Crescent Moon

Sundrop rolled out of bed and onto the observatory floor. She lived in one of the towering spires of Canterlot Castle. It used to be the main work space for royal astronomers before they built a new facility on the mountainside. Now it served as her own personal hideaway. The huge telescope in the center of the observatory was in slight disrepair but still functional. The palace staff offered to remove it so she could have more space, but Sundrop insisted that it stayed. She used it to watch the stars almost every night. This well loved piece of machinery was the main reason she was excited to occupy the room. Princess Celestia had offered up the idea when their regular lessons started getting serious. She’d instantly moved out of her mom’s old house at the first opportunity, ready for a fresh new life at the Castle.

With her mother in assisted living for several years, the house was basically abandoned except for her, and full of bad memories. If she was going to live alone, better to be in the Castle surrounded by her life’s passions. The observatory held vast shelves against the walls. They stood over two stories tall and were stacked with books, the bulk of the books being on loan from the Royal Library. There were globes and star trackers suspended from the ceiling. Despite the impressive equipment and library, nopony would ever mistake this room for anything other than a young mare’s apartment. She had littered the walls with her own personal touch’s: including large eclectic collages of articles cut from newspapers and magazines showcasing extraordinary acts of magic being done throughout the kingdom by brave and strong ponies - each of them a model hero in Sundrop’s mind. She’d included photos, edged in with bits of arts-n-crafts glitter, of fashionable trends in the media of (in her mind) how a Princess’s Confidant should present oneself. Her ‘ideals and dreams’ board as she liked to call it. Her bed was a two story bunk bed built into the wall next to one of the library shelves. It was great for hang outs and sleepovers with friends, but she mostly kept to the bottom bunk.

Sundrop yawned as Celestia’s afternoon light tore through the glass observatory ceiling, the sky already turning into sunset. She reset her sleep schedule in preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration. She, her friends, and all of Canterlot and Equestria would celebrate all night tonight. Fireworks, feasts, dances, music, and merriment scheduled literally until the sun came up. Every year on the Summer Solstice, Equestria would all watch Celestia raise the sun for the longest day of the year. A celebration of Celestia herself and the peace and prosperity she brought to Equestria.

Sundrop rushed through her morning (now afternoon) routine brushing her teeth and grooming her mane, too eager to start the day. She placed a white barrette on the left side of her forehead to keep her bangs out of her face, and tied the back of her mane into a ponytail. Her long pink hair could be a little unruly if she didn’t pull it back. However, she liked the extended length of it. She grabbed her brown leather satchel and slung it over her shoulder. The satchel held the image of her cutie mark printed on it; three stars in a triangle formation with a comet piercing through them.

A knock at her room door startled her. She wasn’t used to random visitors dropping in way up here in the tower, and she hadn’t invited anypony over today. She planned to meet up with her friends at the festival itself. She opened the large oak double door on the right. Her movement was slow, cautious of who could be there. A castle message courier stood with a determined expression on his face. It wasn’t the post, rather it was an internal messaging system only used on the sizable castle grounds.

“Message from Princess Celestia marked urgent.” The pegasus courier thrusted a red envelope towards her with much gusto. She felt annoyed at how pushy his attitude was, but knew that he was only doing his job. Since the message was marked “urgent” he probably flew to her tower at top speed. He tried to hide the appearance of being out of breath.

“Th-thanks.” Sundrop accepted the envelope into her hooves. He tipped his hat to her and darted down the hallway to the spiral staircase. She was about to open the envelope when she noticed the time on the sundial she kept near the door.

“I’m late! Everypony is gonna be waiting for me.” She shoved the envelope into her satchel and sprinted off to the festival.

By the time she got to the Canterlot Gardens, red and orange hues decorated the sky. The gardens were a veritable marketplace of tents and temporary merchant stations with scores of ponies shuffling about. There were rows and rows of festival stands selling anything a pony could imagine: hoof made crafts and trinkets, various cuisines from all over Equestria and beyond, games of chance, contests, raffles, and cocktail bars. Colorful flags, banners, and strings of lights hung overhead and between the stands to commemorate the special day. She strolled down one of the aisles just taking in the spectacle of everything. She was still late, and her friends were probably waiting for her, but it was hard to just rush on by when there was so much to look at. She could smell the many treats being cooked up all around her. She could hardly wait to sample them. Her mouth watered just taking in the delicious scents. The dense and noisy crowd excited her as she made her way towards the planned meeting place.

Just as she exited a row of tents, she nearly screamed as a flying pony made a thunderous impact in front of her. It was one of the few remaining open spaces at the festival with benches and stone statues all surrounding large, bubbling fountains.

The pony who made his grand entrance stood in front of her on his hind legs. His wings, fully expanded, much wider than a normal pegasus pony. It was almost as wide as Celestia’s wingspan. He landed in front of an elaborate stone carved fountain of three pony cherubs holding pots pouring water into a reservoir. In contrast to the joyful carving of the fountain, this pony glared at her with more disdain than she ever experienced in her life. She gawked in awe of this bat pony. Her eyes darting to his leathery wings and the fangs sprouting from his obvious grimace. Sundrop also noticed the halo tattoo draped across his forehead, obscured under his unruly mane.

“Are you the Confidant to the Princess?” He asked. His cold tone sounded like an interrogator. The dense crowd dispersed to give this insane monstrosity of a pony plenty of room. Nopony seemed to want to go anywhere near him. Although, many pointed wildly as if they recognized who he was.

“Y-yes. Yes I am.” Sundrop whimpered. It appeared like she was being marked for assassination and she barely held a title of any kind for two days.

He took a step towards her and she instantly started backing away from him.

“My name is Bathalar Omegastar. I’ve been assigned by Princess Celestia to be your personal bodyguard. From this moment forward, you are not to leave my side for any reason. Ever. Unless I tell you otherwise.” His cold expression somehow got even harder.

“I umm… Excuse me?” She was dumbfounded, and still rattled by his presence. His voice so booming and commanding that it echoed in her ears.

“I do not wish to repeat myself.” He huffed.

“What are you talking about? I have no idea who you are. I’ve never seen you before in my life. What do you mean bodyguard?” She kept backing away, but he just strode towards her. “I don’t need a bodyguard. That’s ridiculous. What do you want from me? Are you here to rob me?” She clutched her satchel with her hoof.

“Did you not receive notice about this from the Princess?” Bathalar looked confused. His brow furrowed so much, it crinkled the halo tattoo.

“No, I never received any notice…” Sundrop paused as her memory resurfaced. Her eyes shifted to her bag. “Oh, wait, the telegram.”

Bathalar crossed his hooves in front of him as she fished the red telegram out of her satchel. He looked oddly comfortable standing on just his hind legs. His expression annoyed as if a restaurant got his order wrong ten times in a row.

Sundrop tore open the envelope with her magic and pulled out the letter within.

“You received an urgent telegram from the Princess and you didn’t even open it?” He shook his head.

“Oh, so now you’re gonna lecture me too? You wanna be my bodyguard and my mom?” She unfolded the letter and began reading it as Bathalar grunted.

‘My Dear Sundrop. I apologize for the short notice, but as my newly appointed Confidant it is of vital importance that your safety be assured. Therefore I have ordered my servant Bathalar to be your permanent escort as of today. He will be watching over you day and night for the foreseeable future. He may be a bit brash, but I promise his bark is worse than his bite. I apologize again for any inconvenience this may cause you in your day to day life. However, as you get used to him, I’m sure you’ll barely notice him at all. With a little luck, you may even learn to become friends. I hope you enjoy the festival and I will see you in a few days for lessons once more. Sincerely, Princess Celestia…’

Sundrop groaned. “I can’t believe this. This is a disaster.” She rubbed her hoof on her forehead, still holding the letter.

“Nice to meet you too.” Bathalar sneered. She stared daggers at him before reading one final line in the letter.

‘P.S. You cannot decline your bodyguard services as this is an order.’ Sundrop’s jaw dropped at the post script. Celestia never “ordered” her to do anything before. It was especially jarring, considering how cordial the body of the letter was.

“Can’t this wait until after the festival?” The exasperated Sundrop complained.

Bathalar stared at her as if she had said two plus two is five.

“No, it cannot. A crowded event is exactly the sort of place where danger could occur.”

Sundrop noticed the long sheathed saber strapped to his armor. His armor appeared lighter and more flexible than most castle guard’s armor. Probably for better mobility while flying and fighting.

“You really think somepony is gonna try and abduct me at a public event? There are ponies everywhere.” The moment she said that, she noticed the eyes of the crowd upon them like never before. Sundrop surveyed the ponies around her more suspiciously than a moment ago. Before her new bodyguard showed up, she never thought twice about there being any danger. But now? She could hear whispers of conversation from those watching the scene unfold. The most common and repeated phrase: “shadow of death.”

“If they even bother going through the trouble to abduct you at all. They may just kill you and be done with it.” Bathalar said. The clinical nature that he described her potential demise sent a chill down her spine.

“But why would anypony wanna do that to me? I’ve never harmed anypony in my life. I want to help everypony and make Equestria a better place. I took an oath.” Her eyes widened as she looked at her supposed protector.

His gaze finally softened, if only a little bit.

“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or not done. You are important to Celestia which makes you important to Equestria. Celestia’s enemies won’t hold back if they have the opportunity.” Bathalar took a moment to glance around himself.

“So I’m some kind of VIP now?”

“Yes.” Bathalar nodded.

“I don’t think I like being a VIP.” Sundrop looked away from him.

“Tough.”

“Excuse me?” She looked incredulous.

“Get over it. You chose this when you accepted the role of Confidant and took your ‘oath.’ You don’t get to back out now because it’s inconvenient for you.”

Sundrop shook her head and scoffed.

“Just who the hell do you think you are? You can’t talk to me like that.” She accused him as she pointed her hoof in his face.

“I see.” He stared back unfazed. “Two days as a Royal Confidant and you already think you own Equestria.” He shook his head, trying to stop the corner of his mouth from smirking.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m the trash collector. You shouldn’t speak to anypony like that.” She stood up on her hind legs to match his bipedal posture. It was doable, but she had to focus on her balance. Sundrop didn’t know how he was able to look so comfortable holding this pose.

“Trash collectors are hard workers. What do you have against them?” He raised his eyebrow.

“What? Nothing! I know they work hard. I said you shouldn’t treat them poorly.” She wobbled for a moment before regaining her balance.

“Then why make the comparison at all? It implies that they are less than you, even if you’re defending them.” Bathalar made air quotes with his hooves.

Sundrop gave up on her two leg stance and settled back down on all fours. She sighed.

“Look, I think we got off on a bad hoof. Let’s start over shall we?” She held her hoof out towards him. “I’m Sundrop Moonbow. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Bodyguard.” Her tone was polite, but empty and a tad irritated. Like a customer service employee who had been on the clock an hour too long.

“I know who you are.” Bathalar just stared at her outstretched hoof.

Sundrop tilted her head back as she rolled her eyes.

“I know you know who I am. I’m introducing myself, you prick.” Her harsh expression didn’t match her polite gesture.

“Very well.” Bathalar got down from his pose and accepted her hoof shake. “My name is Bathalar Omegastar. Nice to meet you.”

Sundrop cringed at how cold his greeting sounded, but she shook his hoof regardless.

“You already introduced yourself.” She gave him a smarmy sideways grin.

“I thought we were starting over.” He looked confused as the hoof shake ended.

“I started over. Yours still counted.” She nodded.

“Your rules confuse me.” He cleared his throat and continued before she could reply. “Sundrop Moonbow, I rarely see a pony as young as you named after the moon these days. May I call you Moonbow?” He finally looked pleasant. A smile was still a thousand miles away, but at least he didn’t look angry.

“I uh…” Sundrop rubbed the back of her head. “I really prefer my first name.”

Bathalar’s brow furrowed again.

“Since you’re my guard, shouldn’t you be calling me by my formal title?”

Bathalar’s eyes darkened, and his jaw tightened. “If you insist upon it.”

Sundrop waved her front hooves back and forth to clear the static building in the air by his terrifying tone.

She forced out a nervous laugh. “Ha ha, kidding. Totally joking. Wouldn’t that be ridiculous? Ha ha.”

He stared at her.

She raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you take a joke?”

“Yes, I can take a joke.” His tone gentler.

“It was a joke. I didn’t mean it.” Her voice apologetic.

“I’ll try to remember to laugh next time.”

She smirked and tried to hide it by coughing into her hoof.

“How about a compromise? Can I call you DropBow?”

“Absolutely not.”

"Moonbow it is then." He smirked like a bully on the playground.

“Do you have to be a jerk about literally everything?” She stomped her hoof on the ground and sized up with him despite their size difference.

“Don’t antagonize him!” A panicked voice cried out in warning.

Sundrop looked around her. A crowd of ponies persisted giving the two of them a wide berth. They all watched from what was assumed to be a safe distance. The festival came to a standstill to watch the scene unfold.

“He’s the Shadow of Death. It’s not wise to anger him.” An elderly unicorn cowered in his hood as he pointed a shaking hoof at Bathalar. The crowd murmured soft affirmations of the elder pony, terrified to exceed their agreement above a whisper.

Sundrop’s initial fear had subsided and only her annoyance remained.

"So, you're the Shadow of Death, huh?" She glared at him with youthful irreverence.

"Many call me that." He looked out at the onlooking crowd. Most ponies took another step back at his stare. Some decided to abandon the scene altogether.

“Why does everypony call you that?” She was curious.

“It’s… just a nickname.” He replied.

“Well, it’s a scary nickname.”

“I suppose it’s meant to be scary.”

"Which means you're probably good at scaring bad ponies away from me, and you know how to be quiet." Sundrop smiled.

Bathalar thought carefully before cautiously responding.

"Yes." He looked suspicious.

"Great." Sundrop left and began walking with a confident stride and Bathalar turned to follow. "Then you can just hang nearby ominously, and not say anything while I go enjoy the festival as if you're not even there. Celestia did say I would barely notice you."

Sundrop's grin grew more devious as she carried on to her planned meeting spot. The crowd of ponies dispersed and went back to their festival business.

"Very well." Bathalar directly followed behind her, not leaving any space for a pony to step between them. Sundrop’s walked with a bright and bouncy cadence, as if she leapt into the air with each step. Bathalar’s stride looked weighted and labored. His knees twitched with each heavy plant as if he may take off flying or running at any moment. Seeing them move so differently together was like watching the sun and moon walk side by side.

They made their way across the festival ground until they got to a small tent decorated with Kirin tribe symbols and artifacts outside. Bathalar found it interesting that Sundrop would enter a Kirin tent, but kept silent as he was asked.

Sundrop pushed the flap of the tent aside as she stepped forward. A forest green Kirin immediately rushed towards Sundrop. Bathalar appeared in the tent between them seemingly out of nowhere. He held his hoof up in front of Sundrop, and the Kirin stopped dead in her tracks - lest she slam into his dinner plate sized hoof. She and the three other ponies in the tent gasped at Bathalar’s lightning quick entrance. He glared as he eclipsed Sundrop behind him.

The Kirin had a beige mane that wrapped around her neck like a lion. She had a maroon horn on her forehead that curved backwards and forked like a tree branch at the top. Her brow and muzzle had a brown shell covering that matched a similar shell on her back and flank. Kirin’s were similar in build to ponies, but the aesthetic differences were stark even at a glance.

“Who… who are you? What do you want?” The Kirin said. She backed up towards her other friends in the tent. Her eyes never leaving Bathalar as she stared at him fear stricken.

“You suddenly approached Moonbow, who is under my protection. State your business.” Bathalar spoke in a cold yet matter of fact tone.

“I-I’m her friend. I want to hug my friend.” The Kirin took another step back with pain in her eyes. Bathalar was like death standing over her ready to claim her soul.

Sundrop shoved her way around Bathalar. Her push didn’t budge him, but he glared at her as she bumped around him and further entered into the tent.

“Oh my Celestia, these are my friend’s Bathalar! What the hell is your problem?” She punched him in the chest with her hoof. He still didn’t move or give a reaction.

“In the future, I enter first.” He told her.

Not wanting another argument, especially in front of her friends, Sundrop nodded in agreement.

“M-may I hug my friend now?” The Kirin’s eyes stayed locked onto Bathalar. She cowered in front of her pony friends in the tent. None of them were brave enough to move either.

Bathalar stared at the motley crew. There was an athletic looking pegasi, a unicorn with a rather dopey look on his face, and a small framed earth pony. Even with his wings tucked in, Bathalar looked massive standing in front of them on his hind legs. His eyes were dark and cold.

“You may do as you please.” Bathalar said after a long pause.

The girls hugged each other, afraid to further ruffle any bat wings. Their joyous reunion spoiled by a timid and awkward hug thanks to Bathalar’s interference. Luckily, having seen that the tent was now safe, Bathalar moved to go stand by the tent flap watching the crowds move around outside.

“What's with him?” The Kirin asked, whispering.

“Bodyguard.” Sundrop stated, letting her annoyance show in her voice.

“Seriously? Him? Is Celestia mad at you, or something?” She jested.

“Juniper!” Sundrop hissed at her Kirin friend.

“He’s even scarier in real life.” The pegasus pony spoke up.

The girl’s collectively shushed him as his attempted whisper was too loud.

“Sorry.” He lowered his voice more. “Who knew you’d get assigned the scariest, most blood-thirsty pony in all of Equestria to be your new bodyguard? What are we supposed to do now? Talk about a buzz-kill.”

Bathalar opened his mouth to retort, but shut it. He knew what kind of image he projected. It was better for everypony to fear him.

Besides, he didn’t care what these ponies thought of him, even as they continued whispering to one another. He had a job to do. Simple as that.

“Is he going to be with us all day?” The unicorn who was cowering behind the stronger pegasus asked.

“Yes.” Bathalar barked from the doorway, making everyone jump.

“Can’t you ask him to go somewhere else for a while?” The shaking unicorn pitifully said to Sundrop.

“I’m standing right here. You could just talk to me.” Bathalar replied.

“Talk to the Shadow of Death?” The unicorn’s eyes bulged in fear.

“Yes.” Bathalar’s voice rose again. “You’re doing it right now.”

“Right.” The unicorn rubbed his head, still confused. “Um… well then, Mr. Shadow, can you possibly be somewhere else until after the ceremony?” He asked.

“No.” Bathalar’s eyes narrowed. He knew when he wasn’t wanted, but orders were orders.

Sundrop tried to lighten the mood. “Come on, the festival is about to start and we’re just standing around in the tent. Let’s go have fun! You won’t even notice he’s there.”

The group of ponies glance around at one another. A few also casting cautious looks towards Bathalar. They pawed at the ground.

“Hey umm Sundrop. I’m actually not feeling so well, I think I’m gonna skip it.” The unicorn said.

“Yeah. Same here.” The pegasus looked away from her.

The small earth pony stayed silent but slowly nodded his head.

“Wait! No! Come on, you all can’t bail. We’re always together on the Summer Solstice. It’s tradition!”

Juniper linked her front leg with Sundrop’s. “No way I’m bailing on you. Now that you’re officially the Princess’s Confidant, you can buy us all the first round, right? Come on, let’s go stuff ourselves with fried food until we can’t walk.” With a flick of her mane and a casual glance at Bathalar, Juniper pulled Sundrop towards the tent flap door.

“You first, Mr. Bodyguard. Rules are rules.” Juniper joked.

Thank goodness Juniper held her up, because she nearly fell over when Bathalar actually smiled.

"At least somepony is capable of following instructions." Bathalar regarded Sundrop.

“I am perfectly capable of following instructions.” She retorted.

His smile fell a bit, “There will be a lot of ponies out there. Stay aware of your surroundings and don’t go anywhere without me.”

“Ooh, he’s so serious.” Juniper sassed. But her silly tone was lost on Sundrop, who held her bodyguard’s stare.

Bathalar nodded once. “Remember your promise, Moonbow.” Before slipping outside of the tent.

A few moments later, a leathery wing gestured for them to follow.

Four ponies and a Kirin exited the tent, following their bat pony guide. They remained silent, not wanting to disobey the Umbra Mortis who led them through the bustling crowd. Or rather, the crowd parted to let them through wanting to avoid Bathalar. Sundrop wondered if she could use this to skip the long lines at the food stalls. She chuckled to herself at the thought.

When Bathalar came to a sudden stop, the group froze and collectively held their breaths as he turned to face them. His eyes, determined and fierce, pierced through them. They awaited the judgment of what he would say next.

“Uhm… where are we going?” The Shadow of Death looked confused.

“What do you mean ‘where are we going,’ where are you going?” Sundrop rushed forward to berate him. “You’re the one who said you had to lead.” She pointed her hoof right in his face.

“No, I said I had to be the first one in and out of places. It’s your festival, go wherever you please.” He huffed and crossed his hooves in front of his chest.

“Fine, we will go wherever we want.” Sundrop shouted even though they agreed. “And it’s your festival too. You talk as if you’re not from here or something.”

Bathalar’s eyes scanned the festival. On the surface, it was a happy occasion filled with joy and revelry. However, such revelry was only for the majority of those in attendance. Once a pony started eyeing the grounds for bat ponies, something about this picture perfect celebration changed. Bat ponies scurried everywhere and all around, barely noticed and almost invisible. They fixed tents, set up machines, and ran work stations. Fried foods and desserts littered the Canterlot Gardens, but who was cleaning and operating those fryers? Foals and adults alike opened presents and prizes with glee, but who was picking up the wrapping paper? Large groups of ponies sat at outside tables and ordered rounds of food and drink for dozens of their friends and family, but who was running those orders to the tables? Who was apologizing for any spill or mistake?

The Summer Sun Celebration was propped up on the labor of bat ponies. A servant class whose halo tattoos marked them as slaves to Celestia's Equestria. All because of Luna's insurrection. Bathalar failed his brethren in battle and now they all paid the price for it. A price that every new bat generation would have to pay. Perhaps for a thousand years until Luna's return, every bat pony at the age of six was forced to receive the halo tattoo and be marked a servant. This "celebration" was the worst day of the year as far as Bathalar was concerned and he had no intention to enjoy the festivities while his kind toiled. A life of slavery that he had brought upon them twenty years ago.

"It is not my festival." Bathalar's defiant words took Sundrop aback. "No bat pony should be forced to celebrate their own defeat and conquering."

"Uh, I think you have your history backwards there a little bit." Sundrop chided. "The bat ponies weren't 'conquered,' they were traitors who rebelled and frankly got what they deserve."

Even as the festival around them carried on uninterrupted, the small space where Sundrop and her friends faced Bathalar fell eerily silent.

"Uh Sundrop..." Her nervous unicorn friend looked back and forth between Sundrop and Bathalar.

The bat pony's glare pierced Sundrop and she remembered why she feared him when they first met a little while ago.

"I think you may have gone a little overboard there…" Her pegasi friend began, but Bathalar cut him off.

"You are very fortunate that I have been ordered to protect you." His halo tattoo shimmered in the festival firelight as he stared her down. He had years of practice dealing with these kinds of comments, her’s certainly wasn’t the first, but they still made his blood boil. If he so much as raised a hoof against this kind of slander, Celestia would have his head. Literally.

Juniper tightened her grip on Sundrops arm and placed her body between Sundrop and Bathalar.

"She didn't mean what she said she…" Juniper tried to mediate, but Bathalar cut her off too.

"Yes she did."

Bathalar turned his back on them and the conversation ended. Not that there was much else to say. Sundrop wanted to apologize, but she also wanted to scream at Bathalar. She wanted to call him a traitor, yet turned red in embarrassment of her brash statement. In the end, she chose silence and they carried on towards the food tent that Juniper led them to, opting to wait in the long line.

The group stood in silence for what must have been a half an hour. Bathalar stood on his hind legs and faced away from the other ponies, only leaving Sundrop in his peripheral vision directly to his right. Sundrop stared at the festival grass as the line creeped forward. Her blank expression refused to betray the thoughts in her head. Juniper and the others glanced around nervously at each other. Nopony willing to break the silence for some time. Once they were about halfway through the food line, the young lavender colored unicorn of the group couldn’t take it anymore.

“This is ridiculous. Hello, my name’s Mythic.” He spoke directly to Bathalar who either ignored him or wasn’t paying attention. Undeterred, Mythic tapped Bathalar on his back since he couldn’t quite reach Bathalar’s shoulder while the bat pony stood upright.

“I said, my name is Mythic.” He repeated louder.

Bathalar jerked his head in Mythic’s direction. The group held their collective breath as Bathalar scowled at the young colt.

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Shadow- well, erm… Mr. Bathalar. I uh… didn’t introduce myself earlier and so…” Mythic cleared his throat as he trailed off.

Bathalar’s eyes scanned the group of pony friends around him. Their expressions were anxious and grave.

“Nice to meet you.” Bathalar’s tone was far from warm, but neither was there any malice in it.

“And this is Blitz.” Mythic pointed to the red pegasus pony next to him in line. “He likes to fly fast and hates black olives on his pizza.”

“Ok true, but also super random, Mythic.” Blitz shook his head.

“How fast can you fly?” Bathalar asked, looking directly at Blitz. The young pegasus curled his lip into such a side grin, his cheek wrinkled.

“Faster than your eyes can keep up.” Blitz matched Bathalar’s two leg stance, crossing his hooves in front of him. His smirk and stance challenged Bathalar.

Sundrop was annoyed that the stance came so easily to Blitz. Maybe having wings had something to do with balancing like that? Or maybe it was an ego boost?

“I highly doubt that. We may have to race sometime.” Bathalar returned his devious grin.

“You’re on, old stag!” Blitz’s face lit up with a fiery passion. “But don’t be crying when I leave you in my dust.”

“And this is One Liner.” Mythic nudged an orange maned earth pony (who was trying to hide behind him) forward. “He’s our local comedian. Somepony has to keep our spirit’s up, and this is the guy. Mythic proudly motioned to his beige colored friend.

One Liner tucked his tail mane between his legs as he tried to back away slowly from Bathalar. If anypony’s spirit needed to be lifted, it was this shy colt.

“One Liner?” Bathalar raised an eyebrow at the name.

“Yeah I uh… I come from a family of stage performers.” One Liner’s voice was soft and unassuming. He broke eye contact with Bathalar.

“Hmm.” Bathalar considered the nervous pony in front of him. “Let’s have a joke then.”

One Liner eye’s shot so wide, one would think Bathalar drew his sword on him.

“Right now?” One Liner asked.

“Yes.” Bathalar nodded. “I’d like to hear one.” Sundrop wanted to comment on Bathalar asking for jokes, but couldn’t bring herself to speak up. She glanced at Juniper who nodded with a sympathetic look.

“Ok, here it goes.” One Liner rolled his shoulders back and took a deep breath. Finding his courage, he began rattling off one liners. Just like his namesake.

“I know money talks, but all mine says is ‘goodbye.’” Bathalar didn’t react, so he tried another.

“My father has schizophrenia, but he’s good people.” He paused for a beat, but the bat pony just stared at him.

“I can’t believe I got fired from the calendar factory, all I did was take a day off.” He closed his eyes, not wanting to see if he was still bombing and he screamed:

“When life gives you melons, you may be dyslexic!”

One Liner opened his eyes to stare at the ground. He began breathing in and out with a heavy and audible sigh, as if he had just finished an intense workout. His friends were grinning but stifled any laughs they may have wanted to express.

“Not bad.”

One Liner looked up at Bathalar. His eyes glistened with hope.

“Really? You’re not just saying that?” One Liner narrowed his eyes in realization. “But you didn’t laugh.” His voice full of suspicion.

“It’s difficult to make me laugh. But, I’m not lying to you. If I thought they were bad I would suggest you go work the fryers instead.” Bathalar nodded towards the kitchen and One Liner laughed out loud.

“Fair enough. I’ve gotten worse critiques, that's for sure.” One Liner held out his hoof to Bathalar, and to his surprise, Bathalar returned the hoof bump.

“Dang, Shadow, you’re actually pretty cool.” Blitz nodded his head. “Can we call you Shadow?”

“Do you have to?” Bathalar squinted back at him.

“That’s not a no!” Mythic chimed in and the three colts giggled together. Sundrop and Juniper shared a smile together.

“Fine.” Bathalar rolled his eyes. The boys all high hooved each other.

See how you like it. Sundrop thought to herself. With the tension finally subsiding, the group was able to carry on normal conversation. Bathalar even participated from time to time. Sundrop caught the eye of Mythic and silently mouthed:

“Thank you,”

Mythic just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

After waiting in the painfully long line, they got their food and carried it to a picnic table that was fortunately being vacated. The boys all dug in as Juniper and Sundrop took time to wrap napkins around their neck and lap.

Sundrop glanced at her funnel cake before turning to a small bat pony who had helped run the food to their table.

“Excuse me.” Sundrop’s voice was calm and caring. However, the little bat pony jerked around and stared at her with eyes the size of dinner plates. He looked like he wanted to run away.

“Uhm…” Sundrop was taken aback by his stark reaction. “I wanted light powdered sugar on my funnel cake and this is too…” She paused as she looked at the bat server who stared back with terrified and wide eyes, like he expected Sundrop to start yelling at him.

Instead she waved him away. “Nevermind. It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it.” Sundrop tried to smile. Her diplomacy skills would need some work.

“I can fix it for you ma’am. I can bring you a new one with light sugar.” The bat pony swallowed as he offered.

Sundrop could only imagine other unruly ponies yelling at this poor colt for simple mistakes like this. She didn’t want to be one of those ponies. He was, after all, only a kid.

“You know… I think I’ve worked up a bit of a sweet tooth tonight. I’ll just take it as it is. Thank you so much.” Sundrop nodded.

“I-If that’s what you want, miss. Please enjoy.” The bat pony bowed to her and scurried away before she could change her mind.

“Why didn’t you let him fix your food?”

Sundrop stared up at the towering Bathalar seated on her left at the picnic table.

“Did you think he was too stupid and would just mess it up again?” Bathalar said with a huff.

“No.” Sundrop scoffed at him. “I just decided that I didn’t want to make a fuss. He’s obviously trying his best.” She focused on her funnel cake, tearing a modest piece of the hot, greasy dough with her magic.

“Hmm.” Was all Bathalar could say in reply. He scooped up an obnoxiously large piece of his own funnel cake and shoved it in his mouth. Sundrop frowned in disgust. She looked over to see the other colts doing the same.

“Boys are so gross.” Sundrop shook her head at Juniper.

“Good thing the world is run by mare’s.” Juniper winked at Sundrop. They giggled and silently toasted their pieces of funnel cake before gracefully consuming them.

****

The festivities carried on all night. Bathalar continued to follow Sundrop and her entourage wherever they went. They toasted drinks and played games and danced in the moonlight. Occasionally, Bathalar himself would loosen up and chat with Sundrop and her friends. Although, he never danced or participated in any games. Bathalar could think of many things he’d rather do with his time than mull about this farce of a celebration, but he had to admit that this was the least miserable time he had spent during the Summer Sun Celebration since his release from prison.

Finally the dreaded moment had arrived. The moment that Bathalar had deliberately avoided every single year. It was time for Princess Celestia to raise the sun in the most overly theatrical manner possible. He stood with Sundrop and her friends in the Canterlot Gardens. They were joined by an innumerable mass of ponies all around them. The tight quarters were claustrophobic enough that Bathalar was tempted to take to the sky himself to get away from the crowd. However, that would require dereliction of his duty to protect Moonbow. He couldn’t leave her side no matter what.

Several dozen meters ahead of them was a stage with an open sun crescent statue facing up. Everypony did their best to situate themselves on this side of the sun statue, because this was the vantage point that would make it look like the sun was rising in tandem with Celestia herself.

Celestia took to the stage in the cool late evening moonlight to thunderous cheers and applause. Ponies hollered and stomped their hooves on the ground, making as much noise as possible. Celestia spread her wings to their full length and looked up to the stars. The crowd quieted down in anticipation of the coming sunrise. Bathalar decided he would finally watch the damn sunrise for once. He always excused himself and went away or inside during this part. Since he was stuck out here with Moonbow anyway, he figured he might as well see what all the fuss was about.

Celestia took to the sky and a brilliant light flashed on the horizon. She rose gently into the air as the light from the horizon spread, and the sun came into view. Her graceful wings flapped as their massive size filled the air around her. She caught a thermal and used it to glide upwards as if she was levitating more than flying.

As he watched Celestia and the sun rise together he noticed that he was standing in the same part of the garden he had stood when Luna fell, and the battle turned permanently against his army twenty years ago. Celestia’s body eclipsed the sun and the sun Princess’s figure was painted over the blinding light.

“Ooh’s” and “Ahs” echoed from the enamored crowd.

Bathalar closed his eyes for a moment at the striking visual. The brightness burning behind his eyelids and searing into his brain. He figured the sun was in his eyes and he needed a quick moment to readjust. Unfortunately, when he opened his eyes, he saw neither Celestia nor the sun. The festival fell away and the bright light faded into Luna in the starless night sky, dawning her midnight armor before the full moon. Pinned in the moment, he watched helplessly as a rainbow colored beam caught the moon Princess head on and sent her flying out into space. His horror. His nightmare. Tears flowed down Bathalar’s face as he watched his beloved get all but murdered once again. The memory choking his throat.

“Bathalar.”

A troubled voice called his name, but there was nothing he could do for her. He had failed so utterly and completely.

“Bathalar.”

The voice was further away now. His Princess was being sent to the moon, imprisoned for a thousand years. A thousand years.

“Bathalar!”

Bathalar snapped out of his haze. The voice he heard wasn’t Luna, it was Moonbow. He looked up again and Celestia had the morning sun well into the sky. From the ground perspective, the sun perfectly filled the statue crescent as Celestia hovered hooves wide and wings out. Everypony had pushed forward to crowd the stage and cheered joyously for their beloved Princess. Bathalar looked down to his left where Moonbow had stood beside him.

She wasn’t there. There were drag marks on the ground where her hooves caught the dirt.

In a panic, his eyes scanned the crowd in front of him looking for her. He thought he heard her call his name a fourth time, but he couldn’t see her. He immediately took to the air to get a better vantage point. He looked down in the direction where he heard Moonbow’s voice last. He saw a group of ponies tearing through the crowd, desperate to get somewhere. They pushed their way through. Heading into the large cluster of trailers and ready-up building structures used by the event staff. He couldn’t see Moonbow clearly, but this band of characters appeared to have a prisoner that they were forcing along with them. This figure had a sack over their head and their muffled screams were being swallowed up by the roaring crowd.

Moonbow had been taken while standing right next to him and he had done nothing. He had allowed himself to indulge in delirium and self pity. He watched as his sole mission was ushered away.

Once again, he had failed, and he watched. He dared not imagine what horrific punishment Celestia would cast on him if he failed to protect her young student and Royal Confidant.

Lightning gripped his hooves until it encompassed his entire body.

****