Changing The Lunar Guard

I looked at myself. I felt humiliated. I was going for a guard. I wanted to be a guard. Even at a distance anypony could see I wasn’t a guard. Not a single colour on my was correct. What was supposed to be a bright white coat, ended up being a light grey. My armour ended up a purple/blue instead of a solid gold. And that was the least of my worries.

“How did you give yourself bat wings?!?” Crystal managed to yell out in between bouts of laughter. Crystal was on the floor. Luna was quietly snickering in her chair. I tried to inspect my wings more but they felt really stiff. With a little energy I managed to open them only to realise my mistake.

“And you made them out of metal! I didn’t even know we could do that!” More laughter followed. How did I manage to make my wings part of my armour. Somehow I had managed to make fully functioning metal wings. How was I supposed to fly. Nothing with metal wings flies.

As soon as I got over the shock, I changed back. My first instinct was to run. Quickly turning to the door, I closed my eyes and went into a full sprint. I just wanted to be somewhere else but Luna seemed to have different ideas. I couldn’t see it but I assume she teleported in front of me because we made a spectacular crash.

"Why did thou try to leave?" Luna said as she lifted herself back up. "We are not done with thy training yet."

"But I..." I trailed off.

"Thou made an amusing mistake. We expected as much. However it is one thing to make a mistake but it is another to to try to run from it."

"Wow Luna. That sounded somewhat poetic." Crystal mentioned.

"We guess our sister is rubbing off on us."

"So you want me to try again?"

"Actually we kind of like this shape. Much more menacing and a lot less elegant. Crystal do you think you could replicate Nightfall's look?"

"With ease." A flash of green and and another creature stood in the room.

"Excellent, I now dub both of thee lunar guards."

Several hours later Crystal and I stood outside Luna's bed chambers on either side of the door. It was daytime but Luna was sleeping. Our first duty as lunar guards was to protect her while she slept. I stood perfectly still as I was taught but Crystal...

"I spy with my little-"

"quiet Crystal."

"But-"

"quiet."

"What if I-"

"quiet."

"Stop saying-"

"quiet."

"You just finished my sent-"

"I did not finish your sentence, I was telling you to be quiet."

"But it sounded like-"

"I know what it sounded like, just be quiet."

"Why?"

"We need to be able to hear if anypony is in the room."

"What are the odds of that happening?"

"Slim to none but if it does happen we need to be prepared. It could be an assassin, a ponyknapper or even a changeling after us."

"Look who's the one talking now."

"Just be-" I thought I heard something from behind the wall.

"Just be what?"

"quiet, I think I heard something."

"Let's go in then."

I was going to stop Crystal but before I could she had already opened the door. Standing inside was a tall pony female. Even taller than Luna. She was bright white in colour and had a mane that flowed in an imaginary breeze (though not as beautiful as Luna's).

"I guess you are better then I gave you credit for."

"Who are you and why are you in Princess Luna's bedroom?"

"I am Princess Celestia. Luna's older sister."

"I am so glad to meet you. I'm Crystal. I was bored out of my mind standing by that door. Now that you're here I don't have to be bored."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but I should be leaving soon. But before I go, could I get your name?" She looked right at me.

I was going to introduce myself but Crystal beat me to it. "That's Nightfall, but you can call him Nighty for short."

"Interesting name, I don't believe it is often somepony is named after my sisters night."

"Actually He-" I cut Crystal off. I thought I could give my own intro.

"As Crystal was saying, I wasn't named after the night. I was named after the rock."

"The rock?"

"She's a pony. She doesn't know about the meteor."

"Why didn't you use telepathy before?"

"Cuz. But we do need to tell her the story."

"Anything you wish to share?" Celestia stood there patiently.

"No, it's just an old changeling story." I replied.

"A really really really old story."

"Would you mind sharing this story with me?"

"Sure. It all starts on a dark and stormy night."

"Crystal wait." I interjected. "One, you are not telling the story about MY name and two, why should we trust her? From what I've heard she is has been arguing with Luna about us every chance she gets."

"Actually I can explain that." We both turned to Celestia.

"Let me guess, you were fake arguing." I said with an eye roll.

"That isn't far from the truth. You see Luna hasn't been herself for a while. She doesn't speak to people. She quietly sits in her room. She hasn't even been visiting dreams."

"She can visit dreams?"

"She can but she hasn't been. I have been arguing with her to try to get her to react. I'm trying to get a reaction. I’m trying to teach her that she can stand up to me. I have had no problems with my sisters actions. In fact, I agree with most of them. I just want her back. "

"So you thought that arguing with her would give her confidence?" I criticized her.

"When you say it that way it seems unrealistic. So far it has been working. She has been wandering outside the castle, she has made some friends and sentenced two ponies to prison in her own court. It has definitely brought her confidence back. However I remember you were about to tell a story."

"Very well."

"A long time ago, on a dark and stormy night.

Thunder could be heard overhead and the sound of rain was almost as deafening. A lone unicorn ran in the forest. She was fast and showing no signs of slowing down even though her mare was becoming soaked.

She was scared. The forest was a strange place to her and she was far from home. She continued to run. She had no idea where she was going but she had to find shelter. She didn’t stop running.

She may have been the most lucky mare in the world. Had she run a different way she would have burned. Had she stopped to catch her breath she would have burned. Had the meteor not fell at that exact spot, she would have burned. With a perfect storm of circumstances, the heavens opened up and a ball of fire fell from the heavens.The meteor crashed into her.

Luckily with an incredible burst of magic she shielded herself for only a fraction of a second. That fraction of a second was when everything changed.  The forest was gone. It just wasn’t there. A new desert stretched on for miles. But that sad wounded mare was trapped under the boulder.

It was luck by which that mare survived the meteor but it was by magic by which she survived the following weeks. The meteor seemed to feed her. To change her. She still looked the same but she felt different. She couldn’t tell how but she felt it. Three months had passed when she had gained enough energy to escape and even that was with help.

The stallion that helped saved her was average. Though changeling know him as legend. The only knowledge of him was that his mane shared the primal colours of the changelings. He was kind and so he took the mare to his nearby shelter and provided her a home.

Over two years later the two seemingly average ponies were married and eleven months after that their first foal was born. It wasn't welcome. The newborn foal was dark and terrifying to look at. It had a shell like an insect and fangs like a bat. A horn raised off the top of its head and its wings were not of pony. They cast out their child and left it to rot in the desert. However, like her mother, she found shelter with the meteor. Over time she burrowed into it. Starting a cave system that would last millennia.

Years passed and the child grew. She greatly surpassed her parents in height. She grew in magic as well. She considered herself a powerful sorceress, even though she had never know any other magic users. And she lived on, needing almost nothing to survive. Only then did her father return.

He was teary eyed and dragging his wife's coffin. He had intended to beset her where he had found her but he returned to find a cave. It was at that point she began to manipulate him. She used him to expand her catacombs and with time, she used him as a power source. He loved her as a child but she began to change that. Only a month after his arrival and his heart was drained of love and he lay as still as his wife. They were buried together.

He may have been dead but his legacy lived on. She soon laid her first eggs and a new race was born.

"The changelings called that meteor nightfall. Not the most complicated of names but it seems to fit."

"And then a long long long time later Nighty was named after it." Crystal added.

"Well I believe that is enough story time for tonight." Celestia commented. "You two better return to your post before you wake up my sister."

"Too late 'Tia, Thou woke us up halfway through the meteor story." A flash of white light and Celestia was gone from the bedroom. "Because that will help us get back to sleep."

"I'm sorry for waking you." I said.

"Tis nothing, I really do not need to sleep. Tis only relaxing."

"Uhm Luna if you don't mind." Crystal hesitated. "Could you let me get some sleep. I'm not used to being a guard yet."

I almost held my breath. Not that Crystal wasn't a good guard but she didn't get the concept of quiet. "Yes thou can sleep. Be ready for duty tomorrow."

I took a few steps towards the door with Crystal. My post was outside the bedroom door, so that was where I was heading.

"Where doth thou think thou are going Nightfall?" Crystal kept going.

"I was just returning to my post." I replied.

"Nonsense. We don't feel like going back to sleep yet. Why don't thou keep us company?"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course we are sure. Come on Nightfall, come lay by our side in our bed."

I briefly thought about it and came to the result: Why not? A quick stroll across the room and I was at her bed. A small leap and I was in bed. It was a very soft bed. I was used to the hard floors of the hive but somehow simply sinking into the bed was the most relaxing thing I had ever done.

"Peaceful, is it not?" I didn't speak. I could only muster up the energy to nod in delight. "Come closer, I want to show you something."

I moved a little bit closer. We were both relaxing when I saw the soft glow of her horn. In a matter of seconds the room was lit up. It started with a few dots on the ceiling. They all glowed ever so slightly. Those dots multiplied and multiplied and multiplied.The entire room was filled with these small glowing dots.

"Amazing isn't it? We helped design it a long time ago. It is a perfect replica of our night sky.  This is the best star map in all of Equestria."

"It's beautiful."

And we both peacefully fell into a silent slumber.