Princess of His Dreams

As he opened his eyes and his vision began to clear, the first sound that Sky's ears registered was a knocking on the door. He sat up, and looked around the room, finding Luminescence to be nowhere in sight.

Not wanting to leave his visitor at the door, Sky gave a flap of his wings and vaulted over the bars of the crib, landing softly on the carpet before trotting over to the fog that shrouded the door out. He made sure the moon seal was secure on his onesie/uniform, and stepped through the fog, pulling the door open, and stood face to face with the Captain of the Night Guard.

"Ah, hello Captain... Pitch Black, right? How can I help you?" Sky asked.

"Good evening, Hopeful Scribbles. I'm here for you, sir. Princess Luna is awaiting you for dinner and recreation," the guard replied.

Sky quickly ran a hoof through his mane, knowing that there was nothing in the nursery to make himself any more presentable than he was.

"Lead the way, Captain," Sky replied, stepping through the door way and pulling the door shut. Captain Black turned on his hooves and the pair descended the stairs, and Sky couldn't help but stare at the guard's bat-like eyes, wings, and ears as they made their way out to the ballast, where the sun had barely set, and night was beginning to fall. The pegasus noticed the Captain visibly wince for just a moment at the last rays of light.

"I hope you don't mind my curiosity, Captain, but what does one go through to become, well, like you? A bat-pony?" Sky asked as they walked into the castle halls, hoping that the question wasn't that inappropriate.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with curiosity, Hopeful. That's how we learn, become wise, and become stronger. To answer your question, yes, there are a series of transfiguration spells that final applicants to Her Highness' honor guard must undergo to become thestrals. I won't say they're painless, but they are essential. Once the transformation is complete, we have no equal among equines in the dark. While most of the E.U.P. night shift requires torches or hornlight to navigate the darkened corridors, Princess Luna's personal escort is able to defend her in complete darkness, if need be."

Sky listened to the captain's words intently, while also trying to take in more of the castle layout and the direction they were headed; he certainly wanted to memorize the location of Luna's dining room, or wherever they were headed.

"I can't imagine the training you all go through. I keep wondering if I really have what Princess Luna is looking for in a 'Guardian'," Sky told him as they rounded the corner.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Hopeful Scribbles. I pride myself on my knowledge of more than one era of Equestrian military history. In all my studies, I have found absolutely no mention of the role of Guardian of the Night. So it stands to reason that whatever the Princess is looking for, it's unlikely it has much to do with physical prowess or a military background."

The pegasus found encouragement in the captain's words. No doubt he would get some more answers over dinner with Luna. He figured that the royal sisters didn't share a dining room, as they had passed where he had dined with Celestia, and gone down the hallway opposite of where his guest room was. After turning the corner, he was lead to the fourth door on the right, where Captain Black halted. This would be undoubtedly easier to spot because of the crescent moon etched into the door.

"Here we are. Have a pleasant evening, Hopeful Scribbles," the thestral guard announced. Sky gave him an appreciative nod before he marched back down the hall in the direction they had come from. Sky turned to the door, and took a deep breath. He placed his left hoof on the door handle, felt the seal on his onesie tingle, and opened it.

The scene that greeted him was no dining room.

Princess Luna sat in front a large screen, being shone onto to the wall from a projector that was mounted in the ceiling. This was very much a room of leisure; there was an arcade machine in the back right corner, a full shuffleboard set on the right side of the room, a record player against the front wall, and a pair of beanbag chairs just behind where Luna was relaxing. She heard the door open, and glanced over at him with an inviting smile.

"Good evening, Sky. I'm glad Captain Black was able to wake you so quickly. That way dinner doesn't get cold," Luna greeted, before sliding over a covered silver platter into view. She lifted the dome lid off, revealing a steaming hot pizza, with bubbling cheese and every vegetable in the garden on top. Sky's mouth began to immediately water as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"This is my recreation room. I thought we could enjoy some dinner and fun before I attend to my nightly duties, as well as set you on your task for tonight."

Right next to the pizza platter was a joystick in front of her hooves, with a second one off to the right.

"Not quite what I was expecting this evening, Princess, but then again, hardly anything about this trip has been what I expected. I would love to," Sky replied as he walked over to where the second joystick was, with Luna setting the pizza in between them. "Out of all the rumors and hearsay I've overheard about royalty, I'm somewhat surprised that this one turned out to be true."

"Rumors?" Luna asked as Sky got comfortable.

"That you love a good video game," Sky replied.

"Indeed I do. What about you? Ever play New Super Alicorn Sisters?"

"I have, but never played co-op. My favorite in the series is Super Alicorn World from years ago," Sky commented as he got a feel for the joystick in his hooves.

As Luna navigated the menu screen, Sky plated up a couple slices of the absolutely delectable looking pizza, watching the drool-worthy cheese pull as he lifted it from the platter to the plate. New Super Unicorn Sisters supported up to four players, and while Luna opted to play as herself, Sky didn't select Celestia, but rather a pegasus E.U.P. guard, something he deemed a bit more appropriate, given the situation.

He had largely played it solo, but New Super Alicorn Sisters was primarily marketed as a cooperative platforming game; 2-4 players would share one screen, which would zoom in or out depending on how far away they were from each other. There were items available to make your character stronger and give them different abilities, and you could share or horde these as you saw fit, depending on what kind of play session you were looking to have with your friends.

Sky believed in letting the host, or player 1, take charge, so he largely followed movements of Luna's on-screen character. The first level was no sweat at all for seasoned veterans such as the alicorn and pegasus, and Sky took a moment to take a couple bites of the amazing pizza that had been cooling down on his plate. During that first break between levels, Luna also poured them a couple glasses of soda, before capping Sky's with a sippy cup and offering it to him. Sky felt his cheeks tingle as he accepted it, and took a swig before setting it down next to his plate of pizza and picking up his joystick again as they started the second level.

The more bites of pizza he took, the more his digestive system resumed after his nap, and he felt his bowels contract. He decided to hold off, as he didn't want to interrupt his leisure time with the Princess before she no doubt had to get on with her nightly duties. But as they completed more levels in the first overworld, and consumed more pizza, the urge only got stronger, and Sky's mind had long been accustomed to the disposable undergarment wrapped around his flanks being an acceptable place to go, but being around one of the revered princesses of Equestria was bringing pause to the call of nature out of potential embarrassment. But it wasn't like he could be rude and just stop eating and drinking, and he certainly couldn't excuse himself; it was a matter of inevitability.

When they got to the final level of the first overworld, he decided that he wanted to be able to completely concentrate on the last set of platforming challenges and the boss, so at last, his tail hitched up, and he pushed out his deposit quickly, before renewing his focus on his joystick and on-screen character. The stench reached his nose just as they were approaching the final encounter, but Luna didn't say anything as they positioned their characters to avoid the large enemy and jump on him three times to end the level.

"Well, you certainly know what you're doing, I will give you that, Sky," Luna commented as she set her joystick down as the victory animations played out as the on-screen Princess and her loyal guard galloped out of the castle towards the second set of levels. "But I think a little pegasus needs a change, as well as some explanation of what you'd be doing here as a Guardian."

With that, Luna levitated the pegasus onto his back, and a diaper bag was teleported next to her as she sat down in between his legs, and began to untape his diaper, also telekinetically grabbing a clean diaper, foal powder, and a tub of wet wipes. As she began to clean him up and change him, she began to explain.

"In the dream realm, the laws of time and space can be bent considerably, but ultimately, not broken. Even the longest nights will eventually end. That means that I can only attend to so many ponies at once. I have the experience and expertise to deal with the worst nightmarish forces of the realm, and that takes up much of my time. As Guardian, you would be charged with helping ward off the lesser nightmares; sources of restlessness, to help more of Equestria achieve a more restorative sleep."

Luna's words surprisingly kept the pegasus' embarrassment to a minimum as he focused on what the princess of the night was telling him. He would be helping her fight off bad dreams in the dream realm. He nodded attentively as Luna pulled the soiled diaper out from underneath him and efficiently got a clean one slid underneath before grabbing the foal powder.

"But first, to prepare to patrol the dream realm each and every night, you must be alert and attentive. That obviously starts with being awake during the night; you will be in the realm of dreams fully, not merely sleeping like everypony else. As Guardian you will be 'on-duty' during the night, like most other members of my court. So the task I have for you tonight is right here."

Luna paused to bring the clean diaper up between Sky's legs and tape it up securely. Afterward, she re-fastened his onesie, lit up her horn again, and the dirty diaper and changing supplies all vanished in a quick flash of light. She then turned back to the projector screen to save the game, exit back out to the main menu, and proceeded to create a new save file, while also sliding over a box of crackers and a six pack of soda.

"Keep yourself occupied in here for as long as you can, Sky. Make it as late as you can to begin to adjust your circadian rhythm."

Sky's eyes widened for only a moment, then he nodded in response.

"It wouldn't be the first time I've had to prepare myself for a night shift. I'll do my best, Princess," Sky replied.

"Good. Now, I've got to get on with it. Please enjoy yourself for as long as you can, and I'll see you tomorrow evening. And, thank you, this was fun," Luna said with a smile, before stepping up to him, leaned in, and nuzzled him briefly.

"Have a good night, Sky."

With that, she vanished in another teleportation flash of light, leaving the pegasus alone in her 'rec room', and he was currently quivering from the playful nuzzle she had just given him. As he collected himself, sat down and continued eating his pizza, he knew that there would never, ever be another job interview process quite like this.