A Song of Nightmares

Chapter Four

Dark Creatures

Luna threw me to the ground, the dark mare's hooves threatening to turn my skull into paste! I kicked out from under her milliseconds before she brought her hooves down. The razor-sharp blade of her scythe came to bear as I barely managed to block her counterattack with wing blades of my own, however, as I did so, her horn flared and my legs were swept out from under me.

I crashed into the snow-covered ground hard and blinked to see her blade at my throat.

“Not fair!” I groaned, rubbing my head with a forehoof.

She stepped back, helping me up with a hoof, her magical scythe retracting down to its more manageable size before she holstered it back onto her side.

“Never expect your opponent to have integrity,” she paced back and forth, “your enemy will not fight fair, so why should I?”

What enemy?

“What should you have done in that situation?” she asked coldly, eyes narrowed.

“I should have used my wings to keep from falling…”

“And then?”

“And then I should have tackled you, or pushed in close with my wings?” I responded, not too sure if I was correct or not.

“Tackling me might have worked, however what if you were not just fighting one pony. Doing such a thing would have left you vulnerable. You should have pushed in close with your wings to finish the fight quickly.”

Luna paused, lightening her tone as she added, “but I am proud of you Feather, and impressed to say that you have made major improvement in these past few months.”

Her expression turned to one of worry however as she looked all over me.

“What is it?” I asked.

Since I've been training with Luna and serving her, I've gotten a lot more comfortable being around her, and outside of our training sessions she had become much more casual in her speaking to me, and I with her.

“Are you hurt?” she replied worriedly, while continuing to look me over, “I smell blood.”

I noticed the small ebbing pain underneath my muzzle, “oh, yes I'm fine,” I reassured her, “I think you just nicked me in that last session is all...” I paused, doing a double take, “wait you could smell that?” I asked, impressed.

Ignoring my comment, she rushed up to me and lifted my muzzle with her hoof.

“It's fine, like I said it's just a tiny nick.”

“I'll be the judge of that,” she insisted. After a moment her gaze lightened, “yes, you're fine, an inch to your left however and you'd be quite the opposite.”

Her actions betrayed her words however as she continued to lift my chin with her hoof and stay fixated on the wound. Though I noticed she didn't look worried, in fact the way she was looking at me almost made me blush!

This went on for sometime before I cleared my throat, snapping her out of her fixation. To be honest I probably would have let her do that all night if it meant she’d keep looking at me like that...

She smiled, “sorry, I was lost in thought,” she stammered before regaining her composure, “Anyways your new uniform should be ready for us to retrieve tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I groaned, “as in, during the day tomorrow?”

“Yes, unfortunately that is the only time the armorer of that town is available,” she gave a disgusted snort, “it's not ideal, but we will have to make due.”

I haven't been in real sunlight since I was a little filly, I thought.

“When's the last time you've been in the sun?” I asked out of curiosity as I stretched my wings.

“Well, I try to avoid it best I can, but earlier this year I was forced into it by my sister who for some inexplicable reason thought it was of the upmost importance for me to be present when she cut some stupid ribbon to announce the opening of... Stars I don't even remember,” She tapped the ground with her hoof, “something unimportant,” she finished.

“Did… did it hurt?”

She looked at me confused.

“Physically I mean.”

“I suppose it wasn't pleasant, the light does hurt, but other than decimating my sleep schedule and giving me a pulsating headache, It wasn't the worst thing in the world,” Luna looked at me concerned, “why, when's the last time you've been in the sun?” she questioned.

“Not since I was a little filly,” I admitted sheepishly.

She looked impressed, “I envy that,” she murmured quietly before continuing, “how well can you see right now?”

I looked around the clearing, “crystal clear… why?”

“Well because it's dark,” she said flatly, pointing a hoof at the sky.

She started laughing, “well, you may, or may not be a little blind during the day,” she chuckled.

“Wait what!” I exclaimed.

She kept laughing.

“Hey, that's not funny!” I said with a little indignant stomp of my hoof.

Her laughter picked up, “oh and you think my headache was bad, I’d wager that you’ll be puking your guts out once we return home!”

Giggling for a few more moments she stopped and wiped a tear from her eye, “I'm sorry, I suppose I just find this so funny, because it's the first time I've ever seen another pony go through this.”

I rolled my eyes, seeing the humor but still freaked out that I might go temporarily blind tomorrow.

“Don't worry, I know a spell that will help with the pain, I'll use it on you as soon as we get back, I promise,” she said with a smile. “It's actually not even really a spell, but I know it will make you feel better."

She smiled sweetly at me, “I've wanted to use it on you for a while now anyways.”

“What kind of spell?” I asked.

“Don't worry about it just yet,” she grinned, “but know that I am truly sorry for waiting so long to use it on you.

“Why is that?” I asked, curious.

“You'll know soon enough,” she smiled.

I couldn't tell if she was seriously talking about some kind of spell or if she was being implicative of something else, maybe something more romantic? No, as much as I'd love for that fantasy to come true, I knew Luna well enough to know even she wouldn't tease me that hard, besides, the look in her eyes wasn't one of seduction. No this was something else, but why be so vague? What spell could she have possibly wanted to use on me all this time? Something that will make me feel better? If she was going to use some kind of healing spell or muscle relaxing spell she would have just said as much, but those aren't anything long term that she would have waited to use. It was no use, no matter how hard I tried guessing what she meant, none of my answers made any sense. I shrugged and went back to stretching my sore wings while she spoke.

“Anyways, as far as our sleep schedule goes, we just won't go to sleep this morning, instead, around eight after my sister raises the sun, we will just bite the steel and get this out of the way,” she said with a firm nod.

“Then we can pass out?”

“Yes Feather, then we can pass out,” she rolled her eyes, before looking up at the moon. “I'm glad somepony appreciates my night,” she murmured before turning to me with a smile.

She paused and regarded me for a long time.

“Why don’t we go get something to eat,” she prompted, “I'll have the castle’s chef make us some salmon rolls,” she suggested with a lick of her lips, “I'll have the dining hall set up all nice for just the two of us,” she smiled as she turned to start heading back.

I stood there frozen.

“Coming Feather?”

“Mmhmm,” I nodded as I followed behind her, heart racing.

I had never had dinner with her before! well I had, almost all of the time in fact, but at least not like this! Was this a date? I asked myself as we continued along the path through the courtyard. I was both terrified and delighted at the prospect, if it was a date, I had no idea what I was going to say or how it might go. Or maybe my previous sentiment of thinking she wouldn't tease me this hard was foalishly founded. I admit at this point, my feelings for Luna had progressed into something far more than just an idle crush, I had fallen for her, hard...

And I’m pretty sure she’s noticed...

Suddenly I started to put her recent behavior under a rose-colored lens. Maybe this really was a date, after all she had been treating me differently these past few weeks, more sweet than usual, more open whenever we talked. There were a few times when I thought for sure she was about to kiss me, but she would always pull away at the last second… each time I assumed I had misread the situation, but now, maybe I hadn't? Stars I hope that's true.

“Just be yourself Feather,” I whispered out loud trying to reassure myself, “and remember posture, and professionalism.”

To be honest my posture had gotten a lot better these past few moons, and I was better at carrying myself with dignity and purpose. I no longer walked slouched or clumsily, Instead I carried myself like a soldier, always upright, my mane tied back, and I moved with steady hoof steps.

“Hey you two!” Before we could get to the stairs of the grand castle, I heard the familiar voice of Ruby as the gray and candy red mare trotted through the snow up to us.

Ruby had been consistently on the nightshift with her partner Sunny these past few weeks, and more than once we had invited her to participate in a couple of our training sessions when she had down time. I suppose she had sort of become our friend in a way.

“Hey Ruby,” I called out as she approached. I saw Luna’s pupils quickly take the illusion of being round as Ruby got closer.

“So, you two are still at it huh?” she asked, “I can't believe you aren’t freezing out here. I'm shivering and I'm wearing like three layers, plus my armor.”

“Both of us are just used to the cold, not to mention it’s sort of hard to stay cold when training with Luna,” I replied.

“There’s an innuendo somewhere in that sentence,” Ruby snickered.

I blushed hard as I glanced at Luna then at Ruby, “that's not what I- you have a dirty mind!” I squeaked defensively.

Luna hardly reacted, in fact she seemed dismissive of Ruby’s teasing.

Ruby rolled her eyes, “anyways, mind if I join you two? I finally got some free time tonight.”

Yes, actually I do mind. I thought crossly. It was bad enough having Ruby tease me about my feelings for Luna, but for her to do it in front of the Princess was just pouring salt on the wound. The rose-colored lens shattered, and I felt a chill as I realized that Luna was probably not taking me on a date, why would she? She knows damn well that I'm head over hooves for her but unlike me, Ruby’s comment barely got a reaction out of her. I can fantasize all I want, but the truth is, no one could ever really care about me, not in that way at least… But it's fine, I am perfectly happy just serving Luna and living in her night. Luna had given me a purpose after all, I smiled, and that's all I really needed.

“Feather and I are actually about to head inside and unfortunately, I have to lower the moon here shortly,” Luna told her with a frown.

Ruby gave a tired yawn, “it's fine, I should probably just head to bed early anyways,” she paused, “hopefully my request to be on next week's night shift gets approved and maybe you can teach me some more stuff?” she urged.

Luna rolled her eyes, “we’ll see.”

“We never learned anything like what you’ve taught me when Sunny and I were in the academy.”

Luna rolled her eyes even farther this time, “That's because my sister doesn't know the pointy end of sword from her own ‘sunny’ flank.”

I stifled a snicker.

Clearly the topic of the academy had pushed some royal buttons, I thought with an amused smile.

“And the curriculum she’s designed for the Royal Academy is woefully inadequate when it comes to combat training.”

Ruby groaned, “you can say that again, I think I learned more about criminal sociology, and the minutiae of judicial hearings than how to hold a sword properly.”

Luna snorted in disgust, and I actually saw anger in her eyes.

“Not to say those things aren't important, but they’re priority should be secondary. What does my sister hope to do if another situation like the one with the Crystal Empire should arise? Will she send her ill prepared army? Or will she just throw me at the problem like she always does when things become too difficult for her pathetic moral compass!

Luna’s sudden fury had caught me off guard, I even saw her eyes flicker back to slits for just a second! though I don't think Ruby noticed. While Ruby took a cautioned step back, I took a worried step forward.

“Princess are you alright?” I asked, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

My touch seemed to snap her out of her rage, and I saw her muscles relax as she let out a sigh.

“I’m fine, I just… I'd rather not get into it right now.”

Ruby took a concerned step forward, “what do you mean your sister would just throw you at the problem?”

“I said, I'd rather not get into it right now...” Luna growled.

To be honest I wanted to know what she meant by that as well, I knew there was something Luna wasn't telling me about her sister. I mean I get it, she sucks, but there’s more to it than that, I just wish Luna trusted me enough to tell me.

Luna lightened her gaze, “tell you what Ruby, I’ll see if I can pull some strings and maybe I can get you a night off where you can train with us as much as you want.”

The drama of the previous conversation was killed by Ruby’s expression, “you’d really do that for me?” she asked with an excited squee.

Luna nodded.

“I'll hold you to that,” Ruby gave an ecstatic smile before practically bouncing away.

Luna turned towards me, her eyes returning to their normal nocturnal appearance. Now that I was alone with Luna, the sudden embarrassment of Ruby’s stupid comment she had made earlier immediately came back to the forefront of my mind.

I shuffled my hooves awkwardly, “Princess, about what Ruby said... I”

Luna silenced me with a wing.

“Shh… don’t fret, aside from my sister issues, we were having a good night, and we still can,” Luna smiled and turned to trot up the massive stairs before gesturing with her tail for me to follow.

I bowed my head and quickly trotted after her.

_

I was woefully tired as we moved through the castle towards the grand dining hall. I don't think I’ve ever been here before; I stifled a laugh, I've been here for over two moons now and this castle was so damn big that I still hadn't seen everything. The grand dining hall was completely void of anypony else, and looked much like the rest of the castle, lots of gray, with tall, pointed windows lining the walls, tapestries of Celestia hung in between most of them. There was a massive table off to the right side of the grand room, a giant purple tablecloth rested across the top of it. Luna however, led me to one of the many smaller tables with a red tablecloth draped across it.

“Wait here,” she ordered smoothly before turning to head towards the kitchen staff quarters that were across at the other end of the room.

I watched her go, my eyes drifting down her flank momentarily, before I forcefully snapped my eyes back up, “Professionalism, Feather, professionalism,” I scolded myself.

A few moments later she returned with a very short, pudgy, angry looking older stallion who had a thick black mustache and mane with a beige coat.

“I swear I bout had it up ta here with you royals, what kind a crazy ponies are up this late anyway huh? Whud I do ta deserve this kina treatment huh! I dunt get paid enough for this.”

Luna rolled her eyes, “you don't like it? Go complain to my oh so benevolent sister,” she replied flatly.

The short pudgy stallion grumbled angrily as he trotted away over to the kitchen grabbing a chef's cap from the hook outside the door before slamming said door behind him.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized with an annoyed frown, “Simon might be a piece of work but he's the best chef we have,” she said before sitting down.

Her horn glowed and she floated out a bottle of wine with two glasses.

“I have no idea if this is any good or not, but I suppose we will find out,” she purred as she poured us both a glass. A second later and she used her horn to ignite the candle in the table's center.

What was she doing? Was I really right earlier, was this supposed to be a date?

She took a small sip from her glass and gave me a seductive look that gave me chills as she spoke, “so how have you enjoyed being my regent thus far?”

The chills faded, no this is something else, not a date. I looked up at her confused, “I don’t understand.”

Luna giggled but her seductive smirk soon faded when she saw my baffled expression.

“Are you serious? what, do I have to spell it out for you?” she asked, annoyance on the edge of her voice.

Ok teasing I can handle but this… this was just cruel, how could she!?

I looked down and away with shame, I felt tears begin to pool in my eyes. Suddenly I felt dreadfully tired I just wanted to go back to our room curl up in my blankets. I don’t know what Luna was trying to do, I wanted to believe more than anything that she wanted me in that way, but it just didn’t seem real.

“I’m sorry Princess, but I think I’m going to just get some sleep, we can get up later in the day to get my uniform.” I murmured and got up to turn away.

My eyes went wide as I felt something wrap tightly around my throat and noticed the faint blue glow.

“No,” Luna said her voice approaching a growl.

“What?” I stammered, turning back towards her, as I did, her magical grip let me go. For a moment and for the first time ever I was actually afraid of the dark princess, but the moment passed as she gestured softly for me to sit back down.

She took a sip of her wine before speaking calmly, “firstly, you do as I say remember, you operate on the schedule that I provide, not your whims,” she took another sip from her glass, “secondly, I demand to know why after all this time fawning over me you turn cold now.”

I saw shadows swirl on the edges of her eyes. past them thought I saw the pain and wetness of tears. In a moment my own eyes widened as I realized I had hurt the one pony in the world that I loved more than anything.

“Are you trying to manipulate me?” she accused.

“What no,” I stammered, “never, I would never hurt you, I’m so sorry I-” I blubbered, I couldn’t keep the tears back anymore and turned away from her as I started to cry.

“Oh, I see,” she sighed sympathetically, “oh Feather... you sweet thing I’m sorry,” she murmured quietly, “I understand, I do, you forget that I too know what it's like to be alone, to feel unwanted by everyone else, hated even… I more than anyone know how comfortable it is to be alone in the darkness, to be afraid to feel.”

“I…I.” I collapsed to the floor as she continued her slow advance.

“You think nopony could ever care about you Feather, and you're right nopony ever could, and no pony ever will, do you know why?

She crouched down and put a wing around me.

I couldn't respond, I couldn't think, I just stared up at her as tears continued to pour from my eyes. Stars she was right… of course she knows how I feel! How could I be so selfish; how could I dare speak to Luna like I had! I love her and I made her feel like I was manipulating her, what was wrong with me!?

What the fuck is wrong with me!?

Her gaze was soft as she smiled down at me, “because you're just like me…” she murmured quietly before reaching out to offer me her hoof.

I sniffed as she helped me to my hooves. I used one of the napkins on the table to wipe my eyes and nose.

“I'm so sorry Princess…” I murmured not knowing what else to say.

“It's ok Feather, maybe nopony will ever care about either of us, but luckily for you, I'm not entirely a pony, soon you won't be either."

I looked back up at her, “what?”

“Shhh, all you need to know is that you're mine, and you wouldn’t be mine if I didn't care about you,” Luna stepped closer to me and lifted my chin up with a hoof.

“Look into my eyes, Feather, I want you to relax… I want you to give in to me... I want to see the pain and doubt in your eyes die as you let me take you into the dark forever."

I took a deep breath before looking into her beautiful eyes. Her tender words echoed in my mind, just give in, just surrender. I realized my breathing had slowed, staring into her eyes was like staring into the endless sea of black that lay just beyond the stars in her beautiful night sky. Suddenly all of my anxiety and fear just faded away as I couldn't help but get lost in those brilliant teal eyes.

“There you are...” Luna gleamed with a satisfied smile as she pressed herself closer.

Stars I wanted her! I don't know how she did it, but all the reservations I had, the fears of getting hurt, they were all just gone, now all I wanted was her… Though, one thing was bothering me.”

“Why did you wait so long?”

Luna stepped back and took a sip of her wine glass before smiling down at me.

“Believe me Feather, I have wanted to do this for a while now, in fact it's all I’ve been able to think about for the past few weeks or so but,” she took a breath, “I never said anything before now because I was so afraid to let myself care about somepony else for the same reasons as you, but also because I knew, over time, I would just eventually lose them.”

She paused with sadness in her voice.

“Lose you... but I realized that if I went through my entire life thinking that way, I would never find happiness,” she let out a small laugh, “but I do care about you Feather, more than anything,” she smiled at me, and my heart skipped another beat.

Oh, Stars Luna… I care about you too, so much I feel like my heart might explode!

“I...” I started to respond to tell her as much, but she silenced me with a feather from her wing.

Luna moved slowly over to me, her wing gliding over my face and down my neck as she did so, making me smile and lean into her soft feathers. She turned my head towards hers with her wing. I lost all sense of sorrow or sadness, or my legs for that matter, as I just looked into those beautiful nocturnal eyes an-

She kissed me!

My mind went completely blank, and my wings fell slack, the only thing I could focus on was her! It wasn't like anything I had ever experienced before! Lips still locked, she guided me away from the table and pinned me against the wall, her tongue, Goddesses her tongue! where had she learned to kiss like that!

After a solid minute of frying my brain, she finally broke off and instead began to nuzzle my neck, kissing it occasionally, and every time she did, it sent a shiver of pleasure throughout my whole body.

“you’re mine sweet Feather.”

After she was done, I returned the favor as I nuzzled her neck, kissing her as I went, just as she had done. I wanted this more than anything! My only desire was to be hers!

Luna let out a purr of pleasure and satisfaction as she slowly and reluctantly released me from the wall. She gave me the most seductive look and I got the distinct impression that she wanted to lead me upstairs back to her room, just the thought sending another shiver through my spine, and other places…

I heard a loud clang of metal and we turned to see Simon with our fish on the table, “here yers stupid sushi now can I please get back to sleep for ponies’ sake!?”

We laughed as he trotted away mumbling something about crazy mares and not getting paid enough.

“We should probably sit back down and actually eat, I am starving,” Luna insisted as she turned back to the table.

Looking back and seeing my disappointment she added, “oh don’t worry I’m not finished with you yet, not even close,” she purred, almost making me fall over.

Come to think of it, I was really hungry as well, and now that there was no more awkwardness between the two of us, we could actually sit down and enjoy a meal together!

“Soo, you never answered my question,'' she prompted, flicking my muzzle with her tail before sitting back down.

“Right,” I replied as I sat back down as well.

“Honestly Princess-”

She again used her wing to silence me, “just Luna is fine,” she purred.

I blushed hard as I continued, “honestly Luna, you saved me,” I smiled still gazing into her beautiful eyes.

“You gave me purpose, even though I've only been here for a few moons, I can't even think of myself as anypony else. Being your Regent has become my life. Serving you is the only thing I care about now.”

“I'm glad to hear it,” she purred again before floating up her salmon roll and taking a bite with a satisfied smile.

I looked down at my own and took a piece off from the end.

“Wow...” I said aloud, continuing to chew, savoring every delectable second before moving on to the next piece. I had never eaten anything this delicious before! I couldn't help myself as I grabbed one after the other, remembering to maintain my manners of course.

“I told you, Simon is the best chef my sister has,” she reminded me, taking a sip from her wine.

We spent the rest of what little time remained of the night, talking about each other, laughing about how we should have done this over a month ago, my future as her regent, and how she couldn't wait to show me off to her sister when she got back from Canterlot in a few days.

To be honest I wasn't much in the way of wanting to meet Celestia, she represented the antithesis of everything I cared about, and from everything I had seen, didn't treat Luna with much respect.

___

leaning on her side with her wing around me, I was led by Luna back into the castle courtyard. I was feeling tipsy, and tired and wanted more than anything to finally just lay down with her as I nuzzled underneath the soft base of her wing. I had waited so long to feel her wing around me like this! She is just so comfortable, soft, and strong, I admit her power is intoxicating. Somehow knowing she could snap my neck like a twig, or rip me apart with little effort, or vaporize me with her magic, just made me all that more into her. I felt safe with her, I couldn't wait to finally lay down with her and be in her arms!

Unfortunately, I knew we had to retrieve my new uniform. As much as I wasn't looking forward to being in sunlight again, I was more than ecstatic at the thought of wearing that beautiful armor, and just being at her side made me happy regardless of whatever it was we were doing.

If the armor was anything like the drawing Luna had shown me before, then I knew I was going to be more than happy when I saw it.

Luna Stopped.

Still leaning on her, I looked up as I saw her horn begin to glow, shadows wrapping around, she closed her eyes and took a breath. Overhead I saw the moon, now with a soft blue glow around it that was barely visible unless I strained my eyes. slowly the moon was lowered across the sky, and as it disappeared over the horizon, it didn't take long for the arcs of sunlight to breach over the opposite.

“Well that means I can finally get some sleep,” I heard the familiar voice of Ruby call out from behind as she approached us yawning.

“I thought you had already turned in for the night?” Luna asked.

“Yeah well, my C.O. caught me trying to sneak back into the barracks before my shift was over and I had to come up with the excuse that I was just making sure all the barrack doors were still locked. Then I just came back out here,” she yawned again, “if it wasn't for a few of the other guards going missing, my lame excuse would have just gotten me a week in cleaning duty for sure.”

“I can't imagine why anypony might run away from my sister's guard,” Luna snickered sarcastically.

Ruby rolled her eyes before stopping a moment to look back and forth between the two of us, a smile creeping up on her face.

“Finally!” she snickered, and we both shot her a look.

“What?” I asked.

“I mean, if I had to do one more night shift and watch you two practically drool over each other without ever saying anything, I was going to go mad!”

Luna and I both blushed.

“Seriously it was getting to the point where Sunny and I were beginning to place bets,” she teased.

“Alright that's enough,” Luna chuckled, “I'm just happy to finally have her” she murmured sweetly, nuzzling me.

“You and me both” I cooed sweetly back, kissing her neck. Making her squeeze me tighter with her wing.

No thanks to you Ruby… I thought.

“Barf,” Ruby complained, “you know there is such a thing as being too cheesy,” she snickered, so anyways where are you two headed off too?”

“To retrieve Feather’s new uniform, the same one I had you drop off a drawing of a few moons ago,” Luna responded.

“Right, well when you get back, I need to talk to you both about something,” Ruby said in a more worried tone.

“Like what,” I prompted.

“It’s fine, I’m probably overreacting, it can wait until you both get back.”

“Alright, well it will have to wait until tomorrow night, because I don't think neither me nor Feather, or you for that matter will be awake for much longer,” Luna yawned.

“That's fine, just be safe,” Ruby said in that same worried voice before turning and trotting away.

“Come on, let's get this over with,” Luna groaned drowsily, “I'll get my saddlebags before we head out.”

She turned to look at me, “the sooner we get this done, the sooner I can have you in my bed,” she purred seductively, giving my ear a small nibble, and sending another chill down my spine.

Thankfully the early morning was still mostly dark, but a slight headache began to set in as the morning progressed. We were traveling by air, both of us moving at a slow, tired pace, eventually I began to see the rooftops of buildings. In retrospect the flight wasn't very long, however it felt like an eternity, as both of us were on the verge of passing out from sleep deprivation. We both landed clumsily just outside the town and Luna tossed me a black cloak from her saddlebags before floating one out for herself.

“These should help with the light sensitivity,” she said as she pulled hers on.

I blinked, dark spots already beginning to cloud the edges of my vision as the morning grew even brighter, the more I blinked didn't matter as the spots just kept getting worse, my skin was beginning to ache as well, and my skull was pounding. I just wanted to be back in darkness... I put on the hooded cloak quickly, thankful for any kind of protection.

“Welcome to Lillypool,” Luna grumbled disdainfully.

Ponies were just starting to become active as we walked through the town, neighbors waved at one another, ponies began to open their shops, the town was starting to become loud. I hated everything about it, it took everything I had not to turn around and run to the nearest darkest spot I could find.

Every time I looked up past my hood, I was reminded exactly why I shouldn't. The sun was fully over the horizon now and it was like having fire pokers jammed into my eyes when I looked anywhere past my hood.

My vision was blurred, and the black spots covered my eyes to the point where I could no longer see what was ahead of me! I had to rest a wing over Luna's back in order to make sure I didn't lose her.

I felt worse than sick.

"What the hell?" I murmured.

My hearing was even affected as everything started sounding muffled. Nausea set in and even with the cloak my skin felt like it was on fire, and my head felt as though it were being smashed repeatedly with a hammer. I knew Luna was probably doing much better than I was, but still I worried for her. I had to stop as I felt a sick feeling begin to rise from my stomach and I had to let go of Luna as I spun around. The nice dinner we just had making a not so nice return as I spilled my guts out all over the dirt road! Tears ran down my singed eyes. Everything just hurt so damn much!

I heard the panicked muffled voice of Luna as I was helped to my hooves. I could also hear the muffled voices of shock and disgust from ponies in the distance. At some point I realized in my daze that I had lost consciousness! Even with my congested nose I could still make out Luna's sweet scent as she quickly carried me, somewhere? It didn't matter, anywhere but here!

Finally, I felt a cool breeze of relief and heard the muffled slamming of a door as I was led to what felt like some kind of sofa. I heard the angry shouts of ponies and heard a very angry muffled Luna shout right back. I felt hoof steps get further away, I then felt something that resembled a damp rag wipe my face clean.

I felt Luna’s soft wing against my face, she was close enough that I heard her, muffled as her voice was.

“Everything’s going to be alright, Feather, I promise,” I felt her grab my shoulders with her forehooves. I couldn't do anything except nod as I remained in agony.

Then, like a cure to a poison I felt, something… I felt it pour in through my eyes, nose and mouth. That same something slowly wrapped tightly around my entire body. Whatever it was, it felt amazing. My skin no longer burned, and my hearing began to return, I felt something cold and comfortable running through my veins. I couldn't help but completely go limp and relax as I smiled in relief, deciding to let whatever this feeling was, consume every part of me.

My vision returned and I saw what that ‘something’ was. It was like a stream of shadows given the appearance of dark translucent tendrils that went into and around my eyes. I breathed in the shadows like it was some kind of dark mist. I could feel it under my skin, in my veins, and in my heart. As frightening as I knew it might have looked to anypony watching, I felt nothing but relief and pleasant goodness. The shadows in my eyes parted for a moment and I saw their source. Luna stood there her bright teal nocturnal eyes locked on to mine, she was still holding my shoulders in her hooves. Her coat was pitch black and her teeth were razor sharp ending in fangs! Even her starlit mane appeared darker, her wings were different as well, though I couldn't quite see them properly. The shadows spilled not from her horn, but from her eyes and her mouth, as they made their way into mine!

The shadows faded and as they did, I was left feeling changed, different, but in a good way, better than I ever have in fact, euphoric even. I watched as her teeth formed back to their normal shape and her coat returned to a dark shade of blue. She closed her eyes as she fell over.

I caught her as she fell.

I did a quick scan around the room, not seeing anypony else. I was fascinated at what I had just seen, however that was the least of my worries as I looked down at Luna unconscious in my arms. Her breath was steady, and she didn't look hurt. I had no idea what to do as I scanned the room for anything I could use, but what could I use that would help!? I wondered helplessly.

I heard her gasp as she opened her eyes and looked into mine, I did all I could think of and hugged her as tightly as I could.

“Are you alright!?” I fretted, “are you hurt?” I asked, pulling my head back and looking her in the eyes.

She blinked in surprise and several moments passed before she spoke cautiously, “You're… you’re, not afraid of me?” she asked, shocked.

She looked up into my eyes with disbelief.

“Why would I ever be afraid of you?” I asked sweetly. moving a piece of mane from her face with a wing.

She smiled in shocked relief before throwing her arms around my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. Just as before, my mind went blank as I got lost in the kiss but instead of letting my wings fall to the ground, I instead wrapped them around the beautiful dark mare and pulled her close, which she clearly liked as I felt her shiver and her tail slowly wrapped around my hindleg.

Goddesses, I've wanted her to hold me like this for so long... I dreamed of her every time I slept, I've never wanted anything so badly in my entire life! I wanted nothing more than to be hers! I let myself relax in her arms and breathed in her sweet scent with a smile.

I heard a pair of hoof steps getting closer and clearly hearing them too, she broke away from the kiss and sat up. My wings pulled away, and we stood up before she pulled me close with a wing for one last hug.

The door at the end of the room opened and a short unicorn mare walked in with a little filly at her side.

Whispering into my ear Luna spoke softly, “I promise I'll explain everything once we are back home.”

I nodded, not necessarily needing an explanation for what I saw, but wanting one all the same. I looked around the room, not having really bothered to pay attention to my surroundings before now. We were in a small wooden building, the wall to my left was lined with all kinds of different pieces of armor barding as well as several shields. On the opposite wall were several impressive swords on display as well as a barrel that was full of some less impressive, battered and bent weapons. In the back was an anvil and a metal bowl of smoldering coals that were being maintained by the fire beneath it.

I could only assume we were at some kind of blacksmiths.

I looked over at the light orange mare’s charcoal stanned coat and barding with goggles dangling around her neck. She had a black mane and tail, with yellow eyes. The filly next to her had a much brighter orange coat with a light brown mane, and the same yellow eyes.

“Go work on ya studies, your sis has guests,” she ordered the little filly next to her before looking back over to Luna and me, “guests with deep pockets,” she said with a smirk, her accent reminding me of Simon.

“But I wanna see the Princess!” the little filly whined.

“No buts, now scram,” she said, giving the filly a little shove.

The little filly gave an angry little stomp before retreating to the door behind her, giving it a hard slam.

“Sorry bout that,” she said straightening up, “name’s Ember Frost,” she proclaimed with a smirk, pointing a hoof at herself proudly, “greatest blacksmith in Equestria, at your service,” she gave a little bow.

Luna raised an eyebrow, “we shall see about that.”

“Oh, you will,” she boasted while maintaining her smirk.

“By the way, what was all that you demanding me and my sis leave our own shop?” She asked indignantly, “if y’all wanted to get freaky with your mare friend ya could a just said so,” We both blushed.

“That is not what we wer-!” Luna started to say before she was interrupted by Ember.

“Hey, I ain't judge’n,” she said, hooves up innocently.

Ember ignored the angry stare from Luna as she continued on.

“Anyways, get excited, because you're about to witness my single greatest creation, second only to the price tag I came up with for it!” Ember announced as she rolled out a pony shaped object covered in a tarp.

“Now prepare for ya pockets ta be a whole lot lighter, cause I ain't cheap, and also cause this thing don't got no pockets!”

And with that, Ember pulled the tarp away with a forehoof to reveal a pony statue wearing a stunning black uniform. Its edges were lined with beautiful, polished metal that outlined the entire thing. The blue stitching provided an amazing accent, and the spine shaped titanium plates that ran along the back reflected the firelight perfectly. The rest of the shoulder and side plating were mostly concealed within the uniform itself; only parts of the plating shown as accent. A shiny metal version of Luna's cutie mark was sewn on to the left collar.

My jaw dropped and we both started prancing with excitement.

“Hold still,” Luna exclaimed excitedly as a blue glow lifted the uniform up and towards me.

“Yeah sure, try it on, don't bother payin me first,” Ember complained with a roll of her eyes and a little kick to the dirt.

We both ignored her as Luna tore my old uniform off with her magic and unclipped the new one before setting it on me. clipping it back up and using her magic to make all the necessary adjustments, she finished fixing my collar before stepping back to look at me.

It fit perfectly I thought, wondering how Luna got my exact measurements. It was comfortable, light and breathable too!

“Okay now turn around!”

I did as she said, turning to face her. Luna's eyes gilded all over me, the expression she was giving me made me blush as I for sure thought that smile said I was about to be pinned to the ground.

“Soo, how do I look?” I asked, giving a little spin as I tried to give her my best seductive look.

“Welp y'all can just leave my money on the table over there,” Ember said trying to get our attention.

Luna slowly trotted up to me, I felt myself get pulled off my hooves as she grabbed me with her magic pulling me in close for another kiss.

“Oh, shucks would ya look at the time suddenly I just realized I have something really important to do... over there!” Ember exclaimed before darting away.

She broke away from the kiss, “I should have taken you a long time ago,” she smirked, “come, let's leave this place so we can finally get some sleep,” she yawned as she tossed a large bag of bits onto the table.

“Oh, and Ember,” Luna called out.

“Uh yeah Princess?”

Luna narrowed her eyes, “you should learn to treat your sister with more respect, before you lose hers.”

Ember looked down and nodded her head, “uh, will do Princess.”

I followed Luna out of the building. I was so distracted I forgot to put the cloak back on, and when the sunlight hit my face, I braced myself for the pain that surely followed.

Aside from a searing headache and general soreness, no excessive pain came.

I opened one eye cautiously looking around, the light made me squint, but thankfully it no longer felt like hot fire pokers were being jammed into my eyes. Opening both eyes, I looked down at my forelegs, and I felt something moving underneath my skin as my veins darkened to the point where I could see them through my white coat. It felt like something deep within me was twisting, my eyes widened.

“Luna, what's happening to me?” I asked, feeling like I should panic, but no panic came, I just felt good...

Luna turned to look at me concerned, she regarded me for a moment before relaxing, “oh good it's working,” she purred.

“Just relax Feather, I'll explain when we get back,” trotting up to me, and putting a wing to my face she asked, “Do you trust me?”

“Of course,” I reassured her, before leaning into her wing, “more than anything.”

I let out a breath, as strange as it was, whatever was happening to me, It felt really good.

“Why am I not-” I started to say.

“A blind sick mess?”

I nodded.

She smiled, “because darkness is a very literal thing and I alone command it, I simply shared some of that darkness with you,” she said, pointing a hoof at my breast before continuing, “you somehow already had literal darkness running through you, it's primarily the reason the sunlight made you so ill in the first place,” she paused with a smile, “but now that I've properly shared it with you, I can control how it affects you."

“Do you feel it changing you?” she asked with a grin.

I smiled, nodding again.

“Like I said, I will explain more once we have returned to the privacy of our own home,” throwing on her cloak she lifted off into the air, “coming?” she yawned.

I threw on my cloak as well, before joining her in the sky. Although I no longer felt like I was dying, the sun was still incredibly irritating. I noticed as we flew, how different everything looked during the day, light shinned through the trees, birds sang their songs, everything was so much louder and brighter. I despised every second of it, it was too much, way too much stimulus. I felt nauseous as we flew, fumbling every now and then as we went. Finally, we made it back to the castle, looking down I saw tons of Celestia’s soldiers and other ponies dressed in formal wear walking the castle grounds, they all seemed to be in some kind of rush.

“Come, let's avoid all of,” Luna paused, “that,'' she said, gesturing to the whole area with a hoof as if reading my thoughts.

I followed her as we made our way to her balcony that stuck out from one of the towers overlooking the courtyard.

As we finally returned to the familiar room Luna immediately cast her shadow spell over it, and I let that sweet feeling of familiar quiet, and darkness wash over me. I tossed off my cloak and flopped down like a heavy rock on my couch bed, letting out a sigh of relief as I did so.

“Finally,” Luna sighed in relief as I heard her trot over to me.

Suddenly I felt breathing on the back of my neck as Luna grabbed the collar of my new uniform with her teeth and slowly started pulling it off, undoing the clips and my hairband with her magic. I let out a shiver and smiled. I was tired, but it didn't matter, I went limp deciding to let Luna do whatever she wanted with me.

After the uniform was off, she tugged on the chain of my necklace, choking me a little as she guided me up and over to her much more comfortable looking bed. As we got to the edge of the soft bed, she pressed me against it, my face in the mattress, I felt her kissing and nuzzling all along down the back of my neck.

Oh, Goddess this feels amazing!

She pushed me the rest of the way up onto the bed before climbing on top of me, her muzzle still nuzzling the back of my neck as she pressed herself against me, arms wrapping over my shoulders. All I could do was smile and make little happy noises as she held me down.

“You smell so good Feather, and you're so soft…” she whispered sweetly, and my smile got even wider.

“This feels, you feel, so amazing...” I murmured happily as she nuzzled and massaged in between my sore wings.

She let go for only a moment before flipping me around with her magic, and I was left staring up into those beautiful nocturnal eyes. Pressing her whole body against me and making me completely lose any ability to have coherent thought, she kissed me, her tongue wrapped around my own as we held each other tightly. I wished this moment could last forever.

She stopped a moment before lifting her head up to look at me.

“Earlier you saw me when I appeared-” she paused, seeming to look for the right words, “different,” she smiled giving my neck a small nuzzle before continuing, “but you didn't care, you weren't afraid.”

She closed her eyes, her mouth open. Shadows began to pour from her as I saw her teeth retake the razor-like appearance that I had seen earlier, her fangs glistening from the soft light in the room, her coat darkened to black, and her wings… Stars, her wings! Her feathers were gone! in their place was smooth translucent skin with almost a grayish purple tint that looked akin to that of a bat! They were so incredibly beautiful, strange, but beautiful!

She opened her eyes, looking back at mine with worry.

“This doesn't scare you?”

“Not even a little bit,” I replied, kissing her. Now she was the one whose wings went limp, I could feel her fangs with my tongue, something about it making me smile even more as we stayed in that kiss for what seemed like an eternity.

Her charcoal coat was incredibly beautiful, and goddess her teeth!

“The black coat, the teeth, the eyes, everything...” she paused, “this is the real me,” she smiled, “and now I know I don't have to hide that with you,” she purred before moving down to my neck, kissing as she went.

She made her way further down past my neck down to my breast and, even further… oh sweet Goddess!

“Wait!” I gasped, making her stop and look up, “I've never done this before,” I admitted, blushing with unbridled embarrassment.

Luna smiled as she moved her eyes back up to mine and whispered into my ear, “you trust me?” she asked, biting down gently on my ear and making me shiver.

I nodded.

“Then just relax, I promise I'll be gentle,” she cooed sweetly before slowly making her way back down.

I did as she said, I gasped as I felt her tongue! and stars did I relax….