Target Acquired: Tickle Time!

The Next Morning…

The sun rose over Canterlot with a brilliant shine of orange-red. While there might not have been as many birds chirping their songs in the big city, the silent warmth of the coming day was enough to serenade the masses into waking up. In the castle above, a pair of good friends were still sleeping. Princess Cadence, the Princess of Love and Night Fury, Speed Shifters and current tickle expert.

After having a successful session with his pink pony pal, he was well on his way to giving all of his Equestrian friends the good tickle treatment. And today was no different, for today, a certain moon pony was on his drowsy mind.

The black cat silently stretched out his limbs and licked his chops, looking around at the room. Having spent the night cuddled up with Cadence in her room, he was currently tangled in a web of hooves and wings that kept him very still. But, he had to get up. He was ready to take on the day and more importantly, he had another victim to catch.

He tried to squirm his way out of his friend's grasp, but she tightened up and nuzzled into his chest fur. She seemed to enjoy his company.

“Okay,” Fury said to himself, “as sweet as this is, I do have a schedule to keep. And I know just the way to wake up Lovebird, here.”

With a smug grin, he stretched his paws out to the base of her wings, and gently wiggled his toes to begin tickling her. Her reaction was explosive, as he expected, and Cadence let out a very loud squeal while wiggling in ticklish glee. Once again, Night Fury was thankful the castle's rooms were soundproof, or else a certain royal advisor would have an ear full of reprimand for him.

“Furehehehehehehehey! Why did you wake me up like thihihihihihihis!?” She asked as Fury took the opportunity to slip through her loose grip and get away.

“Because you seemed to like keeping me hugged close to you like a teddy bear. Seriously, with the way you practically dug your muzzle into my chest fur, I'd have thought you were in the mood for dumping Shining for me.” Fury said, eliciting a horrified gasp from the married mare in the room.

“How dare you! I am nothing but loyal to my dear Shiny! You have no right to say we would ever separate when you can't even build up the courage to ask out a bug!” Cadence said, a little too bluntly as she quickly covered her mouth and gave Fury a wide-eyed look of regret as he eyed her like a skeptical salespony looking at a teen trying to buy a new furniture set.

“Wow. A little too deep of a cut, eh?” Fury said.

“Eeyup!” Cadence replied, in a perfect impression of Big Mac. “Sorry about that. Admittedly, I get a little… too defensive over my love for my husband. It's almost impulsive.”

“No biggie. I mean, you're the Princess of Love, Cady. You are the embodiment of everything that has to do with love. The nerves of the first date, the sweaty hooves at the first kiss, the oh so tingly butterflies in your tummy when you finally make the connection. It's all what you represent. Although, I'm sure there are… other parts of love you represent not so openly~” Fury said, smirking a devilish look.

“Oh you dirty feline! You should be ashamed of yourself, talking about such risque topics! How scandalous.” Cadence said in a mock disgust.

“Oh please, when have you ever known me to shy away from a joke or be ashamed of saying it?” Fury asked as he walked into the bathroom for a shower. Cadence opened her mouth to return an answer, but then she realized he had her there. He was no slouch when it came to capitalizing on a possible joke.

“Anyway… who do you plan to tickle next? Auntie Tia or Auntie Luna?” Cadence asked, changing the subject.

“Well, I'm going from youngest to oldest, so Luna's next. But it isn't as easy as you think. We're talking about the same pony that has seen my dreams on the constant. She could know I'm coming already as we speak! So, I have to be ready for anything. But Celestia should be easy to deal with.” Fury said, getting the pink princess’ attention.

“Really? The older of the two is easier?” Cadence pondered aloud as she took the time to brush her coat.

“She may be older than Luna, but she seems to be more oblivious to tricks and schemes nowadays. Perhaps all the time Discord has gotten under her skin has sort of made her numb to catching sneaky tricks since she's had such bold attempts made on her so many times.”

“Well… that might be true…” Cadence admitted. “But, she did wield the Element of Laughter prior to Twilight and her friends. That might have something to do with it, too.”

“Heh, I can only imagine. You think the Element of Laughter is why Pinkie is so wacky all the time?” Fury asked, making his exit from the bathroom with a good cloud of steam and a towel around his neck to boot. Cadence looked over and saw his mostly damp form, drops of water rolling over his rather athletic body and the steam making his fur shiny. All of this combined with his half-lidded expression and side glare made her turn a particularly bright shade of red.

“Quite possibly,” she said, attempting to keep from giggling. “With that mare, you never know.”

“Cadence, don't think I didn't see you blush right then. What? Do I look… Delicious?” He purred. At that statement, Cadence collapsed in a fit of laughter.

“Bahahahahaha! You are terrible!” She squealed through fits of giggles.

“Well, I do have a way of making things break down.” Fury said as he reached for his bags and grabbed his journal. Flipping to Luna's picture, he circled her with red and claimed her as his next target.

“Target Acquired.”

–

Luna was lying on her bed, quietly crying to herself. While joining Shining Armor on his rounds the night before, a member of the guard made an off-hoof comment about her time as Nightmare Moon. He didn’t know that she’d overheard him, but Shining did. Although he promised he’d handle it and told her not to worry, she couldn’t help reminiscing about who she used to be.

“It seems I won’t ever escape her shadow,” Luna sobbed. “Oh, how I wish Tia or Twilight were here… (sniffle)… I could really use a friend, right now.”

In the shadows around her room, a figure of feline descent watched in heartache as she bawled her eyes out at her grievances. Night Fury had been made aware of Luna's past only a few times in conversation with Celestia herself, her words being very vague as the mental toll on her was just as drastic being the one having to do the banishing. But even though the very odd wording of the stories told, he was able to piece together that things were very difficult back then for both ends.

“Will I ever be free from her?” Luna asked, rhetorically. “Why must I deal with this alone, right now?”

“Who says you’re alone, right now?” Another voice asked, startling her.

“Who is there!? Show yourself!” She commanded.

“No need to fret, Luna. I'm just a friend coming to help. You said you wished for a friend, correct?” The voice asked. Luna was now more curious than startled as she began conversation with the strange being.

“Yes… who are you?” She asked.

“You will find that out soon. But first, I must address your woes. You seem to be contemplating your worth after becoming Nightmare Moon. A back-hooved comment, perhaps?”

“How’d you guess?” Luna asked, sarcastically, before continuing to cry. “And how exactly do you plan to help me? Who are you? Please, show yourself.”

“That requires that you give me your undivided attention and trust. Can you do that for me?” The voice asked. Luna was still skeptical about this mystery helper, but decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“I s-suppose I could. What do you require from me?” She asked.

“Just for you to lie on your back and close your eyes. Only then can I truly help you.”

“V-very w-well,” Luna stuttered, wiping some tears away as she adjusted to the stranger’s request. Once she was comfortable, she took a slow, deep breath before shutting her eyes. “You may fire when ready.” she exhaled.

“Okay then… Ready or not, here I come!” Within a few seconds a large amount of pressure dropped onto Luna's belly. But before she could even wonder what it was, a tingling feeling replaced the pressure accompanied by a now familiar voice.

“Wait! Waahhihihihiihit!” She squealed. “Fuhuhuhuryhehehehehehe you johohohohohohkherhehrherhehreh!”

“It amazes me that you ponies never seem to get used to this side of me,” he stated, ending his assault.

“Try comparing that statement with Pinkie Pie, the embodiment of the word ‘impossible’,” Luna countered.

“Touché,” Fury calmly replied. “By the way, did that help cheer you up, any?”

“A little,” Luna said, quietly, with a smile. Her cheeks turned red because she was a little embarrassed to admit it.

“Mind if I continue?” he asked, specifically looking at her hooves, hopeful that she’d agree. “I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

She nodded and put them in his lap, stammering as she remembered just how sensitive her hooves are. But that didn’t stop her from going through with it.

Fury then incapacitated her hooves by gently wrapping and securing them in his tail. He then removed her slippers, and began to gently stoke his paws up and down her frogs, causing Luna to start giggling uncontrollably. She placed her forehooves over her lips to try and conceal her laughter, and was just barely succeeding.

“That’s it, that’s it,” Fury encouraged her. “Just keep giggling.”

He then noticed a few of Luna’s feathers on the floor, nearby. He picked them up and used them on the Princess’s hooves.

This caused Luna to explode in gleeful laughter. She’d always been feather ticklish, a fact that Celestia and her pet Phoenix, Philomena, had taken advantage of ever since their fillyhood.

“BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAAAAAHAHAHAHAH!” Luna screamed with laughter.

“Jackpot!” Fury thought to himself, quickening the pace at which the feathers were caressing. This continued for another twenty minutes before Luna finally broke.

“BLUEBERRY!” She finally screamed.

Fury ceased the tickling and released her immediately. Luna and Fury had become fairly close over his time in Equestria, so close that whenever they were having fun or messing around, they came up with a safe world just in case things were getting out of hoof. He then stepped back to look at the mess he’d made of the Princess of the Night.

“So… feel any better?” He asked.

“Much…” she breathlessly answered, still trying to regulate her breathing and giggling.

“I knew that’d work,” Fury said, with a smile. “By the way, when will Celestia be free next? Because she’s my next target.”

“Give me a few hours. I’ll get you an audience with her,” Luna said, happily. “I saw in her dreams last night that the Canterlot Elite have been particularly stressful for her recently. I’m sure she’d welcome some ‘Playtime’.”

“As would I.” Fury said with a smile. Saying goodbye, he left the princesses room and tipped an invisible hat to her guards. They mostly knew the drill when it came to his pranks, leaving the princesses alone and not bothering them while he ‘Did his work’. It had basically become an unwritten protocol among both the day and night guard. Either way, he still had one more to hit. And this one, was going to me the biggest prize of them all.

Pulling his journal out, he crossed off Luna's photo and prepared for his next move.

“Target Down. 2 Down, 1 to go!”