A Song of Nightmares

Chapter three

A New Feather

I slowly opened my eyes, following up with an exaggerated yawn.

I had never slept more comfortably in my entire life. I sat up feeling refreshed and much less sore than I had felt the night before. I looked around the room and saw moonlight shining through the window. I guess that the shadow spell Luna had cast yesterday morning was no longer active.

Crap, I thought. I had missed Luna raising the moon, and only assumed I had overslept. I scanned the room for a clock and spotted one above the entrance. It was already a half hour past midnight, and Luna always raises the moon around seven, the night was almost halfway over!

“Oh no…” I breathed as I shot out of the bed and grabbed my uniform, throwing it on as quickly as possible.

I had fallen asleep with the hairband still on and had to rush to the mirror in the washroom to resort out my mane. After I finished and was trotting out of the washroom -- making little adjustments to my jacket's collar as I went-- I made my way to the door. Before I could open it however, I saw a blue glow wrap around the handle and I took a step back as Luna stepped through.

I bowed, “Princess I am so sorry, I lost track of time, I never meant to sleep in this late,” I told her, full of embarrassment and shame.

Great first impressions, I scolded myself.

“Oh, don't worry about it, I let you sleep in,” she imparted with a smile and a wave of her tail, “you definitely looked like you needed the extra rest.”

“You're not angry?” I asked, holding my breath.

“Not at all,” she paused, “and I see that you've already taken the time to get ready for tonight,” she regarded me. “I really need to have a proper uniform made,” she frowned, “but I suppose that will have to do for the time being,” she gestured with her tail for me to follow, “come, it's time you learned how to properly take care of yourself.”

I nodded, “yes Princess.”

We made our way down through the castle, passing a few guards as we went, none of them seemed to question my presence now that I didn't look like some filthy gutter pony. I stuck to the Princess's side as we made our way out into the courtyard.

She seemed to be leading me to a place just outside of the castle's perimeter. We made our way down another stone path through a thin line of trees that opened up into a much larger clearing. The grass was unnaturally short suggesting it must have been cut regularly. There was a small building on the far end that had weapon racks and crates lining the outside walls. The clearing looked like it was used for training the royal guard. There were straw dummies set up with bullseyes painted on their center. Off to the left just out of proper view looked like some kind of obstacle course. Beyond that, were rows of square buildings I could only assume were some sort of barracks. Luna, however, was leading me to an empty spot on the far right of the grassy clearing. The only thing over here was a single cart full of all different kinds of weapons and other sharp objects.

Luna hadn't said anything to me on our way out here, I wondered if she had looked in my head yesterday while I was asleep? That would explain her silence. I thought, my heart starting to pick up pace. My mind reeling trying to think of what to say if she had. I suppose I could just ask her...

“Princess,” I began.

“Yes Feather?”

“Purely out of curiosity,” I paused, taking a breath before continuing hesitantly, “did you enter my dreams last night?” I held my breath.

“Oh no, I was far too tired from staying up as late as we did,” she waved her tail dismissively.

I let out a sigh of relief. And her professional demeanor dropped as she raised an eyebrow.

“Why, something you didn’t want me to see?”

I reeled, standing at attention, “umm nope… just, it was a really boring dream, and I… I didn't want you to think I was boring,” I blurted, hoping that I sounded at least a little convincing.

She let out a little laugh, “oh Feather you're too easy to tease.”

Blushing, I darted my eyes away and walked past her, “so what are we doing first?” I asked as I trotted over to the cart full of weapons.

Her comment still lingering in my mind, and I was reminded of what she had said to me the night before. Did she like me? I asked myself, like, like like me? Was she even into other mares? I wondered, looking back at her.

Her eyes were lingering on my flank before they darted up to meet mine and both of us quickly looked away. My heart picked up pace again and fantasies fought for my attention as I struggled to just focus on just the weapons cart.

“Well,” she began, clearing her throat, “if I am to teach you how to fight, I'm going to need to know what to teach you, so pick a weapon and we’ll go from there.”

I sighed in relief, happy to distract myself as I continued to look through the many different weapons.

So many ways to kill another pony, I thought morbidly as I looked over each one. Most of these I couldn't even use as they were more designed with unicorns in mind. There were a few mountable weapons, designed to attach to a compatible armor piece; but I hated the thought of being less mobile. I noticed an old flintlock pistol with a mouth grip buried near the bottom, but a lot of good that would do me if I ever had to shoot more than once. Finally, my eyes drifted over a pair of dull wing blades.

They looked to be in awful condition, rusted and somewhat misshaped, but they were the only thing I saw that had any sort of appeal. I grabbed them with my mouth and turned to face Luna who had a look of approval on her face.

“I am so glad you chose those,” she purred with a grin, “This will be easier than I thought.”

I set the pair of blades on the ground so I could speak, “wait really?” I asked, surprised, “I don't know if you’ve noticed Princess, but I've never used a weapon like this in my entire life, or any weapon for that matter.”

“No, but you are a Pegasus, and you know how to use your wings do you not?”

“I suppose” I responded, still not quite sure where she was going with this.

She grinned, “flying is your weapon,” she purred before taking several steps back. “We will practice without the blades for now.”

Suddenly in less than a second, she closed the distance between us and put the ridge of her wing to my throat. Almost making me jump!

“For example, you can close the distance much faster by using your wings to launch yourself forward.”

Whoah.

“Now,” she ordered, as she stood next to me, “match what I do.”

___

We spent the next several hours going through techniques and body position, how to distribute weight properly, how to have the most balance when doing any particular thing, and of course, how to do it all with grace and style.

It quickly became very apparent that Luna preferred a much more aggressive, or as she liked to call it ‘up in your face’ style of combat. She explained to me that most pegasi who use wing blades tend to try and stay in the air, while keeping their opponent at a distance, hitting them hard and fast in flyby attacks.

She also explained to me how stupid that was. That doing so would leave my underside completely exposed for anyone to cut open as I flew by, and that such a strategy would also be detrimental to my endurance. She explained that it would only work on either somepony who was ill-trained, or completely oblivious.

So instead, she taught me how to close the distance on the ground, not letting my opponents have room to breathe, let alone think. She taught me how to conserve my stamina, teaching me how to inflict as much damage as possible while keeping myself relatively unexhausted.

However, by the end of the night, I was exhausted. But I was exhausted in a good workout way. Not in the tired crappy way that I was so used to.

I admit I feel good. I thought to myself as I returned to Luna with two water satchels dangling from my wing. She grabbed one with her magic and downed almost the whole thing in a single swig.

“It's been so long since I’ve had any kind of fun like this!” she exclaimed as I sat down next to her.

“And you learn fairly quickly,” she noted, a touch of pride in her voice. “Still many moons of work to be done though,” she added, “for example, you really need to work on your balance when you come out of those dashes.”

I had fallen on my face a few times doing those, “I still think I have some dirt in my nose!” I chuckled, only half joking.

She laughed a little at that.

Goddesses, that laugh, Stars, her voice in general was hard to stop listening to…

As I gazed at the regal Princess, an amusing thought crossed my mind. She’s a regal Princess! And she’s teaching me how to fight!

Whenever I used to think of the two Goddesses, I always imagined them as prim and proper, elegant and far too busy to ever get their hooves dirty. Why would they, when they have a whole staff and army to do everything for them? But the beautiful mare sitting next to me, as proper and elegant as she was, she reminded me more of a soldier than a Princess.

The way she moved, her posture, her expertise and her nocturnal eyes that gleamed with hardened coldness. It was obvious she had seen battle. My eyes widened a little as I realized that even without magic, Luna could kill me in a heartbeat if she wanted to.

Stars she's amazing.

“Why don't you head back to the castle and get cleaned up,” she prompted as she floated out a rolled-up piece of paper, “I'm going to take this to that guard pony Ruby and see if she can run it into the nearest town tomorrow to get an armor smith to make it.”

She unrolled the parchment with her magic and faced it towards me, “so what do you think?” she asked eagerly awaiting my response, “I drew this earlier while you were sleeping.”

My jaw dropped, and my eyes widened. Before me floated a drawing of, well me! I was wearing a beautiful black uniform with metal outlines. It had dark blue accents and the collar boasted a smaller version of Luna's cutie mark. Weaved into it were elegant plates of armor, a metal spine going up from my back to my neck, even more metal plating covered my shoulders and the top of my flank, but not so much so that my cutie mark wasn't still showing through. The entire design was dark, symmetrical and professional, and I loved it.

“I love it!” I exclaimed, prancing with excitement, “the metal spine is a bit much, but I love it! also, I didn't know you were an artist!”

“Well, when you’ve lived for a few hundred years, you tend to learn a few things,” she chuckled, clearly happy with my reaction.

“And you're going to be grateful for that metal spine if anypony ever brings a weapon down on your back.” she snickered.

“Who would have guessed the Princess of the Night is not only an incredible fighter, but also a talented artist.” I teased.

Luna rolled her eyes, “as I said, I've had plenty of time to learn. As far as fighting goes… well let’s just say I really never had a choice in the matter.”

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

Luna’s smile faded as her tone turned grim. “I'd rather not delve into painful memories right now Feather.”

I nodded, understanding, “I know we still barely know one another Princess, but anytime you want to talk, I can be a good listener,” I paused “well at least I think I can be a good listener,” I added with a chuckle.

“Thank you Feather…” she murmured quietly, her eyes moving to focus on her drawing of me, “I've never really had anyone I could talk to before, at least not in a very long time.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I have had more meaningful conversations with you these past few nights than I've ever had with anyone in my whole life.” I admitted.

Luna chuckled, “well then I suppose we’re tied for being the most socially inept ponies in all of Equestria.”

I stifled a laugh.

“So, tell me about this new uniform,” I prompted.

Luna grinned, clearly happy for the change of topic, “well, I was going to try and have all the metal parts forged from titanium alloy, I was even thinking about having a reinforced mesh of some kind woven into the fabric!” she exclaimed excitedly.

“Wouldn't that be a bit on the heavy side?” I asked skeptically

“hardly” she responded, “depending on the alloy, and with a little magic, titanium can be one of the lightest, and strongest metals in Equestria.” she stated matter of factly.

“Problem is, it's not easy to come by, not to mention how difficult it is to forge and shape.” she smiled, “My sister has access to what we would need for the plates, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I... borrowed some.” she said with an implicative smile.

She paused with a sigh.

“I may be getting ahead of myself, I want to make sure that this life is what you want, I know I just swooped you up the other night, as you said we still barely know one another. Now I’m already in a rush to make you into this image I have set in my mind of what I know you could be.”

I looked at her thoughtfully in surprise.

“Princess, I haven't ever really lived before, I've only ever just survived,” I admitted regretfully, “but these past couple of nights, for the first time I finally feel like my life is really starting.”

I paused.

“As far as I'm concerned, I owe you everything, and tonight I realize now that I've never wanted anything so badly before,” I reassured her with a smile, “My purpose is to serve you.”

“You really are something special Feather,” she murmured wistfully before shaking her head.

“Well, I'm off to scare Ruby into helping us, I will be waking you up early tomorrow night, we still have quite a lot to work on,” she pronounced as she stood up to leave.

“Wait, can't you just order Ruby to help?”

Luna rolled her narrow slit-shaped eyes.

“Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of authority, they are my sister’s soldiers, not mine.”

“That's ridiculous,” I said with a frown, “they should still do as you say, you're the Goddess of the Night for ponies sake,” I bit my tongue realizing what I had just said.

“Goddess?..” she murmured, surprise in her voice as she tilted her head towards me.

Crap.

“I uhh, well yes, Goddess,” I gulped, “that's how some ponies refer to you and your sister,” I said, trying to figure out a way to normalize the conversation.

“Ohh, I'm quite aware of how ponies address my sister,” she paused.

“Though as far as I am aware, nopony has ever used that title to describe me before, at least not directly, until now that is,” she blinked looking at me.

She looked distressed, “I appreciate the compliment Feather, but I'd rather you didn't call me by such a title,” she paused, “yes, I am aware it makes some sense given that my sister and I can raise the sun and moon respectively, well technically Tia just regulates the rotation of the planet, she doesn't actually move the sun itself, that would be ridiculous,” she laughed dryly.

Not giving me time to process that revelation, she continued.

“So yes, I am aware that to some ponies the title of Goddess could be considered accurate to an extent, however, I just don't feel comfortable being called it, especially by somepony I care about.”

I nodded, understanding.

“Yes Princess,” I said bowing my head.

She sighed, “You're too good to me Feather,” she gazed at me with a sad smile, and a pain in her eyes I hadn't seen until now.

Turning, she started to make her way back to the castle courtyard. I watched her go until she disappeared behind the tree line, and then I sat there alone with nothing but my thoughts.

The more I thought about what she had said, the more it made sense. I had never had this perspective until now. If I was immortal and had some world effecting power, I certainly wouldn't want to be called a Goddess. Stars, I wouldn't even want other ponies to think of me that way, I could only imagine how Luna must have felt when I said what I said.

She is extraordinarily powerful, beyond realistically powerful, but she is still a pony. I thought.

How lonely she must feel, the only other pony who would understand anything of what she is going through is her sister, and from everything I've witnessed It seemed that Celestia had all but abandoned her. Now I think I understood what she meant when she told me, she too knew what it was like to be alone.

I let out a sad sigh as I looked up to stare at her beautiful moon.

“I promise I will never abandon you Luna, not ever.” I vowed.