Chapter 2

The day was rather quiet for Luna, even after her and her sister had come to an agreement. This agreement came after she had walked in on her sister in tears a few days prior. This agreement was simple. At first she would take some time to rest and relax, a few months at most. In this period of rest, she would take the time to connect and find ponies to serve her own court. This news gave Luna a bit more spring in her step, which was evident as she trotted through the halls on the following days.

With a smile that was virtually from ear to ear, she continued through the halls. This was something she commonly did a thousand years ago, something she only did while she was in deep thought. It helped quite a bit with her thought process, but the more she thought about her issues the more questions it brought up. Where would she even start looking for a trustworthy court adviser? One she knew she could trust very deep down. One that could help her gain a greater connection to her ponies and one who could also help educate her about the modern age. It was tricky too it was something she couldn't go to her sister about, as the answer was clearly obvious.

After she collapsed onto her bed, tossing all her regalia aside the night mare flipped onto her back. She inched her body around on the soft surface in an attempt to find a bit of comfort while she stared at the ceiling. 'What am I going to do?' she asked herself, as she continued to run through the few ponies she actually knew. It was then a realization struck her and a grin began to spread across her face. 'Perhaps I should ask Twilight Sparkle to be my court adviser?' the instant this thought came to her mind, her smile only began to widen. 'She is my sister's student after all, meaning she could have some understanding of what it means...plus...I don't think I've ever seen such a wonderfully plump flank.' That particular thought alone only made Luna lick her own lips. She quickly caught herself however, shaking her head in dismay.

“No! Bad Luna!” she scolded herself, “Do we remember the last time we got together with another of your sister's students?” It was something that only made her cringe and while a few of the memories were pleasant, some of the others only brought back old pain. 'Curses Tia...why do you always choose the students that turn out the sexiest?' Luna only whimpered before turning to her side with a very soft sigh. The thousand-year absence did little to settle the multitude of problems her court always had.

As time passed, Luna remained motionless. Thoughts raced all throughout her head, possibilities on who she could appoint came and went. Eventually as she ran out of possibilities, her mind finally began to settle. The endless hours of simple thinking had already taken its toll on the Princess of the Night. The instant she ran out of names she tossed a pillow from beneath her head across the room.

It flung across the room, striking a small vase on her dresser. This caused it to tilt over on its side and roll onto the ground, shattering into several pieces. Not only spilling the water, but also leaving the flowers out to die. Luna grinned sheepishly as she saw this occur, knowing full well it wouldn't be much longer before the guards responded to the sound of the vase shattering. This was what she expected, however there was nothing much to Luna's surprise.

Five minutes passed and still, the guards that her sister had assigned to stand guard at her door had yet to respond. It was bizarre for this to happen, as she knew the solar guard was very disciplined and punctual. She also knew that they were very direct and that, they would've done anything to ensure her safety. If this truly was the case then, why hadn't they barged in yet? Had she intimidated them a little too much a few days ago? So much so that they would forgo their duties a little bit? Somehow, Luna doubted that. Even though they were afraid of her, they still should have at least come in to check up on her.

After fifteen minutes had passed, her curiosity began to get the better of her. So, slowly she climbed from the bed and trotted to the door. As she approached it, she slowed her pace significantly. Being very sure to walk as quietly as she possibly could as to avoid drawing attention. Upon reaching the door, she gently placed her ear to it, giving an attempt to listen in on any possible conversation that the two could be having. However, upon inspection she was met with something even stranger.

Silence. Complete and total silence. This in turn caused her to force open the door in concern. It was in this particular moment where she was met with an even more unpleasant surprise. The halls themselves were empty. The two stallions that had been at her door were gone. This only seemed to confuse the lunar princess even further as she glanced down either side of the hall. Had her sister walked by and dismissed them? She shook her head in denial of that thought.

'No...Tia wouldn't do something like that this early...our magic hasn't recovered!' Luna thought, 'If she didn't...then something must have happened! But...how? They were very well trained guards!' A bit of panic began to set in as she continued to glance from the right to the left. Should she go to Celestia's room to seek her own protection? Or should she investigate this? It only took a second for her to decide, knowing full well what was most important to her.

Without further thought, Luna began to move silently down the hall to her left. The instant she had however, she was overcome with a familiar sense. It was the feeling from a few days ago. As the feeling overcame her she spun around, glancing down the hall that had been to her back for something, or someone. What was curious though was the fact that the hall was completely devoid of other ponies. This sent a chill up the princess' spine as she continued on her original path.

Luna grew more concerned with each step. Even as she listened carefully to her surroundings, the feeling wouldn't vanish. While she wouldn't show it too deeply, she was actually terrified. While she had indeed dealt with many terrifying things, her sister had always been right beside her. They had always supported one another, given each other strength. That wasn't the case this time however. As it stood, Celestia was most likely fairly busy at this time of day and to make matters worse, she wasn't anywhere close to full strength. At best, she could only muster a basic levitation spell. She could make that work in her favor however, given she was a better fighter than her sister.

The more she thought about it, the more relaxed she became, realizing that her skills as a warrior would be detrimental at this moment. Just as Luna's worries began to vanish, she rounded the corner. The moment she did, she was greeted by a sight that was a bit terrifying, yet somehow extremely hilarious to look at. She didn't know whether it was the positions the four guards had been put in, or the look on their faces that made it more hilarious, but she immediately began to laugh at the sight before her.

On the ground lied four guards, Two unicorns, one pegasus and one earth pony. The four glanced up at Luna with relief in their eyes and while none could speak, given they were all gagged, their eyes alone spoke volumes. What was even stranger still, was the fact that the four were also hog-tied right in the middle of the floor, but that wasn't what really made the Lunar Princess curious. It was what they were all tied with that stirred curiosity. As she trotted over to undo their gags and bindings, she examined them even closer. At first glance it looked like they had been tied with a rope dyed green.

Luna knew different however, this wasn't simply a rope that held them all in place, oh no. Their bindings were vines. Very strong vines of ivy that were native to Equestria, at least a thousand years ago. These vines were highly resistant to magic and very difficult to break with brute strength alone. As she tore the vines off the first guard, she spoke up.

“Who did this?” She asked, her voice stern yet rather curious. He glanced up to the princess for a moment.

“We...don't know, he was too fast,” the unicorn guard stated, looking to the ground in shame. The other guards followed his actions, all of them gazed at the ground. “All we know is that, its a stallion, and he's unbelievably strong for his race.”

“How can thine be sure of this individual's gender and race?” Luna inquired, tilting her head to the side.

“We know he's a stallion because of his voice and strength,” he replied, as one of the other guards was freed by Luna he spoke up as well.

“And we're sure he's a unicorn too, because he conjured these vines,” The earth pony guard added as he climbed to his feet.

“But...I've never seen a unicorn move that fast or hit that hard before!” the pegasus guard continued as his own bindings were undone by the princess. “Even for us, a unicorn that strong would be at the level of the captain for sure!”

“So, he's as strong as Sir Shining Armor?” Luna continued to inquire.

“Maybe stronger! Because I believe that he was simply toying with us,” the second unicorn mentioned as his gag was removed. This is what really snagged Luna's attention from this point. While she hadn't met Shining Armor, she had heard of just how tough he was. At least according to the rumors that were floating around about him. Were they true? She didn't know, but they were the only thing she could really go off of aside from Celestia's explanation as to why he became the Captain.

“What makes thou believe that?”

“For one, he didn't really hurt any of us...” the earth pony replied, this only caused Luna to take a second glance over all four of the guards and much to her surprise none of them had any real physical injuries. About the only thing hurt on them was their pride, which had been evident by the pleading looks she had gotten after finding them. She had to stifle a giggle at this.

'Tia's guards are slipping...' she thought, trying her best to hold back her amusement in this. While it was a serious situation, it was also funny to hear that four royal guards had been taken down by just a single unicorn. This immediately raised another question. “Are you sure he was alone?”

“Yes, we're sure!” all four said simultaneously, this only caused Luna's stifled giggle to turn into a full blown laughing fit. It took them a few seconds to realize what they had just done, but when they finally did, a visible shade of pink appeared on all four of their faces.

“Four of Tia's best...taken down by a single unicorn!” she laughed, on the verge of tears, “Hah! That's rich! Especially given that you're saying his strength, speed and magic were great enough to overcome two unicorns, a pegasus and an earth pony!”

“Well...it wasn't so much any of those things, as it was his wit...” the pegasus commented, his ears lowering in shame, “He seemed to be able to counter anything we did! Even with all four of us on him!” the pegasus paused as Luna's laughter seemed to die down. “It was like...like--”

“Like he was using your own strengths against you?” Luna asked, her tone growing more serious in an instant. “Like he wasn't fighting with his own strength...but redirecting your own onto each other?” They nodded at first, resulting in the princess falling back into her thoughts. Now where had she heard of this before? It had been so long since she had seen or heard of anything even remotely related to this, at least a thousand years. Even if that thousand years was spent on the moon.

“And...the magic he used,” one of the unicorn guards recalled, “It was...unlike any kind of magic I had ever seen!” he paused for a moment as he turned to the princess. “His magic...it was like nature itself seemed to spring from his horn...and come to life. It seemed to bend to his will.” That rung a bell in Luna's thoughts when she heard it.

'Quercus!' her thoughts screamed, 'He's alive?! The other alicorns are alive?!' Just as she was about to jump for joy about this new revelation she was cut off by the guards yet again.

“While he was...humiliating us, the hood of his cloak fell back, it revealed his face...” the pegasus pointed out, standing beside his fellow guards. “However, I didn't get too good of a look at it...”

“I did however!” The earth pony stated, “He had a messy brown mane, a green coat and greenish-brown eyes.” That's where her spirits were crushed in an instant. She recalled Quercus didn't have a brown mane. Plus, this individual had been described as a unicorn anyhow, why had she even thought it to be Quercus? He was long gone.

“I will be sure to keep that in mind,” Luna remarked, “Now, I want one of you to tell your captain to report to me immediately and another to inform my sister of this little...incident...in detail. The rest of you, are to stand outside my door until the end of your shift.” All of them nodded as she began to trot back to her room. One of the unicorns galloped off in the opposite direction while the earth pony raced ahead of Luna, heading in the direction of her sister's room.

With the guards back in place, Luna had quietly slipped back into her room. She was greeted in a rather unexpected manner after the door had closed behind her however. There he was, in the dead center of her room. He sat calmly, his expression unmoving. It was unnerving to meet his greenish-brown eyes, as they held a sense of seriousness she had never seen.

What Luna first noticed was the simple fact that he was a unicorn, matching the description she had received not more than five minutes ago. Yet, he was far different than she had expected. Yes, he had a rather ragged dark brown mane and a forest green coat, but that wasn't what threw her off. What got the princess was his form. He was a bit bigger than a normal unicorn, probably about the same size as she was in her present state. That wasn't all though; he also had muscles like she couldn't believe. Beneath the cloak, on the visible sections of his body she could see it very clearly. He was very well fit. Even his legs were on a level the guards couldn't match. It was no wonder they had lost to a unicorn like this. His body alone was unbelievable compared to them. How had a unicorn gotten that kind of body?

The final thing that seemed to draw her attention though, was his cutie mark. It too was something she hadn't ever seen before. While it felt familiar, she simply just couldn't place her hoof on where she had seen something like it. It was a Heart's Desire flower with its tip dripping ink crossing over a light green, almost emerald colored crescent moon.

“Princess Luna, I apologize for sneaking into your room,” the mysterious unicorn muttered, his voice was strong and a bit on the deep side. It was something Luna liked quite a bit, virtually making her blush on the spot.

“I-it is fine...!” she stammered, “And, I also assume that you were the one who roughed up the guards?” This received a nod as she began her steady approach of the pony. As Luna drew closer to him, she inspected every inch of his body with just her eyes alone. He only followed her movements slowly, but remained stationary as she examined him.

“Yes, that was me,” he admitted, “Although the only thing I harmed on them was their pride.” Luna fought to hold back a soft laugh.

“If that was your goal, you did it rather well,” Luna remarked as her gaze moved down his back, onto his rump. Just a single glance was all she needed before her jaw fell open wide. This stallion was cut from a completely different cloth as compared to stallions nowadays. 'So...toned...' she thought, 'Now...he's a stallion!' Even as her thoughts shifted to ones of desire, she couldn't help but wonder why he now stood before her. She knew that he had no intention of causing any harm, otherwise he would've done so the moment she entered the room. “What has brought a stallion like yourself before me?”

The unicorn's expression remained unchanged, even as he began to feel the princess' hooves gently move over his body. While he did blush a tiny bit as she poked at his flank, he couldn't complain. In fact, it actually looked like he was starting to enjoy himself, especially as she began to move a hoof right down his spine very lightly. “Princess, I have come to offer my services to you,” he said, as her hooves began to trail up his body again.

“And what kind of services would those be?” Luna asked, her voice growing a bit more sensual. It was obvious just what was on her mind in this moment, the tone of her voice tipping him off to her wishes. It only made his cheeks burn slightly in the embarrassment as he could feel his own body temperature beginning to rise.

'What does the oath entail?' he thought, feeling the princess' hoof once again poke at his flank. “A-anything you might need,” he replied after a moment of careful thought. By the time he realized his word selection, it was far too late to take it back as he found himself facing down the Lunar Princess.

Luna grinned the instant she heard those words. Whether it was a mistake on his part or not, she wasn't going to waste the opportunity that this stallion had just given her. Not only was he possibly one of the most attractive stallions she had seen since her return, but she wondered just how strong he really was. Perhaps he could even make a fantasy come to life today? Without a second thought, she wrapped her hoof around the back of his head and pulled him straight into a lust-driven kiss.

The stallion was in complete shock for a good five seconds as Luna stole the kiss. He wanted to pull away at first, he really did. He also didn't want to upset the princess either and as the kiss continued, his mind gradually went blank completely. It only took another second or two before his instincts kicked in and he returned the kiss. As he did, the princess slowly began to move her hooves around him, attempting to pull him in closer as she backed up to her bed. It became obvious where Luna was leading this and he didn't seem to mind in the least.

It just wasn't to be however, as the door swung open. There he stood in the archway, his cheeks now visibly growing a bright shade of red, obviously visible against his white coat. At first, he wanted to back out of the room as he was met with what was about to occur. However, just a single glance with his cerulean eyes told him he couldn't. He didn't speak at all, instead he took immediate action. The white unicorn virtually leapt from the door, right at the green unicorn. This of course broke the kiss both he and Luna had been locked in, much to the princess' own dismay. The two hit the ground hard, but it was the green unicorn that felt it the most as he now had an equally strong unicorn now pressing him to the carpet.

“Who are you?” the white unicorn asked as he pointed his horn at the other.

“I could ask you the same,” he remarked, “But, I already know...Shining Armor.”

“H-how...?” Shining Armor asked, perplexed as to how the unicorn knew his name. He never met this unicorn before in his life, nor had he ever even seen a unicorn of this color before. At least, that's what he originally thought. Upon closer inspection though, he recalled something he had been told quite a while back, about a unicorn colt with a green coat.

“Are you telling me, you don't remember Princess Cadance talking about me?” he inquired, in an almost sarcastic tone. “I'm hurt! Especially considering I was her second favorite to foal-sit for, next to your little sister!” This seemed to strike a nerve in the captain as he forced his face back down into the carpet.

“How do you know Cadance?” he hissed, unable to believe the fact that his marefriend would ever foal-sit for a stallion like him. “Because I don't recall her ever--”

“Please don't make me do that silly rhyme she taught me...” he remarked, rolling his eyes.

“What rhyme?” Shining Armor asked curiously, almost as if he actually knew what he was talking about.

“Something...she only taught to her favorite foals to sit for...your sister and myself,” he added, “I never really liked it as a colt either...I thought it kind of girly...” This is where Shining Armor gained quite the grin on his face as he gazed down at the still mysterious unicorn.

“Tell me,” he smirked, “And I might consider letting you go.”

His eyes went wide to this, almost as if he was now pleading for it. “Please...anything but that! I'd rather go to the dungeon than repeat that rhyme!” he whimpered, beginning to struggle against Shining Armor's grip.

“Do it! Prove how you know Cadance and I!” he snapped, “Or I could add stalking to the list of charges already on you!” He only sighed, slowly beginning to close his eyes. It was in this time his cheeks began to turn red, very visibly too.

“Sunshine...Sunshine...” he began, feeling the burning throughout his entire face now. “Ladybugs awake...clap your hooves and do a little shake.” his voice was calm the entire time he repeated the phrase. It was in this very moment that all the other guards in and around the room broke out into a laughing frenzy. Even Shining Armor too broke out into a laughing fit. It wasn't so much the rhyme that did it, but who actually repeated it. Even Luna couldn't help herself either, laughing very softly as she watched everything unfold.

“What's so funny?” a regal voice asked from the doorway. “Did I miss a joke?”

“Princess Celestia!” Shining Armor exclaimed, turning to face her while still holding the unicorn in place. “This unicorn just repeated a...funny rhyme, at least for him to say.”

“Might I know what the rhyme was?” Celestia inquired, tilting her head slightly to the side as she moved over to the unicorn.

“Please...no...don't make me repeat it again!” he whined, glancing up at Celestia.

“Well, I suppose...given you did the job I asked of you,” she finally said, this is where everyone in the room sent rather confused glances at the solar princess, even her own sister seemed utterly lost as to what was going on. “Please release him, Shining Armor.”

“B-but...Princess!” he argued, “He snuck into the castle and harassed four of my guards! That crime can't go unpunished.” Celestia giggled softly at Shining Armor's response, almost as if she had expected it.

“Actually, the only sneaking he did was into my room about a day ago,” Celestia added, “He asked for my permission to be in the castle...and guard Luna.” Shining Armor's jaw dropped in this moment. “I gave him a yes...but, only if he could prove that the guards couldn't handle the job....” there was a long silence after she had said this. “...and it seems he has done all that and more. He has adequately proven that the guard needs far more training.”

With this, Shining Armor moved aside from the green unicorn. He quickly moved to his hooves without a single word, a rather devious looking grin plastered on his face. It was a look the captain was all too familiar with, as Cadance had given it to him on countless occasions. It was the grin of 'I told you so' and he absolutely hated it.

“Don't be upset, Shining,” the unicorn commented, “I can actually help with that training if you want and I can even point out where security is the weakest if it helps any.”

“Thank you, but, I'm sure I can handle it,” he replied,

“Oh! That reminds me!” Celestia interrupted, “I never even asked for your name!” her gaze shifted to the green unicorn, who only grinned sheepishly in response.

“I didn't mean to be rude, it was just not important at the time,” the unicorn replied, “My name is Emerald Crescent.” Not only did Luna's eyes grow wide, but Celestia and even Shining Armor's eyes seemed to grow just like hers. Even the guards standing outside the room froze in shock at this little bit of information.

“You...wouldn't happen to be related to Silver Crescent, would you?” Both Celestia and Shining Armor asked simultaneously.

“Unfortunately...he's my older brother,” Emerald sighed, this is where Shining Armor glanced up at Celestia with a bit of shock. The look on Celestia's face was enough however for Emerald to figure out why she had asked the question, this only caused him to groan very softly. “That explains how he knew where your room was.”

Author's Note

Here's Chapter 2. I've had it done for a while. Make a note though I'm actually working ahead on the story. This chapter is subject to a bit of change a little later. Hope you enjoy it all.

And yes, I will finish this story. But let me work on it gradually. It'll be slow until I'm further ahead.