Author's Note

Sorry this took so long, hope you all find it worth the wait. If there are spelling and grammar mistakes I will be coming back to fix them soon.

A Royal Catastrophe

It had been another week since Luna had seen David, she had spent those days trying to figure out a way to tell him who she really is. Arriving at his cabin Luna knocked on its weak wooden door that waned with each hit, as the door opened she was greeted by David who was wearing a wide smile that matched his pleased voice “ah Luna, was wondering when you would turn up again, I finished the Princess’s paintings”

Following him in she hesitantly spoke in more of a whisper than anything else, shying away she looked down as she spoke “David I need to tell thou something it’s...”

Looking up she saw David hadn’t heard a single word she had said, he spoke in a louder prouder voice than her’s as he showed her the painting on the easel “here we are, my crowning piece for a crown princess”

A light giggle was able to escape her lips as she saw his painting. The right side of it was obscured by a red cloth, but from what she could see it was the unfinished painting from before. The top of the painting was still a deep blue, that slowly worked down the canvas to a softer blue, after the blue the sky turned to a warm orange with clouds creating dull patches of dark red. In the mild blue middle of the painting, the ever so slight specks of stars starting to become visible, but as the sky grew darker the stars grew stronger becoming brighter and clearer. Just above the rolling green hills, and just under the black overhanging branches that came from the tree on the left, was what Luna could only describe as a giant pale curved horn that was surrounded in a blue ora. Stepping in closer Luna saw it wasn’t a horn but the rising of her crescent moon, reaching up she flung off the cloth drooped over its right side.

Luna just stared in shock and awe, standing there on the right side of the painting, watching over the rising moon. She saw herself in her royal attire, her obsidian black tiara sat elegantly atop her flowing star-filled mare. Even her tail seemed to capture the night, the faint sparkles of stars amongst the vibrant blue. She could see her cutie mark on her left flank, it matched the rising moon perfectly. Her horn was surrounded in a sky blue glow, the same glow that surrounded the moon she was rising.

Standing there in silence she just stared at the painting of her doing her royal duty at dusk, even when he spoke in a proud voice “so what do you think Princess?”

Still in shock, she slowly gave him an answer “it’s beautiful” turning away from the painting she turned to him lowering her head as she spoke with a low ashamed voice “so thou knows I’m really the Princess”

“yes” he stated in a rather calm voice.

“how long have thou known?” she asked her voice somehow becoming lower and more ashamed.

“ooh, I would say two, three days after we first met” he answered in a calm casual tone like it was nothing.

“thou has known from the start I am Princess Luna Ruler of the night?” she asked her voice becoming more lively as she asked.

“yes, I thought it was a good idea to look up this princess I was painting for. Who would have guessed it, that the face I saw in those papers was my good friend Luna” he stated in a pleasant if not cheerful voice.

“I suppose thou is mad at I for deceiving thou?” she stated more than asked in a cold lonely voice.

“nonsense, in fact, it’s been rather fun watching you trip over yourself” he said with a laugh.

“thou has fount it amusing to watch me try and deceive thou?” she asked in a more pleasant but confused voice.

“yes, your not very good at it. How many times did you let slip that you were the princess” he said as his voice became more cheerful with each word. But before she could answer he continued “and besides your rather cute when you stutter”

Feeling a blush warm her blue face, she asked in a shy timid voice “so thou are not mad at me?”

“Good lord no, whenever you turn up it’s the highlight of my week. And I have the sneaky suspicion I know why you did it” he stated in a nonchalant tone as he brushed off her question.

“really? Why do thou think I did it?” she asked her voice slowly becoming stronger as they talked.

“to escape the strict rules of royal life and the stupidity of the nobles that inhabit it” he stated more than asked acting like there was no other answer.

“How did thou know that?” she asked in an astounded tone.

Leaning in he spoke in almost a whisper “thou are not the only royal in the room”

Her eyes widened like a parting sky as she spoke in pure shock “thou are of royal birth?”

Leaning back he relaxed in his stance as he let out a soft chuckle “not really, but my father use to tell me and my brothers that we have a drop of royal blood in our veins. He use to tell us a story, he would say we were descendants of a prince, that denounced his claim to marry masons daughter. He even gave up his name for her, taking the name Mason for himself”

Taking a silent step forward towards him, Luna rested herself against his chest as she wrapped her arms around him in a soft hug “that’s a romantic story, I hope it’s true. I think thou are worthy of being royalty”

His voice became low if somewhat ashamed as he hugged her back, his hug was weaker than her’s like he no longer held the strength to do so “no, I’m not worthy of being royalty. But I appreciate the thought”

Listening to his weak words, Luna thought he was just being modest “no thou are, and thank thou for forgiving me. I was trying to think of a way to tell thou all week, but thou has made it so much easier for me, thank thou”

Hugging him a little tighter she felt him hug her back just as much “that’s okay Luna, I wouldn’t want to lose you too” he answered in a calm comforting voice.

She didn’t know why he forgave her so easily, her only idea was that he valued their friendship as much as she did. After a little while and a few silent tears of relief they broke their hug “there was another reason for my arrival today” Luna stated shyly.

“really? What is it?” David asked curiously.

Looking up to him with big blue puppy dog eyes she answered “theirs going to be a royal wedding in Cantorlot next month, and I was wondering if thou would like to accompany me” realising how much like a date it sounded she blushed, as she stuttered out the rest of her words “that… that’s if thou wants too. The wedding is for my niece and the captain of my sister’s guard, but I won’t know anypony there. I… I was really hoping thou would come, I could use a friendly face. I’m still not too comfortable at social gatherings”

Her quiet voice trailed off as she was pulled into David, feeling him pull her comforting hug he spoke “like I said you're cute when you fumble your words”

“so will thou come?” Luna asked hesitantly.

“yes, I will come to the wedding for you” he answered in a warm voice.

Jumping up Luna broke his hold on her, as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. Happily jumping into him like a schoolgirl in love, she wore a wide bright smile that could surpass her sister’s sun “thank thou, thank thou so much” she cheered kissing him on the cheek.

1

The month passed rather with little of interest happening, and now the day of the wedding was tomorrow. On the train to Cantorlot Twilight sat in a pout with the rest of the element bearers around her “come on Twi, I’m sure Shining didn’t mean to hurt ya” Applejack said as she tried to console her friend.

Twilight’s response was as irritated as her “that’s an excuse for missing a birthday or hearts warming, but he’s getting married for Celestia’s sake. I didn’t even know he had a special somepony”

“Applejack is right dear, he’s captain of the guard he probably been busy. And he’s marrying a princess, they probably wanted to keep it quiet. Maybe they kept it a secret all this time like it was forbidden, ooh that sounds so romantic” Rarity stated in a dreamy tone.

Taking in some of what Rarity said, mainly the part about them wanting to keep it secret, Twilight spoke in a huff of a tone “but he’s still my brother and should have told me”

“I know Twi, I wouldn’t be happy if Big Mac got married without saying anything either” Applejack stated in a sympathetic voice.

“I don’t know Applejack, he barely says anything as it is. In a few years, you could be in Twilight’s place, maybe he’s got a marefriend right now” Rainbow said in a snarky tone.

“HEY! DON’T YA BE TALKING ABOUT MY BROTHER LIKE THAT!” Applejack yelled back in defence, as she turned to her. Finding her sat on the other side of the train, next to Pinkie Pie.

As they all turned to Rainbow they saw Pinkie Pie, she was on her knees looking over the back f her seat as her folded arms rested on its top. Her pink poofy tail bounced playfully from side to side, leaning forward to get a better look at what Pinkie was doing Fluttershy spoke in her usual timid tone “umm Pinky what are you doing?”

“theirs somepony back here” she stated in the only way she could, hyper and enthusiastically.

“Pinky please leave the poor pony be, there’s is no need to be rude” Rarity almost scolded.

“yeah Pinky get down from their” Rainbow said as she lightly elbowed Pinky Pie in the side.

“no silly I think I know him from somewhere but I don’t know where” she happily replied.

Moving up Rainbow looked over the back of her seat as she spoke in a slightly irritated voice that turned to surprise “come on Pinky leave him alone… It’s David”

Standing up the others looked over to him, finding him asleep resting his left side against the window. His arms were crossed and his cap was drooped over his eyes, hiding half his face from the light and prying eyes of ponies as he slept.

Letting out a squeaky giggle Pinky Pie turned to Rainbow mare beside her “don’t be silly Rainbow, it can’t be David, he doesn’t have a patch of fur under his nose”

Looking at him they all saw he did indeed have a moustache again, but Rarity took notice of his clothes, he was wearing his officers uniform with new straight brown trousers she had made for him.

Before they could say anything the train was rocked about as it went over ruff tracks, the standing ponies braced themselves wavering in their stances as they nearly fell into one another. But all the while David stayed asleep in his seat, unfazed by the train violently rattling him about like sardines in a tin.

Staring in slight disbelief Twilight wondered how he could sleep under all this noise, or how being bashed about in his seat wouldn’t even stur him. She knew some ponies could be deep sleepers but this was ridiculous.

“umm, Twilight who is this David?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

Turning back around to face her friends, she sat down with them as she answered in a calm voice “he’s a soldier from Celestia knows where, he showed up about two months ago and is looking for a way back”

“he’s a mighty fine artist too” Applejack added in a slightly ashamed tone to going behind his back.

“umm, why haven’t I heard of him before this?” Fluttershy asked shyly not wanting to pry too much into somepony’s business.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because he would scare you under the table” Rainbow said in a sarcastic tone.

“RAINBOW!” Twilight yelled in defence of her friend.

Getting a little defensive Rainbow replied “what! He would, you saw what he did to those timberwolves”

“that’s beside the point Rainbow, it wasn’t very nice” Twilight said.

“umm, what did he do to the timberwolves?” Fluttershy asked somewhat afraid of the answer.

Placing a caring hand on Fluttershy’s, Rarity spoke in a tone more befitting of the element of kindness “Fluttershy you know how dangerous timberwolves can be?” Nodding she let Rarity continue “well a pack of them attacked poor little Sweetie Belle, and the girls. David used some kind of weapon against them, from what the girls say he was able to reduce them to splinters in a second”

A sharp squeak rushed out of Fluttershy’s mouth before she could pull her hands out from Rarity’s, raising her hands over her mouth she spoke in a mortified voice “he… killed… them?”

“yes but they would have eaten the girls, he did what he had to, to save them. It’s not like I like it, but Timberwolves aren’t like other animals Fluttershy, even you can’t stop them” Rarity said in a low sympathetic voice.

“I know but too think those poor critters had to be, killed… It’s horrible couldn’t he have found another way? Maybe trapping them somehow?” Fluttershy said in a low saddened tone.

Slowly Rarity shook her head as she spoke in a tone that matched her friend “no from what Twilight said Applebloom was being chased, there was no way he could have trapped them in time”

Fluttershy became quiet more quiet than usual, as she curled up slightly in her seat to the idea of choosing between a friend and an innocent animal. She knew they were nothing more than feral instinct, and that it had to be done but she still didn’t like it. She always thought there had to be a way to help those wolves, and killing them was like killing an animal that could be just a bit more than instinct someday.

Still looking at David Twilight noticed that his seat, and the one next to him was constantly vibrating. She thought of why this would be but then the answer came to her “how can he sleep like that, he’s sat right over the wheel” she thought to herself.

Watching him sleep in what she would describe the most uncomfortable bed in all of Equestria, he began to stir, while he slept David heard the rumble of the track. The train jolted every few seconds as the wheels ran over the narrowest of gaps between rails, from his seat the sound of the clunking wheels sounded eerily familiar. It wasn’t long before the beat of the track became the beat of the trench, it didn’t sound like wheels rolling along a bumpy stretch of track, but the unending beat of picks digging up the trench or digging below it. The sound of picks became ever more intense as time went on, it wasn’t becoming faster or louder but sharper and harder like the men were digging through tougher and tougher earth desperately digging for safety the trench would provide. With each jolt of the train rocking his body about like a pebble being swept away by the current, he felt as if he was digging in the trench with shells exploding all around him, the derby and force of the explosions knocking him nearly off his feet.

With one final bump in the track, David was nearly launched from his seat, waking him up as his back collided with the back of his seat. Now awake he rubbed his eyes before lifting his cap up off his face “morning sleepy head” Pinky happily greeted.

“morning Pinky” he greeted back in a groggy voice, before replying in a confused voice as he looked around to find the rest of them staring at him “what are all of you doing here?”

“we’re riding the train silly” Pinky cheerfully said.

“We are going to Cantorlot for my brother's wedding” Twilight answered in an irritated tone, that was quickly becoming more default tone.

“is that the royal wedding?” he asked sleep still present in his voice.

“yes” Twilight answered her tone still harsh as before “wait you knew about the wedding!? When did you find out!?” she yelled in shock.

“about a month ago” he stated dismissively.

“A MONTH AGO! YOU FOUND OUT A MONTH AGO! IT’S MY BROTHER’S WEDDING AND I ONLY FOUND OUT TODAY!” Twilight yelled in a voice that could have easily drowned out the whistle of the train.

“oh, Celestia here we go” Rainbow muttered under her breath.

“HOW DID YOU EVEN FIND OUT!?” Twilight demanded.

“Blimey I thought the shells were loud” David muttered before he answered her in a calmer voice “Luna came round last month, and invited me as her guest”

Instantly Rarity’s mind went into overdrive, she was struggling to keep her thoughts contained in her head. She thought it was so romantic the officer and the Princess, no the lone officer and the forgotten Princess. But these romantic fantasy’s weren’t the only thought that ran through her mind, she had to ask him what his world’s weddings were like. In that instance she longed to know what a human wedding would entail, images quickly flashed through her mind as she imagined what a spectacle it would be to behold a human wedding.

“SO THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT CAN FIND THE TIME TO JUST POP IN TO INVITE HER FRIEND! BUT SHINING ARMOR MY STUPID INCONSIDERATE BROTHER CAN’T EVEN GET FIVE MINUTES OFF TO TELL ME HIMSELF!” Twilight yelled in anger.

Twilight’s face dropped as she saw the shocked expression of the others, it took her a moment to realise what she said in her rage. Lifting her hands over her gaping mouth to cover a muffled scream, she had just broken a promise to the princess. In that instance, she knew Luna was going to be furious with her, probably more than she was at Shining. She was the student of Princess Celestia, one of the elements of harmony, sent out to learn about the magic of friendship and she had just probably destroyed Luna and David’s friendship.

Lowering her shaky hands from her mouth, Twilight asked in dread “David… Please tell me you didn’t hear that”

“what? The bit about Luna being the Princess?” David asked back calmly.

“AHH!” Twilight screamed “PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA DON’T TELL LUNA!”

Recoiling somewhat from her outburst David asked in a surprised voice “tell her what?”

“THAT YOU KNOW SHE’S A PRINCESS! AND HAS BEEN LYING TO YOU ALL THIS TIME!” Twilight yelled back.

Raising his voice slightly not to match her’s but to get her attention “I’ve known that for mouths”

“I know you’re mad but please don’t tell them, I don’t want to be sent back to magic kindergarten” Twilight pleaded before his words court up with her “wait you already knew? This entire time you knew!? Do you have any idea how hard it has been to keep up this act!?” Twilight asked in an increasing irritated voice.

“clearly too hard, Rarity let it slip the first time we were all in the same room” David shot back in a snarky tone.

“well it’s not everyday one spends an evening with royalty” Rarity protested before shifting blame to somepony else “besides I wouldn’t have blown the whistle as it were, if somepony would watch her mouth”

“HEY! WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!” Rainbow yelled back.

“come now Rainbow, you of all ponies know how much of a foul mouth you can have. Come on Applejack back me up” Rarity answered back in a voice that Rainbow Dash found to be irritatingly calm, like she knew she was right.

“she’s right Rainbow, out of all of us you have the worst mouth” Applejack answered.

“like you two are any better” Rainbow shot back.

“how? I wouldn’t dare use such language especially in front of the princess” Rarity said in a dismissive tone.

“ya you don’t swear but you do have meltdowns over every little thing that doesn’t go your way” Rainbow answered in retaliation.

“I do not meltdown over every little thing, to think one such as I would break down over the slightest miss alinement of a single thread” Rarity said her voice becoming more irritated at she remembered making a slight mistake on a dress through off the whole design.

“see you're getting annoyed already, should somepony break out the ice cream?” Rainbow teased.

“I do not eat ice cream when I’m upset! It’s terrible for my figure” Rarity answered in a hurt voice that quickly turned to a whine.

“yes you do silly, Mr and Mrs cake always save a few tubs for you” Pinkie happily added.

“PINKIE THAT WAS A SECRET!” Rarity shouted back in surprise and shock.

“oops, should I go find some ice cream, I’m sure the train will have some” Pinkie happily offered.

Hearing a pleasant chuckle the ponies turned to its source, finding David laughing at their arguing “and what if I may ask is so funny?” Rarity asked in an irritated tone.

Wavering her off he answered in a cheerful tone that quickly turned to low laughter “it’s nothing, just all this arguing reminds me of my brothers. After a year the bloody Sargent had enough of us, so he split us up, sending us to different parts of the trench”

Quietly Fluttershy spoke in a voice laced in sorrow “so you’ve been alone ever since?”

Still speaking in a laugh David answered “god no, there were millions of us. But Gordon was moved back after six months, which gave him enough time to finally come up with a counterargument. When he finally got round to saying it, I told him to shut up and to make it an order. In the entire time we were talking he never noticed the second stripe on my shoulder” he said tapping the two gold striped insignia on his arm.

“so you pulled rank on him” Twilight said in a slightly shocked voice, thinking how it would feel if her brother did that to her. If anything she wanted to do that to Shining, to have him reprimanded after leaving her out of his life.

Still laughing David answered “yes but he made sure I paid for it, every time we spoke he would address me as Corporal Mason. After a week I was debating having him promoted for his wit, or removed for insubordination”

2

As they arrived in Cantorlot they noticed the entire city was encased in a purple protective dome, it seemed to ripple as the train slowly passed through it. Twilight and the others felt a cold shiver run down their spines as if they were being scanned, while David felt nothing, not even a cold breeze.

“what in tarnation was that?” Applejack asked in a panicked voice.

“Shining’s shield magic, but I’ve never seen him push it to cover a whole city” Twilight said in a slightly amazed voice, but her amazement didn’t hide the anger in her voice.

“well he is the captain of the guard Twilight, so I’m sure he’s quite skilled in magic. You two must share that trait being as skilled as you are” Rarity said hoping that complements would improve her mood, like they always did for her.

“that we do Rarity, but it’s clear that he doesn’t share the trait of talking to his family” Twilight added in an annoyed voice. For a moment Rarity held a smile as she thought she had taken Twilight’s mind off her brother, but quickly fell as she heard Twilight’s words.

Arriving in Cantorlot Twilight marched through the golden castle gate, quickly followed by the other as they fell behind struggling to keep up with her enraged pace. Marching right up to the castle wall, she could see an armed pony adorned with golden armour at every crenelation, it look like they were preparing for a siege.

Seeing her brother atop the castle wall, his purple armour and blue plumed helmet made him easy to spot amongst the standard golden armoured guards. He seemed to be giving them orders as they saluted him before moving off to begin their assignments, looking up to the battlements Twilight shouted up at her brother in an angered voice “I’ve got something to say to you mister!”

The moment she said that she was greeted by the guards manning the battlements, all of which pointed their spears at her ready and waiting on their captain's command. Leaning over the battlements their captain saw the source of the disturbance, yelling back in a pleased voice “Twilly!”

Walking down the pale stone stairs Shining Armor took off his helmet, greeting Twilight with a wide smile that matched his tone “it’s so good to see you”

As he closed in for a hug Twilight pushed him away wearing an angry scowl that emphasize her scornful tone “how dare you not tell me in person you were getting married! I’m your sister for ponies sake!”

Recoiling from her sudden outburst, he slumped into his stance somewhat as guilt overtook him “It’s not my fault Twilly, theirs been a threat made against Cantorlot and the Princess’s. We’ve been increasing security for weeks now, I couldn’t leave without putting everything at risk, look” he said in a sombre tone. Closing his eyes he lifted his head up his sky, pointing his white horn straight up. A light purple glow surrounded his horn, but instead of it casting the spell it seemed to be charging. As the magic built up in his horn the glow became brighter, almost unbearably bright until it shot out in a beam of magic that seamlessly merged with the protective dome above them.

Shacking off the dizzy spell his magic has caused him, he heard Twilight’s sympathetic voice “okay I get it, you’ve got a really important job protecting the city in a force field only you can conjure up. But it still hurt. I thought since I’d moved away I was no longer important to you”

Hearing how hurt his little sister was, he pulled her into the hug she originally pulled away from “I’m sorry Twilly, I really am but I couldn’t put Cantorlot at risk, I couldn’t put my fiance at risk” breaking their hug Shining got a good look at his little sister’s heartbroken face before he spoke, his voice becoming more cheerful with each word but still holding an ounce of dread “I hope you can forgive me, but I’ll understand if you didn’t want to be my best mare now”

Instantly perking up she replied in a questioning tone “really? You want me to be your best mare?”

Smiling he replied the dread in his voice instantly disappearing “well yeah”

“I would be honoured” she said with a wide smile before hugging him again. But this hug didn’t last long as she forcefully pushed away from him, as her tone became more aggressive “but I’m still pretty mad at you, who is this PrincessMi Amore Cadenza?”

Smiling he answered her in a calm almost proud voice “Twilight Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, is her official title. But I think you remember her as Cadence”

Twilight’s face dropped as her eyes widened in surprise “Cadence? You mean Cadence!? As in Cadence the best foal sitter of all time!?” she happily squealed.

“I don’t know she was your foal sitter, you tell me” he happily asked.

“where is she? I haven’t seen her in ages” Twilight asked like an excited child.

Looking over the castle Shining answered not looking at Twilight as he thought of where she must be “she should be around somewhere, I think she said something about getting Princess Celestia permission to use some kind of artefact in the wedding”

Turning his head back to Twilight then to her friends and back he spoke with a smug smile “but before we find her how about you introduce me to your friends, you seem to have quite a few”

They both turned to Twilight’s friends, gesturing to each one of them as she introduced them “right, this here is Applejack Celestia asked in her letter if she would do the catering”

“I’m sure y’all love Granny Smiths famous apple pie” Applejack bosted.

“I’m already looking forward to it” Shining happily replied.

Moving along to the next mare, Twilight spoke with a smile “and this here is Rarity, your royal wedding designer”

Giving him a bow Rarity spoke in a humbled voice “Captain Armor it is an honour that you have entrusted me with your attire”

“theirs no need for titles miss Rarity, Shining Armor will do just fine” Shining replied making Rarity blush slightly as the captain of the royal guard addressed her so formally.

“and this here is Fluttershy, she will be providing the music for the ceremony with her choir of birds” Twilight said.

Quietly Fluttershy spoke in a timid voice “umm thank you for letting my birds and me be a part of your wedding. I’m sure they’ll do their best”

“I’m glad you all could be a part of it, can’t have Twilly getting bored” Shining said as he tried to put her at ease.

“and this here is...” Twilight began before being cut off.

“Rainbow Dash, element of loyalty, best flyer in all Equestria, future wonder bolt. And the only pegasus capable of making a sonic rainboom” Rainbow boasted as she interrupted Twilight.

Twilight just stood there gawking at Rainbow’s abrasive behaviour, while Shining Armor just stood there holding his composure to Rainbow’s sudden speech “I’m sure the whole of Cantorlot are looking forward to it” Shining stated calmly.

“The whole of Cantorlot?” Rainbow stammered back in a quieter in fear.

“yes, from what Celestia says it should cover the whole of Cantorlot. It might even catch the eye of another captain I know” Shining stated in a hinting tone.

Rainbow’s tone and expression turned to one of confusion “another captain?” as her mind slowly tried to figure out who he was talking about, her pink eyes widened in shock as she almost screamed out in excitement “WAIT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT CAPTAIN SPITFIRE!? CAPTAIN OF THE WONDERBOLTS!?”

Smiling Shining Armor nodded as Rainbow’s excitement grew “SPITFIRE! CAPTAIN SPITFIRE IS GOING TO BE WATCHING ME PERFORM A SONIC RAINBOOM! SHE MIGHT EVEN MAKE ME A WONDERBOLT THE SECOND SHE SEE’S HOW AWESOME I AM!” Rainbow boasted.

Watching Rainbow still continue to talk to herself, Twilight spoke in a slightly raised voice talking over Rainbow Dash’s “and this here is Pinkie...”

Yet again Twilight was interrupted by another of her friends, cartwheeling over Pinkie Pie jumped forward. Taking his right hand in both of her’s she began shaking it up and down wildly as she spoke in her usual energetically voice “Pinkamena Diane Pie but friends call me Pinkie Pie I hope we can be friends, thank you for inviting me to your wedding. I’m going to be hosting the reception and I’m sure it’ll be the most super dooper wedding of all time”

“Pinkie” Twilight said in an irritated tone to her near-constant interruptions.

“oops sorry Twilly, I think I got a little carried away” Pinkie said before realising she was still shacking Shining Armor’s hand.

Removing her hand’s from his Shining tried to comprehend what Pinkie said, but before he could say anything Pinkie bounced back a couple of times. Twilight then moved on without even looking “and this here is Dav...” Looking around Twilight’s tone turned from lingering irritation to confusion as she called out thinking he must be close by “David?”

Looking over to her friends she asked “did anypony see where he went?”

They all began looking over their shoulders as Shining asked in an unsure voice “Twilight who is this David? You never mentioned him in your letters”

Still looking around Twilight answered with a hint of worry in her voice “he’s Princess Luna’s guest”

“oh Corporal Mason, the princesses have talked about him a few times. Come on he couldn’t have gotten far” Shining said.

3

Walking through the Royal gardens, David admired the well-kept grounds. Following the laid out path for him, he walked past multiple exotic plants, but the further into the gardens he got the stranger it became. The first thing he took note of was all the plants seemed to be in bloom, not one of them was just coming in or out of season. Even the trees seemed off, a little too close to the path for it to be as smooth as it was. They were no bulges or breeches in the earth as roots grew, it looked to be picture perfect but then he realised it must have been magic. Even after being in Equestria for a while now, magic was still something he was coming to grips with, he had a lot of trouble with the idea that the moon was controlled by Luna. But after a quick demonstration, he couldn’t deny it, but it was still difficult to accept.

The garden was perfect unlike the everfree, the overhanging branches still letting more than enough light in so that all of the plants appeared bright and colourful. He recognised many of the flowers but they looked better healthier, more vibrant but then there were others that he didn’t recognise but could imagine growing in America or Asia.

After slowly continuing through the garden, his slow pace halting every couple of steps to admire another foreign plant that he had never seen before. Nearing the end of the light dirt trial David saw it was blocked by a large tree to his right, its long overhanging branches arching over the path with long thin green vines drooping down acting like a curtain. Beams of light were able to break through the wall of vines and leaves that covered them masking the exit in shadow, so much so that he almost missed something that he knew couldn’t exist. Kneeling down before it he reached out to the deep blue rose, brushing its delicate petals, he then removed his hand looking at his fingers for any indication of dye but there was none. Picking it he saw it had no thorns as he twirled it in his fingers, keeping the blue rose in hand he stood up walking through the green curtain of nature.

Brushing the veil of nature aside he was assaulted by Celestia’s, he didn’t realise how much of her sun the trees had blocked out. Walking out of the royal garden’s he walked over to the balcony that overlooked the city, resting his forearms against the golden guard rail he looked out over the city as his hands drooped over its edge. It looked so peaceful so unburdened by reality, all the houses and homes looked as fresh and vibrant as the flowers of the garden almost like the whole city had just been given a fresh coat of paint.

Taking in the sight he was so focused on he didn’t hear the pony silently approaching him, he didn’t turn to the familiar soft voice behind him as he continued to look out over her city “beautiful isn’t it”

“yeah, but it would look better under your night” he replied with a smile.

Walking up to him Luna rested against the golden guard rail to his left, leaning forward Luna smiled as she looked out over her city “I’m sure thou will see it, thou are staying a few nights?” she asked hoping he would stay.

Nodding he turned to her with a smile “of course I am. Do thou really think I’ll leave thou on thy own after thou went to so much trouble to invite me”

As she heard his words her expression beamed with joy, before faltering as she saw his face. Her expression quickly turned to shock as she snatched his face in her hands, the soft blue fur of her hands pressed hard against his skin, to the point that he couldn’t feel how soft it really is. Pulling his face closer to her’s her, hands smushing his cheeks together as she spoke in a rushed shocked voice “David what is wrong with thou?!”

Struggled to speak David distorted voice managed to escape his quashed lips “nothing, it was a joke clearly in bad taste”

Not letting go of him she inadvertently pulled him even closer as she continued to speak in her panicked voice “no not that. Thou face, what has happened to thy face?!”

Recoiling somewhat in her grasp, he was barely able to move half an inch in Luna’s godly hands, his expression turned to something similar to Luna’s but not never as extreme “my face? What about it?” he asked in a slightly worried voice.

“under thy nose, thou are growing fur” Luna stated in a worried tone.

If he could he would have given her a soft reassuring smile as he spoke in an equally reassuring voice, but his comforting tone was still muffled by his constricted face “Luna I’m fine, it’s a moustache”

Loosening her grip on his face she no longer scrunched his cheeks and lips together, finding the warm smile that she was masking under her grasp “but thou never had it before, and the rest of thy face is smooth” she stated in a voice of disbelief and confusion as she stroked the smooth skin of his cheek with her thumb.

Lifting his hands up to her’s, he took her hands in his gently wrapping his around her wrists. The thornless blue rose still in his right hand, its long green stem almost sinking into the soft blue sea of fur covering her arm, as he slowly lowered their hands down past their chest until they rested between them just above the waist. Luna found his voice to be calm but sure, which was both reassuring and relaxing “that’s because I shave”

Sliding her wrists out of his hands, her soft blue fur glided through his loose palms, it felt almost like he was stroking her fur like she was his cheek. She stopped her pulling her hands back until her hands were laid softly in his “but why have thou stopped shaving thy top lip?” she asked in a confused voice.

Smiling he replied but as he did Luna’s sky blue eyes were drawn down from his to the hair above his lip, intensely watching it as he spoke “military regulations” he answered plainly, but upon seeing the look of confusion on Luna’s face as she tried to interpret his simple reply he continued “every man in the British army has to shave daily, apart from his top lip if he can grow a moustache” he answered again in more detail for her.

“But thou are not in the army right now, so why would thou want to grow one?” Luna asked inquisitively.

Smiling to her question he remembered telling her she had a smart head on her shoulders, and he was tempted to remind her but he decided to answer her “Luna I’m an officer of the British army, I can’t let thou be seen at a royal event without looking the part” he stated casually.

Her expression quickly turned into a smirk as she spoke with a hint of sarcasm in her replied “thou are thoughtful, but I think thou looked better without it”

Returning her smirk with one of his own he replied in a teasing tone “I’ll remember to tell the Sargent that, Princess Luna ruler of Equestria guardian of the night raiser of the moon, thinks I look better completely shaved”

Her mischievous smile grew more pronounced as she matched his tone “I was referring to just thy face, but if thou wants to shave the rest of thy body I might be willing to help. Might give thou some insight on how I felt as a human, thou would not believe how cold it was without my fur”

“I can imagine” he replied with a continuing smirk.

Faltering in her stance Luna began to laugh, her head dropping down as she did “I suppose thou can”

Upon looking down she saw their joined hands and the blue rose still in his grasp, letting both of her hands slide over to his right rose baring hand, she gently cupped them as she lifted them up “and what are thou doing with one of my roses?”

“I thought this was your doing” he said through a warm smile.

Still looking down at her creation in his hand, she smiled even in the daylight they stood out just like her but she truly loved how they shone in the night “thou certainly has an eye for flowers” she said with a pleasantly uplifted voice.

“The English have always had an eye for flowers especially for the rose, even the civil war was marked by a rose, it came to be known as the war of the roses. But I’ve never seen a rose as blue as you” he said with almost a romantic voice.

Taking the blue rose out of his hand she twirled it between her fingers, smiling as she did “I hope thou sees them at night, I enchanted them to shine when the light of the moon touches them. I’m glad sister saved them after all these years” she said in a soothed voice as she reminisced on how they lit up the royal gardens at night, in the light of day they merely fell into the background amongst all the other flowers being worth nothing more than passing glance, but David had done more than notice them he instantly knew they were her’s.

“I’m sure I can find time for that” he answered warmly.

“good I would hate for thou to miss it, it truly is a beautiful sight to behold” Luna said with a proud smile that matched her voice. Pulling her hands back from him Luna wrapped her arms around his left arm interlocking them together as she spoke in a determined voice “Now we must make hast, the others are probably waiting for us”

5

Walking atop the stone battlements Shining and David overlooked the city, in an anxious voice Shining asked “so David notice any points of concern in our defences?”

Not looking back to the captain David opted to look out over the city as he replied, his voice not nearly as concerned as Shining’s but still holding an air of cold strategic thinking “that mountain up there, is it defended?”

Looking to the high rock face that bordered the east side of the castle Shining spoke in a puzzled tone “no, it acts as a natural barrier. Why would we defend it?”

“If someone wanted to scout out your troop deployments, they would have a full view from up there. If they wanted to they could even relay your positions in real-time, and that’s without phone lines, simple mirrors and smoke would be more than enough to coordinate your positions with the enemy” David said strategically.

Looking up at the mountain, Shining stared in disbelief at how he missed such a simple strategic blunder “I’ll schedule a patrol to head up their next shift change. Did you find any other holes in our defences?” Shining asked hoping his strategic voice would hide his worried tone.

Scanning his surrounding David replied in a calm manner “not really, high walls, wide moat, draw bridge, only the one road up the mountain. Canterlot is a fortress, my only point of concern is the magic of this world”

Looking up to his purple magic dome that surrounded the city Shining spoke in a calmer voice than before “my dome negates magic, no pony can fly through or teleport passed. The only way in or out is through the main gate and train station”

“that’s good, I know my history and my castles, but magic to my knowledge can bypass every defence a castle can offer” David stated in a cold voice.

Shaking his head with a smile Shining replied in a warmer voice “magic may be able to do that but not every pony can, teleporting takes years to learn and teleporting through even a sheet of paper more than triples the effort required” saying that Shining’s expression and tone quickly changed becoming curious as a question formed in his mind “speaking of castles, Twilly told me about how you come from a land without magic. I would be interested to learn how a people without magic design castles”

With a slight nod and an equally slight smile, David replied “we did have some beautiful castle, thousands of them in fact”

Staring wide-eyed at David Shining sturred out a response “th… th.. thousands? There are only a hand full of castles in all Equestria, even if you add in every castle in the surrounding kingdoms the number wouldn’t even break a hundred. Why would you need so many castles?”

David’s voice instantly dropped becoming cold and stoic “we’ve had a lot of wars, and most of them took the castles with them. Most castles now are decaying relics of a bygone age, but we still have a few scattered about”

“Why don’t you rebuild them?” Shining asked.

David’s answer came in a low tone “theirs no point, our offensive capabilities have surpassed our defensive abilities. We don’t even wear armour anymore, what I’m wearing here is all the protection we get in the trench”

Shining Armor just stared in shock at his words, how could a uniform be the only protection worth wearing in a war, a simple knife would pierce it. But that lead him to a more terrifying question, if armour was so worthless to the point wearing it was not even worth it, what kind of weapons was he using? What kind of weapons was he up against?

Speaking his mind Shining asked in a hesitant voice almost afraid of the answer “C… Corporal, how long has it been since your people used armour like ours?”

Thinking for a moment David tried to remember his history as he spoke in a more casual voice than Shining would like “between three maybe four hundred years ago”

Standing in shock Shining’s mind was in a state of frenzy as he tried to imagine what David’s people must be like being so much more advanced, before his mind could come up with a question a soft feminine voice called out to them “are the two of thou done perusing our defences?”

Turning to their right they saw Princess Luna slowly approaching them. Straightening up Captain Armor’s tone became more formal as he addressed his ruler “yes we are about done here, Corporal Mason has been quite insightful”

Smiling pleasantly Luna spoke in an equally cheerful voice that almost felt like her Royal Canterlot voice “wonderful. David would thou like to...” in an instant Luna’s expression dropped as his voice trailed off. Looking passed the two of them Luna dreaded who she saw walking about the battlements.

After a moment David turned around to see what she was looking at, behind him scattered about the battlements was golden armoured guards looking away from them as they looked over the battlements. But off in the distance, he saw a white furred blond mane pony being escorted by two solar guards. Turning back to Luna David spoke up with a hint of worry in his voice “Luna? You alright?”

“yes, I’m quite alright theirs just some pony coming that I would rather not see” Luna replied with clear disdain in her voice.

Turning back around all he saw was the same white pony with two guards, they were quite the distance away being nearly the full length of the training grounds away. Turning to Shining Armor David saw his expression falter just like Luna’s “who is it?” David asked not too sure if he wanted the answer.

“Prince Blueblood” Luna answered in a scornful tone.

“a brother?” David asked in an unsure tone finding it odd that even if she had a brother that she didn’t like she wouldn’t mention him.

In an insulted huff Luna replied “thankfully not”

“is he from another kingdom?” David asked.

Sighing Luna spoke “no unfortunately he is from Canterlot”

Wearing a confused expression David questioned their relation to one another to warrant such a title “if he’s not your brother then why is he a prince?”

With a deep tiered sigh Luna answered him “Before I and my sister became royalty the three pony tribes had their own royals, Prince Blueblood is the last of the unicorn royalty. In the past, the royal unicorn family was known for being wise and kind ponies, always ready to learn and lead the way in new spells. Celestia was very close with them too the point of thinking of them as family, she was even the godmother of a few of them. Unfortunately for us and the whole of Canterlot Blueblood’s mother was one of them, from what sister says she was a kind loving pony that was the symbol of what the unicorn family was. When she passed he took her place in the castle with the honorary title of prince, sister has wished to strip him of his title on more than one occasion but every time she thinks of it she remembers his mother and backs out” Luna ended in a disheartened tone.

“that’s good” David stated clearly in an almost distant voice like he wasn’t paying attention.

“How is that good? He is a constant pain in the royal flank. All royals, not just I and Celestia have been burned by his outrageous behaviour, even the pegasus and earth pony royals that haven’t been in Canterlot in a number of years have had their titles sullied by mere association. How is that good?” Luna retaliated in a riled-up voice.

Replying with a mischievous smirk that matched his tone as he attempted to lighten the mood “it’s good because I was beginning to fear he was your betrothed”

Luna was taken completely by surprise as his words entered her blue furred ears, but the word that her mind lingered on was fear, his fear for her comfort and well being brought a sudden wave of warmth to rush over her face like a surprisingly warm wave of water. As her irritated expression faltered entirely with the blush quickly overtaking her face, hoping that her fur was able to hide her new flushed expression as she spoke in a self-conscious voice more befitting of Fluttershy “W… why would thou think he was my betrothed?”

Finding her bewildered state cute he answered, his smile still a mischievous smirk that parted to speak his teasing words “you said his title was honorary so I thought he somehow won the heart of a princess to have such a title bestowed on him, thou was the first princess that came to mind”

Composing herself Luna spoke in a playfully serious voice “I would rather be banished to the moon than marry him” she ended with a disgusted tone.

“could thou just banish him to the moon instead?” David remarked.

Shining instantly snorted as he tried to contain his laughter and composure, while Luna on the other hand made no such attempt laughing wholeheartedly before replying through a wide smile and a cheerful tone “as much as I would love to be rid of him, I think Celestia would never let me hear the end of it. Now I think I shall take my leave, best of luck thou are going to need it”

Teleporting away in a blue flash of magic David and Shining heard somepony call out from behind them “ohhh has the royal princess become tied of the pair of you” his voice held an air of grossly overestimated self-worth about it, but David instantly became annoyed with not the tone of voice being used against him but the voice itself. To David it was like nails on a chalkboard, his accent was irritatingly fake, it sounded like a bad actor who had never heard an English accent trying to do an impression of the king.

Turning around to the voice David and Shining saw Prince Blueblood smugly standing before them, he was dressed in a black suit with a blue bow tie. He had white fur and a long blond mane, behind him were two solar guards armoured in golden armour armed with spears and bitter frowns they aimed towards the Prince. Eyeing David up with his baby blue eyes he turned to Shining speaking in a smug disdaining tone “ah I see you’ve obtained some entertainment for your wedding, and here I was thinking it would be nothing more than a bore. But I don’t think aunty Celestia would approve of that, wouldn’t the poor thing be more at home in a zoo and if they don’t take him I’m sure the circus would be willing to take him off your hands”

Looking down at the pony before him David standing nearly half a foot taller than the prince, looking down his nose at him with an expression that spoke volumes not even attempting to hide the sheer amount of loathing he held for the prince. Turning to Captain Armor David spoke in a clear voice devoid of any feeling which unsettled the prince “Captain Armor I believe the court jester is addressing you, would be so kind to shoo him away so we may get back military matters”

Shining Armor’s eyes instantly shrunk to pinpricks as he heard David’s retort, attempting to hide his amusement Shining feigned a cough bringing a hand to his mouth to contain the non-existent cough. Behind the prince the two guards made less of an attempt to hide their amusement, David and Shining could both see the pair smirking a wide toothless grin as they muffled their laughter, the only sound they made was the clanking of their armour was they shook in their silent laughter.

The prince on the other hand was not pleased in the slightest, nearly shouting in a voice of venomous rage “I am no jester!”

David’s response was calm almost to the point of being cold “clearly not your jokes are appalling, made in bad taste and worse offence of all unfunny”

This remark brought the guards to a more auditable laugh that they struggled to contain with little snorts breaking through their once sealed lips. In front of them the prince was getting increasingly annoyed which was clear in his rising voice “I am the prince! And I will not be spoken too in this manner” Turning to Shining Armor he spoke in more of an order than a request “Captain Armor seize this creature, maybe a trip to the dungeon will teach him some manors” he ended with a lingering tone of disgust as he looked towards David.

Straightening himself slightly the Captain of the royal guard answered in a tone of fact, not opinion-making him sound emotionally distant “Prince Blueblood Corporal Mason is here at the personal request of Princess Luna”

Letting out an irritated snort Blueblood knew that if he was to go against his man he would have to face the lesser of the two princesses, even with Celestia giving him more leeway than she should permit, he could get away with noting when the younger of the two was involved “can’t you order him away or something you’re a Captain and he’s a lowly Corporal” his tone as dismissive as ever.

“unfortunately Corporal Mason is not part of the Equestian guard, I hold no rank over him, I would have better luck ordering a griffin warrior about” Captain Armor stated bluntly.

Giving another irritable snort Blueblood spoke “I don’t know why I’m bothering with this, clearly all this dirty soldier work is beneath me” turning to face David Blueblood spoke directly to him for the first time with an unnaturally smug tone “so Mason how are you liking our peaceful lands, it must be quite different from that war-torn land you hail from”

Turning away from him he looked over the castle surrounding them as he spoke in a much calmer tone “it’s nice, reminds me of home in a few ways” turning back David held an unmoving expression, as his tone turned holding a slight hint of smugness of its own “but whom ever you’ve been listening too is clearly mistaken”

“it was the princesses that informed me of you, are you saying that they were lying?” Blueblood almost spat back.

“that or you weren’t listening, I’m English the war is in France” David replied bluntly.

“I heard you were Brit... something or other” Blueblood said hoping to catch him out in a lye.

“British, and I am, England is part of the British Isles and the United Kingdom of Great Britain” David corrected.

Feeling insulted Blueblood retaliated in a voice laced in arrogance “so you're from a rivalling kingdom”

“an empire, in fact. The British Empire is ruled by the United Kingdom of Great Britain” David corrected again riling Blueblood up even more.

“well I’m sure this empire of yours doesn’t rival what our Princess Celestia is capable of, I’m sure our newly returned Princess has told you the power her sister possesses. I highly doubt the British empire holds any sway over the sun” Blueblood stated smugly.

“that may be true, but for all that magic she holds over the sun, the fact of the British empire remains the same” David stated boldly gaining both Shining Armor’s and Blueblood’s attention.

“and what fact is that?” Blueblood scoffed.

“The fact that the sun never sets on the British Empire” David stated with a hint of smugness to his words, watching the shunned expression of the prince turn too a confused look as David elaborated “the British Empire covers a quoter of the globe, the empire is so large so vast that when the sun sets on one part of the empire the sun rise in another”

Getting increasingly annoyed Blueblood spat out a spiteful response “and yet your a lowly Corporal in such a large empire, their must be hundreds of Corporals like you in your empire. How long did it take you to earn that rank? Captain Armor here has been in the royal guard for nearly fourteen years now, how long did it take you to achieve your rank? Nine, ten years?” he mocked.

David just stared at the prince with a cold expression that matched his tone “three, I joined three years ago when war was declared. And in that time I have been promoted twice”

Blueblood just stood there a little worried as to why David became so cold and serious, in that moment Blueblood saw an opportunity to crack this Mason like the stones that made his name. With a sly grin he spoke “three years and you’ve been promoted twice, your army must be quite desperate too promote somepony so unskilled. I bet if I joined I would be giving you orders within half a year”

David just stared down at the prince his voice as cold as it was serious “I highly doubt you would make it through basic training, the noise alone would probably shake the fur right off you”

In an aggravated huff Blueblood yelled like a spoiled child “I am will not be call a coward by some commoner! I am Prince Blueblood! I don’t have to stand here and take these insults from some barbaric freak!”

Upon finishing Blueblood turned his back to them about to walk away, but as he did David spoke his tone as cold and still as before which only annoyed Blueblood all the more “then you shouldn’t have insulted me first”

Turning back around Blueblood glared at David like his eyes were daggers “mark my words aunty Celestia will hear off this!”

Marching away Blueblood’s guards followed with clear smirks across their faces “I wouldn’t worry, Princess Celestia doesn’t take him seriously. Last week alone he made two separate accusations, one against a guard for assault and another against a maid for theft, both were dismissed in seconds as Blueblood walked into the guard who was standing watch, and the maid didn’t steal anything Blueblood just forgot to empty his pockets before asking the maid to wash his clothes” Shining said in a calm unfazed voice clearly use to Blueblood’s antics.

Facing Shining David replied “that’s good to know, I don’t think Luna would be too pleased if he got me thrown in the dungeon”

“if the Princess’s do lesson to him I’ll tell them the truth, and if worse comes to worse, I know a spell that can show memories” Shining stated confidently.

In a slightly unnerved tone to the idea of people looking through his memories “that’s an interesting use of magic”

“We use it for screening the new recruits, helps keeps the bad apples of pony society out of places of power” he explained.

They heard a sharp snap of magic as somepony teleported in, instinctively David reached for his side arm snapping his head around to the sound of a possible gun shot “well that was quite amusing” a familiar feminine voice said from behind them.

Turning around they saw Princess Luna standing before them with a wide bright smile that shone like the moon, David on the other hand wore a shocked expression that was almost as pale as the moon as the sound of her magic made his blood run cold. Straightening himself up David hesitantly took his right hand off his holster, a little shocked at the sheer look of fear on David face Luna continued waving it off as her sudden appearance surprising him “thou certainly has a way with words”

Smiling back David spoke in an equally pleasant voice “if thou remembers correctly I told you if you insult a Mason, we insult you back with twice the ferocity” David tone quickly became more inquisitive as he continued “but I did learn something from him, something that I never thought I could understand”

Looking passed David to the back of Blueblood’s head as he walked off in further into the distance Luna asked in a curious tone “how could one so lacking in the mental department possible teach thou something?”

Smiling David replied in a nearly teasing voice “and I thought I was the one with the quick wit” earning a slight giggle from Princess of the night “I think I now understand the French”

Tilting her head in confusion like a puppy with wide blue eyes Luna asked “the French? aren’t those your allies?”

“yes they are, but the French are quite different to the English. For one the English don’t go around beheading ever member of the nobility they see, but now the French do make a tempting argument” David said in a mockingly serious voice that worried Shining Armor.

Smiling Luna returned his voice in kind “I’m sure Cadence would find that to be a lovely wedding present” Luna teased before taking on a more serious tone “now if thou are done would thou care to accompany me” Luna asked earning an arm for her to hold as they walked.

5

Walking down the lavender hallway Luna clung to David’s left arm almost hugging him as she guided him through her home, to either side of the was a near white stone pillar that repeated ever couple of feet, between each stone pillar was a stone stand standing four feet tall with a wide lavender vase filled with pink and white flowers. About half way down the hallway was a door on their left taking the place of the stand and flowers that would have been their, interrupting the alternating pattern of stone pillars and flowers. The door was a slightly darker shade of lavender than the walls making it stand out amongst the wall.

As they made their way down the hallway Luna began leaning more and more on his side until she was practically resting on him, her eyes even began to shut as she relied on him more and more. But before she could let her eyes rest they shot open too the one voice that she was not ready to hear, but the voice wasn’t directed at them it was preoccupied by another voice “so how go the preparations?” Celestia asked still out of sight of her sister.

“all is going as schedule Princess, but Captain Armor has revised the guard deployments” stated the male voice that Luna assumed was a guard.

“why has he done that?” Celestia asked.

“he needed a scouting party to check the mountain for potenal spies, apparently they would be able to see the whole of Canterlot from up there” the guard stated at their voices became slightly clearer.

“a wise decision I’ll have comend him for that” Celestia said in a thoughtful tone.

“it wasn’t Captain Armor’s idea Princess, he took it under advisement from a Corporal Mason” the guard corrected.

“umm is this the same Corporal my sister invited to the wedding?” the princess asked.

“I believe so Princess” the guard answered.

“umm I wonder where he is, Luna has become quite found of him” Celestia stated in an intrigued voice.

“I believe he’s with Princess Luna, I think she took him on a tour of the castle after he fought Captain Armor in a sparring match” the guard unseen guard said his voice becoming clearer as they got closer.

“he fought Captain Armor?” Celestia asked in surprise.

“yes and I believe he won but I’m not sure, I was on patrol at the time so I only court the end of it” the guard answered.

In a pondering tone Celestia spoke her mind “a Corporal was able to best the Captain of the guard. I wonder if he would be willing to share some of these skills with us, Twilight has sent quite the number of letters about him and his skills. Would you be so kind to send some pony to find him? I want to meet this Mason as soon as possible, Luna has been spending a lot of time with him and I would like to know what kind of pony he is”

Luna thought Celestia was being a little over protective, but she was the older sister and the older sister of any household did have a tendency to be a bit over protective Applejack being the prime example that came to mind. Luna stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Celestia and a solar guard appear at the end of the intersecting hallway, they weren’t looking down the hallway where David and Luna were, but straight ahead to the hallway that lead to the right of them.

“certainly Princess” the guard answered with a salute.

Before the guard could even move Luna teleported away in a sudden flash of magic, turning to his left David saw the empty space where Luna was a moment ago, the only indication she was there was a few bright blue sparkles of magic that quickly fizzled out like a silent firework. Before Celestia could turn to the sound of Luna’s magic, the lavender painted door burst open and from the dark room came a pair of blue furred hands that latched on to David’s left arm pulling him into the darkness.

Before him he saw a light blue glow surround a darker blue horn, the door to his right promtly shut trapping him inside. Beneath the fading blue glow of magic he saw Luna’s face “Luna what are you doing...” David asked in a surprised voice before being silenced and pushed against the unseen wall, for a moment he thought Luna had kissed him by something soft pressing against his lips but it was far too wide to be her lips, he knew what they felt like when they were human even as a pony a kiss from her wouldn’t have changed so drastically. Feeling her slender fingers brush against his cheek he realised it was her palm pressed strongly into his mouth almost pressing the back of his head into the wall behind him.

Nearly holding her breath Luna heard footsteps out side the door as Celestia came to investigate the noise, closing her eyes she silently prayed for Celestia to move on. Luna could only dread what Celestia would do if she found them, the teasing alone would be relentless. Feeling David begin to move Luna wrapped her free arm around him in an attempt to keep him from knocking into anything that might catch Celestia’s attention.

From outside the door David and Luna heard a voice call out “princess” for a moment Luna panicked pressing herself against David in a vain attempt to hide from her sister but the voice wasn’t hers it was somepony else making Luna’s tense body soften into David “prince Blueblood has requested your presence in the throne room” called out the voice again.

With a tired huff Celestia spoke in a worn out voice “what’s he want now? Never mind lets get this over with”

Walking off Celestia and her guard headed to the throne room, letting out a breath of relief Luna slumped into David resting her head upon his right shoulder. Hearing a muffled voice whisper to her “Luna?”

Lifting her head off him she saw she still had her hand over his mouth “sorry” she said in an embarrassed voice as she hesitantly took her hand off his mouth.

“that’s alright but why are we hiding in here?” David asked in what Luna found to be a surprising calm voice.

Shying away as she gave him an answer “I… I panicked, theirs something I wish to show thou, it’s important and I thought that if my sister saw thou I wouldn’t get the chance” shying away even more she spoke in an even quieter voice that was barely audible “and I wanted to spend a bit more time with thou”

Feeling his arms gently brush again her fur as they wrap around her with his hands moving up to her back she fell back into his comforting embrace, looking up at him unable to see the soft eyes that he looked at her with in the darkness of the room, unable to see the eyes that refused to see her as the nightmare she once was, they didn’t even see her as a princess they saw her as a friend. She found the way he looked at her to be full of compassion like he would never stop caring for her, it was soothing and she couldn’t be more grateful that. Leaning into him she rested her head on his chest her ears picking up the gentle dual beat of his hearts, her once still ears began to twitch ever so slightly in perfect sync with the beat she heard emanating from his chest. Letting her hand drop from his face she let it wrap around him only to be met by her other hand as they wrapped around his back returning the affection he showed her, while her tease wings slowly joined there embrace wrapping around them like a warm comforting blanket on a long winters night.

After a little while they left the dark confines of the room, leading him through the castle again she rested on his left side like she had before hugging his arm as they walked “were here” Luna happily chimed as they stood before two large navy blue doors with black iron fittings.

Stepping in David saw it was Luna’s room, the ceiling was an explosion of stars, a constellation of beauty only the night could offer. The walls seemed to change in tone, the bottom of the walls were like the a starless night but as you moved up the wall it seemed to get lighter like you were watching the night sky give in too day as the sky lightened up. Luna’s bed was a large crescent moon that headbord curved up and over the pale blue pillows that she would rest on.

Looking around the room as Luna left his side he saw many no all of his painting mounted on her walls, before he could look around any further Luna called out “David over here”

Walking over he saw Luna standing before a polish black desk, she wore a wide smile as she presented what she wanted to show him. Mounted on the wall just above the desk was a large old painting, easily dwarfing any of his by nearly twice the size. The first thing he notice was the painting was increadible old and uncared for, the corners were all rotted away and the entire piece was covered in cracks with many pieces flacking away. It was still easy for him to tell this painted meant a lot to Luna and held great beauty once even now it was quite beautiful, the painting was of Luna, she was dressed as in silver armour that clung to her body perfectly showing every curve she had. She was completely covered in finely polished armour that didn’t have a single scuff on it, the only parts of her that wasn’t covered was her head and most of her wings, the top of her wings were armoured with silver plate that looked to have joints were her wings would bend.

She sat upon a large rock in the middle of a dark forest with a castle off in the distance as the full moon she commanded lit up the forest, in her right hand pointed towards the ground was an ornate longsword, but sadly he couldn’t make out many of the details as the paint had flacked away leaving large clunks of the blade missing along with half the hilt and Luna’s hand.

Turning away from the painting he saw Luna staring at him with hopeful eyes that begged for something “so this is what you wanted to show me?” David asked trying not to sound too confused to not inavertaly hurt her feelings.

“yes but that was not the only reason I wanted to show it too thou” Luna happily said hoping his answer to her next words would be the ones she wanted to hear, her tone became nervously quite as she made her request “and I was hoping that thou could restore it”

Looking back to the painting David inspected the old weathered paint already knowing the answer before turning back, he spoke in low remorseful tone “Luna, I’m sorry but I don’t see any way to fix it. Can’t you use magic?”

Lowering her head in sorrow that matched her depressive tone that David hated the moment he heard it, it just didn’t sound right coming from her “no. I can’t, there are spells for that but they need to be performed by the one that painted it or one taught by the painter. Unfortunately that isn’t an option, I was hoping that since your people don’t have magic thou would know of a way to fix it. This painting means a lot to me, and it would mean a lot to me if a friend as dear to me as thou was able to mend it”

As Luna lowered her head in near despair David took her hands in his speaking in a sure soothing voice that was easily able to comfort her “Luna, I may not be able to restore it to it’s former glory but I might be able to paint you another”

Looking up with tears swelling in her eyes speaking in a shaky but hopeful voice “really? do thou really think thou can paint another?”

David couldn’t help but smile back as he spoke “I don’t know but I’m willing to try”

Finding his simple words to much to bare Luna lunged forward jumping into David wrapping her arms around him knocking him off his feet, before he could hit the ground there was a blue explosion of magic. When he hit the ground he found it to be incredibly lumpy and soft, surrounding them was a fleet of navy blue pillows but his mind wasn’t focused on that but the princess on top of him that squealed in delight “thank thou! Thank thou! Thank thou!” she cheered squeezing him as tight as she could before kissing him on the cheek.

Letting his hands gently wrap around her waist he felt Luna’s wings become tense to his touch, lifting herself up off him coming face to face with him, he stared into the blue eyes that could easily mirror his own “well I’ve got to keep thou coming back somehow” he half tease.

Taking a hand off him Luna playfully poked his moustache “if thou would be willing to shave this off I might be more inclined too visit”

Before either of them could utter another word an official sounding voice called out to them “Princess Luna”

Both of their head snapped towards the door spotting a grey stallion in night guard armour, realising how it looked with Luna on top of David Luna jumped off him almost flapping her wings in the process, with blush so bright and clear she could have been mistaken for having naturally red fur she spoke in a stammered voice “err… yes… Steel Hoof what is it?”

Adverting his eyes from the scene he spoke almost off into the distance “Princess Celestia has requested yours and Corporal Mason’s presence in the throne room”

Looking down to David Luna with a still flushed expression she spoke attempting to steady her humbling words “come on lets not keep her waiting” she said offering David a hand.

Taking it Luna pulled him up and they headed towards the throne room in an awkward silence.

6

Arriving at two large golden doors that towered over them, as the pair walked in they saw Shining Armor standing next to Cadence and the element bearers to the right of the stairs leading up to the throne. Directly across from them was Prince Blueblood arguing with Princess Celestia, she was taller than Luna probably the same height as David without the horn but with she was maybe half a foot taller than him, her figure was slender like Luna’s but her hips were a bit wider and her breast were a size larger. Like her sister she wore no clothes apart from her golden regalia showing of her pure white fur, her multicoloured mane flowing to a non present wind.

Before anypony could spot them Luna noticed her royal announcer and a sly smirk appeared on her face as she gave him a subtle nod, taking in a deep breath the announcer declared them in a crystal clear voice “presenting her royal highness, guardian of the night, protector of dreams Princess Luna. And her esteemed guest ambassador of the British Empire, Corporal of the Great war, decadent of the old royalty, David Mason”

Turning too the Princess by his side he saw her wearing a wide mischievous grin like a medal “ambassador of the British Empire? Decadent of the old royalty?” David asked in a hushed voice.

Her grin seemed to grow all them more like she was proud of her actions as she spoke in an innocent voice “I don’t know what thou are talking about”

Leaning in his irritated voice only rained in the other present “you know what I’m talking about”

“but thou are our only link to the British Empire, so thou are an ambassador of sorts, I thought making it official would sound better for the announcements” Luna answered in feigned ignorance.

“don’t play ignorance you know what you did. Decadent of the old royalty, that’s just an old story. I don’t even know if it’s true, I don’t even know if I believe it or not” David nearly spat out in panic keeping his voice quiet.

“well I believe it to be, so by royal decree it is true” Luna whispered in jest.

With a mischievous smile of his own he replied in equal humour “well if I’m a royal now I can denounce my title”

“and if thou does so, thou would not be able to refuse it when I restate it” she tease back.

“and if you do I can just denounce it again” David teased back with greater force.

Looking at him with pleading puppy dog like eyes she spoke in a sympathetic voice that couldn’t hide the true teasing nature of her words “would thou really wish too throw away a gift I know thou are worthy of, if thou still won’t do it for thou self would thou be willing to do it for me?”

With a deflated huff of defeat David gave his answer “I hate it when father is right” earning a genuinely confused look from the Princess by his side “no matter who you are, no matter how many battles you’ve won, a man will always be defeated by the smile of a beautiful woman”

Feeling a sudden flush rush across her heated face she spoke in a composed voice “so thou submits?”

Lowering his head somewhat he answered “yes”

“I didn’t quite hear that” Luna stated in a playfully smug tone.

“I submit to thou” David said with a hint of protest.

Luna’s grin only grew wider as she pressed him for the answer she desired “no not like that, thou must do it with the titles”

Sighing in playful humiliation David gave Luna the prize she earned “I David Mason Corporal and ambassador of the British Empire, Decadent of the old royalty submit too Princess Luna”

Proudly smiling Luna almost jumped up as she cheered in a playful voice “huzzah! thou were a worthy adversary, thou are indeed worthy of thy royal standing but never the less thou has fallen too me”

Continuing their march forward they met with the ponies already in the room, Rarity after hearing the announcement was staring at them intensely, it didn’t take them more than a glance to know her head was swimming in romantic ideas about the David and Luna, which was true her mind was churning out ideas like a crazed writer like the titles of the newspaper that would report on them “the princess and the hidden royal” was the main one that came to mind.

Upon noticing them Princess Celestia wore a warm smile as she spoke in a loud clear voice “ah Luna thank you for coming I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything”

For a moment both Luna and David thought she was insinuating that she knew of what the guard walked in on, with Luna that notion was quickly swept aside as she knew it was her guard that walked in on them and they were loyal to her and wouldn’t talk especially when she knew which one would have started the rumour. David on the other hand was wearing his best poker face hoping to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment for himself and Luna.

“no sister, I was just showing David here some of the paintings thou retrieved from our old castle” Luna replied.

“ah so this is the esteemed David you have been talking about, it’s a pleasure to meet you David” Celestia said with a smile.

“likewise princess” David replied.

Looking at her sister inquisitively Luna spoke “now that pleasantries are out of the way, why have thou summoned us”

Still smiling Celestia answered turning to the prince standing slightly behind her “oh right, prince Blueblood here has made some rather nasty accusations”

Looking to him they saw he was wearing a slightly nervous expression, in fact Luna had noticed that he had been wearing it since the announcer announced them “oh has he now” Luna answered in a suspicious voice.

Still wearing an amused smile Celestia answered “oh yes he said David made a number of insulting remarks against him, I don’t suppose you would know anything about that?” Celestia asked looking at Luna.

Shyly looking away Luna answered in sheepish voice “perhaps Captain Armor would be willing to fill thou in?”

“I will be asking him a few questions about this but I wanted to hear it from you” Celestia asked with a smile, probing Luna not for the information that she already knew but how Luna would defend him.

Sensing her sister’s teasing nature hidden behind her words Luna spoke in a slightly nervous voice “David may have said a few choice words in retaliation too Blueblood’s antics”

A loud pompous voice could be heard through out the throne room “ha! see aunty even your sister admits he has no self control, he isn’t fit to be allowed in our kingdom let alone a royal wedding”

Luna instantly glared daggers at her disgrace of a nephew, even Celestia wore a look of contempt for his sudden behaviour “now now the first words out of your mouth were an insult, I merely returned it in kind. You were quite quick to cast the first stone even before we met, but as the old saying goes men who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”

Blueblood’s face instantly dropped to David’s words as both Luna and Celestia stifled a giggle, Luna struggling far more than Celestia “THAT’S IT I DEMAND SATISFACTION!”

Now Luna and Celestia faces dropped to the shire stupidity of Blueblood’s demand, as they heard David speak pulling his revolver from his side “so be it” Turning his head to Shining Armor David asked “Captain Armor would you be so kind to let the prince know what he is getting into?”

In a hesitant voice Shining answered “Corporal Mason here was able to best me in single combat, and he has gone on record of being proficient with weapons that are at least three hundred years more advanced than our own”

Blueblood had a look of sheer terror running across his face as he watched David rotated the cylinders of his revolver with his thumb, with each rotation earning a metallic click from it. In an attempt to save face Blueblood spoke “I… I wasn’t talking about some barbaric blood sport you guards like to play I was… I was… talking about some other kind of challenge”

Cadence watched the prince intensely with her cunning green eyes, watching him stutter and struggle to come up with a challenge she spoke in a calm caring voice “how about a musical challenge? didn’t you say you were taking lessens every other week?”

Perking up Blueblood spoke in a more confident voice “ah yes that would make a wonderful challenge Cadence. Aunty would you be so kind to summon a piano”

Giving a tied nod and weak smile to his antics she teleported a grand black piano in a golden flash of magic, Luna on the other hand had a massive grin on her face as she instantly knew Blueblood was out matched. Sitting down at the piano Blueblood turned to the ponies and the human in the room as David holstered his revolver “prepare to be amazed, normally this would be a high honour for nobles let alone common ponies. Cadence since this is your wedding I think you should have the privilege of deciding the victor” he ended with a fake smile of affection that she could easily see through before he turned to the book of sheet music before him.

Blueblood’s piece was rather slow and simplistic for the most part, it wasn’t bad just lacking something, it was like something from a ballet but without the performance of the dancers it wasn’t great. Cadence wore a calculating grin as she saw her plan was working, she could sense the emotions coming from the ponies around her as Blueblood played, unfortunately the joy emanating from them was soured by their loathing for the prince. But oddly she found no loathing or joy from David, even now with everyponies emotions flourishing to the sound of music she still felt nothing from him, he was an emptiness void of all feelings and that scared her she couldn’t sense his emotions she wasn’t even sure if he was capable of them capable of love. After a few short minutes he finished earning a series of claps from the ponies, the weakest of theses coming from Luna as she whisper into David’s ear “if I can make a recommendation thou should play moonlight sonata again, I have wished to hear it again”

Turning to her with a smile he replied in a confident voice “as much as I appreciate that Luna I had something else in mind”

Walking over to the piano he passed Blueblood with Blueblood sneering out a response as they passed each other “I highly don’t you can win after that, the falling feather is a classic my oh so dear aunty loves”

Sitting down David picked up the sheet music tossing it atop the piano, taking his dark green tie off wrapping it around his head covering his eyes. The ponies all looked at him in confusion as he ran his fingers across the keys, pressing a few keys David figured out where his hands were earning a pleased scoff from Blueblood. Finding his place David began playing the one symphony that could never be rivalled, the one that every man knew, even those who didn’t care for music. the sudden strength of his notes took everypony by surprise as they stared in amazement as he quickly shifted too calmer notes at a faster pace earning the surrounding ponies to huddle around. Watching in amazement to the persision of his fingers as his hands jumped about the piano, he was playing faster than Blueblood had or could, using a greater range of notes than Blueblood had.

Glaring at the blindfolded man making a mockery of the prince, Blueblood anisated a simple spell that would end his performance. Smiling as his magic made contact with the piano he waited for it to take affect, but as David played nothing happened he had hear that this creature was resistant to magic but he struck the piano not the man, his face dropped like a stone as he saw the princess of the night looking straight at him with a look that could cut glass, if it wasn’t for the piano between them he would have sworn she was about to send him to the moon. Her horn was light in her magical blue glow dispelling his own magic with ease.

David continued playing unaware of what had transpired around him, Cadence loved what she could feel around her, this man and a piano was able to inspire so many emotions in the ponies around him, excitement, hope, relief, tranquillity, anticipation, and she was absolutely loving it. Their was even darker emotions that crept into the music and the hearts of ponies present, dread and terror too name a few but these came as quick as they left living a life on the back of a single brief use of a note. For one brief moment she felt something more from Princess Luna, the princess of the night had always been a hard one to get a sense of but as Cadence focused on her she felt nothing but pure malice aimed directly at Blueblood, she nearly waved it off as nothing out of the ordinary but it was way more intense than anything she had seen the princess feel before.

Turning back to David Cadence noticed that even the ending notes seemed to have a life to them, they seemed triumphant as he finished. Blueblood found this final triumphant finish as one final mocking blow to his diminished standing and skill.

Taking his blind fold of David nearly jumped as he saw the crowd surrounding him, turning too Luna Celestia spoke in an astounded voice “I think I now know why you like him so much, you always did have an ear for music” in an instant Celestia’s tone changed shifting too a more suggestive one as she leaned into Luna slightly “has he given you any private performances Lulu?” Celestia teased causing a slight blush too appear through Luna’s blue fur.

Turning away from her squirming sister Celestia smiled at her niece “so Cadence have you decided on a winner?”

Soaking up all the affection Celestia was showing Luna she spoke in a satisfied voice “I believe I have”

“well cousin get on with it” Blueblood nearly ordered.

Holding back a glare Cadence really hated how he spoke ever since she arrived in Canterlot “Blueblood rendition of Falling Feather was faithful to the original” in that moment Blueblood straightened himself up holding his head up high as if he had already won “but lack emotion not just in the piece but I could barely sense any love for it from everypony here”

Blueblood froze at her words before slumping in his stance as Cadence continued “David’s performance of… of… what was it called?”

“Beethoven's fifth symphony or symphony of fate” David answered as he put back on his green tie.

“right. David’s performance of the symphony of fate was truly inspired, I think I speak for everypony here when I say no pony has ever heard anything so enticing” turning to Blueblood with a sly smirk and a playful tone she spoke “sorry Bluey but I’m afraid you’ve been bested”

Speaking like a spoiled childed Blueblood had his tantrum as he pointed at the Luna “you planned this didn’t you! All of you! You knew this would happen! His cutie mark is probably a piano for aunty’s sake! You’ve made a mockery of me!”

“Prince Blueblood!” Celestia nearly yelled almost returning to her royal Canterlot voice before softening “the only one who’s made a mockery of you is yourself, now I think it would be best if you leaved before you embarrass yourself any further”

With an irritated huff Blueblood stormed out, Luna leaned into David whispering to him “thou won’t believe how long I’ve been wanting to see somepony put him in his place”

Leaning in he whispered back “that wouldn’t be hard, that boy’s thick as pig shit”

A loud snort echoed through out the throne room as Luna failed to stifle her laughter, drawing many eyes to her as he continued “I wonder how he would react if I told him music wasn’t my talent, or if we told him the composer was deaf” David answered in a hushed voice.

“music isn’t your talent?!” Celestia asked in a surprised voice that nearly turned into a yell.

Taking everypony and the only human by surprise, even Blueblood stopped for a moment in silent rage, not only was he bested by somepony else but it wasn’t even his pony’s talent. David replied in a somewhat sheepish tone “no, umm I’m not sure. I always enjoyed it, but I don’t know I always thought I had more of an eye for art than an ear for music”

“I can vouch for that, but thou is certainly quite skilled in the musical arts” Luna added.

“well regardless of what your talent is, that certainly was entertaining” Celestia said with a smile before turning to Cadence and Shining Armor “Captain Armor would you care to take Corporal Mason on a tour of the castle, we still have plenty of preparation left to make for tomorrow. Oh and it might be wise to keep him and Blueblood separate for the time being”

With a nod Shining made his way too David only after giving his wife to be a quick kiss on the cheek, once the pair had left Celestia began delegating jobs to Twilight and her friends. While she was doing this Cadence walked over to Luna speaking in a curious voice “you have made quite the friend their aunty”

“he’s a good stallion” Luna said in a heartfelt voice, Cadence could feel the love coming from Luna spilling out like an over filled glass, it wasn’t she same type of love that she felt from Shining or Twilight’s love for her friends. It was something in between them, stronger than love for a friend but weaker than love for a spouse.

Probing her with her pink eyes Cadence decided to pry a little further “looks like you were quite lucky that the dignitaries from Saddle Arabia had to cancel”

“that was rather odd how they just cancelled all of a sudden” Luna stated.

“yes that was odd but it worked out for the best” Cadence casually brushed off before speaking in a more caring tone “but now you have somepony to dance with”

“dance? Me and David?” Luna asked nervously with a slight blush of embarrassment to the idea of her and David dancing to a slow romantic song as everypony watched.

Smiling Cadence pressed her advantage with a hint of latent magic that would enhance emotions, normally this would make close friends kiss but alicorns had a much higher resistance to her magic “of cause me and Shining can’t be the only couple dancing”

Unable to feel the affects of Cadence’s magic Luna became more sensitive about her affiliation with David feeling as close to him as when she was human, no as close to him as when they kissed “c… couple David and I? We aren’t a couple we are just friends, close friends”

“very close friends” Cadence said with an implying tone.

“yes very close friends” Luna answered before realising what Cadence was implying, with wide shocked eyes Luna quickly took back what she admitted too as Cadence wore a sly grin “no, just close friends, I mean we are very close but not that close”

“are you sure?” Cadence said in disbelief.

“yes we even kissed but nothing came of it” Luna said nonchalantly before freezing in shock for a few seconds as if she was able to see the words leave her mouth. With her mouth hanging open she slapped both her hands over her mouth in some vain attempt to stop the words after they had already left.

Cadence’s grin grew as wide as it could, she had some sneaky suspicion about Luna and this strange creature but now she could practically see the love emanating from her. With intent hidden behind those pink eyes that Luna saw Cadence focused her magic, if she focused any more it would become a full blown spell and Luna would have been able to see what she was doing by the green glow surrounding her pink horn “why did I say that?” Luna mumbled to herself.

“my, my Luna and here I thought I was the princess of love, Celestia never told me you had a way with stallions, in fact last week Celestia was hoping I could update you on how courting works now, but now it seems you’ve started without me” Cadence teased in a suggestive voice.

“please don’t tell anypony” Luna begged with pleading puppy dog eyes as she lowered her hands from her nervous mouth.

“I won’t unless you refuse one little request of mine” Cadence teasing tone becoming more menacing, making Luna shy away slightly “oh don’t be like that, were all mares here. I just wanted to know how he was, he is the only human in Equestria and from what Celestia says the first to kiss you”

“please don’t” Luna beseeched hoping for some semblance of mercy from her overly intrigued niece, Cadence’s influence nearly making Luna tell her what she wanted to know on the spot.

Smiling a cruel grin Cadence lifted her head back speaking in a rained in yell that only Luna could hear “oh Celestia”

“NO!” Luna yelled jumping forward muzzling Cadence with her soft blue furred hands as her tone lowered with her head “please don’t bring her into this”

“only if you tell me what I want to know” Cadence replied as she pulled the princess’s hands off her.

Sitting down on the stool in front of the piano Luna spoke “fine if thou really wants to know”

Leaning with an intrigued smile she answered “I do”

Running a finger across her lips Luna recalled the sensation she felt as they kissed “it was soft and warm like I could just sink into him, his skin is so different to our fur its so smooth and soothing I could just fall asleep at his mere touch” Luna said in a heartfelt voice as Cadence’s magic drew out the words she hid from everypony.

“wow maybe I should steal a kiss before the wedding” Cadence teased hoping her magic would do its work.

Jumping up Luna’s wings flared out in a magically enhanced outburst “thou will do no such thing” the second Luna did this she almost retreated into herself, she had never acted like this before and she had no idea why, David kept popping up into her head far more than normal and she couldn’t dismiss him as easily as she once did.

Smiling to her handy work Cadence replied, defusing the situation before others noticed “don’t worry I would never hurt my poor little Shiny in such a way, the love we share is to great” her tone quickly became silent as she spoke under her voice “and tasty”

Smiling Cadence hoped her magic would be able to sway Luna’s mind, it may not last long but if it could it would be to her advantage, she could only dream of the love that resided in that lonely princesses heart. Her tone became more caring as she spoke planting the thought in Luna’s mind with as much sincerity as she could muster “think on those feeling Luna. A lonely heart is worse than a broken heart and from what I’ve seen he doesn’t want you to be lonely any more”

Luna just sat their saying nothing, but Cadence remembered something she planed that would defiantly get a rise from the princess “Oh and before I forget since David was never on the list for the wedding his room was never prepared, so looks like he’ll be sleeping with you” Cadence said in a most playful of tones.

Almost jumping up Luna yelled out in surprise “What!?”

Smiling at her handy work Cadence continued “yes and before you ask all the hotels in Canterlot have been booked, so unless you want him to sleep in the corridor he’ll be staying in your room”

“thou planned this didn’t thou” Luna accused.

“maybe” Cadence answered cutely like an innocent child.

“why would thou do such a thing?” Luna asked.

“weddings are suppose to be fun aren’t they, or has that just been in recent years?” Cadence replied in a mischievous voice.

“wedding have always been fun” Luna answered back plainly.

“then grant me this little bit of fun, I’m sure David would appreciate it, I bet he finds your fur rather comfy. Or would you rather have me inform him that his oh so close friend won’t share a room let alone a bed with him” Cadence’s voice sounding like a poetic slur of playful intent.

Slumping in defeat Luna spoke in a tone that matched her stance “fine, he can sleep in my chambers. But not a word of this to any pony else”

“even aunty Celestia?” Cadence asked innocently.

“especially Celestia” Luna answered with a serious edge to it.

Smiling at her handy work Cadence left the princess of the night she did have a wedding to prepare for.

7

It had gotten late and it had been quite some time since Luna had seen David, walking down the corridor Luna could hear David along with a number of the guards “take me back to dear old blighty! Put me on the train to london town. Take me over there, drop me anywhere, Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham well I don’t care! I’d sure love to see my best girl. Cuddling up again we soon shall be! Woah! Tiddley-iddley-ightly. Hurry me home to Blightly, Blightly is the place for me! What about the Equestians? Take me back to dear old Equestia! Put me on the train to Canterlot. Take me over there, drop me anywhere, ponyville, Cloudsdale or Appleloosa well I don’t care! I’d sure love to see my best girl. Cuddling up again we soon shall be! Woah! Tiddley-iddley-ightly. Hurry me home to Equestry, Equestry is the place for me!”

Smiling to the sound of his voice, Luna did love the way he sung. Following his voice Luna found the door to the kitchen hearing one of the guards ask with what she could only imagine was a wide smile to the stallion’s jovial voice “do you really sing that in the army?”

David’s voice was as cheerful “yeah the keeps the men in high spirits, and helps us keep pace when were on the march. How about another song?”

Getting a loud cheer from the guards Luna stepped into the door way, instantly her nose was assaulted by the strong aroma of alcohol that burned the princess’s nose like a branding iron. Upon looking into the kitchen Luna saw multiple guards all stallions, most of them were Celestia’s guards but a few of them were her night guards. They were all sat about the room facing David who was sat on a table with his back to Luna with Shining Armor sat beside him.

David lead the guards with them joining in the chorus “if you want to find the conol I know where he is, I know where he is, I know where he is, if you want to find the conol I know where he is, home again on seven days leave, I saw him, I saw him, home again on seven days leave, I saw him home again on seven days leave. If you want to find the captain I know where he is I know where he is I know where he is if you want to find the captain I know where he is he’s drinking up the company rum I saw him I saw him drinking up the company rum I saw him drinking up the company rum” David patting the Captain beside him on the back as he sung earning a laugh from Shining Armor

“if you want to find the sergeant major I know where he is, I know where he is, I know where he is, if you want to find the sergeant major I know where he is, pinning some more medals on his chest, I saw him, I saw him, pinning some more medals on his chest, I saw him, pinning some more medals on his chest. If you want to find the quartermaster I know where he is, I know where he is, I know where he is, if you want to find the quartermaster I know where he is, he’s drunk upon the cook house floor, I saw him, I saw him, drunk upon the cook house floor, I saw him, drunk upon the cook house floor.”

Standing up from the table David didn’t dance but more moved about to exaggerate the song “If you want to find the battalion I know where they are, I know where they are, I know where they are, if you want to find the battalion I know where they are, their hanging on the old barbed wire, I saw them, I saw them, hanging on the old barbed wire, I saw them, hanging on the old barbed wire”

Turning around David saw Luna in the door way, with a mischievous smirk he continued his song “if you want to find a princess I know where she is, I know where she is, I know where she is, if you want to find a princess I know where she is, she’s looking pretty pissed at me, I saw her, I saw her, looking pretty pissed at me, I saw her, will somebody please help me”

Laughing the guards didn’t notice the princess of the night until she spoke “alright that’s enough now”

In an instant the guards silenced their laughing straightening up as much as their drunk bodies would allow “all of thou best be off, we’ve got an early start tomorrow”

Earning a quick nod from the guards they left, with Shining Armor stumbling a bit as he walked back to his quarters. Turning back to David Luna found him rummaging through the cupboards, tilting her head off to one side like a confused puppy she asked “David? What are thou doing?”

“looking for one last drink before bed” he answered his head deep in the confines of the cupboard that echoed his voice.

“David are thou drunk?” Luna asked.

“they are, I’m not, and I drunk twice as much as them” he dismissed.

Looking about the room Luna saw just how many bottles they emptied, it looked like each one had at least three drinks each, so David must have had far more. Luna knew four drinks of the stuff they kept in the kitchen was more than enough to get any stallion drunk, alicorns may have been able to drink more than the average pony but if David was telling the truth he could even surpass her.

Before Luna could speak she heard David beat her to it as he close the cupboard doors “looks like your out of rum, bloody tipical not one of the guards touch the stuff, and we are still run out”

Luna’s eyes widening was the only response she gave him, the chief only used that for rum cakes and they would only use a drop at that.

Watching David search the other cupboards Luna heard him sing again “if the sergeant steals your rum never mind, if the sergeant steals your rum never mind. Though he’s just a bloody sod let him take the bleeding lot, if the sergeant steals your rum never mind”

As much as she enjoyed the sound of his voice they had to go to bed “come on David it’s late even for me”

“I suppose your right” David agreed following Luna out the kitchen.

Upon leaving the kitchen Luna found David had slung his arm over her far shoulder, being so close to him she could smell the rum on his breath. She had only ever smelled alcohol this strong come from a pony once before, and that was from Celestia when her cake order was delayed by two weeks.

Noticing how much he was relying on her to walk she wrapped an arm around him for support, as they walked she heard a few murmured words that soon turned into a slow song that only she could hear “Show me the way to go home, I'm tired and I wanna go to bed, I had a little drink, About an hour ago, And it's gone straight, To my head. Where ever I, may roam, On land or sea or form, You can always hear me, Singing this song, Show me the way to go homey home home. Where ever I may roam, On land or sea or form, You can always hear me, Singing this song, Show me the way to go homey home home”

Turning to him with a smile Luna spoke in a soothing voice “that quite the song”

Turing to her with a bit of a wobble to his head “what was?” he asked.

“that song thou was singing” Luna answered.

“I didn’t even know I was singing” David replied in a little bit of a haze.

“what song was that? It was rather different to the others” Luna asked.

“it’s an old sailor song my grandfather use to sing to us” David answered.

Reaching Luna’s bed room she used her magic to open the dark doors, stepping in Luna heard David’s voice clear as day “Luna, did I ever tell you what it felt like when we kissed?”

Almost tripping over her feet to his sudden question Luna approached the bed in the centre of the room, playing it off as his drunk mind making him say drunk things she replied in an uninterested voice “no, I’m sure it was lovely and warm”

“no far from it Luna, it was cold” he said with a smile.

Dropping him onto the bed she nearly through him down in irritation to his words, even if they weren’t his true words they still hurt “would thou like to repeat that” the threatened with venom in her voice.

Landing on his back David wore a wide unending smile as he replied in jest “certainly. It was cold and refreshing a bit like home, it was like kissing the night. Have you ever felt a cool breeze on a hot summer night? It was like that”

A wild uncontrollable blush lit up her face like a rose bush “you certainly have a way with words” Luna answered in a stutter.

Pushing himself upright David with a drunken smile that matched his words “you just said you”

Luna eyes widened slightly “thou must be mistaken” Luna lied.

“no you said you I heard it” David pressed.

“thou are drunk, thou must have missed heard me” Luna said hoping he would believe her, he had been singing without realising so it was hard to believe he could have miss heard her.

Smugly smiling at her his tone becoming more of a tease than a slur “Luna I’m tipsy not drunk, I know what I heard” he argued.

“I had to carry thou to bed, thou are drunk” Luna stated.

“don’t try and change the subject you said you” David retorted.

Lowering her head she spoke in a low saddened tone “you are right, I said you”

Hearing it now it just sounded wrong not just the words but the tone, hearing her voice in such a sad tone just didn’t sound right to David “Luna what’s wrong? it’s just a word” David asked in a concerned tone.

Luna’s tone was low, heartbroken even as she walked off to the balcony with her head held low “it’s not just a word, its me. I’m still living how I was before my banishment, so much of my world is gone, ponies don’t speak the way I do any more, they don’t act the same way any more. Music has changed to much for me, my home is now an accursed forest. I feel like if I keep my royal vocabulary something of my home survives with me, even if sister says change would do me good”

Looking out over the balcony Luna raised her moon into the dark empty sky, upon finishing her sky she felt something large and gentle press against her back, it wrapped around her waist holding her gently in place. Looking down Luna found David’s arms wrapped around her waist resting softly on her flat belly, a small smile appeared on her face as she cupped his hands in her’s sandwiching his skin between her soft blue fur. Leaning back slightly Luna leaned into him as he spoke “I’m sorry Luna, I’m sorry I brought it up”

“it’s okay thou didn’t know” Luna said in a caring but still saddened tone.

“but I do, I’m doing the exact same thing clinging onto anything of home I can” David answered nearly resting his head on her shoulder.

“like what?” Luna asked.

“art, music, sharing tea with a friend” David answered his hands stroking her soft belly.

Smiling Luna fell into him resting against his warm body almost falling asleep in his embrace, they stayed like this for a few moments, they just stood their in complete silence, as Luna just enjoyed the feeling of being held.

“would you look at that” David said under his breath in sheer bewilderment.

Looking over the balcony Luna saw a familiar sight, the Royal Canterlot gardens were lit up with a magical blue glow that matched Luna magic. Smiling Luna leaned back into David as she spoke in a sweet voice “told thou that my roses were a sight to behold”

“those are your roses?” David questioned seeing the blue bushes scattered about the garden glowing like blue flamed candles.

“indeed they are” Luna proudly said, taking her hand off his she teleported one of her rose’s into her hand, the blue glow that summon it staying within its pettles. Slowly rotating it between her fingers for David to see.

Staring in amazement he spoke his tone as amazed as before “it’s beautiful”

“thank thou, its good to see somepony… someone can appreciated them. Maybe thou should paint them” Luna ended with a tease.

Hearing her teasing tone he returned it in equal force “maybe but I can think of something else blue I would rather paint” he said while tightening his arms around her waist, his fingers running through her blue fur.

Teleporting the rose away Luna ran her now free hand down his arm, enjoying the feeling of his skin against her fur. For a while they stayed like this before Luna spoke “I believe its time we retired to bed”

“I suppose your right, early start tomorrow” David answered as he stayed still.

“we should probably get moving” Luna added not making any attempt to leave his embrace.

“we probably should” David answered still reluctant to go enjoying the comfort her body provided to much.

They couldn’t tell how long they stayed like this, but once it ended they both wished to hold each other again. Sitting down in a blue arm chair that matched the rest of the room David got as comfortable as he could get, Luna on the other hand got into bed. Laying in her comfy bed surrounded by warm sheets she spoke her tone was shy but caring “you… thou know, we could continue what we were doing if… thou was willing to share a.. bed with me”

After the words left her mouth, the blush illuminating her face couldn’t be hid by the darkness of her night, it was like a torch guiding his gaze to her embarrassed expression, that she tried to hide under her sheets.

Leaning up from his seat David saw Luna hiding under the sheets like a frightened child “as much as I want to, I’m afraid I can’t sleep in a bed any more. But I’m sure those wings of yours would make lovely blankets” David said in a caring tone.

Blushing even more to his words, Luna laid in silence hoping that he couldn’t see her through her bed sheets. She wanted to hold him again to give him the comfort that he gave her, she wanted to do what he said, she wanted to wrap him up in her wings as they slept but sadly she couldn’t. Falling asleep she didn’t feel as alone as she use to, but she could only imagine what it would feel like to fall asleep in David’s embrace.

The next day went perfectly, Cadence’s demeanour had returned to normal. Like most ponies thought, it was just stress caused by the wedding that made her so unlike herself. Luna wore a long blue dress just like the one David painted her in, Luna walked to the ceremony with her arms interlocked with David’s. Sitting by his side Luna saw Shining standing at the alter waiting for Cadence, upon seeing Shining Luna could sense magic surrounding him, focusing on him Luna cast a quick spell seeing through the magic. Stifling a laugh Luna saw Shining looked a right state, dark bags under his eyes, tired expression.

Watching Cadence walk down the aisle in her pure white dress, Luna leaned slightly on David’s left side as she slide her left hand over to him cupping his hand in her’s. Upon feeling her hand surround his he pulled his out from under her’s, sliding his hand back up her’s he took her by the wrist lifting her hand up to meet his lips. Luna’s eyes widened then softened as he kissed the back of her hand, before cupping it with his other hand.

The day just seemed to fly by after that, one moment she was watching the bride and groom getting married, the next they were dancing to a slow song. Smiling Luna watched from the side lines as the pair danced the night away, walking in front of her David held out a hand for her. Hesitantly Luna took his hand letter him guide her to the dance floor, slowly her hands worked their way around him as his did around her. For a while they slowly swayed from side to side, Luna eventually dropped her head to his chest resting on him as they danced.

She felt like she could have stayed like this for a thousand years and still want more, feeling his hand pull away from her she felt him it slip between them. His hand slid up between them gently cupping her chin guiding her up to him, lifting her head from his chest she followed his gentle touch until she was looking up at him. All Luna saw as she look up to his was loving blue eyes, she was so drawn to them she didn’t even notice that he was moving closer to her, before she could react she felt his soft warm lips press against her’s in a quick gentle kiss.

The kiss was quick, nothing more than a brush of lips, much like their first kiss. Tightening her arms around him she lifted her head up to him, pressing her lips against his once again. With each second that passed their kiss became more intense, it started as just as simple kiss just her lips pressed against his, but now it was deeper holding more passion that she had ever known. Pressing their already close bodies closer together, she brushed the inside of her right leg against the outside of his stroking his leg with her’s. Pressing herself further into his body she parted her lips, closing her eyes as she ran her tongue across his smooth teeth feeling every little indent as one tooth met another.

Pressing her kiss Luna heard muffled David’s muffled voice all out to her “Luna” ignoring him she continued their kiss not wanting it to end not even for a moment “Luna” he called out again his voice still muffled by her lips. Holding him even tighter still enjoying the comfort his warm body provided, she felt him return her embrace earning a smile that bleed through her kiss.

Opening her eyes Luna wanted to see his but all she saw was here dark room, sitting up she saw she was still in bed and David had never left his seat. She felt disappointed that it was just a dream but still she got up walking over to the balcony to lower her moon like she always did, after she finished clearing her sky she walked over to David. He looked quite peaceful, not wanting to disturb him she gently shock his shoulder speaking in a soft voice “David”

Getting no response from him she shock him a bit more speaking in a slightly louder voice “David”

Still getting no reaction from him, Luna couldn’t bring herself to be any more forceful than she had already been. Moving in front of him she leaned in, her horn glowing with sky blue magic as its tip slowly moved towards his forehead. The moment her horn touch his head she enacted the spell, it was rather difficult like when she transformed into a human, even while asleep he resisted magic even the magic of an alicorn.

Entering his dream Luna found herself to be standing by a wide dirt road, with lush green fields hidden behind short crumbly stone walls that separated the road from the field. Looking at the landscape she wondered if this was his home, if this was England. The day was bright so much so that she had to shield her eyes, but as she did she pulled her hand back inspecting it. It wasn’t the hand of a pony but the hand of a human, looking over herself she found his mind had turned her into a human. She was wearing the same blue dress that she wore when he painted her.

Looking about for the owner of the dream, Luna found nothing. Trying to use her magic she found that even David’s mind negated magic, she couldn’t turn back into a pony or move about the dream like she normally would, all she could manage to do with her magic was leave. All in all she was human while in his dream, walking about the dream Luna followed the road but as she did she began to notice things. Normally in a dream little details would be off like shadow not lining up with the sun, plants coming into bloom out of season. Now becoming more aware of it Luna knew what this was, it wasn’t a dream it was a memory.

Hearing something off in the distance Luna looked around for its source, finding it not to be one thing but many. Walking over with a bit of a wobble for even in a dream she lack the balance her wings provided, getting slowly close to the moving forms in the distance she saw it to be hundreds no thousands maybe even tens of thousands of men marching. As she drew closer to them she saw they were marching in rows of three, they looked so similar to David, some wearing helmets others wearing caps and all armed with rifles.

The men seemed to parse her by without even batting an eye, looking between the men Luna had no idea if David had passed her or not, from a quick glance they all looked the same, unlike ponies they didn’t have a full range of colours for their fur and what fur they did have was concealed by their hats and helmets.

On the verge of franticly looking for David like a lost child she heard one of the men speak but his voice was younger than David’s “so what do you think they’ll call the battle Serg?”

“I don’t know, Marmetz, Beaumont perhaps” the sergeant called back.

“the Somme” answered David in high spirits like the rest of the men. In that instant Luna tried to follow his voice but their was too many of them, even if she saw him he would disappear as easily as a drop of water in the sea.

“the what?” on of the men asked.

“it’s the name of the river, the river Somme, word is the Manchester’s have already dug us the trenches” David answered.

In that moment Luna knew she had to find him this dream could easily turn from a memory to a nightmare, she remember that name and what he said happened to him their, but still she couldn’t find him as she ran up and down the rows of men.

“battle of the Somme” the sergeant laughed “you artists rifles are a funny lot, are all of you so poetic in your names”

“who cares what they call it, takes two sides to make a battle” a younger jovial voice called out earning a cheer and laugh from the men.

“come on lets get back to it men” the sergeant ordered.

Still following Luna couldn’t tell if she had passed David or not, she could have passed him a hundred times and not even noticed. She didn’t hear David again, only the sounds of heavy boots wearing down the road, and equipment clattering against the men. Slowly she heard the sounds of men singing, it was quiet to start with but quickly got louder as more men joined in drowning out every other sound.

“Up to mighty London came an Irish man one day. All the streets were paved with gold so, everyone was gay! Singing songs of Piccadilly, Strand and Leicester Square, Till Paddy got excited and he shouted to them there: It's a long way to Tipperary, it's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary, To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, but my heart's right there. It's a long way to Tipperary, it's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary, To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, but my heart's right there. Paddy wrote a letter to his Irish Molly-O, saying, "Should you not receive it write and let me know!” “If I make mistakes in spelling, Molly, dear", said he "Remember, it's the pen that's bad don't lay the blame on me"”

Luna continued to search but as she passed one of the men, he grabbed her by the wrist and waist. Snapping her head round she saw David who spun her out of the formation of men, wildly rocking her back and other as he danced. The men just stared some laughing as the others continued to sing. His sudden brazenness had taken her completely by surprise, but seeing the life in the smile he wore, she couldn’t help but join in smiling away herself as they dance.

“It's a long way to Tipperary, it's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary, To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, but my heart's right there. It's a long way to Tipperary, it's a long way to go. It's a long way to Tipperary, To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, but my heart's right there.”

As the song ended David continued to dance with Luna, earning him a kick in the rear from one of the men walking by. This kick nearly knocked him off his feet making Luna stumble back a bit too, if it wasn’t for David still holding onto her she would have fallen.

“come on David get back to it” the man said.

Making sure she was steady on her feet before letting go, they parted with a smile “sorry to love you and leave you dear, got to get back to the war” he said before merging back into the sea of men.

Luna just stood their for a moment not understanding his phrase “did he love her” she thought or was it some kind of saying. But she couldn’t dwell on it for long as the men walked off into the distance.

Running after the men Luna stopped and stared in horror, before her what, David and all these men were marching into, was what looked to be a city easily the size of Canterlot all in ruins. Everything from old stone churches too brick homes, all had been shelled to oblivion. Nothing remain just burned rubble of a once beautiful city.

Following the men she saw just how had it was, black iron railings that once made up fences bent out into the street. Under her blue heeled shoes was the remains of the buildings, broken shards of glass and ground up bits of brick, that crunched and cracked under foot. Each building was reduces to a mere shell at best at worst it was completely gone, not even rumble remained.

Catching up to the men Luna had to remind herself that it was a dream, it wasn’t real, at least it not any more. Luna saw the men they all had looks that resembled her own, just shock not fear or hate just shock at what had been done. Finding David she found him standing with a man she thought looked familiar.

To their right was a mostly intact building, it looked to be the remains of a church. All the windows had been shattered, and the doors had been blown off their hinges, they could see a mountain of rubble of inside through the open door.

Hearing movement from inside the church the man beside David went to investigate, pulling his rifle from his back he entered the church. Noticing him walk into the church David followed suit readying his own rifle as he peered through the open door, following like a line of ducks Luna joined the line, but before she got to the door she heard moment followed by the sound of stones sliding down stone in a small landslide.

“JESUS CHRIST!” echoed from the confines of the church.

“relax it’s just a rat” David said through a stifled laugh.

“fucking horrible things, damn near scared me shitless” the voice called out.

“don’t worry our uniforms are brown for a reason” David called out.

Smiling Luna struggled to stifle a laugh as she heard the sergeant call out “come on you two get back to, if you want to go to church you can wait till Sunday like the rest of us”

“right sergeant” David answered.

Taking two steps from the church, David was nearly knocked off his feet by an explosion from within the church. Raising an arm and turning away Luna shielded herself from the explosion, she could feel the cloud of dust and the shattered bits of brick hit her.

“JOHN!” David screamed.

Turning back Luna saw David was already in the church, she couldn’t move, she wanted to but she just couldn’t. It was terrifying, their was no warning just an explosion out of no where, David’s brother could be in their, it could have killed him.

After what could have been hours, David came out with John’s left arm slung around the back of his neck. John was caked in dust looking like a ghost, dropping him to the ground just outside the church, David rolled him over onto his back.

Coughing his lungs out for a good few minutes John spoke in a dry exhausted voice “don’t... suppose… you’ve got… the… rum rations”

Letting out a light laugh David replied in a worried voice “you just had a church fall on you, and you drink”

“oh course, were Masons. If were cover in stone and mortar were done a hard days work and entitled to a drink” John replied through a weak smile.

Grabbing him by the arm and back David helped John up to his feet “come on lets get you up off your arse, so a drink can put you back on it” David said through a weak smile.

Once up on his feet John found them too be weak, leaning on his brother their weak smiles dropped as they heard the firing of shells of in the distance. Looking around Luna saw the faces of the men, it wasn’t shock or fear but dread, pure dread, they knew what they were heading for, they had seen it before and they were still going in spite of it.

Looking out Luna saw what cause these men such dread, and she could only stare out in shock at his world. Off in the distance she saw the edge of the war, once green fields upturned like plowed land, once tall trees stripped to the bone some not even that, some being reduced to splintered stumps all while the sounds of firing and exploding shells went off, the earth erupting up into clouds of destruction all across no man’s land.

Staring aimlessly into the horror of the war Luna heard wane of a large wild animal “CORPORAL GET THAT ANIMAL UNDER CONTROL!” the sergeant yelled.

What ever it was it was large from the sound of its hooves it had to be a bull, turning around Luna saw a large horse sprinting towards her. It was taller than her with brown fur making a noise she could only describe as a grunting breath, just before it ran into her it stopped rearing back on its legs while kicking the air above her as it wailed a wild scream.

Breaking her connection too his dream she woke up in front of him, still in shock she took him by the shoulders shacking him, her tone a rushed cry of consern as she yelled at him “DAVID!”

Stirring David began to wake up, he wasn’t sure what woke him, the shacking or the yelling, but the first thing his swaying head saw was Luna’s worried eyes. In a tiered voice he answered “Luna, what’s wrong?”

Calming down to his voice Luna spoke in a caring voice “you… thou was having a nightmare”

David’s reply was as tiered as before “no I wasn’t, I was dancing with a beautiful woman”

Blushing slightly Luna spoke in a shy voice “I know”

Waking up a bit more David straightened himself up a bit in his seat, feeling a weight on his legs as he moved. Speaking in a bit of a groan “I wasn’t talking in my sleep was I?”

Smiling Luna replied “no thou wasn’t, I entered thys dream”

Staring at her with confused gaze he replied “you entered my...” his eyes widened as his mind woke up making him speak in a louder accusing voice “it was you I was dancing with”

Moving her tone hands off his shoulders up and around too the back of his neck “yes and thou was rather good at it” she said with a smile.

“well maybe thou will get to experience the real thing later” David teased.

Shying away slightly as she felt his right hand against her waist, his arm around her back pulling her in slightly. Having not see where she was Luna looked down seeing she had moved in her sleep to his lap, sitting on his right side she saw his other hand was on one of her pressed together knees. Her tail on the other hand was a lot more bold than her expression, it was practically hugging him, it was wrapped around the back of his waist, sandwiched between him and the chair.

Fidgeting in his seat David playfully slapped Luna’s knee “come on, we best get ready”

Getting off him Luna replied “I suppose thou are right”

Once up out his chair he heard Luna, her voice curious if not a tad concerned “David, can I asked you… thou something?”

“you just did” he teased hoping to lighten up the serious under tone of her voice.

Luna wanted to smile but the she couldn’t the question weighed down on her to much to muster a smile “was… was thy brother alright, after the explosion?”

“yeah he was alright, couldn’t walk for a few days, so the sergeant took him off duty. I will say he ended up regretting that” David answered.

“why would he regret that? After what I saw I wouldn’t be surprise if he was hurt” Luna asked with a heartfelt voice.

“he wasn’t. Well at first he was, nothing serious just a couple of aches and pains to go with his bruises. Took the nurses two days to figure out he hadn’t been hit in the head, he’d just been hitting the bottle. And I’ll tell you they were no angels of mercy when they found out” David said with a laugh.

Letting out a little laugh Luna spoke in a more cheerful voice, he always seemed to find the right words to cheer her up “come on you… thou, we best get ready”

Standing up David smartened himself up as he spoke “Luna can I ask you something?”

“you already did” Luna answered back in a cheeky voice that matched her smile.

Smiling to her humour he asked in an uneasy voice “why are you saying you so much?”

Luna knew the reason, it wasn’t hard to know why her demener had changed so drasticly with him. She felt at ease around him, like she no longer had to hold to her old ways, like she could just be herself around him like she had before but more. But she couldn’t admit it “I’m just tired that’s all, once I wake up I’ll be saying thou with out problem. Now if you would be so kind I need some help with this” Luna said as she pulled a long blue silk dress out of her wardrobe.

By the time David reached Luna she had already slipped into her dress, it was a similar dress to the one she wore when he painted her. But its blue silk was lighter than the one before being lighter than her fur being a closer shade of blue to her eyes, like the dress before it was sleeveless with thin straps going over her shoulders. A long parting in the left side of the dress ran up her leg up to her cutie mark, parting just enough to show off the crescent moon that adorned her flank.

Turning around Luna showed her back to him, brushing her long blue star filled hair aside, she showed him what she wanted help with. Above her angel like wings was an open set of flaps that had holes at the end of each flap to be laced up like a corset.

“I just need thou to lace up the back” Luna said as she handed him a blue strip of silk.

Lacing up the back of her dress, he found her wings to get more and more in the way as he worked his way down the loops. Gently taking her wings in hand being careful with his touch not to ruffle a single feather, he guided her wings down out the way before tying up the bottom. Her wings slowly and stiffly flared out to his touch.

“their you are, all laced up” David announced.

Shyly she replied “thank you”

Seeing her wings stick out unable to move he asked “you alright Luna?”

“yes why?” Luna asked hoping he wasn’t talking about her wings.

“you haven’t moved your wings back” he stated.

Quickly thinking of a reason, any reason that her wings would be stuck she said the first thing that came to mind “it’s just a trapped nerve, give me a few minutes and it’ll sort itself out” she said hoping he didn’t know took much about pegasuses and this particular problem they had.

Seeing she was uncomfortable he decided to offer her a helping hand “Why don’t you sit down, I’ll see if there is any thing I can do to alleviate the pain”

Her wings immediately stiffened even more to the mere idea of him touching them “what!” she yelled in surprise as she turned around to meet him.

Thinking she was afraid that it would hurt even more than he thought it already did “don’t worry I’ll be gentle, if at any point it hurts I’ll stop” his voice reassuring and caring.

“w… w… what will you do?” Luna asked in a bashful voice forgetting her royal demeanour.

“I’ll massage them” he said nonchalantly making her squirm ever so slightly in place, that he passed off as her wings causing her more discomfort as she turned to him.

“you… you’ll massage them?” her voice breaking down to the mere idea of him running his hands over her wings.

Hearing her near frightened voice he replied his voice as kind as ever “yes, remember how much better your feet felt afterwards”

It was true she did indeed remember how good she felt when he ran his hands over her aching feet, shyly she replied in a hesitant voice “please be gentle, wings are rather sensitive”

“I won’t ruffle a feather” he answered as she moved over to the bed.

She sat on the edge of the right side of the bed, with her back and extended wings facing the bed. Kneeling down on the opposite side of the bed, facing her wings David, his presence deforming the mattress nearly making Luna fall back into him.

Reaching out he started at the base of her wings, earning a sharp breath to get court in Luna’s throat. Slowly working his way across her wings, he gently worked her joints enjoying the feeling her soft feathers felt against his hands. Her wings became stiffer as he ran his hands across them, unseen to him Luna was biting her lip as she squirmed in place, her thighs rubbing together as he caressed her wings. Moving further down he used the subtlest of pressure on her wings earning a sharp quiet cry from Luna.

His concern voice quickly followed as he stopped his hands “Luna are you alright?” he asked.

“yes, please continue” she needy begged.

Without a word he did as she asked, continuing to work his way down her wings. Upon reaching the tips of her wings, Luna’s whole body tensed as his subtle touch brought her to the brink of collapse. Working back up her wings David felt the tremors emanating from them as he caressed them, pressing her thighs together as tight as they would go Luna felt as if she could scream to the heavens.

Hearing a few squeaks from her, luna’s wings finally softened as she fell back into him, her back and wings pressed against his chest as she spoke in a soothing voice of satisfaction “thank you” as she reached an arm up wrapping it around the back of his neck, using it to lift herself up to him planting a satisfied kiss on his cheek.

“your welcome” he said looking down at her pleased expression.

They stayed like this for a moment before David broke the silence “say Luna would you mind lending me a hand”

“certainly” Luna said in a dreamy tone, she would have given him anything after what he had just done to her.

“could you help me with my medals” he asked.

“of course” Luna said leaning into him even more like she was about to go to sleep.

Resting against him for a little while she head David’s voice call out to her “Luna?”

“yes” she answered with closed eyes her tone still as dreamy as before.

“we need to get ready” David stated.

“I am ready” she answered in a near sleep like state.

“I’m not” he answered back.

“well you best get ready then” Luna replied.

“you said you would help” David reminded her.

“did I?” Luna questioned.

“yes you did” he confirmed.

“I guess I should help then, what did I say I would help with?” Luna asked the sleep in her voice refusing to leave.

“the pinning of my medals on my chest” David stated as he watched her cute form beneath him reluctant to move, she was like a small child on a cold winters morning refusing to leave the warm confines of her bed.

“just use your magic you lazy stallion” Luna demanded in her sleepy state.

“I can’t I don’t have magic” David reminded her.

Smiling David thought of a way to wake her back up, his voice a kind whisper that gently entered her ears “Luna I’m sure their making breakfast right now, I’m sure thou wouldn’t want to miss all that food specially made up for a royal wedding”

Instantly Luna shot up his words working greater magic on her than magic would have, sitting up she span around eagerly opening his jacket in search of his medals. Upon finding them she took them out the precious metals clinking in her hand, once they were pinned to the left side of his jacket. Quickly rushing about Luna summon a pare of matching blue heeled shoes, upon putting them on she took David by the arm pulling him off the bed dragging him towards the dinning room.

8

Arriving at the dinning room Luna was on David’s left side, as both her hands clung to his left arm as they walked. Entering the dinning room they saw the a large table with only one pony sat at it’s end next to a pile of news papers, smiling Celestia greeted them “good morning you two sleep well?”

Walking in Luna answered with a smile as she eyed up her sister with a bit of suspicion “quite well sister, where are the others?”

“oh Cadence is overseeing the final preparation. Shining Armor has decided to stay in his room until the wedding, Cadence didn’t want to risk him seeing her in the dress. Rarity is making some last minute adjustments to said dress. Applejack is overseeing the catering, Pinkie pie is bouncing about somewhere. I’m not to sure where Twilight is but she said something about talking to Cadence, and I think Fluttershy and Rainbow dash are in the gardens” Celestia stated in her usual caring tone.

“so its just the three of us” Luna stated in a somewhat accusing tone.

“so it would seem, well look on the bright side it gives us plenty of time to chat” Celestia stated with a calculated smile.

To the right of the dinning table was a buffet table, walking over they both took a plate piling it with food, once met with the toast and jams David asked “Luna any idea what these jams are?”

Leaning over Luna him she spoke in a flat voice “their should be labels on them”

“none that I can see” David stated.

Calling back Luna asked “Celestia do thou have any idea what happened here?”

“I believe Pinkie made mini paper planes out of them” Celestia recalled.

“so do thou know which one is which?” Luna asked.

“yes Lulu let your big sister Celestia fix everything for you” Celestia tease in an overly motherly voice making Luna roll her eyes, she hated it when she did that, she may have been gone for a thousand years but she was no little filly that needed mothering.

“from the right it’s marmalade, strawberry and then your favourite I got specially in Lulu, plum and apple” Celestia said with a caring smile that matched her caring voice.

Smiling Luna began spooning the dark orange jam onto her toast, but in the corner of her eye she saw David, he seemed to grimace at the mere mention of plum and apple jam “what’s wrong David? don’t like plum and apple jam?” Luna teased as she held out a spoon for him over flowing with orange jam, making his face twist even more in disgust like a child being spoon fed medicine.

“its not that I don’t like it, its just we got no end of the stuff back in the trench. Three years of nothing but plum and apple jam for breakfast would make anyone sick of it” David stated the disgust clear in his voice.

“not me” Luna added with a smile before putting the overflowing spoon in her mouth.

“well you have the tins I brought with me” David said happy to be rid of them.

“REALLY!?” Luna yelled spitting out bits of jam.

“Luna, don’t speak with your mouth full” Celestia scolded like a mother.

“David not that I have any reason to doubt you but how can you feed an army on plum and apple jam? It’s the most expensive jam out their” Celestia asked in disbelief.

“it’s cheap as rain in Britain, and it rains more than enough for the whole of Europe” David stated getting mixed looks of confusion from the alicorns present “guess it’s Equestria’s version of spice trade going down the silk road”

“what are thou talking about?” Luna asked in a confused voice, barely understanding a word of what he said.

“the spice trade. Go back a thousand years or so, and spices use to be worth more than its weight in gold. Not by its worth but by how far it travelled, it would change hands more than a thousand times before making its way to Europe, with each man making a small profit each time it changed hands. And after travelling half way across the world all those little profits add up” David explained with a bit of enthusiasm.

“so thou are from a land full of plums and apples?” Luna asked in an astounded voice, this home of his seemed to be something from her wildest dreams.

“pretty much, they even work their way into a song” David answered.

“thou are jesting, thou doesn’t know of a song of plums and apples” Luna challenged hoping to get a song out of him.

“why would I jest about something as serious as plums and apples” David tease back.

“well go on then prove it” Luna demanded.

“who am I to deny a Princess her a melody” he tease knowing full well what she was planning.

Singing as he carried on filling his plate up “Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war, who wouldn't be a soldier, eh? Oh, it's a shame to take the pay. As soon as reveille is gone, we feel just as heavy as lead. But we never get up till the sergeant, brings us breakfast up to bed. Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war, what do we want with eggs and ham, when we've got plum and apple jam? Form fours, right turn, how shall we spend the money we earn? Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war. Up to your waist in water, up to your eyes in slush, using the kind of language, that makes the sergeant blush. Who wouldn't join the army? That's what we all inquire, don't we pity the poor civilian, sitting beside the fire. Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war, who wouldn't be a soldier, eh? Oh, it's a shame to take the pay. As soon as reveille is gone, we feel just as heavy as lead. But we never get up till the sergeant, brings us breakfast up to bed. Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war, what do we want with eggs and ham, when we've got plum and apple jam? Form fours, right turn, how shall we spend the money we earn? Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war”

Sitting down in triumphant Luna smiled to as be begun to sing, as she ate her breakfast, but as she lessoned to the lyrics her smile dropped. She was torn on how to react, on one hand she loved his voice when he sung, on the other she couldn’t imagine how he could sing about his war like that, from that she saw it was anything but lovely.

Joining them David sat down beside Luna, earning a smile from her and her sister as he enjoyed his breakfast “so David how are you finding life in Equestria? I hope my little ponies have been treating you well” Celestia asked genuinely curious.

Instantly David noticed the difference between Luna and her sister in just the way they spoke “yes they have, their rather a friendly people especially Luna here” David answered gently patting her closest hand before cupping it in his, this earned a warm smile from Luna as she turned to him as she felt his hand meet her’s.

Noticing this interaction between them Celestia smiled, happy that Luna had finally found a friend “is that so?” Celestia questioned in an implying tone earning a swift kick in the shin and glare from Luna.

Turning to Luna Celestia’s mentally noted Luna demeanour was different, normally she wasn’t in the best of moods in the mornings. But today she seemed to start the day in a more pleasant mood, more alert than her usual half asleep state. Ending her playful antics she spoke in a more serious tone of implementation implying tone “Luna is their anything you want to tell me?”

“such as?” Luna asked with a slight edge to her tone.

“such as your relationship with David” Celestia stated catching David and Luna off guard making them drop their breakfast.

David had no idea what she was implying, but Luna did. Her eyes went wide as she thought Celestia heard them this morning, if she knew how she let him touch her, how he ran his hands through her wings. David may not have known how sensual wings are, or how indecent what they did was, but Celestia did. And if she did Celestia would never let her live it down, she would never be able to look her in the eye again “w… what are thou talking about? We are just friends” Luna said in a shaky voice.

Celestia’s white horn lit up in golden magic, as she levitated one of the folded up newspapers over to Luna, taking the paper in her hands Luna read the title “hidden love in Canterlot”

“what are these publishers talking about? princess Cadence and Shining Armor’s love is well known” Luna stated flatly.

“unfold the paper” Celestia instructed.

Doing as she was told Luna found the picture on the front page to be greatly disturbing, it was of her and David in the royal gardens. They were facing each other with smiles adorning their faces, Luna’s hands cupping his as a blue rose sprouted out from their joint grasp.

Standing up the chair behind her shot back from her screeching across the floor, holding her hand over her gaping mouth she turned away out of embarrassment. Standing up David turned to her “Luna what’s wrong?” David asked in a worried tone.

Taking her hand off her mouth Luna came up with a way to save face, silently mouthing the words “play along” to him. With her back to Celestia Luna’s horn lit up for a breath moment as she teleported a silver ring onto her left ring finger.

Looking up to David with a mischievous smile she spoke as she draped her hands over his chest “David can… can I tell her?” Luna asked in a heartfelt voice.

Wrapping his arms gently around her waist he spoke in a tone much like her own “of course dear”

“tell me what?” Celestia nearly demanded.

Turning around still in David’s arms, she held out her left hand letting her wrist drop, giving Celestia a clear view of her ring. Celestia just stared wide eyed as Luna spoke in a soft caring voice “we were hoping that we could tell thou after Cadence’s wedding, we didn’t want to take attention away from her most special of days. But I’m sure thou has guessed that I and David are engaged”

“WHAT!? BUT YOU HAVEN’T KNOWN HIM FOR THAT LONG!” Celestia yelled her voice turning into her royal Canterlot voice as she shot out of her chair. Luna retracted her outstretched hand, letting it move up passed her head, her left hand cupped the side of David’s face before gliding over his skin as it reached the back of his neck, guiding him down to her where she placed a soft kiss upon his cheek.

“does it matter? He and I are in love. He said it was the right thing to do now that we are expecting” Luna said in a soothing tone as she cupped her right hand in his guiding it up to her flat belly, which he happily embraced.

“WHAT!? YOU AND HIM ARE…!” Celestia yelled before falling back into her chair in shock “how is this possible? How could my poor little innocent Lulu be with foal” Celestia muttered in disbelief.

Stifling a laugh Luna spoke in an amused tone “Celestia thou are older than me, thou should know what it takes to make a foal. But if thou would like we could talk thou through it” Luna said nearly breaking out into a fit of laughter.

“Luna this is no laughing matter you are with a foal! Do you know what this means for you!?” Celestia yelled.

“yes it means thou are a bigger fool than your cake filled flank” Luna said through a massive child like grin.

Celestia’s mind stalled like an old car as Luna broke out in a fit of laughter, David chuckled to himself behind Luna, his arms still wrapped around her waist as she spoke her ring teleporting away “I am not with foal sister thou has fallen for one of my most greatest of pranks”

“LUNA YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK! WHAT COULD HAVE POSSIBLY POSSESSED YOU TO DO SUCH A THING!” Celestia yelled back her voice returning to her Canterlot voice.

“think of it as payback for dyeing my fur pink” Luna answered back.

“she dyed your fur pink?” David asked curiously struggling to imagine Luna with pink fur.

“yes, she used magic to dye my fur pink, I didn’t find out until after night court. It was most embarrassing” Luna stated with an air of irritation in her voice.

“don’t forget your mane and tail, I do think purple suited you quite nicely” Celestia said with a smirk still proud of her handy work.

“don’t make me swap your rainbow cake with real rainbows again” Luna threatened.

“that was you!” Celestia snarled back remembering how much its spice burned her tongue.

Speaking under her breath Luna whispered “I didn’t do that. I got a maid to do it”

“what!” Celestia yelled in betrayal.

Luna felt David’s body shack behind her as he laughed “and what are you laughing at?” Celestia demanded, earning a glare from Luna at her aggressive tone.

Taking his hand off Luna’s flat belly he waved her off dismissively “nothing its just, this all reminds me of how me and my brothers use to behave. God we use to drive each other up the wall” he answered in a reminiscing about the good times he spent with his brothers.

“well if you’ll excuse me I’ve got to spend a penny” David said slipping his hands out from under Luna’s.

Reluctant to let him leave Luna pulled his hands back around her “thou knows your currency has no value here” Luna stated enjoying his embrace.

“I know that, I need to go to the W.C.” David corrected.

Turning around in his arms Luna faced him, tilting her head like a confused puppy as she did. This earned her an explanation “the water closet” David explained.

“water closet? I have no idea what thou are speaking of” Luna stated in a bewildered tone.

“the loo” David stated flatly.

Finally understanding him Luna let him go as she gave in a slightly embarrassed answer “down the corridor second on the right”

“thank you” David said leaving the room.

After David left Celestia spoke in a concerned voice “Luna we need to talk”

Turning around Luna still held a wide smile on her lips as she spoke in a pleasant voice “please sister we were just jesting nothing more, and thou has done far worse to me” Luna said thinking back to the pink dye.

“no Luna it’s about Cadence, she has asked about the artifact again” Celestia stated flatly.

“would it be so bad, it was made for these kinds of ceremonies” Luna stated remembering how beautiful those ceremonies were.

“yes but that was before Sombra corrupted it” Celestia said with a shudder remembering how he used something made for love as a tool for evil.

Luna lowered her head as she remember all the horrible things he did with that particular artifact “I believe thou are right, the risk is too great” Luna said in a mournful tone.

“thank you Luna, now all we need to do is tell her” Celestia stated in a slight relieved voice.

“that won’t be easy, she has been quite adamant in its use in the ceremony” Luna stated in a worried tone.

9

Finally the moment everything had been building towards had finally arrived, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor were stood at the alter under a flower arch. A red carpet separated the two sides of the throne room, with ponies on either side of it leading up to the alter, to the right was Shining Armor’s best four stallions. Two of them were in adorned in golden solar guard armour, while the other two were in Luna’s night guard armour. Across from the stallions on the other side of the red carpet was the ponies from ponyvile, but David noticed Twilight was missing, missing from her own brother’s wedding.

David and Luna were sat together in the front row, Luna sat on the white silk chair with the red carpet to her left and David to her right. Hearing her plus one lean over by the jingling of the medals she pinned to his chest, she heard his voice whisper across into her ear “have you seen Twilight?”

“Celestia said she had a fight with Shining and he revoked her invite” Luna whispered back.

Before they could say another word Celestia spoke in a truly heartfelt voice, it was clear as her day that she was truly happy for her niece. She stood under the flowered arch, standing before the bride and groom. She wore a long white dressed that matched her fur but unlike the brides wedding dress it was decorated with golden swirls that seemed to bend like dancing flames.

David and Luna ceased their conversation, as Celestia went through the ceremony. Luna leaned ever so slightly on David’s side as she reached over to him, sliding her right hand into his left. In return David lovingly cupped her hand in his, sandwiching her soft blue fur between his smooth pale skin.

Celestia’s proud loving voice echoed through the through the throne room “princess Cadence and Shining Armor it is my great pleasure to pronounce you...”

“STOP!” Twilight yelled as the throne room doors slammed against the walls.

“why does she have to be so possessive of her brother” Cadence spat out in an angered fury, earning looks of shock from everypony. Her eyes widened in shock as everypony stared at her, faking a pleading cry she sniff out a new sentence “why does she have to ruin my special day?”

“because it’s not your special day it’s mine!” Called out Cadence’s voice.

Turning around everypony gasped and murmured to each other as they saw another princess Cadence, her fur and mane a dirty unkept mess from her time in the cave. Once David turned around he saw the new Cadence, she looked like the other one but her horn was normal like any other unicorn. Her eyes were a solid purple unlike the green eyes of the Cadence he met yesterday.

Leaning over too Luna David spoke in a hushed voice so they could still hear both Cadences “what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, I think this must be some kind of illusion. Their is only one way to make a copy of ones self, but most ponies think that to be little more than myth” Luna whispered.

“well it can’t be that, unless the spell went wrong” David said looking at the differences in the two Cadences, thinking of the spell like a newspaper press printing a smudged copy.

“why do thou say that? They are identical” Luna stated in a confused.

“look at her horn and eyes” David instructed.

Doing so Luna looked at the pair seeing no difference in them, not even a single strand of fur out of place. They were both perfect copies of one another, right down to the voice. Luna could only imagine this as the work of the mirror pool “David theirs no difference between them, they are exactly the same”

Staring at Luna in confusion he replied “can’t you see it? Their horns are completely different”

“what are thou talking about? I don’t see any difference” Luna asked in a baffled tone, thinking it must be something small that he noticed.

“the Cadence at the alters horn is black and deformed, while the others is more like yours” David stated.

Hearing that Luna’s face dropped as one word came into mind. Changeling.

“what! How did you escape my brides maids!?” the Cadence at the alter yelled in a confused fury.

“their brides maids, even under your spell they know to chase the bouquet the real bride throws” Cadence said with venom in her voice.

“uh clever, but your still too late” the fake Cadence said with a hint of amusement.

“I don’t understand, how can their be two of them?” Applejack asked to no pony in particular.

“she’s a changeling! She takes the form of somepony you love, and gains power by feeding of your love for them!” the real Cadence accused.

The Cadence at the alter was surrounded in green flames, that burned away her illusion and clothes. Rarity wanted to scream as she watched all her hard work burn away, but then she remember that she hated it, once it was her pride and joy but after that thing altered it, it she couldn’t see any glimmer of beauty in it.

Laughing the changeling took form, as the brunt remains of her dress fell from her body. She was as tall as Celestia, with a pitch black chitin hide. Her transparent bug like wings held a slimy blue tint to them, much like her mane and tail that a much stronger colour to them, they were longer as well, her tail ran passed the back of her knees while her mane ran down over her large breasts. Her once green pony eyes twisted into cat like slits as she spoke her cruel words holding a mocking tone of triumph “Right you are princess, and as queen of the changelings it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place I have ever encountered, my fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it, that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!”

“they’ll never get chance! Shining Armor’s protection spell will keep them from ever reaching us!” Cadence yelled in a sure voice filled with anger.

Chuckling to herself Chrysalis replied in a mocking tone “oh I doubt that” turning her head back to the alter she spoke in sickly loving tone “isn’t that right dear”

Nodding his head in an unaware sleep like state, he humming in conformations.

“for the passed week now, I have been feeding off his love for you. And with each day he has been getting weaker, and when a unicorn gets weaker so... does... their... magic” Chrysalis said as everypony heard the magic doom protecting all of Canterlot shatter. The noise that followed was a buzzing like a swarm of insects, as the changelings stormed the city.

Cadence charged at the changeling only to be stopped as Chrysalis’s horn lit up in a sickly green glow “ah, ah, ah don’t want to go back to the cave do we”

“but you will be, now that you have foolishly revealed yourself” Celestia proclaimed in destain.

“oh how could I forget about you? Maybe it was the fact that there is so little love in that oh so little heart of yours, that I couldn’t sense you” queen Chrysalis mocked.

“I hold more love for my subjects than a parasite like you could ever know” Celestia countered proudly.

“of course. You give all that love your little heart can give to your subjects, no wonder their wasn’t enough to save your oh so little sister from becoming Nightmare Moon” Chrysalis taunted taking joy in every word.

“I may not have been able to save her then, but I’ll save her now from the likes of you” Celestia announced in a scornful voice.

Their horns lit up as both shot beams of magic at each other, colliding in the air the golden and green beams met pushing against one another. The beams moved back and forth as they fought for dominance, with Chrysalis magic getting the upper hand forcing Celestia’s golden magic back into her horn, blasting her back as Chrysalis magic touched her searing it black as she fell to the ground.

As Celestia hit the ground her golden crown fell off her head scraping across the floor as the crowd gasped, Luna jumped up from her seat screaming as she did “SISTER!”

Rushing over to Celestia, Luna was joined by the main six as they all called out “PRINCESS CELESTIA!” as they crowded round the princess of the sun.

A cruel laugh emanated from Chrysalis as she spoke looking to Cadence “looks like Shining Armor’s love for you was stronger than I thought, consuming it has made me more powerful than Celestia herself!” Chrysalis announced in victories voice.

Celestia’s voice was weak as she laid defeated on the ground “the elements of harmony… you must get them… before Chrysalis does… they are the only thing powerful enough to stop her” nodding the main six charge out the room towards the vault the elements were kept in.

Smiling Queen Chrysalis saw all the pieces of her plan fall into place. At the alter the royal guards looked to their captain for orders, the one that spoke was clearly in a state of panic “Captain what should we do?”

Slowly turning his head too them he spoke in a sleep like state, his words were slow and disconnected from the ponies he was talking to “you should sit back down. Its my wedding after all”

Hearing a series of glass shattering sounds echo through out the throne room, the guards turned to see changeling breaking in through the stained glass windows, shattering the history they held in their artwork. Soon the room was filled with changeling flying in, their bug like wings buzzing like a swarm of bees.

Looking over the throne room Queen Chrysalis greedily gave her hive its orders “capture everypony in Canterlot and bring them here, I want them all to witness my victory!”

The throne room erupted into a fierce brawl, changelings fighting hand to hand with ponies as they tried to subdue them. The guards were scattered about the room fighting changelings one on one, they all seemed to be reluctant to use their spears, hitting more with the blunt end of the pole than the steel spear head.

Quickly getting up out of his seat David lunged at the ground before him, grabbing a disregard spear dropped by one of the guards. Seeing the choas around him he shouted in a commanding voice “GUARDS ON ME!”

The guards that could made their way towards David, as he made is way to the princesses, they were attacked on all sides by changelings. The guards beside him became locked in their own conflicts as changelings charged them, grabbing the spears the guards held forcing them into a tug of war over the spear. Using their magic the changelings subdued the guards, blasting them with magic knocking them too the ground, before using their magic again encasing their limbs in a green sap like substance that hardened in seconds gluing them to the floor.

With the guards to David’s left and right now bound to the ground, the changelings turned to David attacking him from both side. Holding the spear tightly in both hands as the changelings attacked him, he elbowed the one on the right sending it stumbling back a few paces. Changing his stance into one he knew all to well, the one that was drummed into him day in and day out ever since he signed up three years ago.

His stance was the same one that he used against Shining Armor in their dual, changing into it as he turned to the changeling on his left. Thrusting his spear forward into the changeling left shoulder, it screamed out in pain grasping at the spear lodged in its shoulder, but David didn’t hear the screams or the battle around him, he heard his sergeant shouting in an aggressive voice as the men bayoneted suspended sacks of sand “DON’T TICKLE THEM! ONE POINT IN! THEN WITHDRAW!”

Doing as he was instructed so long ago he pulled back on the spear, its head coated in slimy green changeling blood. The changeling screamed out in pain as it grasped at the gushing wound, green blood trickling through its fingers. As the spear head lined up with David’s body he thrust it forward again, stabbing it deep into the changeling’s chest using its length to lever the changeling down to the ground.

It screamed out in pain but David paid it no mind, he didn’t want to kill, it wasn’t easy for him, he had just become use to the screaming of the dying, and the horrid fact that they might be coming from the end of his bayonet.

As the screaming died down the changeling behind him charged his horn, a beam of green magic came from his horn striking David in the back. The moment the magic touch him it disperse, doing nothing more than a strong gust of wind. Pulling the spear head out of the dead changeling, David turned to his right, spinning the spear around in his hands, so that it pointed towards the changeling that just attacked him. Thrusting his bloodied spear head at the changeling, it raised its arms in defence, but that did little to stop the spear as its sharp edge grassed the changeling’s arm, before meeting its chitin coated chest creaking its shell like crust. This changeling only hissed as the blade cut its arm, but then gasped for air as the spear piecer its lung.

Pointing his spear down the skewered changeling was dragged to the floor, pulling his spear out of the dying changeling, its body heaved with it green blood trickling down its hard shell like body. Still the changeling didn’t scream, he just gasped for breath that never came, each breath of air he took seemed to leave him, which it did his lung had been punctured, no matter how many breaths he took he would never catch his breath.

Moving passed the bodies like he had done before, he arrived at Luna by her unconscious sister. Upon reaching her he saw a changeling was on top of her, its hands wrapped around her wrists pinning her to the ground. Its twisted horn glowed a sickly green colour, as it cast a spell that wrapped around Luna’s horn, encasing it in the same green resin that restrained the guards.

Dropping his spear David charged the changeling, launching himself at the changeling he tackling it forcing it off Luna. Now on top of the changeling David lifted his fist, but before he could strike him the changeling’s horn glowed, hissing the changeling cast its spell striking David in the chest. Its eyes widened in horror as it saw that its spell to launch the creature above it up into the air did nothing but blow his clothes like a drier.

Punching the changeling across the face its head turned under David’s strength, the changeling felt dizzy unable to turn back to David as he delivered another powerful punch, knocking the changeling’s dizzy state into a deeper haze. Grabbing the changeling’s head with both hands he forced the changeling’s head down to the tiled floor, slamming the back of its head against the hard ground David knocked the changeling out.

Getting up David rushed over to Luna crouching down beside her and Celestia “can you teleport her out of here?” David asked in a rushed voice.

Trying her magic failed to leave her resin coated horn, the magic was being trapped like a plunged tap. Gritting her teeth Luna tried to force the spell, hoping it would shatter the resin that encased her horn. Letting out a built up tense breath she replied “no this is blocking my magic” she said pointing to what the changeling had done to her horn.

Seeing more changeling enter the throne room David grabbed his spear, standing up he saw three changeling dead ahead charging at him. They slowed their approached knowing full well what he was capable of now, they didn’t want him they wanted princesses he was protecting. Thrusting the his spear back and forth wildly changing directions with each thrust, he kept the changeling at bay.

Upon pulling his spear back for another thrust the changelings charged him, the one straight ahead grabbed the spear pushing its wooden shaft against his chest pinning it against him. The other two grabbed him from either side, using all of their strength they pushed against him trying to knock him over. Pushing back David shoved the one to his right off him, it tripped falling to the floor. The spear David and the changeling were fighting over pointed up to his left, using his strength David angled it down jolting it forward. The spear head stabbed into the changeling to his left, its sharp tip going two inches into the changeling’s belly, the changeling fell back clutching its bleeding stomach wailing in pain as it did.

The changeling before him still held onto the spear, trying to pull it from David’s grasp. Twisting the spear back up, the changeling doing all he could to stop the spear’s bloodied edge from getting closer. The changeling’s bug like eyes widened in fear as it saw the spear head slowly draw closer to him, it moved passed his right eye tremors shacking its steel head as the two fought for control of the weapon.

As the spear head became level with his face, David took a single step back forcing the end of the spear down, aiming it right at the changeling’s throat he thrust it forward. The changeling fell back coughing up green changeling blood as gasped for breath, only gargling up more blood as it did.

“DAVID!” Luna screamed.

Turning around David saw Luna in the grips of queen Chrysalis, she was behind Luna her right foot pressing down on the back of knee, this forced her down onto her knees. Luna’s left arm was pinned behind her back by Chrysalis, as Chrysalis’s right hand wrapped around her neck.

“you’ve hurt a lot of my subjects human, it would be a shame if I had to hurt this one to because of you” Chrysalis threatened with a deadly slur to her words.

The look in her eyes told him all he needed, unlike Luna scared eyes that begged for help, Chrysalis’s were focused and cruel. Dropping his spear it clattered about as it hit the ground, Luna head dropped in defeat as she watched the spear fall.

Smiling at her victory Chrysalis spoke into Luna’s ear, her voice was cruel and demeaning that seemed to become more sexual with each slurred word “I see you’re trained him well, I wonder what else you’ve had him trained in?”

Standing there with hands by his sides, David watched as Queen Chrysalis tormented the Princess in her clutches. Slowly moving his left hand up too his holstered revolver, he knew these changelings didn’t know that a gun was, and he knew once it was in his hand he could rush her.

While his hand slowly crept towards his holster, the unwounded changeling behind him that he knocked to the ground. Starting to slowly get up the changeling trying to remain silent, succeeding the changeling snuck up on David. Silently picking up the spear by David’s feet in its green magic, the changeling lifted the spear up into the air, before slamming the blunt wooden end into the back of David’s head knocking him to the ground the moment his hand touched his leather holster.

Falling to his knees David clutched the back of his head as Luna looked up from the floor “DAVID!” she yelled out in fear before another hit to the back of the head knocked him completely to the floor.

10

Waking up David saw the battle inside the throne room had ended, but outside he could hear the buzzing of changeling wings as they swarmed through the city. He was lent against a wall, his arms bound behind his back, his wrists encased in something hard. Around him he saw multiple guards scattered about the room, they were tied back to back with the green changeling goo that seemed to harden in seconds. Luna and Celestia were up on the alter in a similar position to David, along with Blueblood who was cowering in his spot. Shining Armor still stood idly by in his sleep like state, his eyes glazed over in a green haze as he stared off into nothing.

Cadence sat down at the alter her pink fur hands bound by the wrist in front of her ragged form, she glared daggers at the changeling queen as she yelled in a hateful voice “you won’t get away with this Twilight and her friends will…” her voice trailed off as she saw Twilight and her friends being dragged in by changelings.

“will bring me exactly what I want” Chrysalis smugly said through a wide grin.

The changelings dragged Twilight and her friends into the throne room, placing them with the princesses at the alter. One of the changeling’s carried a large purple and gold box in his hands, getting down on one knee he held it above his head presenting it to his queen. Smiling Chrysalis took out one of the elements of harmony, it was Rarity’s element of generosity, holding it up to her neck its purple diamond shaped gem sitting between her breasts. Turning to princesses Chrysalis smiled as she flaunted the element in her hands “what do you think? Suits me quite nicely”

Celestia glared at Chrysalis as she defiled the element, her tone matching the contempt she felt towards the changeling “that is the element of generosity, not some common trinket to be worn by somepony as unworthy as you” Celestia barked.

Holding a hand over her heart Chrysalis dramatically faked being hurt “unworthy, I am the most generous changeling out their” Chrysalis mocked.

Tossing the element aside like a worthless toy, it clattered to the ground earning a gasp from the ponies as they watched their most valuable artifact fall to the ground. Turning to her changelings Chrysalis eyed them up looking for something in particular “did you find the artefact?” Chrysalis asked in a sneer of an order.

A changeling approached his queen kneeling before her as he spoke his head held low “yes my queen we did, the ponies were foolish enough to open the vault for us” the changeling said holding up a single gauntlet in his hands.

Smiling a cruel smile Chrysalis took the gauntlet, placing it on her right hand. It looked like any other steel gauntlet, its only distinguishing features the black heart shaped crystal on the back of the palm, and the golden hearts that adorned each knuckle.

Admiring it like an engagement ring she spoke in a pleased voice “much more fitting than a wedding ring don’t you think”

Turning to Celestia Twilight stared in uncertain fear at the gauntlet “Princess what is that?”

Staring in horror Celestia spoke her eyes never breaking from the gauntlet she spoke in scared voice “the lovers gauntlet”

“I’m sorry princess but I’ve never heard of it” Twilight stated in uneasy confusion.

“that was the idea Twilight, we decided to let Equestria believe it was vanished along with the crystal empire” Celestia said her voice still holding fear at the mere sight of it.

“but it didn’t, you stored it away hoping no pony would find it” Chrysalis added in glee.

“after what Sombra did to it, we had no choice!” Celestia barked back. She wanted to cleanse it from Sombra’s corruption, but she couldn’t nor could she destroy it, its magic was just to strong.

“you did and I’m oh so glad you made this choice” Chrysalis taunted.

“what… what did it do?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“The gauntlet has the power to pull out somepony’s heart. It was used in displaces of love, the gauntlet was used to remove the hearts of two pony’s getting married, when the ceremony was done the hearts would touch creating a beautiful explosion of made that would shower the room in magic” Celestia explained.

“we did love those ceremonies, so much love for us to consume, we didn’t even need to turn into a pony to feast” Chrysalis said in a salivating tone.

“that was until Sombra corrupted it” Chrysalis hiss in hatred.

“what did he do to it?” Twilight asked in a shaky fearful voice to no one in particular.

Smiling her Chrysalis spoke in a cruel tone “would you like to tell her or should I tell her what you have been keeping hidden in that vault of yours, next to your oh so precious elements of harmony?”

“Sombra corrupted the gauntlet with his magic, he used it to take the hearts of his subjects. He used those hearts he stole to extend his own life beyond natural means” Celestia mournfully stated in fear.

Twilight and the rest of the girls just stared in shock, this gauntlet had been nearly completely erased from history. They could never have imagined that something so evil had been hiding in the very same room as their elements.

“and now I shall use it like it was intended” Chrysalis hissed in pleasure.

Walking over to the bound princess of the night, Chrysalis kneeled down to her level a cruel smirk on her lips as she spoke “I hope you have been enjoying my wedding Princess”

“I enjoy my thousand years of banishment on the moon more than thou’s wedding” Luna shot back.

Chrysalis placed her hand over her heart as she replied in a mockingly hurt voice “and I went to so much trouble for you, did you ever wonder why your friend over their was able to come when the wedding was fully booked?” Chrysalis said gesturing to David.

“the dignitaries from Saddle Arabia cancelled” Luna stated.

“well they did but not by their own choice” Chrysalis said through a cruel grin.

“what did thou do to them?!” Luna accused.

“nothing much just made sure they could attend, it’s funny what you can do with one changeling and a fake letter. They should find out those diamond dogs didn’t kidnap any pony in a week or two” Chrysalis stated taking joy in the chaos she sowed.

“how could...” Luna yelled but was cut off by Chrysalis.

“how could I? It was rather easy they weren’t needed for my plan, a little side project if you would. You see Shining Armor’s love has been so nourishing, but he is still only a unicorn. I hoping that by allowing your friend here to attend I might get a meal more fitting for a queen, I have never tasted alicorn love before” Chrysalis stated salivating over the idea of how much power the love an alicorn could give her.

Grabbing Luna by the arm the Queen of the changeling’s dragged her off the ground “let go of me thou beast!” Luna screamed.

“and why would I do that? I’ve been looking forward to this” Chrysalis taunted before throwing her to the ground before David.

“LUNA!” David yelled as she hit the ground, seeing she was for the most part was alright he pulled at his bindings hoping to break free.

Licking her lips Chrysalis turned to Cadence smiling with a wicked grin at her plan “Cadence come here” she ordered.

“what ever you wish to do you can do it your self!” Cadence spat back in pure hatred.

Sighing in irritation Chrysalis lowered her head as she spoke in a more tired voice “why must you ponies be so difficult” lifting her head up she aimed her gaze at the stallion still under her spell “Shining would you be a dear and pick up that sword” she asked looking at one of the many weapons still scattered about the floor.

“yes my love” he answered his voice devoid of all emotion.

Walking over he picked up the sword as all the ponies stared in shock, especially Twilight and Cadence “now would please rest it against your neck” Chrysalis asked in a cold voice knowing he would comply.

“as you commanded” were the only words he said as he placed the edge of the blade in his hand against his neck.

“now would you...” Chrysalis started smiling at the displace she was making with her puppet.

“STOP! Please stop… I’ll do it, I’ll do it. Just please don’t hurt him” Cadence screamed before begging through tears streamed down her face.

“good now come here” Chrysalis ordered in a satisfied voice.

Walking down her head held low she joined Chrysalis scared of what she was about to do, looking down at Luna and David Chrysalis smiled with hungry eyes. Turning to Cadence Chrysalis gave Cadence her order, the ordered that save Shining’s life “use your love magic on them”

Her head still held low she whisper “I’m sorry aunty”

Her horn hit up in pink magic that shot out surrounding David and Luna in its glow, David didn’t feel anything but Luna did. Even with her alicorn resistance to magic, she still felt its affects, she wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to tell him everything was okay that he never had to return to the war.

“ah let me help you princess, I’m sure he would love a kiss” Chrysalis mocked before blasting away Luna’s bindings apart from the one on her horn, even under a spell alicorn magic is something to be feared.

Luna slowly crawled over to trapped man like a predator, sliding her hands up over his bound body. Slowly her hands made their way up his chest, feeling the tough wool of his uniform and the body underneath. Wrapping them around his back she pulled him into a tender embrace, with her head nestled into his neck she saw the green changeling resin binding his wrists together. The magic may have been influencing her mind, drawing out these emotions but she was still in control, regardless of how much she wanted to enjoy the comfort she felt with him.

Slowly trailing her hands down his arms she reached the bindings, leaning back she looked into his eyes knowing that he knew what she was planning. He leaned in his lips joining her’s, leaning in Luna pressed deeper into the kiss as she tried crushing the hard bindings, she may not have had magic but she was still an alicorn and they did posses the strength of earth ponies. Feeling the resin silently crack she continued to press deeper into the kiss, with each second that passed she found it harder to remember her task, she just wanted to kiss him to enjoy the softness of his lips. The magic may not have been in control but it was indeed influencing her mind, with out knowing it her tongue had slipped into the kiss dominating his mouth like the magic in her brain.

Before she could retract her tongue from him her body was surrounded in a green glow that pulled her away, before she could react Chrysalis pinned her back to the floor. Chrysalis sat on top of Luna her hands wrapped in a bone crushing grip around Luna wrists “you really seemed to be enjoying yourself princess, I hope it tastes as good as it looked” Chrysalis purred.

Chrysalis leaned her head down right over Luna’s heart, Chrysalis opened her fanged filled mouth. Struggling against her Luna trashed about under Chrysalis grip, a wide pink stream of magic seemed to flow from Luna’s heart right into Chrysalis predatory mouth. As the love left her heart Luna struggling became weak, seeing Luna was in no condition to fight back Chrysalis sat back up speaking in a satisfied voice “my, my Luna. I had no idea such a lonely pony like could have so much love stored in that little heart of yours”

Letting out a satisfied hum she continued nearly rubbing her belly on how well it quenched her hunger “If I had known alicorn love was this good, I would have taken Shining’s place and feed of Cadence”

David continued to struggled against his restrains as Chrysalis turned to him smiling as she did “oh don’t think I’ve forgotten about you”

Walking over she crouched down in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders pushing him back against the wall. Lowing her head down to his chest, she opened her mouth wide like a snake ready for its meal. The thin pink stand of love that left his chest was no thicker that the tip of a needle, Chrysalis pulled her head back in shock “that can’t be possible Cadence placed a love spell on you two, you should be over flowing with love” Chrysalis said in disbelief.

Looking at the gauntlet she was still wearing Chrysalis smirked “maybe I have to get a little more invasive with you. I’m not going to lie I’m a little excited to try this and I’m sure Luna is too, once I’ve got your heart I’m going to take hers. You should feel proud you’ll be the first two to experience this since the Fall of Sombra” Chrysalis taunted.

David voice was as cold and serious as his gaze “you’ll find nothing in my heart but blood and hate”

Chrysalis just gave him a smirk that matched her smug tone “I think I’ll be the judge of that”

Reeling her hand right gauntlet welding hand back like she was about to punch him, she launched it forward ready to grab the beating heart within his chest. Luna could only watch in her weakened state as Chrysalis stole his heart, she was barely able to muster is name “David...”

The gauntlet magic by passed his clothes and flesh like they wore nothing but air, David clenched his teeth to the pain in his chest. The pain was intense even more than being shot, it felt like a white hot meat hook had reached around his heart and stabbed it only to pull enough to cause pain bit not tare it out.

David grunted in pain through clenched teeth, looking up at the changeling before him he glared into those cruel green eyes staring down at him. He knew what these changeling feed on now, he knew love was their food so something else might be poison to them. So with every fibre of his being he pushed ever ounce of hate he was capable of into his heart. He had no idea if this would work but if they were going to take his heart he was going to make sure their was no room for love in it. He wanted for the moment that his heart was removed to be the most hateful being in all creation, with each tug of his heart he became more hateful, remembering every time he raised a hand against his fellow man. He wanted to hate, and the worse bit of it all wasn’t that it was easy, but that it was familiar.

David screamed out in pain as Chrysalis pulled back pulling out the gauntlet with his heart, but his heart didn’t come out. A thick black swirl of magic forced its way out of his chest wrapping around her wrist, stumbling back in surprised Chrysalis tried to get away, but the swirl of magic continued to come out and continued to follow getting larger with every second. It almost looked like a black fog as the magic folded in on itself as it grew, it didn’t take long before it was larger than Chrysalis looming over her like an abyss that was ready to swallow her whole.

Without warning a swirl of magic wrapped around her throat dragging her across the floor, struggling against it she reached out for the magic tendril with her free left hand. The moment her hand met the magic she found it to be solid, staring in fear she watched helpless as the magic around her took shape. The large shapeless cloud of magic began to slim down, its form slowly turning more and more defined. The black tendril around her neck slowly took the shape of a hand, a large strong human hand that continued to squeeze her throat. Her eyes shot up to the round swirl that formed into a head, and the face it wore terrified her not by who’s face it was but by the narrow hateful blue eyes.

It smiled and spoke in an eerily polite voice “hello I’m blood and hate”

It then through her to the floor like she was nothing, standing up they all saw the creature that stood before them. It was another man like David, it even wore his face. But their was something off about it this man was at least two inches taller than David, but his forward slouched lowered his height so he was equal with David. His arms seemed to stick out a bit more to his side like he had books sandwiched between them and his body, they couldn’t see much of his hair under his black flat cap that caught the light on its edge like a knife. His clothes were the same as the clothes Rarity made for David except they weren’t a deep navy blue but black like a moonless night, his waist coat was a dark grey unlike his the rest of his black clothes.

Chrysalis stared up in fear at the beast of a man, she could help be cower in his presence. Unlike David she could sense his emotions and their was nothing but hate, this thing that she pulled from David was just hate “w… what are you?” Chrysalis asked hesitantly.

Looking down at her his dark gaze cutting through her like a knife “weren’t you paying attention, I already told you” he said in an irritation that could shatter glass, his voice was like David’s even down to the accent, but it held a loathing that couldn’t be matched.

“HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO OUR QUEEN LIKE THAT!” one of the changeling hissed.

“why not? she’s not my queen. She’s not any queen right now, she’s just some bitch on the floor” he stated in a dismissive voice.

“HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR QUEEN!” the changeling hissed getting ready to defend his queen.

The man just flashed a cruel calculated smile as he knew how to rile this changeling up, taking joy in each confrontational word. His words cold and still empty of emotion but filled with intent “trust me that was no insult. If I was to say she was a worthless clapped out whore that couldn’t get work in brothel, even that wouldn’t be an insult just another bitter truth she would have to swallow”

“WE’LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THAT!” the changeling snarled, using its magic to teleport a sword to him.

Calmly the man replied unfazed by the changeling’s words “is that a threat?”

“YES! NOW GET ON YOUR KNEES AND OUR QUEEN MIGHT SHOW YOU SOME MERCY!” the changeling ordered pointing his sword at the man.

The man held his head low not out of shame or fear, but so his animalistic eyes could stare down the changeling. It was like looking at a wolf, his black flat cap shrouding his feral eyes in shadow “do you realise how perfetic you sound, a child could come up with a better threat then that. How about I take your threat and raise you a better one. If you don’t shut that stupid trap of yours, I’m going to snap that flimsy horn off your head and use it to cut out your tongue”

Yelling out in fustration the changeling charge him, raising his sword as he ran. A cruel smirk made its way across the man’s face as the changeling charged, his right hand reached into his jet black over coat.

Chrysalis saw this and yelled out “NO DON’T!”

But her words fell on deaf ears, the changeling charge stopping just before the man, swinging his sword down. The man in black just court the changeling mid swing, stopping him by the wrist with his off hand. His right hand came out of his coat with a small knife, it wasn’t large or impressive or even intimidating, it was just a small simple knife.

This man, this monster of a man step in plunging his small knife into the changeling abdomen. Still holding the changeling’s sword baring arm above them, he looked into the changeling’s eyes, watching as they grew weak. The changeling didn’t grimace in pain he just looked weak tired even.

Giving the changeling a single shove was even to send it flying to the ground, it didn’t even try to hold on to its sword. Letting out a low groan of pain he clutched his wound with both hands, while the man that defeated him slowly and calmly walked over, the wooden shoes of this shoes echoing with each step.

Arriving at the downed changeling he looked down his nose at it speaking in a disappointed voice “you should have shut that stupid mouth of yours”

Raising his foot like the building of a tidal wave it came crashing down on the changeling’s horn, snapping it from the changeling’s head with a bone like crunch. The changeling scream in pain taking his bloodied hands from his wound too the bleeding stump that was once his horn.

The man shrouded in black raised his foot again, slowly lowering it down until it rest on the changeling throat “shh what did I tell you about that mouth of yours” the man said in sickly calm voice devoid of all empathy.

Pressing down not to crush his throat but enough to restrict his breathing, he looked up his empty blue eyes staring straight at the fallen queen. His words were slow and cut like ice “you see queen Chrysalis, this is what you are. Small, weak, insignificant, a bug to be crushed under foot”

With a single twist of his foot the changeling’s neck cracked, making the queen grimace in disgust and fear. The only thing that Celestia was grateful for was the chair the blocked this terrifying display of cruelty from her and everyponies sight.

The man now walked over to Chrysalis kneeling down to her level, the moment she heard the wooden echo of his soles, she stared at him unable to blink for fear that if she would he would kill her “you see Chrysalis you made a grave mistake involving a Mason in your plan, you see that man over their” he said gesturing to David “he’s not like you, he wasn’t train to capture the enemy, or wound the enemy, he was train to kill the enemy, as was I. Now if a single one of your changelings gets in my way, I’ll hold you accountable, and since you have such an interest in ripping out hearts, I’ll send you their the old fashion way” his voice was serious and calm if not a bit quiet, he didn’t need to yell and scream to enthuse his intent. The look in his eyes could have done that alone.

Seeing her as no longer an issue he got up turning his back on the very same Changeling that over powered Celestia. Slowly he walked over to David he saw the him down on his side, crouching down the man reached out to him.

“leave… leave him alone...” Luna weakly called out.

The man didn’t even acknowledge her as he pulled David up right “come on, theirs only two times a man should be on his back, when he’s in bed with a woman, or dead. And your neither” he said in a strangely casual voice.

Looking up weakly at the man David asked in a sore voice “who are you?”

Smiling the replied “you know my name. Why don’t you tell them” the man said gesturing to David friends.

Weakly shacking his head David replied “I don’t know. I’ve never met you before”

Still smiling the man replied his voice getting slightly darker as it to a more serious tone “yes you have, we’ve been together a long time you and I. Now what’s my name?”

“I don’t know” was all David replied, his arms still bound behind his back.

The man’s voice instantly became more aggressive as he pressed the issue, getting right up in David’s face as he spoke “yes you do. Think David its not hard, good, bad, light, dark, Cain, Abel, God?”

David’s face dropped as he spoke the next part of the sequence “The Devil”

Smiling his cruel at the man that wore his face spoke in a much calmer if not amused voice “not quite”

Punching David across the face, the strength of the blow knocking him to his right, only to have the man in black drag him back up to him “you may have been made in gods image, but I was made by the Devil” he proudly proclaimed.

“So what’s my name!” he snarled in an animalistic anger.

Wrapping his hands around David’s neck he forced him back to the wall behind him as he continued to press the question “Come on now captain, your a smart man figure it out. What’s my name?”

David’s breathe became weak under the man’s grip as he snarled out more words “Come on Jekyll figure it out”

The moment he heard that word he knew “Jekyll? Hyde” he weakly answered.

Letting go of his neck the man smile speaking in a calm soothing voice “see that wasn’t so hard now was it” before grabbing David by the head slamming it the back of it into the wall behind him “AND THAT’S MR HYDE!” he announced.

Turning around Hyde smiled satisfied with himself, all the ponies looked at him in horror which he took delight in. His eyes hungrily trailed over the captive ponies like meat in a butcher’s “now which one of your friends should I start with?” he asked in a slow calculating voice.

Looking down he saw Luna sprawled out on the floor, exposed like turtle on its back. She looked so weak so vulnerable, all she could do was look up to him. Kneeling down beside her he stroked the side of her face with the back of his hand, if anyone else did that she would find it romantic but some how his gentle touch terrified her.

Luna looked up to him with fear in those teary blue eyes of hers “don’t worry I won’t hurt you” Hyde said in a caring voice.

His face stayed pointed at Luna while his eyes turned to David slumped against the wall “if you could read his thoughts, you would fear him more than me. If he had his way you would be up the duff before the nights end, and with your magic you could make that night last as long as you want”

Groggily David opened his eyes seeing Hyde standing over Luna, twisting his wrists he felt his bindings crack and become looser, but still they bound his arms behind his back. Seeing his Hyde spoke with a smile “ah the hero of the Somme awakens, or was it the terror of the Somme?” he mocked.

“leave her alone” David answered weakly.

Getting up Hyde walked over to his better half “why? You going to kill me like those Jerrys?”

David’s answer was blunt and simple “yes”

A cruel triumphant smirk ran across Hyde’s face that matched his victorious voice “their you are! Theirs the real Mason I know! Do they know this part of you? What you did at the Somme?”

David broke his hateful gaze from Hyde out of shame “they don’t do they. You told them how you earned those medals but not how you earned your rank” he mocked taking delight in David’s torment.

Kneeling down Hyde’s cruel voice was all anyone could hear despite how quite it was “why don’t you tell them”

David’s eyes fell upon Luna as they fell down, seeing how afraid she was, he couldn’t tell if it was of Hyde or of him “I killed men that were killing my men”

A few gasps came from the ponies, they knew he was a soldier in a war, but still it was shocking to hear him say it “come on, you did more than that. Why don’t you tell them about the first time you went over the top, how you stood behind the creeping barrage and took that one shot that saved so many men. Do you remember him? That machine gunner you killed” Hyde tormented.

“he was a German” David stated in a distant voice.

“and?” Hyde demanded getting no answer in response “your an artist paint them a fucking picture” Hyde barked grabbing David by the jaw as he snarled out another order he would make the rifleman follow “tell them who that gunner was, what he looked like”

“does it matter he’s dead” David shot back with hostility.

“it does and if you don’t I will” Hyde said his voice becoming more sinister with each word.

David just sat their either calling Hyde’s bluff, or unable to answer out of fear for the ponies or himself.

Pushing David away Hyde stood up turning to the ponies as he proclaimed David’s secret of the Somme “fine I’ll tell them myself how you shot that gunner, how with a single shot you blew his brains out. And how he was no man, but a boy no older than fifteen”

Everyone just stared in shock, this man had to be lying they thought. But Luna knew it was true, she saw the look in his eyes, they held more shame than even she knew “he was a soldier just like me, he took the Kaiser shilling as I took the King’s. And he was killing my men, he killed at least twenty good men and I stopped him. I only found out he was fifteen until after I took the shot” David said in a shaky voice brimming with guilt.

Turning back Hyde faced David again, his voice as dry and bitter as stale bread “what’s wrong with you? You should be proud. He was killing your men and you killed him, how many men did you save ten, twenty, fifty, more. And all it cost was a single shot from your rifle, one dead boy, and a lot of sleepless nights of one British Officer. Now I don’t know about you but I call that one hell of a bargain”

Hyde turned to the ponies delighted to see the fear in their eyes, taking out his bloody knife as he spoke “now who should I cut first” he pondered out loud.

“YOU WILL NOT HARM ANYPONY HERE!” Celestia yelled her voice as loud as Luna’s canterlot voice.

“I don’t believe you are in a place to make demands” Hyde said walking closer to them, his foot steps echoing through out the throne room as he drew close.

Still fighting against his bindings, David felt them wane and crack like an over burdened tree branch.

“now who should I play with first” Hyde’s sinister voice cutting through them like a knife.

Walking up to the trapped ponies Hyde casually pointed his knife at them, moving over each one as he announced his vicious intent starting with Celestia “the princess who failed her subjects” earning a look of shame from her as she lowered her head as she ears drooped down.

His knife slowly moved pointing towards Twilight “or how about the student, that no body lessoned too”

His knife then moved on to Fluttershy “maybe the quiet one, I’ve heard the quietest girls make the loudest screams” making Fluttershy curl up in terror.

“HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” Rainbow Dash yelled coming to the defence of her friend.

Taking his eyes off Fluttershy he moved to Rainbow “ah the bold one, how about I scalp you and make you truly bald” making her reel back shacking slightly like Fluttershy.

Feeling a bit of movement in his ever weakening bindings, David continued to struggle against them.

Hyde moved on moving to the white furred unicorn with a sadistic smile “no. How about you? No one would miss you would they, no one would come to help your worthless hide. The princesses tolerance of you has been waning for years, they despise”

Prince Blueblood’s face dropped at Hyde’s words “no, they respect me. My input on matters of court have always been welcomed”

“you are a blight on the royal family. You are hated by all, royal and commoner alike” Hyde said in a pitiless voice.

“the common ponies...” Blueblood started before being cut off.

“will you shut that infernal mouth of your. Do you have any idea how irritating your voice is” Hyde sneered.

Stepping forward his bloody knife still in hand, Hyde grabbed the bound prince by the face, his fingers and thumb digging into his cheeks. Hyde’s voice was slow and cruel holding a terror that no pony could ever replicate “how about I make your voice a little more appealing”

Lifting his knife up Hyde manoeuvred its sharp blade into Blueblood’s open mouth, its bloody tip scraping against his clenched teeth. Closing his eyes in fear Blueblood wished for this man to disappear, hoping that if he closed his eyes his fear would go away.

Squeezing Blueblood’s face even tighter he spoke as if he was baiting a fish “come on open your mouth, show me that sick tongue of yours”

Seeing Blueblood was unwilling to part his teeth, Hyde sighed taking his knife out of Blueblood’s mouth, pressing its tip on his closed eye lid. Blueblood winced as Hyde pressed it down, he didn’t press down enough to cut or cause injury, but more than enough to cause Blueblood discomfort.

Hyde’s voice was cold, devoid of all empathy “open your fucking mouth, or I’m going to cut out your fucking eye”

Feeling the knife press down with more pressure, Blueblood hesitantly parted his clenched teeth. Seeing this Hyde took his knife off Blueblood’s eye, placing it back into his mouth “good so a dog can learn new tricks, to bad you couldn’t have learned to shut up” Hyde said revelling in his sadistic nature.

After struggling for what felt like hours, David’s bindings finally broke. Getting up David had some trouble walking in his near concussed state. Pulling his revolver from his side he pointed it at Hyde’s back, arriving at the base of the steps to the throne David yelled “HYDE!”

Lowering his head slightly in disappointment, Hyde took his knife out of Blueblood’s mouth “why won’t people just be quiet? Looks like you’ll be keeping that tongue of yours a little while longer. How about a little preview of what’s to come” Hyde said catching the left corner of Blueblood’s mouth with the edge of his knife, slicing a half an inch through his lip.

Falling back Blueblood screamed as he clutched his wounded mouth. Hyde just sighed in announce to Blueblood’s screaming “oh man up”

Turning around Hyde face David taking a step forward “why are you defending them? Their weak, they couldn’t even see the princess was a fake, but we could. we’re better than them”

Pulling back the hammer on his revolver he answered his dark half “by what right are we better than them?”

“BY EVERY RIGHT! WE WERE MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE NOT THEM!” Hyde yell in a voice that could have been mistaken for gun fire.

“look at them bound by a single skill, branded on their flanks like cattle at a market. We are not cattle, we are anything but, we choose what we want to be” Hyde sneered.

“and you choose violence” David stated.

Lunging forward Hyde grabbed David’s right outstretched arm, lifting it and his revolver up into the air “I AM VIOLENCE! What was it you called me? Blood and hate”

With both of Hyde’s hands up in the air holding on to David, he brought the back of his right hand down striking David across the face. Instantly after striking David Hyde grabbed the cord around David’s neck, pulling it over his head as he disarmed him.

Holding David’s revolver in front of him Hyde spoke in a mocking tone “ready to shoot an unarmed man, the empire trained you well”

Tossing the weapon aside, its steel frame scraping across the tiled floor. With his right hand in the grasp of Hyde’s, David struck with his left hitting Hyde in the right side of his chest.

Looking down at David with disappointment “just because your injured doesn’t mean I am” Hyde said with contempt.

Mirroring his other half Hyde punched David in the same area, taking a step back to steady himself David pulled his arm free from Hyde, clutching his chest David felt a searing pain burn across his blistered wound.

Still weak and now off balance Hyde jumped him, tackling him to the ground. Landing on top of David Hyde wrapped his hands around David’s neck, chocking him as David struggled “we both know how this story’s going to end, your going to be bluer than her” Hyde threatened as he looked up to Luna.

With each passing second it was getting harder and harder for David to breath. David struggled under Hyde’s strength, pushing and hitting franticly. But no matter what he did it didn’t faze Hyde, if anything he enjoyed it. Grabbing Hyde by the wrist David made one final attempt to free himself before everything went dark, but after a few seconds Hyde winced in pain. From under David’s bare hands was smoke, black magical smoke, the same smoke Hyde formed from.

Twilight whispered over to Cadence as she blasted away Cadence’s bindings “Cadence, go to him”

Sneaking over to Shining, Cadence hugged him her eyes filled with tears “please work”

Her horn glowed pink with magic that swirled around them both ending on Shining’s head, blinking Shining’s hazed over eyes returned to normal “Cadence? What’s going on?” Shining asked in a disorientated voice.

Smiling happy to have him back but still with fear in her eyes Cadence answered in a rushed voice “no time, we need your protection spell”

Trying Shining’s horn glowed purple, but it shorted out like a light with a broken fuse “I can’t I’m too weak” he said in a winded voice.

“then let our love give you strength” Cadence said in a loving tone as her magic surrounded them both.

As her magic flowed through him, Shining found the strength to perform his spell its purple doom emanate from them and their love.

Now grunting in pain Hyde was barely able to hold onto David’s neck, hearing the noise behind them Hyde turned his head only to see the wave of magic coming his way. Letting go of David Hyde ran to the tall stain glass window, that shattered as he jumped through it.

While David let out a series of violent coughs before crawling over to this revolver, getting up he rushed over to the broken window. Raising his revolver to Hyde he watched as Hyde turned into a dense black cloud of magic, that flew off out of range.

Lowering his outstretched arm, David watched in horror as his dark half escaped. No pony heard his words as he lowered his head in defeat, while changeling were forced out of Canterlot by Shining Armor’s spell “what have I done”

Less than an hour later the black cloud of hate hit the ground, taking form as it did. Standing up Hyde straightened his clothes before spotting a village a few miles away, smiling Hyde headed towards the village of Ponyville as he sang a twisted little song “oh, oh, oh it’s a lovely war, to kill a Jerry hey, oh I’m not going to take the fucking pay. As soon as the battle is done, I move on to the next, and I’ll never be done until I’ve slit all their necks. Oh, Oh its a lovely war, to kill a pony hey, to hear them scream in dismay”