Stories of an Old Caretakerby Cosmic RunnerChaptersHow Do I Begin?The Beginning of the EndOld AgeHow Do I Begin?Luna could never forget what happened all those years ago. Sometimes, when she was alone, she would remember her sister and cry whishing it was her and not her sister who was gone from this world. Luna found that she had plenty of time for this because she lived in an appealing gated community on the cliffs above Canterlot for all the high ranking, troubled war veterans. She had started this process again until the guards arrived with her beloved niece and nephews; Glistening Sword, Amoura, and little Gauntlet. Glistening Sword is an earth pony whose only major difference between his dad and him was Glistening’s emerald eyes. Glistening Sword, taught by his father, was a good, and hardworking. He was also apparently was very attractive and popular with the fillies in his grade. Amoura was a cute little unicorn with amethyst eyes and possesses a darker pink coat than her mother and a dark purple mane that has a light pink stripe in it. Amoura, like Twilight Sparkle, was a hardcore introvert. Her difference with Twilight Sparkle was that she at least had one or two friends at a young age. She was also completely oblivious to all of the gazes she got from the colts at her age level. Gauntlet on the other hand was completely different from the rest of his family. He was a little pegasus whose coat is a dark brown and mane is a light green color. Originally, Cadence was thought to be courting a noble. But, after some DNA spells it was learned that Gauntlet was a legitimate son. Gauntlet unfortunately, was born with a learning defect. Glistening was always thought to have Gauntlet tag along because it helped him “pick up the pretty fillies,” but this was not true because Sword really just loved his brother and didn’t want him to be bullied. “Hello and welcome my little ponies.” was her normal greeting, but this time the children knew something was wrong and reacted before Luna could get out her words. “Auntie what’s wrong?” Amoura asked and took a step forward. “W-What? Nothing is wrong. Please don’t worry yourself over me, are you prepared to have fun?” Luna hastily replied. “Auntie, please, my special talent is sensing others feelings, remember? I know when something is wrong.” Amoura said, putting concern in her voice. “Amoura, I must request you drop this at once. I have a fun day planned for you and I do not want it ruined because you are worried about me.” she said frowning, and then added, “The truth is something you need not worry about right now but, don’t worry, for I will tell you in a later date.” “What did you have planned for us auntie? Does it involve sweets?” asked Gauntlet bouncing about. “That depends on if you are willing to help me bake them.” Luna said half questioning and half tellingly. “Of course!” the trio replied ecstatically. Months went by and everyday Amoura still persisted on finding out the problem bothering Luna. Luna knew that she would have to either mare up and do it herself or simply let the school system do it for her. She thought it would be better for the children to hear it from her herself so she set a date one week from then to give herself time to prepare. Luna had started rigorously preparing herself before her fateful day. She kept herself from stressful situations, ate healthy foods, and got a good solid forty hours of sleep. She also went through strenuous but peaceful yoga stretches to help clear the mind. There might have been a time or two when Luna thought to herself “Am I just overdoing it here? I might just be indulging myself here…” But, she kept herself on her regular schedule. She heard the royal chariot before she saw it. It wasn’t carrying the foals; it was instead Derpy Hooves carrying her mail. Derpy had been a messenger in the war and stayed in her profession after. She trotted up to the door and knocked. Luna answered the door and said a simple, “Hello Ms. Hooves.” “Hiya Ms. Luna, I have a letter here for you, it’s from the King, so I recommend a speedy response!” Derpy said with a toothy grin. “Thank you Ms. Hooves, have a wonderful day now!” Luna said giving Derpy a small tip. Luna silently cursed in spite of herself and opened the letter. The letter was short and could have been writing better if Shining Armor had gotten help from his royal letter writing advisor. It quickly explained how the kids were all at their friends’ house for the night and she had the day to herself but, if she wanted to get out of the house and spend the day with Cadence, Shining would run the court. Luna decided that it would be good to get out of the house and spend some time with a good friend. Luna wrote to Cadence and told her to meet her in the Canterlot Gardens in a half hour. She put on a nice cloak and gathered a nice and hardy pouch of bits and set off for the gardens. But, after a small time of walking she remembered a cake she put into the oven for the kids to ease into her gruesome tale. She flew home and turned off the oven and put the cake in the refrigerator for later use and went on her way again. Luna arrived to the garden and hedge maze five minutes early despite her mishap with the oven. She spent her remaining time looking around when she laid eyes on the statue of the griffon king. She remembered how she and her sister led the charge in overtaking the griffon fortress and how she lost half of her invasion force to traps set by the opposition. She remembered the screams and almost went into a relapse when Queen Cadence interrupted her train of thoughts. “Hello dear Aunt! It’s so good to see you, how are you today!” Cadence said tearing Luna away from the statue. “Wha-What, Oh hi Cadence, I didn’t see you there, I’m good how are you?” Luna replied hastily. “I’m drowned in paperwork, having headaches from all of the complains, trying to restrain myself from killing Blueblood, and on top of it all, taking care of three kids but other than that I’m absolutely magnificent!” Cadence answered with a sarcastic tone. Luna just laughed and said, “Well I can’t say I envy you, the only difference between your experience and mine is the fact that I was never a mother.” Luna teased. “Let’s just say I needed this time off, its only lunch time and we have the whole day.” Cadence said then added, “I know this great chineighs restaurant if you want try it.” “That’s sounds just wonderful, let’s go,” Luna replied as the duo started to walk, leaving behind the bad memories of the evil statue. The restaurant was a very short walk from the gardens and was appropriately named Royal Gardens Resturant. It was popular and Luna thought they would never get a seat but the waiter always had a reserve seat for royalty, all diners did. The duo was set in the back in privacy. “Luna, can I ask you a question?” Cadence asked. “Why yes of course, anything.” Luna answered while reviewing the drink menu. “Is Amoura, um, maybe…?” Cadence stuttered. “Is Amoura what, spit it out. Is Amoura an angel? Yes, of course, they all are.” Luna teased but fearing that she knew the question. “No, uh.” the queen stammered. “Hello, welcome to the Royal Gardens Restaurant, can I get you something to drink your majesties!” the waitress interrupted and said, “Our special is a raspberry iced tea.” she finished while getting out her notepad. “Yum, that sounds good I’ll try that.” Luna remarked licking her lips at the thought of the drink. “Yes, me too please.” said Cadence quietly still fearing about asking the question on her mind. The waitress wrote the order down and left food menus so the mares could continue talking. “I wanted to ask if Amoura was bothering you about, well, Celestia?” she asked, fearing she struck a nerve that would ruin the day. “She has been asking about Celestia but doesn’t know who she is yet.” Luna explained then continued with, “I was planning on telling her about the war but, I was restraining myself because I didn’t know if you didn’t want me to or not.” Luna finished, lying. “I trust your judgment, Luna. I just wanted to know because Amoura won’t stop taking about how there ‘is something wrong with her caretaker.” Cadence followed up with, “I’m sorry if I was prying.” she finished. “You’re ok, I was worried I was overstepping my boundaries as an Aunt but, come now, let us see what this place has to offer so we can back to our fun day,” Luna said lightening the mood. “Ok, I’m buying.” Cadence said chuckling. “Obviously you don’t know how much I can eat!” Luna said laughing. The duo ordered their food and ate a hearty lunch and had a fun day of shopping. Luna bought herself a new cloak for herself and various gifts for the foals. After a couple of hours of this, Cadence announced that she had to go back to the castle and commence damage control. Luna walked her back and went home and went to bed. To say the least, she did not have a peaceful sleep. Luna stood watching her graceful sister, in front of the griffon fortress; give her speech to spark confidence in the hearts of the soldiers. “SO MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM US!” Celestia shouted using her royal Canterlot voice to project herself across the whole invasion force, “THESE GRIFFONS HAVE KILLED FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND FELLOW SOLDIERS, SO, LET US NOT MAKE THEIR DEATHS IN VAIN!” She finished stomping the ground as she finished her last two words. “HOOOOOOORRRAAAAAAAA!” yelled the entire force itching for the order to charge. “HARDEN YOUR HEARTS BOYS, FOR TODAY, WE FIGHT FOR THE FATE OF EQUESTRIA,” she yelled before adding the fateful order, “CHARGE.” Luna locked eyes with her special general as the dream flash forwarded. Luna now was looking around the dark room from the ground immobilized, she saw the body of her dead, special general, Celestial; who was battered and beaten now from the harsh trials of the fortress and the unbearable punishment from the Griffon King, the bearers of the elements of harmony; all with their respective elements, and a small squad from the remaining invasion force. “You LOSE Celestia,” the Griffon overlord said, “Just give up and I will spare you,” “Twilight when I say the word, you and the other bearers CANNOT hesitate,” Celestia squeaked out. “I-I don’t know if I can.” Twilight said, crying. “Ah’m sorry Twilight, but we haf’ta do this, for Equestria.” the one named Applejack said stepping forward to comfort her. “Enough of this, Celestia, prepare to meet your doom!” The overlord bellowed walking toward Celestia to deliver the final blow to Equestria. Celestia waited a few moments for the Griffon king to walk close before she screamed. “NOW, DO IT NOW!” Right as the elements shot their spell Luna awoke screaming in cold blood. She looked at the clock. Three AM. Her alarm was set to go off in another five hours. Luna wasn’t tired so she got up and went to the bathroom. She took a cold shower and went to go make breakfast. The children were coming soon and Luna decided today would be the day. She got ready, made a cake and prepared for the worst. “You got this, Luna.” She said stretching. Like on any other day when her services as a caretaker were needed, she set up a list of what she had planned to do that day with the foals. But, this was no normal day. She set up a plan of how much she of the story she planned on telling each day with the last part being the end of the week. Right when she finished this week’s story telling schedule, she heard the knock on the door. Luna knew it was time. “Hello and welcome my little ponies!” Luna said trying to sound as excited as she could. “Auntie, please, I’m begging you. I promise I can help with wha-” Amoura wasn’t able to finish her sentence, as her aunt interrupted her. “Amoura, the day has come for me to tell you my story. Prepare yourselves, this is not a happy story.” Luna said with the nervousness of her voice trickling in. “Auntie, I will assist you with whatever I can and if you need me to cover Gauntlet’s ears, I will.” Glistening sword said while stepping forward, “I promise we can handle it, we may be more grown up than you think.” He finished. “Thank you, but I don’t think any of that will be necessary.” Luna said pointing to the kitchen and continued. “There is a cake in there so before I start to do anything, let’s go have a piece.” Luna said chuckling as she saw Gauntlets eyes light up. “A cake!” Gauntlet exclaimed. The four ate the cake as Luna listened to each ones stories of their school day. Luna decided that, because it was Monday, that the hatred for the wretched day started at a young age. After they were done and cleaned up the kitchen, the caretaker herded them onto the couches of the main room. “Ok little ones; settle down for I have a tale to tell you.” The Beginning of the EndThirteen years ago... The war started three years before Prince Glistening Sword was born. Tension between the ponies and the griffons was rising. Eventually, the Overlord called all griffons back to their homeland. The final straw was when the King had asked Celestia to be his bride and, after much deliberation, she declined. This was the start of the Celestial War. “Oh Luna, I don’t know what I am going to do.” Celestia said, half asking, half stating. They received the marriage proposal earlier that day. It was basically a note saying ‘make me King peacefully, or I will do so forcefully.’ If Celestia accepted, Griffons would run Equestria and Celestia would lose the faith of all of her subjects. If she refused, Equestria would be plunged into a war. “You know you cannot accept this, correct.” Luna answered. “I know, but what is confusing me is, can we win the war that will surely follow my declination?” “Ye-” Luna started to say but changed her reply to, “I don’t know, we haven’t been to war since the first coming of Discord.” “I think I need to get some rest and follow up on this with the advisors in the morning.” Celestia said, yawning because the sisters had stayed up contemplating their response. “How early do you plan to do this?” Luna asked with a smirk. “Earlier than lunch time.” The elder sister answered with a suppressed giggle. “Then I guess I will have no say in this.” Luna added with a laugh. As Celestia walked to her bedroom, so did the spy outside the castle walls. The spy had been the griffon courier that delivered the proposal letter earlier that day. He had followed Celestia all day from the outside of the castle. What the spy didn’t expect was to be viciously grabbed and slammed into the ground in front of the main gate. “QUICK, RETRIEVE CAPTAIN SHINING ARMOUR!” Luna had yelled at the guards. Guards quickly ran out of sight and Luna returned her attention to the spy at hoof. “You know, you really need to work on your sneak skills if you plan to continue to be a spy.” Luna taunted. “Ho- How did you know I was there?” “Like I said you really aren’t inconspicuous. I’ve watched you all day, didn’t you notice me looking out the window every five minutes while me and Tia were talking?” Luna joked as if this were a game. The griffon looked much like any other. Except, his head feathers were brown and the tips of his wings were black. “Tell me then, I did everything I could to prevent this. How could you have followed the follower all day?” The griffon asked, knowing he was beaten. “LUNA, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?” Shining Armor yelled at Luna as he approached. “Guards, get this spy in cuffs right now.” “Shining, I am all right. But, maybe you should ask this gentle griffon fellow if he is alright…” Luna said, still in a joking mood. “I don’t care about this piece of sh-” Shining started to say. “Whoa there Captain, no need for that kind of language.” The princess verbally stabbed. The Captain rolled his eyes and said, “Guards get him to the interrogation room.” “We still have that? Oh I gave that to Tia on an April Foal’s day about, oh, a millennium ago.” The princess laughed, “Just kidding, but let me do this.” “How are you in a joking mood right now, this is a matter of Canterlot, no, a matter of EQUESTRIAN security?” He asked baffled. “Because, he doesn’t mean any harm, he doesn’t have a weapon, and, I may or may not have broken a wing, now do as I say.” “By your orders, but just know, that I will be right next to you.” The Captain said. “Okay.” Luna exclaimed, while bouncing up and down like Pinkie Pie. Shining and Luna arrived at the interrogation room in the dungeons and ordered to guards to go fetch the elder Princess. This left the griffon; with is left wing now in bandages, Shining Armor, and Luna alone. “Hello again.” Luna started. “Hello.” The defeated griffon said. “Will you answer my question now?” “No, you are here to be asked not asking.” Shining shot off before the princess could say anything. “Yes, I will gladly answer your question now.” Luna answered for herself. “Princess I-” Armor started. “No, he already asked this.” Luna interrupted. She then turned to the griffon and started. “After you left the castle, I watched you go to your carriage. I’ll admit you had me confused when you switched with an oncoming carriage. Questions thus far?” She asked. “Yes, just one actually… Where were you watching me from?” the griffon asked. “Good question, on my balcony. Now as I was saying. It took me a minute to see your head pop up in the vehicle. So I watched as you got closer and closer.” She added to her story. “Well, I guess I’m confused as in how you were watching me.” The griffon stated with a confused look on his face. “After you changed carriages, I had to use binoculars to see through the front windshield.” She answered. “Oh, carry on.” The now not-so-confused griffon said. “And again, you confused me when, on the draw bridge, you went through a trap door in your carriage and clung to the bottom to avoid discovery. You were in the courtyard now and my sister was now in the kitchen getting food from the pan-” “ENOUGH OF THIS!” Shining yelled slamming his hooves on the small table in the center of the room. “No no, this is an interesting story.” Celestia remarked as everyone turned to look at her. “Yes auntie, please continue.” Cadence said walking through door. “Okay, let’s just have a party in here!” Shining agitatedly exclaimed. “Don’t be upset Shiny or no Cadi tonight.” Cadence teased as Shining blushed and added, “Auntie, please continue.” “Well that was awkward, but nevertheless. The whole day was pretty much watching you through the windows and running about the castle. That is, until I met up with Tia and the rest is history. One question did you lose track of her at that point?” Luna asked. “You caught me.” Griffon said with a slight blushing. “Ok, real interrogation time now?” Shining asked. “Yes, just call us in when you are done.” Celestia said, “Come on Luna.” The three princesses waited outside for about half an hour talking about wait they did that day. And, Cadence surprised her aunts with the knowledge that her and Shining would try to have a foal soon. They were conveniently done when Shining opened the door and reported. “As far as I can tell, he’s just collecting information about Celestia and the castle.” “Told you.” Luna remarked with a smirk. “Luna you brought him here, you can lay down the punishment.” Celestia smiled and finished with, “One o’clock is way past my bed time.” “One day in the dungeon and then he can stay in a guest room, with a couple of guards with him at all times.” Luna reported in a serious manor, the first time since she caught the griffon. “Fair enough, good night Luna, Cadence, and Shining.” Celestia yawned. “Men, you heard the princess!” Shining barked. The four went to their respective rooms and went to sleep. Luna slept in until noon as predicted and went down to the kitchen to get lunch. After just two weeks of Luna being back from the moon, Celestia had to hire a whole new kitchen staff just for her sister. Luna ate a hardy seven sandwiches and seven liters of soup. After she was done, she went to go find her sister. She found her in her advisors office intensely speaking with them. “Good after-morning sister!” Luna laughed out. “I’m sorry Luna, but now’s not the time.” The elder replied. “Please, find something else to do and I will find you when I am done.” “Ugh, okay fine.” The younger said, sighing. Luna walked around for a while trying to think of things she should do. She then had an idea of walking around Canterlot with Cadence for an hour or so. However, this was not going to happen because when she got to Cadence’s door, she heard, “And I thought I was the goddess of love.” She ran away as fast as she could with the reddest face she ever had. Then the best idea came to her, she would prank some of the guards. Luna was officially out of ideas. She had pranked half the guards in the castle, jumped out some windows, and, to top it all off, went to the new construction site of a gated community for rich snobs above Canterlot. Luna decided a mid-afternoon snack would help bring her ideas. When she got to the kitchen, she had three sandwiches and came up with an even better plan. She would visit the prisoner. Luna was almost to the dungeon entrance when a meddlesome sister decided it would be a great time to show up. “Hello Luna.” Celestia greeted. “I’mnotdoinganything!” Luna yelped with a jump. “I never said you did. What are you doing down here?” The elder asked. “I was going to go see the prisoner, but I don’t think I will now.” The younger said with a shrug. “Well I think that’s a great idea. Let’s move him into a guest room early for good behavior.” Celestia said. “Ok. By the way, did you decide on what you were going to do?” Luna asked. “Heh, not yet. Come on now, I have some questions I need to ask this griffon.” The Sun Princess said as she opened the dungeon door. The sisters walked in the dungeon and a guard quickly saluted them. Celestia let him at ease and had him move the griffon to the interrogation room. The sisters waited for the guard to return to tell them, the prisoner was ready. When they walked into the room, they found the griffon in cuffs and his feathers ruffled. “You look like crap.” Luna said with a giggle. “Nice to see you, too.” The griffon said with a smirk. “Now now you two lets be serious.” Celestia scolded. “Mr. uh-” “Garret. But, my code name is Incognito, so whichever you prefer.” Garret answered. “Well Mr. Garret, we need to ask you a few questions and we might let you out of jail early.” Celestia stated. “Ok, ask away.” Garret said. “Was your main purpose here just to spy or was there more to you assignment?” The princess asked. “My mission was to deliver the proposal, eavesdrop on your answer, and report it to the King so he knows whether to prepare an invasion force or an occupation force. This would have made the army ready before your response came to Him so we would have the upper hand. Obviously this isn’t happening because; your beautiful sister here foiled my plans.” Garret finished. “Thank you Mr. Not-So-Incognito.” Luna laughed. “Are there anymore spies here in Canterlot?” Celestia asked. “Like I told your Captain, no, none are working here in Canterlot besides me. I have five other griffons in my command but I have them all across Equestria.” Garret answered. “One last question I need to ask. This might come to you as a surprise to both of you.” Celestia warned. “Shoot.” The griffon and Luna both said at the same time. “Would you and your griffons you have here in Equestria, be willing to fight in the war that will surely come?” Celestia said as she looked around. “Sister, when did you decide this was a good idea?” Luna asked. “This morning, when I was consorting with some of my advisors…” Celestia answered. Garret looked straight at Luna and answered. “What makes you think that I would betray my king so eagerly?” Garret asked returning his gaze back to Celestia. “I have my own spies.” Celestia answered, “And I know that not all griffons agree to the King’s dictatorship. And you sir, do not agree with his way of ruling, to put it lightly.” “Give me a few nights of rest in a real bed and I will call in my spies to get us signed up.” Garret responded after a few seconds, you Princess, are looking at the leader of the rebellion.” “That might help us. Guards, report.” Celestia yelled. “YES PRINCESS!” the guard responded as she ran into the room. “Escort Mr. Garret to guest room A.” Celestia ordered. “Yes Princess.” The guard said as she started leading the prisoner. Luna walked with the Celestia and they parted once more when an advisor came looking for her. This left Luna with even more time on her hands. She found herself thinking about what Garret had said. 'Your beautiful sister here ruined my plans.' She was so lost in that thought that she didn’t even notice that she was going straight for Cadence. This collision knocked them both over. “Heh, watch out there Auntie.” Cadence laughed as she got up. “Sorry Cadence, my mind was back on the moon.” Luna chuckled as she got up too. “About what?” Cadence asked. “Wh- what’s for dinner tonight of course.” Luna said as she started to sweat. Cadence seemed to study Luna for any traces of her lie. Unfortunately, for Cadence, she was one of the most gullible ponies ever. “Wow auntie, you never seem to stop thinking about food.” She laughed. “Ha ha, yup that’s me, an old food hound. Well gottagobye.” Luna said as she ran away. Luna was again stuck walking around. Like last time, she got too lost in the thought of what Garret had called her. Luna didn’t realize all she was all alone. Luna didn’t even realize there were no guards around. The infiltrators did though. Luna walked out onto a balcony. She looked out at Canterlot and saw all of the bustling ponies rushing around. She looked at the right time to see a Unicorn knock over a pegasus. This gave her a slight laugh. She soon got bored of this and turned around. When she turned around she was knocked over by a figure. She looked at the figures feat and saw it was a griffon. “Garret, you can’t sneak up on me like tha-” She stopped as she looked up. She saw that this griffon was different than Garret. This griffon had War paint and scars, where Garret did not. “Although I am not Garret, I think I act for him when I do this.” The mysterious griffon said in a menacing tone. “Let me go tell the guards that you are here and you have dinner with us?” Luna hopingly said. “No.” The griffon said. “Didn’t think so.” Luna whispered as she swept the griffon off his feet, got up and ran. “Get back here!” The griffon yelled as he got up and started flying to catch her. “GUARDS, GUARDS! HELP!” Luna cried. “Your guards are corrupt. I pai-” The griffon started. Luna, out of the corner of her eyes, saw a figure the shape of a griffon fly overhead. She heard a thump as both the griffons started fighting. She stopped and turned around and she saw none other than Garret flying to her rescue with his broken wing. This is when the guards decided to show up. “PRINCESS LUNA, ARE YOU HURT!” They yelled as they rushed to her side. “GO HELP GARRET!” Luna barked. But by the time Luna had said this, a bloody claw tapped her on the shoulder. “No need, I am fine. But, the assassin isn’t.” Garret said with a somber look on his face. Luna behind Garret and vomited at the sight of the mangled body of the griffon assassin. Luna was never the same again. Although this was just the first of many bodies she would see later on, this WAS the first. And the first was always the hardest to bear. “LUNA, ARE YOU OK!” Celestia yelled as she ran through the door. “I-I am fine now. But, I wouldn’t be if Garret here hadn’t shown up to my rescue.” Luna said as she looked at Garret with admiring eyes. “Guards, get Luna to the hospital and get this body picked up.” Celestia ordered. Luna was escorted to the hospital and was reported a clean bill of health. But, she had to receive psychological treatment. She knew resisting therapy wouldn’t help her at all to get over this. But, the therapist that she requested was very frank. And, it didn’t help her that the therapist happened to be the one overseeing Luna’s return when Celestia was busy. Which was all the time. The Therapist then acted as a grandfather, much like Luna does now with the three foals. “Luna, I need to be frank with you.” The therapist said. “I would sure hope so.” Luna wasn’t joking around like normal. “There is a war coming whether you know it or not. It might be a civil war or it might be foreign.” He said. “Why would it be a civil war?” She asked. “Celestia hadn’t told you? Well I trust her judgment that she will tell you later.” He said brushing off the question. “But, what I was getting at is that you will see more deaths. You need to find a way to cope with them when they happen.” “Ok. I think I can do that.” She responded. “If you need help with this, you know where to find me.” He said putting a wrinkled hoof on her shoulder. “Thanks Grandpa.” She said giving him a small kiss on the cheek as she left. She knew better than to walk without getting lost in thought now. She waited until she got up into her room and then got lost in her thoughts. She thought about what Celestia would tell her about a civil war. She resolved to ask about it in when she woke up. Luna spent half the night awake as she thought about what would get her mind off of deaths. She thought about her sisters loving embrace. For reasons Luna didn’t know, this wasn’t a powerful enough thought. She let her mind wander and was eventually surprised at the final outcome. Garret the griffon. Old Age“And that, my little ponies, is the end of the first part of my story.” Luna sighed as the escort arrived at her house. “But Auntie, what was Celestia talking about with the civil and international war?” Glistening asked. “You will learn tomorrow, my little overeager nephew.” Luna answered getting up from her chair, “But before you go, I still have some cake that needs eaten.” “Cake!” hollered Gauntlet as he jumped up and down in excitement. “Thanks Auntie.” Amoura said hugging her aunt. Luna was sitting on her rocking chair in the living room when the royal mail mare arrived. She heard a knock and went to answer. “Hello Miss Luna.” Derpy greeted as the door was opened, “I got a letter here for you. It’s from the King himself.” “Thank you Miss Hooves.” Luna said as she gave Derpy her tip and closed the door. Luna sat back down and opened the letter. Luna had always had a rivalry between her and her in-law. Things were never heated and the worst were usually cold stares from across the room. This made Luna start to question what this was about. “My dear Aunt, I would love it if you would join me for lunch this afternoon. If you wish to I will meet you at Doughnut Joe’s fine establishment and three o’ clock. With ‘love’, King Shining Armor.” Luna read as she laughed out loud. “Why, hehe… Writing this letter must have made him cringe!” Luna laughed to herself as she fell out of her chair backwards. “I wonder what the civilities are for. Hmm, I will go to this lunch of his and find out what he wants.” Luna said to herself, “But, what do I know, I am just a senile old Alicorn who just talks to herself.” Luna got up from the ground and went to go dress herself. As she was walking she started to feel dizzy and felt very weak in the legs. She fell down as her vision started to blur. The old caretaker soon passed out after that. “Oh Garret, you old romantic, these are pretty flowers.” A much younger looking Luna said as she turned to the Griffon. “Well, I might have had some help picking these out. It seems your niece knows a thing or two about love.” Garret replied. “Oh, so now you say that you love me.” Luna joked as she blushed. “Well. Uh… Hmm... Is it hot out here?” Garret asked as he started to blush and sweat. “I think it’s sweet.” Luna replied as she gave him a peck on the cheek. Luna regained conciseness as Garret turned to her. “Garret! No… Don’t go…” Luna said as she looked around. Luna noticed one thing automatically. She was not in her home. She looked some more as her vision slowly started to come back to her. The old goddess saw a figure standing over her. She came to the conclusion that she was in a hospital. As she kept looking, she confirmed her suspicions. “Where am I?” Luna asked already knowing the answer. “You’re in Canterlot General Hospital.” A familiar voice said. Luna shook her head to get the blur out of her vision. This went without avail as her head just started to hurt. “Ow! My head hurts, what happened?” Luna asked as she held her head. “Do you want the whole rundown, or the abridged version?” The voice said again. “Let’s go with abridged for now.” Luna replied still weary to the unfamiliar speaker. “Let’s take this slow. I invited you to lunch. Do you remember that?” The voice said. “Shining? Why are YOU here? And yes, I do remember that.” Luna replied coldly. “Well you didn’t show up at the designated time. So I waited a while for you to show up for the fact that you are normally late,” Shining shot back, “So I went to your house and knocked on your door.” “Well that’s unusual for you. Now can you tell me why I can’t see anything and my head hurts?” Luna asked. “In time. Now where was I? Oh yes, knocking down your door. Well I knocked down your door after a bit of waiting for you to open the door since you are a bit slow. I found you in the hallway in front of your bedroom door in a small pool of your own blood. It was coming out of your head so I ‘field dressed you’ and called the ambulance. When we got here the doctors ran some quick diagnostics and decided that you were temporarily blind with a concussion.” The King ended with a deep breath. “Have you sent a letter to Cadence?” Luna asked. “Yes,” replied the King. “And why am I in the General Hospital and not with the royal physician?” Luna asked again with a death glare. “This was closer.” The King answered. “Good excuse.” Luna mumbled as she heard someone come through the door, “Ah, I am assuming that that is Cadence, come in and see your old Aunt.” At this time, Shining wisely stepped out of the room to give the two some space. “Oh, Auntie!” Cadence said between sobs, “Ar – Are you alright?” “Yes, yes I am fine come here and give me a hug.” Luna assured with open arms. “Is there anything tha- that we can do to help?” Cadence asked still locked in their hug. “You can let me take care of your children for a few days while you are busy.” Luna said as she was hit with Déjà vu of the first time she convinced Cadence to let her care take the foals. “No, I cannot allow that, I will take care of them until you are better.” Cadence insisted. “Cadence, I need to finish this story. This will help me in more ways than you know. Now, unless you wish me to completely stop watching over these foals, I will tell them this story, and I will see them.” Luna demanded. “O- Ok. I will ask the Royal physician to tell me when you will be let out. Only if you are up to it... I don’t want you pushing yourself.” Cadence said insisting on these rules. The two mares had continued talking about Luna’s medical issues. She was not sure why she was doing the comforting. After what she guessed as an hour, Shining ushered Cadence out the door leaving the old princess to her devices. She heard a knock at the door and wondered who it was. “Aw, Miss Luna, I am Doctor Redheart, the royal physician. I believe we met some years back?” Redheart asked. During the war, Nurse Redheart enlisted as a field medic. She earned many commendations and was promoted several times. When she returned, she was appointed by Luna and Cadence to be the Royal Physician. “You old bat, why are you still working?” Luna asked in a sarcastic tone. “You were old before we met, so I wouldn’t be talking.” Redheart fired back. “What’s wrong with me?” Luna asked in a surprisingly serious tone. “You have a concussion, blindness, a nasty fever, and from what I can tell, old age.” Redheart answered in a matching tone. “You know that’s not what I meant.” Luna said slumping back. “What’s really wrong with you, is longing. You long for the days that have just passed. You miss Garret.” Readheart replied. “It seems I am a mare that is infinitely stuck in the past.” Luna responded. “Well, I can recommend going to see his burial. You need to find a way to cope with this loss.” Redheart said putting a wrinkled hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “You can go home in about three days.” “Thank you Doctor Redheart. It was pleasant talking to you again.” Luna finished. As Redheart had said, Luna went home later that week and she sent a letter to Cadence saying that she could watch the foals the next day. She always had to have a guard to be her escort until she regained her sight. Luna had thought and thought about what she would do to cope with losses this time but she was lost. As Redheart had recommended, Luna went to visit Garret’s grave. She could not see it but she memorized the sight. She even memorized the writing on the grave. The writing just told his name, death date, and the role in the war he fought in. When Luna returned home, all she could do was cry. Then it hit her. Her way to cope would be in telling her past to the ones of the future. She thought of what she would tell the children next. Luna had just decided what she was going to tell them, when the escort arrived. Author's Note Sorry it took so long to get this out. I will try to keep this more regularly updated.
How Do I Begin?Luna could never forget what happened all those years ago. Sometimes, when she was alone, she would remember her sister and cry whishing it was her and not her sister who was gone from this world. Luna found that she had plenty of time for this because she lived in an appealing gated community on the cliffs above Canterlot for all the high ranking, troubled war veterans. She had started this process again until the guards arrived with her beloved niece and nephews; Glistening Sword, Amoura, and little Gauntlet. Glistening Sword is an earth pony whose only major difference between his dad and him was Glistening’s emerald eyes. Glistening Sword, taught by his father, was a good, and hardworking. He was also apparently was very attractive and popular with the fillies in his grade. Amoura was a cute little unicorn with amethyst eyes and possesses a darker pink coat than her mother and a dark purple mane that has a light pink stripe in it. Amoura, like Twilight Sparkle, was a hardcore introvert. Her difference with Twilight Sparkle was that she at least had one or two friends at a young age. She was also completely oblivious to all of the gazes she got from the colts at her age level. Gauntlet on the other hand was completely different from the rest of his family. He was a little pegasus whose coat is a dark brown and mane is a light green color. Originally, Cadence was thought to be courting a noble. But, after some DNA spells it was learned that Gauntlet was a legitimate son. Gauntlet unfortunately, was born with a learning defect. Glistening was always thought to have Gauntlet tag along because it helped him “pick up the pretty fillies,” but this was not true because Sword really just loved his brother and didn’t want him to be bullied. “Hello and welcome my little ponies.” was her normal greeting, but this time the children knew something was wrong and reacted before Luna could get out her words. “Auntie what’s wrong?” Amoura asked and took a step forward. “W-What? Nothing is wrong. Please don’t worry yourself over me, are you prepared to have fun?” Luna hastily replied. “Auntie, please, my special talent is sensing others feelings, remember? I know when something is wrong.” Amoura said, putting concern in her voice. “Amoura, I must request you drop this at once. I have a fun day planned for you and I do not want it ruined because you are worried about me.” she said frowning, and then added, “The truth is something you need not worry about right now but, don’t worry, for I will tell you in a later date.” “What did you have planned for us auntie? Does it involve sweets?” asked Gauntlet bouncing about. “That depends on if you are willing to help me bake them.” Luna said half questioning and half tellingly. “Of course!” the trio replied ecstatically. Months went by and everyday Amoura still persisted on finding out the problem bothering Luna. Luna knew that she would have to either mare up and do it herself or simply let the school system do it for her. She thought it would be better for the children to hear it from her herself so she set a date one week from then to give herself time to prepare. Luna had started rigorously preparing herself before her fateful day. She kept herself from stressful situations, ate healthy foods, and got a good solid forty hours of sleep. She also went through strenuous but peaceful yoga stretches to help clear the mind. There might have been a time or two when Luna thought to herself “Am I just overdoing it here? I might just be indulging myself here…” But, she kept herself on her regular schedule. She heard the royal chariot before she saw it. It wasn’t carrying the foals; it was instead Derpy Hooves carrying her mail. Derpy had been a messenger in the war and stayed in her profession after. She trotted up to the door and knocked. Luna answered the door and said a simple, “Hello Ms. Hooves.” “Hiya Ms. Luna, I have a letter here for you, it’s from the King, so I recommend a speedy response!” Derpy said with a toothy grin. “Thank you Ms. Hooves, have a wonderful day now!” Luna said giving Derpy a small tip. Luna silently cursed in spite of herself and opened the letter. The letter was short and could have been writing better if Shining Armor had gotten help from his royal letter writing advisor. It quickly explained how the kids were all at their friends’ house for the night and she had the day to herself but, if she wanted to get out of the house and spend the day with Cadence, Shining would run the court. Luna decided that it would be good to get out of the house and spend some time with a good friend. Luna wrote to Cadence and told her to meet her in the Canterlot Gardens in a half hour. She put on a nice cloak and gathered a nice and hardy pouch of bits and set off for the gardens. But, after a small time of walking she remembered a cake she put into the oven for the kids to ease into her gruesome tale. She flew home and turned off the oven and put the cake in the refrigerator for later use and went on her way again. Luna arrived to the garden and hedge maze five minutes early despite her mishap with the oven. She spent her remaining time looking around when she laid eyes on the statue of the griffon king. She remembered how she and her sister led the charge in overtaking the griffon fortress and how she lost half of her invasion force to traps set by the opposition. She remembered the screams and almost went into a relapse when Queen Cadence interrupted her train of thoughts. “Hello dear Aunt! It’s so good to see you, how are you today!” Cadence said tearing Luna away from the statue. “Wha-What, Oh hi Cadence, I didn’t see you there, I’m good how are you?” Luna replied hastily. “I’m drowned in paperwork, having headaches from all of the complains, trying to restrain myself from killing Blueblood, and on top of it all, taking care of three kids but other than that I’m absolutely magnificent!” Cadence answered with a sarcastic tone. Luna just laughed and said, “Well I can’t say I envy you, the only difference between your experience and mine is the fact that I was never a mother.” Luna teased. “Let’s just say I needed this time off, its only lunch time and we have the whole day.” Cadence said then added, “I know this great chineighs restaurant if you want try it.” “That’s sounds just wonderful, let’s go,” Luna replied as the duo started to walk, leaving behind the bad memories of the evil statue. The restaurant was a very short walk from the gardens and was appropriately named Royal Gardens Resturant. It was popular and Luna thought they would never get a seat but the waiter always had a reserve seat for royalty, all diners did. The duo was set in the back in privacy. “Luna, can I ask you a question?” Cadence asked. “Why yes of course, anything.” Luna answered while reviewing the drink menu. “Is Amoura, um, maybe…?” Cadence stuttered. “Is Amoura what, spit it out. Is Amoura an angel? Yes, of course, they all are.” Luna teased but fearing that she knew the question. “No, uh.” the queen stammered. “Hello, welcome to the Royal Gardens Restaurant, can I get you something to drink your majesties!” the waitress interrupted and said, “Our special is a raspberry iced tea.” she finished while getting out her notepad. “Yum, that sounds good I’ll try that.” Luna remarked licking her lips at the thought of the drink. “Yes, me too please.” said Cadence quietly still fearing about asking the question on her mind. The waitress wrote the order down and left food menus so the mares could continue talking. “I wanted to ask if Amoura was bothering you about, well, Celestia?” she asked, fearing she struck a nerve that would ruin the day. “She has been asking about Celestia but doesn’t know who she is yet.” Luna explained then continued with, “I was planning on telling her about the war but, I was restraining myself because I didn’t know if you didn’t want me to or not.” Luna finished, lying. “I trust your judgment, Luna. I just wanted to know because Amoura won’t stop taking about how there ‘is something wrong with her caretaker.” Cadence followed up with, “I’m sorry if I was prying.” she finished. “You’re ok, I was worried I was overstepping my boundaries as an Aunt but, come now, let us see what this place has to offer so we can back to our fun day,” Luna said lightening the mood. “Ok, I’m buying.” Cadence said chuckling. “Obviously you don’t know how much I can eat!” Luna said laughing. The duo ordered their food and ate a hearty lunch and had a fun day of shopping. Luna bought herself a new cloak for herself and various gifts for the foals. After a couple of hours of this, Cadence announced that she had to go back to the castle and commence damage control. Luna walked her back and went home and went to bed. To say the least, she did not have a peaceful sleep. Luna stood watching her graceful sister, in front of the griffon fortress; give her speech to spark confidence in the hearts of the soldiers. “SO MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM US!” Celestia shouted using her royal Canterlot voice to project herself across the whole invasion force, “THESE GRIFFONS HAVE KILLED FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND FELLOW SOLDIERS, SO, LET US NOT MAKE THEIR DEATHS IN VAIN!” She finished stomping the ground as she finished her last two words. “HOOOOOOORRRAAAAAAAA!” yelled the entire force itching for the order to charge. “HARDEN YOUR HEARTS BOYS, FOR TODAY, WE FIGHT FOR THE FATE OF EQUESTRIA,” she yelled before adding the fateful order, “CHARGE.” Luna locked eyes with her special general as the dream flash forwarded. Luna now was looking around the dark room from the ground immobilized, she saw the body of her dead, special general, Celestial; who was battered and beaten now from the harsh trials of the fortress and the unbearable punishment from the Griffon King, the bearers of the elements of harmony; all with their respective elements, and a small squad from the remaining invasion force. “You LOSE Celestia,” the Griffon overlord said, “Just give up and I will spare you,” “Twilight when I say the word, you and the other bearers CANNOT hesitate,” Celestia squeaked out. “I-I don’t know if I can.” Twilight said, crying. “Ah’m sorry Twilight, but we haf’ta do this, for Equestria.” the one named Applejack said stepping forward to comfort her. “Enough of this, Celestia, prepare to meet your doom!” The overlord bellowed walking toward Celestia to deliver the final blow to Equestria. Celestia waited a few moments for the Griffon king to walk close before she screamed. “NOW, DO IT NOW!” Right as the elements shot their spell Luna awoke screaming in cold blood. She looked at the clock. Three AM. Her alarm was set to go off in another five hours. Luna wasn’t tired so she got up and went to the bathroom. She took a cold shower and went to go make breakfast. The children were coming soon and Luna decided today would be the day. She got ready, made a cake and prepared for the worst. “You got this, Luna.” She said stretching. Like on any other day when her services as a caretaker were needed, she set up a list of what she had planned to do that day with the foals. But, this was no normal day. She set up a plan of how much she of the story she planned on telling each day with the last part being the end of the week. Right when she finished this week’s story telling schedule, she heard the knock on the door. Luna knew it was time. “Hello and welcome my little ponies!” Luna said trying to sound as excited as she could. “Auntie, please, I’m begging you. I promise I can help with wha-” Amoura wasn’t able to finish her sentence, as her aunt interrupted her. “Amoura, the day has come for me to tell you my story. Prepare yourselves, this is not a happy story.” Luna said with the nervousness of her voice trickling in. “Auntie, I will assist you with whatever I can and if you need me to cover Gauntlet’s ears, I will.” Glistening sword said while stepping forward, “I promise we can handle it, we may be more grown up than you think.” He finished. “Thank you, but I don’t think any of that will be necessary.” Luna said pointing to the kitchen and continued. “There is a cake in there so before I start to do anything, let’s go have a piece.” Luna said chuckling as she saw Gauntlets eyes light up. “A cake!” Gauntlet exclaimed. The four ate the cake as Luna listened to each ones stories of their school day. Luna decided that, because it was Monday, that the hatred for the wretched day started at a young age. After they were done and cleaned up the kitchen, the caretaker herded them onto the couches of the main room. “Ok little ones; settle down for I have a tale to tell you.”
The Beginning of the EndThirteen years ago... The war started three years before Prince Glistening Sword was born. Tension between the ponies and the griffons was rising. Eventually, the Overlord called all griffons back to their homeland. The final straw was when the King had asked Celestia to be his bride and, after much deliberation, she declined. This was the start of the Celestial War. “Oh Luna, I don’t know what I am going to do.” Celestia said, half asking, half stating. They received the marriage proposal earlier that day. It was basically a note saying ‘make me King peacefully, or I will do so forcefully.’ If Celestia accepted, Griffons would run Equestria and Celestia would lose the faith of all of her subjects. If she refused, Equestria would be plunged into a war. “You know you cannot accept this, correct.” Luna answered. “I know, but what is confusing me is, can we win the war that will surely follow my declination?” “Ye-” Luna started to say but changed her reply to, “I don’t know, we haven’t been to war since the first coming of Discord.” “I think I need to get some rest and follow up on this with the advisors in the morning.” Celestia said, yawning because the sisters had stayed up contemplating their response. “How early do you plan to do this?” Luna asked with a smirk. “Earlier than lunch time.” The elder sister answered with a suppressed giggle. “Then I guess I will have no say in this.” Luna added with a laugh. As Celestia walked to her bedroom, so did the spy outside the castle walls. The spy had been the griffon courier that delivered the proposal letter earlier that day. He had followed Celestia all day from the outside of the castle. What the spy didn’t expect was to be viciously grabbed and slammed into the ground in front of the main gate. “QUICK, RETRIEVE CAPTAIN SHINING ARMOUR!” Luna had yelled at the guards. Guards quickly ran out of sight and Luna returned her attention to the spy at hoof. “You know, you really need to work on your sneak skills if you plan to continue to be a spy.” Luna taunted. “Ho- How did you know I was there?” “Like I said you really aren’t inconspicuous. I’ve watched you all day, didn’t you notice me looking out the window every five minutes while me and Tia were talking?” Luna joked as if this were a game. The griffon looked much like any other. Except, his head feathers were brown and the tips of his wings were black. “Tell me then, I did everything I could to prevent this. How could you have followed the follower all day?” The griffon asked, knowing he was beaten. “LUNA, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?” Shining Armor yelled at Luna as he approached. “Guards, get this spy in cuffs right now.” “Shining, I am all right. But, maybe you should ask this gentle griffon fellow if he is alright…” Luna said, still in a joking mood. “I don’t care about this piece of sh-” Shining started to say. “Whoa there Captain, no need for that kind of language.” The princess verbally stabbed. The Captain rolled his eyes and said, “Guards get him to the interrogation room.” “We still have that? Oh I gave that to Tia on an April Foal’s day about, oh, a millennium ago.” The princess laughed, “Just kidding, but let me do this.” “How are you in a joking mood right now, this is a matter of Canterlot, no, a matter of EQUESTRIAN security?” He asked baffled. “Because, he doesn’t mean any harm, he doesn’t have a weapon, and, I may or may not have broken a wing, now do as I say.” “By your orders, but just know, that I will be right next to you.” The Captain said. “Okay.” Luna exclaimed, while bouncing up and down like Pinkie Pie. Shining and Luna arrived at the interrogation room in the dungeons and ordered to guards to go fetch the elder Princess. This left the griffon; with is left wing now in bandages, Shining Armor, and Luna alone. “Hello again.” Luna started. “Hello.” The defeated griffon said. “Will you answer my question now?” “No, you are here to be asked not asking.” Shining shot off before the princess could say anything. “Yes, I will gladly answer your question now.” Luna answered for herself. “Princess I-” Armor started. “No, he already asked this.” Luna interrupted. She then turned to the griffon and started. “After you left the castle, I watched you go to your carriage. I’ll admit you had me confused when you switched with an oncoming carriage. Questions thus far?” She asked. “Yes, just one actually… Where were you watching me from?” the griffon asked. “Good question, on my balcony. Now as I was saying. It took me a minute to see your head pop up in the vehicle. So I watched as you got closer and closer.” She added to her story. “Well, I guess I’m confused as in how you were watching me.” The griffon stated with a confused look on his face. “After you changed carriages, I had to use binoculars to see through the front windshield.” She answered. “Oh, carry on.” The now not-so-confused griffon said. “And again, you confused me when, on the draw bridge, you went through a trap door in your carriage and clung to the bottom to avoid discovery. You were in the courtyard now and my sister was now in the kitchen getting food from the pan-” “ENOUGH OF THIS!” Shining yelled slamming his hooves on the small table in the center of the room. “No no, this is an interesting story.” Celestia remarked as everyone turned to look at her. “Yes auntie, please continue.” Cadence said walking through door. “Okay, let’s just have a party in here!” Shining agitatedly exclaimed. “Don’t be upset Shiny or no Cadi tonight.” Cadence teased as Shining blushed and added, “Auntie, please continue.” “Well that was awkward, but nevertheless. The whole day was pretty much watching you through the windows and running about the castle. That is, until I met up with Tia and the rest is history. One question did you lose track of her at that point?” Luna asked. “You caught me.” Griffon said with a slight blushing. “Ok, real interrogation time now?” Shining asked. “Yes, just call us in when you are done.” Celestia said, “Come on Luna.” The three princesses waited outside for about half an hour talking about wait they did that day. And, Cadence surprised her aunts with the knowledge that her and Shining would try to have a foal soon. They were conveniently done when Shining opened the door and reported. “As far as I can tell, he’s just collecting information about Celestia and the castle.” “Told you.” Luna remarked with a smirk. “Luna you brought him here, you can lay down the punishment.” Celestia smiled and finished with, “One o’clock is way past my bed time.” “One day in the dungeon and then he can stay in a guest room, with a couple of guards with him at all times.” Luna reported in a serious manor, the first time since she caught the griffon. “Fair enough, good night Luna, Cadence, and Shining.” Celestia yawned. “Men, you heard the princess!” Shining barked. The four went to their respective rooms and went to sleep. Luna slept in until noon as predicted and went down to the kitchen to get lunch. After just two weeks of Luna being back from the moon, Celestia had to hire a whole new kitchen staff just for her sister. Luna ate a hardy seven sandwiches and seven liters of soup. After she was done, she went to go find her sister. She found her in her advisors office intensely speaking with them. “Good after-morning sister!” Luna laughed out. “I’m sorry Luna, but now’s not the time.” The elder replied. “Please, find something else to do and I will find you when I am done.” “Ugh, okay fine.” The younger said, sighing. Luna walked around for a while trying to think of things she should do. She then had an idea of walking around Canterlot with Cadence for an hour or so. However, this was not going to happen because when she got to Cadence’s door, she heard, “And I thought I was the goddess of love.” She ran away as fast as she could with the reddest face she ever had. Then the best idea came to her, she would prank some of the guards. Luna was officially out of ideas. She had pranked half the guards in the castle, jumped out some windows, and, to top it all off, went to the new construction site of a gated community for rich snobs above Canterlot. Luna decided a mid-afternoon snack would help bring her ideas. When she got to the kitchen, she had three sandwiches and came up with an even better plan. She would visit the prisoner. Luna was almost to the dungeon entrance when a meddlesome sister decided it would be a great time to show up. “Hello Luna.” Celestia greeted. “I’mnotdoinganything!” Luna yelped with a jump. “I never said you did. What are you doing down here?” The elder asked. “I was going to go see the prisoner, but I don’t think I will now.” The younger said with a shrug. “Well I think that’s a great idea. Let’s move him into a guest room early for good behavior.” Celestia said. “Ok. By the way, did you decide on what you were going to do?” Luna asked. “Heh, not yet. Come on now, I have some questions I need to ask this griffon.” The Sun Princess said as she opened the dungeon door. The sisters walked in the dungeon and a guard quickly saluted them. Celestia let him at ease and had him move the griffon to the interrogation room. The sisters waited for the guard to return to tell them, the prisoner was ready. When they walked into the room, they found the griffon in cuffs and his feathers ruffled. “You look like crap.” Luna said with a giggle. “Nice to see you, too.” The griffon said with a smirk. “Now now you two lets be serious.” Celestia scolded. “Mr. uh-” “Garret. But, my code name is Incognito, so whichever you prefer.” Garret answered. “Well Mr. Garret, we need to ask you a few questions and we might let you out of jail early.” Celestia stated. “Ok, ask away.” Garret said. “Was your main purpose here just to spy or was there more to you assignment?” The princess asked. “My mission was to deliver the proposal, eavesdrop on your answer, and report it to the King so he knows whether to prepare an invasion force or an occupation force. This would have made the army ready before your response came to Him so we would have the upper hand. Obviously this isn’t happening because; your beautiful sister here foiled my plans.” Garret finished. “Thank you Mr. Not-So-Incognito.” Luna laughed. “Are there anymore spies here in Canterlot?” Celestia asked. “Like I told your Captain, no, none are working here in Canterlot besides me. I have five other griffons in my command but I have them all across Equestria.” Garret answered. “One last question I need to ask. This might come to you as a surprise to both of you.” Celestia warned. “Shoot.” The griffon and Luna both said at the same time. “Would you and your griffons you have here in Equestria, be willing to fight in the war that will surely come?” Celestia said as she looked around. “Sister, when did you decide this was a good idea?” Luna asked. “This morning, when I was consorting with some of my advisors…” Celestia answered. Garret looked straight at Luna and answered. “What makes you think that I would betray my king so eagerly?” Garret asked returning his gaze back to Celestia. “I have my own spies.” Celestia answered, “And I know that not all griffons agree to the King’s dictatorship. And you sir, do not agree with his way of ruling, to put it lightly.” “Give me a few nights of rest in a real bed and I will call in my spies to get us signed up.” Garret responded after a few seconds, you Princess, are looking at the leader of the rebellion.” “That might help us. Guards, report.” Celestia yelled. “YES PRINCESS!” the guard responded as she ran into the room. “Escort Mr. Garret to guest room A.” Celestia ordered. “Yes Princess.” The guard said as she started leading the prisoner. Luna walked with the Celestia and they parted once more when an advisor came looking for her. This left Luna with even more time on her hands. She found herself thinking about what Garret had said. 'Your beautiful sister here ruined my plans.' She was so lost in that thought that she didn’t even notice that she was going straight for Cadence. This collision knocked them both over. “Heh, watch out there Auntie.” Cadence laughed as she got up. “Sorry Cadence, my mind was back on the moon.” Luna chuckled as she got up too. “About what?” Cadence asked. “Wh- what’s for dinner tonight of course.” Luna said as she started to sweat. Cadence seemed to study Luna for any traces of her lie. Unfortunately, for Cadence, she was one of the most gullible ponies ever. “Wow auntie, you never seem to stop thinking about food.” She laughed. “Ha ha, yup that’s me, an old food hound. Well gottagobye.” Luna said as she ran away. Luna was again stuck walking around. Like last time, she got too lost in the thought of what Garret had called her. Luna didn’t realize all she was all alone. Luna didn’t even realize there were no guards around. The infiltrators did though. Luna walked out onto a balcony. She looked out at Canterlot and saw all of the bustling ponies rushing around. She looked at the right time to see a Unicorn knock over a pegasus. This gave her a slight laugh. She soon got bored of this and turned around. When she turned around she was knocked over by a figure. She looked at the figures feat and saw it was a griffon. “Garret, you can’t sneak up on me like tha-” She stopped as she looked up. She saw that this griffon was different than Garret. This griffon had War paint and scars, where Garret did not. “Although I am not Garret, I think I act for him when I do this.” The mysterious griffon said in a menacing tone. “Let me go tell the guards that you are here and you have dinner with us?” Luna hopingly said. “No.” The griffon said. “Didn’t think so.” Luna whispered as she swept the griffon off his feet, got up and ran. “Get back here!” The griffon yelled as he got up and started flying to catch her. “GUARDS, GUARDS! HELP!” Luna cried. “Your guards are corrupt. I pai-” The griffon started. Luna, out of the corner of her eyes, saw a figure the shape of a griffon fly overhead. She heard a thump as both the griffons started fighting. She stopped and turned around and she saw none other than Garret flying to her rescue with his broken wing. This is when the guards decided to show up. “PRINCESS LUNA, ARE YOU HURT!” They yelled as they rushed to her side. “GO HELP GARRET!” Luna barked. But by the time Luna had said this, a bloody claw tapped her on the shoulder. “No need, I am fine. But, the assassin isn’t.” Garret said with a somber look on his face. Luna behind Garret and vomited at the sight of the mangled body of the griffon assassin. Luna was never the same again. Although this was just the first of many bodies she would see later on, this WAS the first. And the first was always the hardest to bear. “LUNA, ARE YOU OK!” Celestia yelled as she ran through the door. “I-I am fine now. But, I wouldn’t be if Garret here hadn’t shown up to my rescue.” Luna said as she looked at Garret with admiring eyes. “Guards, get Luna to the hospital and get this body picked up.” Celestia ordered. Luna was escorted to the hospital and was reported a clean bill of health. But, she had to receive psychological treatment. She knew resisting therapy wouldn’t help her at all to get over this. But, the therapist that she requested was very frank. And, it didn’t help her that the therapist happened to be the one overseeing Luna’s return when Celestia was busy. Which was all the time. The Therapist then acted as a grandfather, much like Luna does now with the three foals. “Luna, I need to be frank with you.” The therapist said. “I would sure hope so.” Luna wasn’t joking around like normal. “There is a war coming whether you know it or not. It might be a civil war or it might be foreign.” He said. “Why would it be a civil war?” She asked. “Celestia hadn’t told you? Well I trust her judgment that she will tell you later.” He said brushing off the question. “But, what I was getting at is that you will see more deaths. You need to find a way to cope with them when they happen.” “Ok. I think I can do that.” She responded. “If you need help with this, you know where to find me.” He said putting a wrinkled hoof on her shoulder. “Thanks Grandpa.” She said giving him a small kiss on the cheek as she left. She knew better than to walk without getting lost in thought now. She waited until she got up into her room and then got lost in her thoughts. She thought about what Celestia would tell her about a civil war. She resolved to ask about it in when she woke up. Luna spent half the night awake as she thought about what would get her mind off of deaths. She thought about her sisters loving embrace. For reasons Luna didn’t know, this wasn’t a powerful enough thought. She let her mind wander and was eventually surprised at the final outcome. Garret the griffon.
Old Age“And that, my little ponies, is the end of the first part of my story.” Luna sighed as the escort arrived at her house. “But Auntie, what was Celestia talking about with the civil and international war?” Glistening asked. “You will learn tomorrow, my little overeager nephew.” Luna answered getting up from her chair, “But before you go, I still have some cake that needs eaten.” “Cake!” hollered Gauntlet as he jumped up and down in excitement. “Thanks Auntie.” Amoura said hugging her aunt. Luna was sitting on her rocking chair in the living room when the royal mail mare arrived. She heard a knock and went to answer. “Hello Miss Luna.” Derpy greeted as the door was opened, “I got a letter here for you. It’s from the King himself.” “Thank you Miss Hooves.” Luna said as she gave Derpy her tip and closed the door. Luna sat back down and opened the letter. Luna had always had a rivalry between her and her in-law. Things were never heated and the worst were usually cold stares from across the room. This made Luna start to question what this was about. “My dear Aunt, I would love it if you would join me for lunch this afternoon. If you wish to I will meet you at Doughnut Joe’s fine establishment and three o’ clock. With ‘love’, King Shining Armor.” Luna read as she laughed out loud. “Why, hehe… Writing this letter must have made him cringe!” Luna laughed to herself as she fell out of her chair backwards. “I wonder what the civilities are for. Hmm, I will go to this lunch of his and find out what he wants.” Luna said to herself, “But, what do I know, I am just a senile old Alicorn who just talks to herself.” Luna got up from the ground and went to go dress herself. As she was walking she started to feel dizzy and felt very weak in the legs. She fell down as her vision started to blur. The old caretaker soon passed out after that. “Oh Garret, you old romantic, these are pretty flowers.” A much younger looking Luna said as she turned to the Griffon. “Well, I might have had some help picking these out. It seems your niece knows a thing or two about love.” Garret replied. “Oh, so now you say that you love me.” Luna joked as she blushed. “Well. Uh… Hmm... Is it hot out here?” Garret asked as he started to blush and sweat. “I think it’s sweet.” Luna replied as she gave him a peck on the cheek. Luna regained conciseness as Garret turned to her. “Garret! No… Don’t go…” Luna said as she looked around. Luna noticed one thing automatically. She was not in her home. She looked some more as her vision slowly started to come back to her. The old goddess saw a figure standing over her. She came to the conclusion that she was in a hospital. As she kept looking, she confirmed her suspicions. “Where am I?” Luna asked already knowing the answer. “You’re in Canterlot General Hospital.” A familiar voice said. Luna shook her head to get the blur out of her vision. This went without avail as her head just started to hurt. “Ow! My head hurts, what happened?” Luna asked as she held her head. “Do you want the whole rundown, or the abridged version?” The voice said again. “Let’s go with abridged for now.” Luna replied still weary to the unfamiliar speaker. “Let’s take this slow. I invited you to lunch. Do you remember that?” The voice said. “Shining? Why are YOU here? And yes, I do remember that.” Luna replied coldly. “Well you didn’t show up at the designated time. So I waited a while for you to show up for the fact that you are normally late,” Shining shot back, “So I went to your house and knocked on your door.” “Well that’s unusual for you. Now can you tell me why I can’t see anything and my head hurts?” Luna asked. “In time. Now where was I? Oh yes, knocking down your door. Well I knocked down your door after a bit of waiting for you to open the door since you are a bit slow. I found you in the hallway in front of your bedroom door in a small pool of your own blood. It was coming out of your head so I ‘field dressed you’ and called the ambulance. When we got here the doctors ran some quick diagnostics and decided that you were temporarily blind with a concussion.” The King ended with a deep breath. “Have you sent a letter to Cadence?” Luna asked. “Yes,” replied the King. “And why am I in the General Hospital and not with the royal physician?” Luna asked again with a death glare. “This was closer.” The King answered. “Good excuse.” Luna mumbled as she heard someone come through the door, “Ah, I am assuming that that is Cadence, come in and see your old Aunt.” At this time, Shining wisely stepped out of the room to give the two some space. “Oh, Auntie!” Cadence said between sobs, “Ar – Are you alright?” “Yes, yes I am fine come here and give me a hug.” Luna assured with open arms. “Is there anything tha- that we can do to help?” Cadence asked still locked in their hug. “You can let me take care of your children for a few days while you are busy.” Luna said as she was hit with Déjà vu of the first time she convinced Cadence to let her care take the foals. “No, I cannot allow that, I will take care of them until you are better.” Cadence insisted. “Cadence, I need to finish this story. This will help me in more ways than you know. Now, unless you wish me to completely stop watching over these foals, I will tell them this story, and I will see them.” Luna demanded. “O- Ok. I will ask the Royal physician to tell me when you will be let out. Only if you are up to it... I don’t want you pushing yourself.” Cadence said insisting on these rules. The two mares had continued talking about Luna’s medical issues. She was not sure why she was doing the comforting. After what she guessed as an hour, Shining ushered Cadence out the door leaving the old princess to her devices. She heard a knock at the door and wondered who it was. “Aw, Miss Luna, I am Doctor Redheart, the royal physician. I believe we met some years back?” Redheart asked. During the war, Nurse Redheart enlisted as a field medic. She earned many commendations and was promoted several times. When she returned, she was appointed by Luna and Cadence to be the Royal Physician. “You old bat, why are you still working?” Luna asked in a sarcastic tone. “You were old before we met, so I wouldn’t be talking.” Redheart fired back. “What’s wrong with me?” Luna asked in a surprisingly serious tone. “You have a concussion, blindness, a nasty fever, and from what I can tell, old age.” Redheart answered in a matching tone. “You know that’s not what I meant.” Luna said slumping back. “What’s really wrong with you, is longing. You long for the days that have just passed. You miss Garret.” Readheart replied. “It seems I am a mare that is infinitely stuck in the past.” Luna responded. “Well, I can recommend going to see his burial. You need to find a way to cope with this loss.” Redheart said putting a wrinkled hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “You can go home in about three days.” “Thank you Doctor Redheart. It was pleasant talking to you again.” Luna finished. As Redheart had said, Luna went home later that week and she sent a letter to Cadence saying that she could watch the foals the next day. She always had to have a guard to be her escort until she regained her sight. Luna had thought and thought about what she would do to cope with losses this time but she was lost. As Redheart had recommended, Luna went to visit Garret’s grave. She could not see it but she memorized the sight. She even memorized the writing on the grave. The writing just told his name, death date, and the role in the war he fought in. When Luna returned home, all she could do was cry. Then it hit her. Her way to cope would be in telling her past to the ones of the future. She thought of what she would tell the children next. Luna had just decided what she was going to tell them, when the escort arrived. Author's Note Sorry it took so long to get this out. I will try to keep this more regularly updated.
