The Moon's Shadow

Chapter 6

Normally she looked rather regal and magnificent. This time however, she just looked completely exhausted. With dark circles beneath her eyes and a frazzled ethereal mane, she looked like an absolute disaster. Especially given she had set aside her regalia and what little make up she had to use just to maintain the appearance. By eight o'clock though, she had finally stopped caring on her outward appearance for the day, even if it was minor by this point. Now though, was one of Celestia's favorite parts of the day. The very moment where she reached the edge of the bed with an exhausted smile on her face before letting her entire body just flop right onto the mattress and blankets.

The sensation was pure bliss as she felt her custom mattress from Cloudsdale surround her. They were soft beyond imagine. She could argue that clouds were softer than this mattress but she cared little at this point as she snuggled in. The fact that the soft sensation was coupled with the cool temperature of her blankets and pillows only made the first ten to fifteen seconds even better. Celestia then brought her hooves around the nearest pillow, only to pull it right beneath her head. She gently nuzzled the soft surface, burying her face in it for just a couple of seconds before she set it back to its previous position.

'Oh how I missed my bed...' she thought, sprawling herself out for just a second as she got comfortable. This was followed by a yawn as she continued to snuggle right into the bed. 'Always so soft...always so inviting...' the mare's smile seemed to fade for a moment or two as she patted the empty spot right before her. 'And so empty...' Celestia only sighed before turning to her other side, now facing the balcony.

It only took a second for Celestia to forget about the emptiness of her bed as she began to let her mind drift. It was a magnificent feeling again as she let her thoughts wander before just slowly emptying from her mind. Coupled with this, she slowly began to let her eyes finally close and the embrace of sleep finally began to take her. The world around her slowly became darker and darker with each passing second as her consciousness faded. The very last thing that crossed her mind was the thought of the wonderful dream she had the night before. Deep down, she wished she could continue it as the last of her consciousness vanished.

Not more than a couple minutes after Celestia had fallen into slumber, did the door swing open with a great deal of force. It was only stopped half a second before making contact with the doorstop by a blue aura surrounding the knob.

“But Princess Luna...!” one of the guards whispered, trying his best to keep his voice down for Celestia's sake. “Princess Celestia spent a fair amount of her day with the nobles! She's exhausted!” However, the dark blue mare simply rolled her eyes.

“She...ordered us to not allow a single pony in!” the other guard attempted to argue. Once again though, it was simply met with her just overlooking the fact that he even said it.

“We have...matters to discuss,” Luna said, not even bothering to glance back, “They're very important matters that cannot wait until morning. So unless you want to have nightmares for the rest of your lives...you'd best hold your tongue.” The very tone of the mare's voice sent shivers up both stallions' spines in an instant. They could tell right from that moment that nothing would be able to stop her from talking to her sister. So the two slowly backed right out of the room and made sure to close the door as they did. Which only made the mare smile softly before shifting her attention over to her sister's sleeping form.

Celestia seemed so peaceful as Luna approached, it was actually rather adorable to see her even sleeping in such a manner. In just a very short amount of time, the alabaster alicorn had sprawled herself out on her bed, even her wings had fully unfurled. Seeing this only made her sister snicker very softly, using her hoof to cover her own mouth as she watched. The best part in all of this though, was seeing the much older alicorn actually lie on her back with her tongue hanging out. While this sort of thing didn't happen all of the time, when it did, it always seemed to make her smile.

'Always such a graceful sleeper, Tia...' she thought as she leaned in a bit closer. Right to the point where her muzzle was nearly in her sister's ear. “Ohhh....Tia....” Luna's voice hummed. Unfortunately though, the voice did little, only causing Celestia to simply bat her face away with her hoof before turning onto her other side. This didn't deter Luna however, as she simply leaned in again to whisper in her sister's ear. It took a few more attempts at this as well, as each and every time it seemed to go ignored, much to Luna's growing frustration. 'Still the stubborn sleeper I see, Tia...' she noted, with a very soft sigh. 'I had hoped it wouldn't come to this...'

Celestia remained blissfully unaware, even through all of her sister's poking and prodding. This was something she was rather accustomed to, at least from back in their filly days. That proved to be the mare's big mistake though, had she actually just acknowledged her sister even for a moment while she slept, she would've been able to actually feel her now standing on the bed.

“Oh Tia! Time to wake up!” Luna 's Royal Canterlot voice boomed. “Your sister needs you!” It shook the entire room and at the very instant she actually used it, Celestia jumped awake. The mare's eyes flew open in absolute terror. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she glanced around the room, only to meet the unyielding gaze of her beloved sister.

“Lulu...what are you doing?” Celestia asked after a few moments of silence. It wasn't very long before the pounding in her chest faded either and she began to relax again. Yet, she couldn't exactly relax as her sister was just glaring at her, with something on her mind clearly.

“Where is it?” she finally asked, her glare intensifying as she did. Celestia knew the answer to this question immediately, she had even figured out what her sister was talking about on top of that. It was evident by the look on the lunar mare's face what she wanted and how badly she wanted it.

“Where is what, Lulu?” she asked, looking almost confused at her sister. As if she was trying to tease her a tiny bit. However, that didn't quite work out how she had hoped, as it only seemed to aggravate Luna even more.

“You know very well what!” Luna snapped as she jumped off the bed. “My precious orb!” right as she said this, she stomped the floor with one of her hooves in her frustration. It only resulted in Celestia just laughing very softly. “This isn't funny Tia! I need it if I am to carry out my duties!” The smile that was once present on her face, vanished all too quickly and it was then she knew this wasn't going to be too pretty.

Celestia met her sister's frustrations with a very soft and rather sad sounding sigh. While Luna couldn't quite see it, her sister didn't really want her to resume her duties just yet. In fact, if it were up to her, she wouldn't dare resume them end of story. That would only be if she had her way, but that wouldn't ever be the case as she knew Luna was a very capable mare.

“Luna...I...don't think you're strong enough yet to...” she began, but as she did, Luna only grew more visibly frustrated than she had before. This wasn't the first time this had happened and it most certainly wouldn't be the last time it happened either.

“No, Celestia!” she roared, borderline her royal Canterlot voice. “Don't give me this shit again!” This caught the alabaster mare completely off guard. To say the least she hadn't expected her sister to use such profane language, but then again it was Luna. She should've expected it, given she was the cause of this particular mess. “You know very well father entrusted that orb to me! Not you! It is MY job to watch over the night.” she pointed out, much to Celestia's shock. “It is my job to paint the night skies, to raise the moon and to protect ponies dreams! Father taught me everything himself!”

Celestia's pupils shrunk when she felt the pressure of Luna's words hit her and while it wasn't the first time these words had been spoken from her sister's mouth...this time it had the biggest impact. For as she spoke them, she felt the weight on her shoulders increase gradually. It eventually got to the point where she even felt as though she couldn't breath, yet she didn't even move from her spot on the bed.

“But...Lulu...I...” she tried to argue, however, the moment she did, she was met with a great deal of resistance from Luna. Even though it had just been a glare, her sister had never looked at her like that before. It was actually rather frightening. 'Even Nightmare Moon is less frightening than this...' she considered.

“Don't 'but I' me Tia!” she argued, “What would mother say? What would father say? Hell, what would Quercus say!?” Just mentioning the first two seemed to strike a nerve in Celestia at that point, but the moment she said the third name she felt something snap within her. Which then began to bubble to the surface in the form of a gradual shift in her facial expression.

“Now don't you bring him into this!” Celestia roared, her anger finally bubbling to the surface.

“Why shouldn't I?!” Luna retorted, almost as loud as her sister, “Just say it! You don't want to lose me like you lost Quercus!” She was aggressive like Celestia couldn't believe. Overpowering and demanding, it was enough to strike fear even in her elder sister. All of this stung very greatly, mostly due to the fact it was actually true. She didn't want to lose her sister like she lost him, it was at this point where her ears dropped.

“Luna...I...” she muttered, her voice beginning to crack as she spoke.

“I know Tia...I loved him too...” Luna whispered as Celestia glanced back up at her. “He would say...you can't protect me forever...and we need to start talking more!” This was another moment where she felt absolutely defeated. It was like she had been hit with a trout at the particular moment before finally falling flat on the bed in defeat. “You know sister...if you have a problem you can come to me with it, right?”

There wasn't a response beyond this point from Celestia as she just seemed to fall into a state where she was locked within her own thoughts. While she did hear Luna's voice, she was met with an assortment of emotions. While a part of her wanted to scream and shout at her sister more about even mentioning Quercus, she also wanted to just break out into tears. Yet, as she lied there, nothing came. In place of all the emotions she should feel, she felt utterly empty inside. It was a confusing feeling to say the least, but not the first time she had ever felt like this.

“Now...what do you say?” Luna gestured to Celestia's non-responsive form. “Can I have my orb back?” her sister however didn't even move an inch, she just lied on her bed quietly. Staring right at the wall as if in deep thought. It wasn't until she actually felt the touch of her sister's hooves on her cheek did she finally begin to respond again. It began with a sigh of pure defeat as Celestia's horn lit up.

“If I don't give it back...you'd probably just try to steal it back...” she sighed, using her magic to slide open a closet on the other side of the room. The moment it opened, Luna's eyes lit up with pure joy as she galloped on over to the now open door. “You'll find it sitting on the mini-dresser. I kept it well polished while you were away...” Before she could say another word however, the orb had vanished from its spot along with Luna. Which only left Celestia with a small smile on her face.

For Emerald, the paperwork quickly became arduous and extraordinarily tedious. Even though most of it consisted of him signing on the dotted line another fair chunk of it consisted of him actually writing out reports. It was by far the worst part of being Luna's court advisor. That wasn't all of it though, if you added in the paperwork from being Captain of the Lunar Guard it became far worse. As he sat in his office, signing away the papers, it caused him to develop an eye twitch.

'How could this job possibly get more annoying...' he contemplated as he wrote away the first full day of his paperwork. Just as he had thought that, the door to his office swung open and in the doorway stood one Shining Armor. The moment Emerald glanced up, he sighed. “I wish I hadn't thought that...” he muttered under his breath. Thankfully the Captain of the Solar Guard didn't hear him.

“How's your first day so far?” he asked, his tone rather cheerful and upbeat. This cheerful demeanor only seemed to annoy Emerald even more as he met Shining's gaze. It was even evident on his face that he wasn't in a good mood, as he kept his gaze locked on the other captain. Yet, even as he did, his quill still somehow kept on writing away as if he knew exactly what to do with the papers.

“You enter my office without knocking just to ask me that?” Emerald finally asked with a deadpan look on his face.

“Well, excu-” The quill dropped that very instant and Shining only found that his mouth was being clamped shut by Emerald's magic. Not once in his life had he ever seen a pony react that quickly to something. It was impressive just how fast that unicorn's magic reflexes were. Once more, was the look on his face just as he was about to speak. The look almost seemed completely disturbed by what had nearly come from Shining's mouth as it had been coupled with a very rapid eye twitch.

“Do not...finish that sentence,” Emerald stated, even though the look on his face was disturbed, Shining had never heard such a calm tone before either. “My brother...says what you're about to say very frequently...” he went on, “And...every time he does...I want to strangle him. Promise me...I will not hear that line from your mouth...”

Shining Armor gulped when he heard that as the magical grip finally released itself and for the second time in his life he felt genuinely terrified of somepony. It was at which point where he began to ask himself questions. Questions such as: who's more terrifying, my marefriend or this unicorn? That was just one of the many questions that ran through his mind. It was the most prominent though as he thought of some of the things that Cadance had done when he upset her. It only made him shiver in fear.

“Shining?” Emerald asked, breaking the other stallion's gaze upon him. “If you don't have anything further to say, then please don't waste time in here. I'm certain you have very pressing matters to attend to yourself.” Shining shook his head when he heard the words and Emerald was completely accurate too. He actually had a romantic evening with Cadance planned tonight and he needed a bit of time to get ready.

'He's a perfect match to be Princess Luna's Captain and Advisor,' he thought, 'Intimidating and very serious...' Upon a closer inspection by Shining Armor, even without moving from his present spot. He took careful notice of Emerald's mannerisms. How he just seemed so calm and quiet. Not even making many facial expressions as he read through the papers and scrolls. If he coupled that with the reflexes and his magical potential, this pony was something else. He was indeed the brother of Silver Crescent. “I...came to actually ask about something...” he started, “Important and a little personal.”

“You're not coming out are you?” Emerald asked instantly, even still able to work through the conversation. “I've said it to several others in my life and I'll say it to you, I'm not interested in stallions...even if you are good looking.” It was that line that caused a blush to move across Shining Armor's cheeks. He had never heard such strong words come from somepony's mouth. On top of that; he did have a marefriend too, which only seemed to make it insulting to his stallion pride.

“No!” he snapped instantly in his defense.

“Denial can make you even more obvious,” Emerald teased as for the first time before Shining, he smirked. “Relax, I'm just teasing you. Princess Cadance was more than just my foalsitter, she was a close family friend too.”

“R-really?” Shining inquired, now a tiny bit curious.

“Our mother adored her and appreciated her assistance, given she was a single mother,” Emerald added with a soft smile. “And she was an incredible foalsitter for me. I heard quite a bit about you and your sister too. More than just what my brother told me.” Now it was time for Shining Armor to grow rather curious about this pony. While he had been curious before, he was just beginning to realize just who this pony was.

“What...exactly did both of them say about me?” he questioned, now approaching the desk.

“Princess Cadance spoke very highly of you,” Emerald began, “I don't quite remember the specifics, but she really adored you for a very long time.” This only made Shining's blush return, quickly enveloping most of his face as he heard it. It only seemed to make him appreciate what he had with Cadance even more than he already did.

“And...your brother?” he asked, his voice cracking a tiny bit. This only caused Emerald to sigh very softly, having to put down his quill again. Although still very calm, he seemed a bit disturbed by the mentioning of his brother, once again.

“Let me get this very clear for you,” he began, “My brother is a good stallion to many, yes, but he annoys me to no end. I love him as my brother, but...I also want to beat the tar out of him for some of the shit he pulls...on top of that, I also worry a great deal for him. Because he tends to get himself into a mess without even realizing it.” Emerald's eye twitch returned as he spoke about his brother, but it didn't last very long as he took a deep breath after explaining how he felt. “While I don't like talking about him...I'll tell you this. He's rather fond of you. He said, back in school you and your friends were fun to hang out with. Even though he was one of the most popular I believe.” This caught Shining Armor a little off guard, he had expected Silver to see him rather differently. Only really spending time with him and his friends because he was such good friends with Cadance. It only brought a smile to his face as he heard it. “I even believe he had an affectionate nickname for you....” Emerald paused, which only seemed to shift the eye twitch he had over to Shining. “Nerd Armor was it?”

'Damn...that nickname will haunt me for my entire life...' he cursed inwardly, hoping that everypony would've forgotten about that wretched nickname. However it wasn't meant to be, given Emerald had just brought it back up. “S-so...how IS your brother?” he was forced to ask, in a sad attempt to change the subject slightly as to get him to forget about the nickname he had just brought back. It was a good choice in questions too as Emerald had to stop and think about what he was going to say before he said it to avoid drawing attention to anything.

'Now that you mention it though...' Emerald thought, as he recalled the fact that his brother had yet to even send in a report. The first thought was that he ended up getting distracted from the mission he had received, but that was unlike Silver to do that. He was more business first, amusement later even when you considered his track record. This only made the unicorn begin to worry a little bit about his brother deep down. He couldn't even shake the feeling that something bad might just be happening to him right now or worse, he was perfectly fine he had just forgotten to send in any information. Either way it wasn't a pleasant moment for Emerald as he was now tasked with a response to Shining Armor's question. What should he say? Should he give him the full truth and say that he's out on a mission? Or should he give a common response? All of this happened in a matter of a couple of seconds. “What am I? His keeper?” he responded quickly, hoping that Shining wouldn't notice the tiny delay between the question and his answer. Thankfully it was also something he wouldn't ever find out about either as at that particular moment a rather familiar voice called out.

“Shiny!” a voice called out as a mare with a tri-colored mane and a pink coat poked her head into the door. “Did you forget about our date tonight? We have to be at the restaurant at eight o'clock sharp!” it took the mare a moment of glancing over Shining Armor before she simply frowned. “Oh come on! I've been looking forward to this date for two weeks! And you're not even out of your armor!” As she spoke, she trotted in looking just a tiny bit frustrated, “You know very well I can't reschedule that reser...vation....” The mare however came to an instant stop as she spotted the stallion behind the desk. It was where her jaw dropped to the ground in shock. “Emerald?!”

'Uh-oh...' was the only thing that popped in his head. Before he could even react, he found himself on the receiving end of a very strong bear hug from the alicorn mare. It was here where Emerald discovered just how great the physical strength of an alicorn really was. He had heard of his brother speak of hugs like this, but he had never experienced one for himself and it was just like Silver had described too. Painful. Very painful. Struggling didn't help either as he felt his body beginning to go limp in the Princess' incredible embrace. “P-Princess Cadance...” he gasped, “T-too...tight...” Relief came just in the nick of time too as she released the hug right after hearing the gasping.

“Hehe...sorry,” she replied sheepishly, “I couldn't help myself, seeing the second favorite foal to foal-sit for.” As Emerald was just attempting to catch his breath, he took notice of Shining Armor's silent chuckle, almost as if he was saying that he had gotten what he deserved. “So...I take it by the fact that you're in this office, it means you're Aunt Luna's new advisor?”

“And Captain of the Lunar Guard too,” Emerald added proudly.

“At such a young age too...” she said, gently rubbing the top of his head with her hoof. “I think you're even younger than Shiny was when he became Captain of the Solar Guard. He was Twenty-three when he got promoted to captain.”

“Well, he didn't go through the proper training beforehand!” Shining argued, “Princess Luna just gave him the job.” It was a valid point too, Emerald hadn't gone through the proper training, he didn't even know the proper spells a guard should know before being the captain. The fact was however, they were a part of two separate guards, meaning the requirements were different.

“I'm just as fit as you are, Shining...” Emerald teased, “No need to be jealous.” That seemed to strike a bit of a nerve with Shining Armor, as his cheeks once again flushed for just a brief instance. “Plus...shouldn't you two be on your date by now?”

His pupils shrunk as he glanced at Cadance. Whom upon being reminded just grew relatively silent before walking past Shining. At which point her horn lit up and she proceeded to just drag him away by his tail. It was quite a humorous sight to behold watching Shining Armor as he was dragged to the door in a rather humiliating manner. Almost like a cat not wanting to go to the vet. Why he did it, Emerald could only speculate as the two disappeared behind the door.

“Glad to see you again, Emerald!” Cadance called back, “And if you see your brother, give him my regards!”

“Will do!” Emerald responded, however that was just the problem he was facing. As he once again set down the quill before turning to a window just behind him. 'You'd better be okay...'