steel took a deep breath letting it out.
"I assume you have the proof?", Black steel asked.
Twilight gave a sigh, "I can easily strip you now, show your stoney flesh to the princess, and let her deal with you for good, or..."
Black steel took a breath, about to say something to Luna, only to find her frozen in the middle of her sentence.
"Wh...what?"
"You see, my magic has long since surpassed even Luna's. Not quite to Celestia's level in magical power, but I am able to live nearly eternally, just as an alicorn."
"Y...you..."
"Have only locked her in a small time frame. Easily removable by touch alone. But you, you are not going to be given any mercy if she finds out what you really are. After all...you slaughtered her first love in cold blood."
Black steel let out a long breath.
"What makes you think that you can easily fix this?", he asked, horn aglow.
"I am not only Equestria's second most powerful pony, but I am also the princess Celestia's personal protege, as said before, I know half the spells she does, I've even opened these very doors behind us, on my own. Doing that means that I can not only expose you, but if I wished, I could wipe you from existence with a simple flick of my hoof."
"Then why not just do that exactly?"
"Because it would be murder. Nopony has murdered another pony in millenia, and I'm not going to be the first, because of some misunderstanding that you are an actual pony."
"Then what will you do?"
"Bring back the true Black Steel Luna once loved. You hold his magic. And every unicorn's magic is their soul.", Twilight's horn glowed, levitating the doppleganger.
"But! You just made it aware to her that the Black Steel she knew and loved is gone!"
"Again, we live in a world of magic. If I wanted to, I could MAKE Luna love a duckling as if it were her first true love. I can rewrite time, I can shape another planet, all with magic. But that is not needed. Thankfully, the true reactions of Black steel willshow that there is no longer a gargoyle. And one more thing...This is going to hurt. A lot."
Twilight cast a quick spell, shielding the entire hallway from letting any noise out when she began. Sparks showered from the doppleganger at first, magic refusing to be unbound. But again, Twilight forced it. The gargoyle screamed, as the magic, like liquid rubber, was peeled from it's body, sapping every ounce of the second life he devoured, from him.
To the gargoyle, it was like a half hour of torture. To twilight. Twas only three minutes. And she was purposefully making this slow and painful. Once the process finished, two objects floated above Twilight. A ball of ever shifting black ooze, and the gargoyle, who panted lightly.
"P-please don't drop me!", he begged.
"No, I'm sending you somewhere else."
The gargoyle disappeared with a meep. Magic flashed from the black blob as it began to reform, the stallion once known as black Steel, literally coming back to life.
His shape came first, the blob fitting to a balloony version of a pony, then slowly sinking every feature and color in, shaping first the hooves, then the chest and body, then his head, ending with his ears.
He opened his eyes and took a deep breath into his empty lungs, taking a few deep breathers as he felt on the verge of passing out. Noticing that he was suspended in the air, he looked around, then down at Twilight.
"Oh my, what hath we gotten ourselves into this time?", he asked the purple mare.
Twilight gently lowered him to the ground, and dispelled the sound barrier, even teleported the book shelf back.
"Allow me to introduce myself, and welcome you. I am Twilight Sparkle, faithful student of Princess Celestia, and welcome to the second millenium of her rule over Equestria."
Black steel gasped, "You mean that we are in the future of our old days?"
"Very much. I'll cut the details. Basically, you did die a long time ago, but because of gargoyle magic, and my own, you are alive and well again. May I ask if you remember your latest birthday?"
"Our birth date has since passed by a month, and we are of the age twenty three, as I recall."
"Then you should remember Princess Luna."
"Oh...oh my...how did you know of her?", he blushed.
Twilight motioned towards the still frozen blue mare behind him.
"Oh...Oh dear, we are not prepared. We are not even sure what to say!"
"Allow me to start you two off."
Twilight dispelled the time lock she had on Luna.
"...And that he waited two thousands years for me."
"Princess Luna, I present to you the true black Steel.", Twilight pointed towards the uneasy stallion beside her.
"Uhm...Hello love...are we at a quarrel? It sounded like thou has just said we waited two millenia for the."
Luna was speechless.
"Princess Luna. I am sorry for having but in to your relationship, but I can't just sit by while some fake took advantage of you."
"It is...quite alright, Twilight."
"Are we hearing improper, or art thou speaking outside of traditional tongue?"
"Oh, he even sounds like he used to!", Luna suppressed a scream.
"Well, I'll leave you two be.", Twilight trotted off, leaving the two alone.
"So...Uhm...You remember the letters?", Luna asked.
"Our letters have been tucked away in a strongbox in the city home which we have lived in, yes."
"Which was the last you remember?"
"Thou hadst offered a time in a diner with us, alone."
"Let's start there."