Love You to Deathby Dilectus NoctisChaptersPrologueChapter 01Chapter 02Chapter 03Chapter 04PrologueLove You to Death By Dilectus Noctis Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Shysoldier94 Disclaimer: I do not own the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic franchise, Hasbro does. Prologue The moon rose on the horizon, and the orange lights of the sunset had been overtaken by various shades of dark purple and blue on the sky. The stars began to appear one by one as time passed by; together with the moon, they illuminated the night in beautiful shades of silver. Luna, one of the princesses of Equestria, was standing upon her bedroom balcony as she has always done when raising the moon that she created to bring the night upon the land, so all ponies could rest at night to have energy for the next day. It was something that she loved doing, she made stars to beauty the dark sky for anypony’s appreciation, with the stars she created constellations so the ponies could guide themselves in the night. It was a great feeling, putting her own self in something that would be seen by all the ones who inhabit the land of Equestria. She finished working her magic and went back to her bed feeling tired. After all, being imprisoned for a thousand years without being able to use her magic made such a task difficult, resulting in a loss of strength. "Don't worry dear sister, you'll be back in shape in no time," Celestia said when entering Luna's room. "We hope so dear sister, we hope..." the princess of the night said with a sigh. "All you need is time; after all, time heals all wounds." "It may heal wounds, but it leaves a scar to be reminded every day of your life." Celestia noticed Luna aura fading to grey slowly, she knew what the problem was, but it was something she didn't want to remember. "Are you..." "Yes, sister. Maybe... you could stay here with us for a while? We would like to talk to you about what has been troubling us since our comeback. Something that we ought have forgotten but we can't stop thinking about it." "Of course I can Luna, but, are you sure you want to touch in this subject? I know it's hard for you and I understand if you don't want to talk about it." "We have to, sister. We must take this out of our chest once and for all." Luna said now sitting on her bed. "Very well," the sun princess said as she sat beside her sister on the bed, "I'm all ears." "After living all these years... have you ever felt love? "W-what? Uh, why this so suddenly?" Celestia asked, surprised with the unexpected question. "We don't know, since we were gone for a long while, but we never heard of anything coming from you in this subject. So we were just curious, that's all." "I... I'm afraid I haven't had the time to think about such things sister, being here, oh you know... alone for so much time was hard for me too, but I had to deal with so many things and..." "And?" Luna insisted. "And him as well." "Oh..." Luna looked to the window in front of her, seemingly trying to find something to say. "Why don't you tell me what happened while I wasn't here?" "I knew you would ask this sooner or later..." Celestia left a sigh, her expression turned from a caring sister looking to help, to a sad and reluctant one. "If you really want to know I can't do anything but tell you then. But first...let's go somewhere else," Celestia said as she got up from her sister's bed. "Where?" "I think the gardens would be a better place, fresh air, and no one will be around at this time, so what do you say?" The Canterlot Castle garden was surely the most beautiful garden in all of Equestria. Plants from every corner of the country, critters of various kinds, and fountains with clear water contributed to the ambient with the constant sound of the water flowing. Both sisters were sitting side by side in front of one of the fountains. It was peaceful, and no place was better to go to for going back in time to revive wounds that never existed, unknown to those who were far away and haven't seen anything of what happened. "Luna, there's so much to tell you and... well you were away when all this happened so it may be hard to get everything at once," Celestia put a hoof softly on her sister's shoulder. "We understand sister, but it is time for us to know, it is better than keeping doubts for the rest of our lives." "Yes, I guess you're right sister. As your mind may have forgotten several things, why not let me tell it to you from the beginning?" "You mean, like, everything?" "Well, if I'm going to tell you all that happened, then why not have everything fresh on your mind? It's a long story after all. And if you want these doubts to stop mourning you, then we must go to the deepest part of the facts." "Okay then, do what you think is right sister, we appreciate your help very much." Luna's teal eyes met the dark purple of her sister; Celestia looked thoughtful, deep in her thoughts, trying to find the exact way to begin. They broke the eye contact as Celestia took her hoof off of Luna's shoulder and began, "Then, here it goes..." Chapter 01Love You to Death Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Shysoldier94 Chapter 01 NOTE: as the story takes place a thousand years ago I decided to use all the names in Latin The light shone through the curtains as the morning came and slowly illuminated the bedroom. The open window let the soft breeze come in, making the curtains move as if they were dancing to a slow rhythm. The calm ticking of a clock soon came to a noisy ringing. Several grumbles came from under the covers of the bed as a blue-grayish hoof moved out from under his covers tapping the nightstand frantically to find the clock that awoken the stallion from his sleep. Finally, the sound came to an end. An annoyed grunt came from the unicorn as he sat on his bed. His eyes were still irritated from the light. He managed to regain focus once more and looked throughout the room, "Urgh, maybe a little more sleep wouldn't hurt." he said while laying his head back towards the pillow. A few moves from side to side made him change his mind, "Okay conscience, you're right. No more sleep..." Dilectus Noctis said with a deep sigh. He got up and opened the door to the corridor leading to the bathroom. He stared at the mirror for a while, noticing his messy, silver-colored mane covering part of his face. Using his magic, he raised the brush above his head, and straightened the mess on his head, or at least tried to. He did the same with his tail and to other portions of his fur that made weird knots. He didn't know how it had gotten like this. He put back the brush in a small drawer at his side and went back to the hallway. He took a look around the hallway, and noticed several details that he was previously unaware of. The walls were made of stone and the floor was made of stone. Now that he thought about it, the place was rather dull and monochromatic. He got himself thinking about the reason that they had to move to the Everfree, Discord was causing a bit of trouble in Equestria. Several cities were inhabitable or destroyed severely by him and the chaos that he was spreading, but the one known as god of chaos was finally outmatched. Discord had been imprisoned in stone by the power of the Elements of Harmony. The castle situated in the Everfree Forest was no longer of use, but it served as a refuge to all the ponies of the affected regions in the time of chaos. The work of so many ponies was wasted because of such threat made the mood on all of Equestria gloomy, but the Royal Sisters were doing their best to put things back in place. The Elements of Harmony once used to defeat Discord were destined to be guarded in the castle, just in case they were needed again. Everypony had moved back to their homes; after all, there was so much work to be done to put things back in place and several new villages were supposed to be approved by the royalty. For instance, Ponyville, a village that was just "founded" by a group of earth ponies. Next, Cloudsdale needed to be reformed, and lastly, Canterlot, which was in its worst shape in years. "Dilectus?" a female voice transported him back to reality. "Uh, yes? What is it?" the unicorn answered, rather confused. "You have been staring at the wall for several minutes. Come on, have your breakfast. There's a lot to be done today, sleepy head." The dark-blue coated, white-maned unicorn said. She had a long curly mane, almost reaching the floor, and a five-pointed star as a cutie mark. Her name was Lumen Stella Noctis, a name that fit her physical appearance rather well. "Sure mom, are we moving back to Canterlot today?" "Yes, how could you forget that? The princesses scheduled it for today. We need to pack all our things, and get ready to go to our new home at the Canterlot Castle." When Dilectus was born, his father left home and was never heard of again. He probably didn't want to have a child anyways. He was raised by his mother alone. She fought for him, and supported all of his endeavors. Dilectus couldn't say that his life was bad. Having a solid education by studying on his own time, he managed to get to renowned colleges. Soon after finishing his studies the princesses hired him as one of the teachers in advanced magic at the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, a school that had just began its activities that very year. Even after so many troubles, Equestria was surely getting back on track. All kinds of researchers, inventors and mages were all working together to bring development back to the country. Dilectus knew that even though his education was of the highest quality, the school that the princesses had founded was dedicated to even more advanced studies. Spending his nights reading advanced books could now be considered his norm. The day passed by quickly. It was just a whole day of packing, after all. As the night began to arrive, a carriage arrived to take their things to Canterlot. Dilectus and his mother got on board, and they flew back to their home inside the castle walls of Canterlot. It was around nine at night when they arrived. All the boxes were taken inside and put anywhere since they wouldn't organize everything at the time; they had a simple dinner and went to sleep. One day before his first class, Dilectus couldn't be happier. However, he was concerned at the same time; elemental magic was surely one of the most dangerous types. It required lots of concentration, or else an entire building could come down. But he was happy nonetheless. Organizing all his family's things back to their original places kept both unicorns busy for the whole day. Time flew by and soon it was night once again. In his room, Dilectus left a single candle lit up so he could read his book and plan what he would do tomorrow. It was a simple book on the principles of magic so he could begin with an easy lesson on his first day and avoid further problems. Around midnight, the candle flickered, and went out. He was supposed to wake up early, but he couldn't shake away his eagerness. The unicorn went to the balcony of his room to look at the stars from his favorite spot in the town. His house was situated within the castle walls, as all the other teachers' houses were, but his was in a more elevated area providing a perfect view of the surroundings. He took a thick blanket and put it on the balcony, and laid down on it. The moon was right above his head and the stars were bright, as always. At night he could find peace in his heart. He was always the antisocial type of pony; not that he didn't like company, but he had built walls around him to protect himself from being harmed, something that he did since he was a colt. Maybe it was because he was afraid to get in a relationship, or to be disapproved of, something that he fears the most, always trying to do his best, and when he couldn't do something, he always escaped in fear of being mocked. He never had anything with anypony, nothing more than a simple conversation about a job or some project or research, never could he get close to a mare without freaking out, but always silently, always covered his feelings to look tough, but deep inside, he just wanted to have somepony to care for. These thoughts filled his mind; and that was his usual activity, thinking while looking to the moon, as if it was going to answer him someday, but the answer never came and he knew it wouldn't. Maybe he would change sooner or later, or at least he kept saying this to himself, he just couldn't figure out when... and soon he was asleep, with the moon watching him... silently. Waking up to the sun shining on top of your head surely wasn't the best way to wake up, and it surely was earlier than he was supposed to wake up, 'Well, at least I can organize everything better,' He thought to himself. He got up, and his body felt rather numb from sleeping on top of his hooves. He stumbled to get inside but managed to do it without falling over his steps. With the blanket put back in place he took out his satchel and put several books inside along with ink, parchment, quills and his small notebook where he always left important notes in case he ever need them during classes. Considering that this was his first job, he smiled at his accomplishments. As soon as he got out of university, he received a letter from Princess Celestia, inviting him to be a teacher. He and his mother went through many hardships in life but now it looks like life is helping him. Everything was set up and ready for his first day. It was a strange feeling as if this was the first day at school to study, but now he would be there to teach. He went to his drawer and realized that the Princess hadn't said anything about clothing. Maybe just a simple social shirt and a tie would suffice. He didn't want to get there and call for too much attention after all. The teacher's houses were all the same. The main floor contained the kitchen, living room, dining room and a bathroom. On the second floor, there were two bedrooms and one more bathroom. Basically, it was a house for two ponies to live perfectly fine. The house itself was of great value; there were carpets in the rooms, beautiful wood furnishings, there was a regal touch in there. His luck was surely on a good side, everything that he asked for was there, maybe not everything, but at least he could give some comfort to his mother and have a nice job. He went downstairs and noticed that the table was set with plates and teacups. Some sandwiches were on a bigger plate in the middle of the table and a teapot was at its side expelling steam from it. "Good morning, Mr. important teacher," Came a voice from the kitchen. "Oh come on. I'm not that important," Dilectus replied with a hoof on the back of his neck. "Yes you are! To be where you are, you must be special. Not everypony can be a teacher at the School for Gifted Unicorns," Lumen said coming out of the kitchen and sitting by the table, "Now come here and have your breakfast or else you'll be late for your first day." "Well umm, I guess you're right." Dilectus said as he sat by the table as well and took a sandwich and poured tea in his cup. "I hope I do well there..." Dilectus said with his head low. "Ha! Are you kidding? Of course you will. Such a young studious stallion with a good memory to boot, you'll do more than fine." He was half-way through his breakfast when he decided something, "Hey mom, I think I'll head over to the school early. Maybe there is going to be a meeting or something, and I want to know the place better." "Well okay then, I won't have to work today so if you need anything, just come home, okay?" "Sure thing." He left the table and opened the door, carrying his satchel along. He gave his mother a wide smile and waved goodbye. Closing the door behind him, he took a deep breath and looked at the sky as he said to himself, "This is going to be a great day." Chapter 02Love You to Death Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Rainbowsoldier94 Chapter 02 Dilectus trotted slowly to his destination. He wasn't in a rush since his home was pretty close to the school. It was nice to appreciate his surroundings too. He couldn't see anyone else in the proximity; maybe he would be the first to enter the school based on how early it was. His curiosity and eagerness mixed with apprehension. They overtook him, and therefore, he began to increase his speed. Just at the thought of all the new responsibilities, it made him wonder how everything would be from now on. He would soon have students eager to learn, students that he needed to watch over in every moment while in class so nothing could go wrong, and that was his biggest fear. Manipulating elements, especially fire, could be very dangerous. Hopefully the rooms would be made of another material other than wood. Maybe, the wood was enchanted to repel magic. The stallion soon arrived at the big golden gates of the school. They were open, so at least somepony would be there before him. He entered and noticed how big the main hall was. With huge marble columns forming a circle accompanying the floor's round design, everything in matching tones of white, silver and gold was something rather too shiny for Dilectus' taste. A map that was right in front of him on a stand made him stop for a while. Maybe he could get some information to where his room was located without having to ask anypony. Soon, he found that his classes would take place in a room on the third floor, by a big room with the word 'Elemental Magic' encrusted upon it. It should only be his class since he couldn't find any other ones on the map. After a minute or so he arrived in his room. There were two doors, one in the front and one in the back. The back-most door was wide open. It was more than a welcoming sight for him; he walked in and gasped at what he saw. All the walls were covered in the same gilded color. There were several lines of chairs and tables for the students, and right at the front, a huge blackboard covered the whole opposite wall. Sitting right in front of him was his table. It was a huge table probably made of marble with some wooden drawers under it. He never felt anything like this in his life, being there, in front of something around forty or even fifty ponies. And to be their teacher, now that was really something special. He left his satchel on the table and went to the big window that granted a beautiful view of the gardens of the school. He began to lose his mind. All that had happened seemed like a dream coming true, even though this whole teacher-thing had happened quite suddenly. "WELCOME TO OUR SCHOOL!" A mare's voice came bursting in from behind of him, making Dilectus almost fall as he turned frantically to see who it was. None other than Princess Luna was in front of him with a face that he couldn't discern, whether if it was a smile or an angry grin. "Oh forgive us, we usually speak this way towards our subjects, but we think that now it isn't necessary..." "Oh...uh...okay," The frightened pony managed to mumble back to the princess, then reality struck him as he realized that he hadn't even bowed before her, "Oh where are my manners, greetings Princess Luna." He said while bowing before her. "Greetings dear subject, we have heard good things about thine skills with elemental magic." "Thanks, your majesty." The unicorn answered with a hoof tapping the ground slowly. He always became nervous when someone gave him any sort of compliment. "I wish you a good day, for it is your first class after all." Luna added. "Ah yes, well, I'm so... nervous." "Trust in yourself and you'll do great. Now if you excuse me, I have other rooms to visit. The classes may start in half an hour. Here is the week's schedule," Luna said as she put the paper on the unicorn's table. "It's fine by me Princess, thanks for your visit." The stallion managed to say after a great effort. Luna looked back as she appeared to notice the nervousness in the pony's heart; she didn't say anything in response but gave a smile and went out of sight. He sighed softly as he thought, 'Everything went better than expected. At least she wasn't running away from me.' This made him remember the few instances of social interaction that he had had in life with anyone besides his family and teachers. It wasn't all that great of a thought. Shaking off these thoughts, he snapped back into reality once more. He decided to sit at his table, and he grabbed his notebook from his satchel and began to look at the notes that he had written for the first day of classes. What better to begin with than testing the students with something challenging! Concentration and creativity was and always would be useful for the study of magic, especially when it came to elemental magic. He closed the notebook and put back in its place. Soon enough, he heard the sound of a soft knocking on the door, "Oh hello there. Please, come on in." "Umm, good morning teacher," A teal coated blue maned unicorn said shyly as she entered the room and took a seat on the far end of the room. Dilectus thought about something to say to get on a conversation with his student but his words escaped him as always. Then, other students began to come inside the classroom one by one, slowly coming in until the room was full, 'A good sign.' Dilectus thought. "Well, well, looks like everypony's here, so we can start our first class." At that moment, Dilectus reminded himself of what all teachers did when a new year began; that awkward moment when one has to get up and present oneself to the whole class. He thought for a while and decided that it was better to skip this step. "And no dear students, I won't ask everypony to get up and present yourselves to the class. You'll get to know each other in due time." As all chairs were occupied, he filled the attendance list and proceeded to begin the class. "Firstly, I want to test all of you. I will ask several things ranging from trivial to more complicated questions so we can begin to slowly understand our limits... and goals." In his mind, it sounded harder to be saying that. Years of school made him learn how it was to be in the teacher's position. It was helping him out more than he had expected. It was something quite interesting, knowing that each student had chosen to be there learning elemental magic and by what he saw, he had a full day of classes. It was going to be a long day. Chapter 03Love You to Death Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Shysoldier94 Chapter 03 The lunch break finally came, and he had an hour and half to eat, and then maybe get some rest. With all the students out of the class he took his satchel and closed the door. He then went back to the main hall to find where the teacher's room was. Alas, he found it. It was located on the first floor, where it could be easily accessed by everypony. As he approached the door he could see a lot of ponies inside the room. Probably all of the teachers were there, having lunch and chatting. He had heard of a few names of some good teachers in other schools of magic but he didn't know their faces so he found himself in an awkward position. He entered the room, took a cup of coffee and two pancakes that were there for who he didn't want to go back home to eat, and then took a plate and sat by a round table. Glancing around, he noticed that every teacher seemed to be talking to one another so it would lower his possibility of being spoken to. He couldn't quite understand why he was like that, always trying to hide and not taking great responsibilities in research or big projects. He wished to be different but something kept preventing him from changing. He could understand so many things but he couldn't understand himself. Maybe it was just a phase and soon it would pass... maybe it-, "Hello there, may I sit down next to you?" As usual, as he was beginning to drift away in his own thoughts, someone was there to disturb him. He was taken aback by the mare standing in front of him, and he only managed to mumble. "Uh yes, that’s no problem at all. I guess.” He laughed quietly. "Deep in your thoughts, I see?" The white coated unicorn prodded. "Ah yes. I tend to do it quite often." He took a quick look at her, noticing that she was wearing a simple yellow dress matching the color of her mane. "I see." "Yeah." Before she could say anything more the bell rang signaling that the next classes would begin. He quickly gathered his things and headed to the door when he heard the same voice tell him, "See you around." "See you." he answered. The rest of the day seemed to fly by even though he had to repeat the same classes about what, four, five times? But it had to be done, and who said that teaching was an easy task? With the classes finished, Dilectus organized all his things and left the room at a quick pace. He hurried down some stairs, and eventually was downstairs next to the front the door when he felt a hoof touching his shoulder. "Hey there, what's the rush?" a male unicorn asked him, "We're going to have a little meeting with the princess here at the main hall." "Oh, is it now?" "Yes. We might as well go." "Uh, okay I guess." Dilectus let out a slight grunt, but he had to go since it was important. He couldn’t miss this meeting. Not on his first day. There at the middle of the main hall, stood Princess Celestia in front of a small fountain. She was waiting for everypony to gather around. The small crowd of teachers went silent to allow the princess to speak. "Congratulations dear students, I can assure you all that it is a privilege that you all are teaching here at our school. I welcome and wish that you all have a good time here. Not only teaching, but learning too. Also, any problem that you might encounter should be reported to me directly at the castle or to Luna. I won't take too much of your time since I'm sure that this day was quite busy. Feel free to go home. I hope to see you all here tomorrow." Everypony bowed before the princess and soon left the school. Dilectus soon arrived at his house. He opened the door and saw his mother at the living room reading a book. She noticed him entering and closed it, "Hi there son." "Hello mom." He said with a warm smile. "So, how was it?" "Umm good I guess. Nopony got burned... too much." Lumen giggled softly then asked, "Really?" "Haha nothing near that, to be honest, but it was really, really good. It's nice to teach interested ponies." "That’s wonderful, shall we have dinner then?" "Sure thing, I'm starving." As soon as they finished dinner, Dilectus and Lumen did the dishes and put everything back in its proper place. At that moment, the moon had just appeared in the night sky. "Well mom, I think I'm going to shower and go to sleep, good night." "Good night son." He went upstairs, took a shower and went to his room, readied his clothes for the next day and went to the balcony to take a look at the sky. The moon and stars seemed to be brighter that night, emanating even more light than usual. He could see in the distance beyond the school the other parts of the castle, noticing every golden detail reflecting in the moonlight. "Heh, looks like Luna did a special work tonight." He began wondering about how he had always preferred the night to the day. He never enjoyed the movement, the business, or the irritating loudness of day time. Since he was a young colt, he always loved the peace that the night always brought to him. Especially the moon that he had always loved to watch, which rested so peacefully in the sky. The moon that always heard his thoughts and never replied. But even the peaceful night couldn't shake the solitude in his heart; he couldn't hold back a single teardrop that slowly fell to the floor. "Maybe someday..." Chapter 04Love You to Death Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Shysoldier94 Chapter 04 "You see, we can all see what our subjects wish upon the moon." "Oh I didn't know... wait...," he knew that voice, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, Princess Luna?" Dilectus said as he turned quickly to face the Alicorn that didn't even move from his side nor showed any expression towards the startled unicorn. "Err I mean, you scared me, and I …umm… why did you come to visit me, Princess? Or do you want some tea? Or maybe just some water? Or maybe-" "Please don't worry thyself with us; we were just flying around when we heard thy voice." The unicorn placed a hoof to the back of his neck nervously, "Was I speaking that loud?" "Actually, no, but as we said, we can hear what is wished upon our moon and I must see that thou has the loudest voice of all, your wishes are really... how can we say, strong, so to speak." "Wait wait wait... so you listen to EVERYthing?" "Well sometimes it is hard to discern the voice because we hear a lot of ponies at the same time, but we must say that thy voice is the most frequent." Dilectus felt that his cheeks flushed a crimson red, he lowered his head shamelessly. He could hear Luna taking a step closer and feel her hoof on his shoulder, "But no need to fret, we feel honored that there is somepony who enjoys our night with heart and soul. Even your name reflects it." "Well, uh, thank you Princess Luna; I really like your..." he raised his head again and saw the Princess' face rather close to his. Her mane flew calmly with the breeze. The moon stood right behind her, creating a silver aura to the Alicorn. Her gorgeous teal eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. It pierced his very soul. 'Damn, what am I thinking now?' he asked himself. With a quick flick of his neck, he shook those cursed thoughts away, "...your peaceful night." "And we thank thee. Now..." she unfolded her wings, "we must go, but please remember... Don't let your fears prevent you from being who you are." and flew away, quickly vanishing into the dark sky. Dilectus stood stiff en in place as if he were a board. 'She was... so... close. Ugh no this madness, how could I be feeling something for her and of course she wouldn't want me - she's a princess after all. Yeah I'm just exaggerating... I have to sleep.' Instead of falling asleep peacefully, the unicorn hid himself under his blanket and quickly drifted off. "Ugh, damn birds go away... just five more minutes," an annoyed voice approached from under the blankets. The sun was lighting the whole room and some birds were on the balcony singing happily. "Okay, okay, I'll get up.", Dilectus kicked the blanket away and sat on the bed. He scratched his eyes and glanced at the clock when he realized something, "Oh no! I have ten minutes before my class!" He got up, magically grabbed his satchel and opened the door of his room. He rushed downstairs to find his mother with a confused look on her face. "Son, I thought you wouldn't wake up on time. I called you a thousand times..." "Oh I didn't hear you and I forgot to set my alarm. I gotta go, bye." "Bye...," the front door closed loudly, "Have a nice day, sleepy head." Lumen said with a giggle. Dilectus was trotting as fast as he could but it just wasn’t enough, "I guess there's just one way." He lit up his horn, trying to focus on teleporting himself to the school even though he didn't usually practice this kind of magic and had several bad experiences with them. He couldn’t show up late with the excuse of oversleeping. "I'll have to give it a try" and in a blink of the eye he was there in front of the gates of the school. He suddenly felt the a strong pain in his whole body; he felt as if he was burning, "Oh it buuuurrrnsss," he fell to the ground and rolled from side to side as if he was in flames. It at least seemed like. "It really burns doesn't it?" a female voice came from behind. He stopped his comical act and noticed that it was the same mare who sat next to him yesterday. "Oh hi, don't worry I'm fine I just..." "Don't practice it much, right?" she laughed wholeheartedly, "It happened to me a lot of times before and look at me now, teaching ponies to safely use teleportation and move things without hurting anypony in the process." she said adding a smile. "Heh I always skipped those classes. They were sooooo boring and... no I mean, not that you aren't a good teacher or that I think that you are less important than anypony in school, I didn't mean to offend you in any way...," the school's bell rang right on time, "and oh look it's time to go err sorry," he said while trotting quickly to his room. "Phew, oh what have I done... oh well, I think she doesn't hate me... much." It was then when he noticed that he had forgotten something. 'And now I'll never see those books again, must have been vaporized on the way... damn is there anything else to make this day worse?' The morning classes went faster than he expected much to his enjoyment. Before he knew it, it was time for lunch. Dilectus was about to leave his room when he noticed somepony entering on the room from the back door, it seemed like a student but he wasn't sure, "How may I help you?" then he noticed who it was, "Oh.... hello?" "Hi, I think you forgot something..." she used her telekinesis to place Dilectus' satchel on the top of the table. "Oh, thank you, I thought it vanished when I teleported. I can't believe I didn't lose these books. Thank you so much and, uh, sorry for earlier today." "No, it's okay I'm used to ponies saying this, you just gave your opinion that's all..." "Really? I just felt like I offended you somehow so..." "Hey don't worry, how about you and me get some lunch and you try to talk a little for a change." "Um, I think I can do that." The teachers’ refectory was strangely empty. Just a few ponies were having their lunch silently. Both unicorns moved towards one of the empty tables and sat one across from the other. The mare's horn started glowing as a strange hole appeared floating next to her. Dilectus watched as she took out some food from it and placed it in the table as the hole closed again, "Let me guess, a magical storage?" "Not exactly. I just created a portal to my house where I could get what I wanted, a storage system like that wouldn't be very appropriate to store organic things." "I guess you're right. I never got the hang of these things, always ended losing a lot of stuff in time and space. oh well..." The white coated mare giggled softly, "I did that a lot too, but I paid attention to my classes, you know?" "Yeah," Dilectus answered while rolling his eyes. "Say, aren't you going to eat anything?" "I don’t think so, I woke up late as you could guess and didn't even bring some bits with me." "Yeah I noticed that, especially because of your mane..." Now that Dilectus noticed that he hadn’t even brushed his mane, and he knew how bad his mane was in every morning. He rested his head on the table as he placed both hooves as if trying to hide his mane, "Well that's embarrassing..." "Nah, I understand, but hey I’ve never seen such a messy mane in my whole life." "Aww come on." "Ok ok I'll stop, but hey you can have lunch with me if you want." "Ah no don't worry yourself I'm fine really." "Or I can lend you some bits then so you get something for you?" she insisted. "Thanks but there's no need, really" he replied. "Are you sure? You still have the whole day left and you’re not gonna eat anything?" "Yeah, I'm good, don't bother yourself with me." The mare left out a sigh and said, "Okay then, but that's your last chance to change your mind." The unicorn stallion mumbled something incomprehensible. "Alright then, not going to ask anymore." The mare ate her lunch as Dilectus kept there in silence, "Hey, you okay there?" the mare asked but no answer came for the stallion. "Hello~o are you there?" she nudged the unicorn on the shoulder that then got his head up with a startled expression and quick breathing. "What happened?" he asked confused with his eyes red. "You feel asleep out of nowhere." "Oh... That's me without coffee." he said as he placed his head on the table once again, but as he did so, the bell rang. "Well you could have some if you asked." The mare said between her laughter as she trotted towards the cafeteria's exit before he could say anything back. "Hey I just...," Dilectus raised his head but couldn't see the unicorn anywhere, "Oh she's gone. Well, time to go...," he said scratching his eyes with his hoof. He grabbed his satchel and went to his classroom. There on his table he found a cup of coffee and no signs of the pony that could have left it there when he realized who it was. 'Well, thanks then.' he thought as he drank the coffee. 'Classes are finally over. Time to go home.' Dilectus thought of letting out a deep sigh. After the lunch break, black clouds covered the sky little by little. Then suddenly, it began raining and hadn’t stopped since then. He could create some sort of shield to not get wet but it wasn't wise to walk home because of the thunderstorm. "Well guess I'll have to teleport myself home..." But, he was reminded of his last experience earlier that day and he was far too tired to try anything like that now, "Or I can stay here for a while." "I can teleport you if you want." "Gaah, why does everypony like to scare me like that?" Dilectus frantically turned to see the white unicorn mare once again. "I'm sorry, but hey, they will close the gates soon so it would be better to get going. Right?" Dilectus was about to say something when she interrupted, "And no, you're not going to decline my offer, come on just tell me which house is yours." "Alright, my house is number 12..." and before he could say anything else Dilectus found himself in front of his house, "What the... oh, ok." He opened the door and entered, looking around he found his mother asleep on the couch. "Ugh well I just want to sleep now." he muttered to himself as he went to his bedroom and threw himself on the bed. 'Wow, she really is a nice mare, ' he thought while staring at the ceiling when a thought hit him 'Funny thing is... I don't even know her name.' A.N.: (Dilectus Noctis = Beloved Night)
PrologueLove You to Death By Dilectus Noctis Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Shysoldier94 Disclaimer: I do not own the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic franchise, Hasbro does. Prologue The moon rose on the horizon, and the orange lights of the sunset had been overtaken by various shades of dark purple and blue on the sky. The stars began to appear one by one as time passed by; together with the moon, they illuminated the night in beautiful shades of silver. Luna, one of the princesses of Equestria, was standing upon her bedroom balcony as she has always done when raising the moon that she created to bring the night upon the land, so all ponies could rest at night to have energy for the next day. It was something that she loved doing, she made stars to beauty the dark sky for anypony’s appreciation, with the stars she created constellations so the ponies could guide themselves in the night. It was a great feeling, putting her own self in something that would be seen by all the ones who inhabit the land of Equestria. She finished working her magic and went back to her bed feeling tired. After all, being imprisoned for a thousand years without being able to use her magic made such a task difficult, resulting in a loss of strength. "Don't worry dear sister, you'll be back in shape in no time," Celestia said when entering Luna's room. "We hope so dear sister, we hope..." the princess of the night said with a sigh. "All you need is time; after all, time heals all wounds." "It may heal wounds, but it leaves a scar to be reminded every day of your life." Celestia noticed Luna aura fading to grey slowly, she knew what the problem was, but it was something she didn't want to remember. "Are you..." "Yes, sister. Maybe... you could stay here with us for a while? We would like to talk to you about what has been troubling us since our comeback. Something that we ought have forgotten but we can't stop thinking about it." "Of course I can Luna, but, are you sure you want to touch in this subject? I know it's hard for you and I understand if you don't want to talk about it." "We have to, sister. We must take this out of our chest once and for all." Luna said now sitting on her bed. "Very well," the sun princess said as she sat beside her sister on the bed, "I'm all ears." "After living all these years... have you ever felt love? "W-what? Uh, why this so suddenly?" Celestia asked, surprised with the unexpected question. "We don't know, since we were gone for a long while, but we never heard of anything coming from you in this subject. So we were just curious, that's all." "I... I'm afraid I haven't had the time to think about such things sister, being here, oh you know... alone for so much time was hard for me too, but I had to deal with so many things and..." "And?" Luna insisted. "And him as well." "Oh..." Luna looked to the window in front of her, seemingly trying to find something to say. "Why don't you tell me what happened while I wasn't here?" "I knew you would ask this sooner or later..." Celestia left a sigh, her expression turned from a caring sister looking to help, to a sad and reluctant one. "If you really want to know I can't do anything but tell you then. But first...let's go somewhere else," Celestia said as she got up from her sister's bed. "Where?" "I think the gardens would be a better place, fresh air, and no one will be around at this time, so what do you say?" The Canterlot Castle garden was surely the most beautiful garden in all of Equestria. Plants from every corner of the country, critters of various kinds, and fountains with clear water contributed to the ambient with the constant sound of the water flowing. Both sisters were sitting side by side in front of one of the fountains. It was peaceful, and no place was better to go to for going back in time to revive wounds that never existed, unknown to those who were far away and haven't seen anything of what happened. "Luna, there's so much to tell you and... well you were away when all this happened so it may be hard to get everything at once," Celestia put a hoof softly on her sister's shoulder. "We understand sister, but it is time for us to know, it is better than keeping doubts for the rest of our lives." "Yes, I guess you're right sister. As your mind may have forgotten several things, why not let me tell it to you from the beginning?" "You mean, like, everything?" "Well, if I'm going to tell you all that happened, then why not have everything fresh on your mind? It's a long story after all. And if you want these doubts to stop mourning you, then we must go to the deepest part of the facts." "Okay then, do what you think is right sister, we appreciate your help very much." Luna's teal eyes met the dark purple of her sister; Celestia looked thoughtful, deep in her thoughts, trying to find the exact way to begin. They broke the eye contact as Celestia took her hoof off of Luna's shoulder and began, "Then, here it goes..."
Chapter 01Love You to Death Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Shysoldier94 Chapter 01 NOTE: as the story takes place a thousand years ago I decided to use all the names in Latin The light shone through the curtains as the morning came and slowly illuminated the bedroom. The open window let the soft breeze come in, making the curtains move as if they were dancing to a slow rhythm. The calm ticking of a clock soon came to a noisy ringing. Several grumbles came from under the covers of the bed as a blue-grayish hoof moved out from under his covers tapping the nightstand frantically to find the clock that awoken the stallion from his sleep. Finally, the sound came to an end. An annoyed grunt came from the unicorn as he sat on his bed. His eyes were still irritated from the light. He managed to regain focus once more and looked throughout the room, "Urgh, maybe a little more sleep wouldn't hurt." he said while laying his head back towards the pillow. A few moves from side to side made him change his mind, "Okay conscience, you're right. No more sleep..." Dilectus Noctis said with a deep sigh. He got up and opened the door to the corridor leading to the bathroom. He stared at the mirror for a while, noticing his messy, silver-colored mane covering part of his face. Using his magic, he raised the brush above his head, and straightened the mess on his head, or at least tried to. He did the same with his tail and to other portions of his fur that made weird knots. He didn't know how it had gotten like this. He put back the brush in a small drawer at his side and went back to the hallway. He took a look around the hallway, and noticed several details that he was previously unaware of. The walls were made of stone and the floor was made of stone. Now that he thought about it, the place was rather dull and monochromatic. He got himself thinking about the reason that they had to move to the Everfree, Discord was causing a bit of trouble in Equestria. Several cities were inhabitable or destroyed severely by him and the chaos that he was spreading, but the one known as god of chaos was finally outmatched. Discord had been imprisoned in stone by the power of the Elements of Harmony. The castle situated in the Everfree Forest was no longer of use, but it served as a refuge to all the ponies of the affected regions in the time of chaos. The work of so many ponies was wasted because of such threat made the mood on all of Equestria gloomy, but the Royal Sisters were doing their best to put things back in place. The Elements of Harmony once used to defeat Discord were destined to be guarded in the castle, just in case they were needed again. Everypony had moved back to their homes; after all, there was so much work to be done to put things back in place and several new villages were supposed to be approved by the royalty. For instance, Ponyville, a village that was just "founded" by a group of earth ponies. Next, Cloudsdale needed to be reformed, and lastly, Canterlot, which was in its worst shape in years. "Dilectus?" a female voice transported him back to reality. "Uh, yes? What is it?" the unicorn answered, rather confused. "You have been staring at the wall for several minutes. Come on, have your breakfast. There's a lot to be done today, sleepy head." The dark-blue coated, white-maned unicorn said. She had a long curly mane, almost reaching the floor, and a five-pointed star as a cutie mark. Her name was Lumen Stella Noctis, a name that fit her physical appearance rather well. "Sure mom, are we moving back to Canterlot today?" "Yes, how could you forget that? The princesses scheduled it for today. We need to pack all our things, and get ready to go to our new home at the Canterlot Castle." When Dilectus was born, his father left home and was never heard of again. He probably didn't want to have a child anyways. He was raised by his mother alone. She fought for him, and supported all of his endeavors. Dilectus couldn't say that his life was bad. Having a solid education by studying on his own time, he managed to get to renowned colleges. Soon after finishing his studies the princesses hired him as one of the teachers in advanced magic at the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, a school that had just began its activities that very year. Even after so many troubles, Equestria was surely getting back on track. All kinds of researchers, inventors and mages were all working together to bring development back to the country. Dilectus knew that even though his education was of the highest quality, the school that the princesses had founded was dedicated to even more advanced studies. Spending his nights reading advanced books could now be considered his norm. The day passed by quickly. It was just a whole day of packing, after all. As the night began to arrive, a carriage arrived to take their things to Canterlot. Dilectus and his mother got on board, and they flew back to their home inside the castle walls of Canterlot. It was around nine at night when they arrived. All the boxes were taken inside and put anywhere since they wouldn't organize everything at the time; they had a simple dinner and went to sleep. One day before his first class, Dilectus couldn't be happier. However, he was concerned at the same time; elemental magic was surely one of the most dangerous types. It required lots of concentration, or else an entire building could come down. But he was happy nonetheless. Organizing all his family's things back to their original places kept both unicorns busy for the whole day. Time flew by and soon it was night once again. In his room, Dilectus left a single candle lit up so he could read his book and plan what he would do tomorrow. It was a simple book on the principles of magic so he could begin with an easy lesson on his first day and avoid further problems. Around midnight, the candle flickered, and went out. He was supposed to wake up early, but he couldn't shake away his eagerness. The unicorn went to the balcony of his room to look at the stars from his favorite spot in the town. His house was situated within the castle walls, as all the other teachers' houses were, but his was in a more elevated area providing a perfect view of the surroundings. He took a thick blanket and put it on the balcony, and laid down on it. The moon was right above his head and the stars were bright, as always. At night he could find peace in his heart. He was always the antisocial type of pony; not that he didn't like company, but he had built walls around him to protect himself from being harmed, something that he did since he was a colt. Maybe it was because he was afraid to get in a relationship, or to be disapproved of, something that he fears the most, always trying to do his best, and when he couldn't do something, he always escaped in fear of being mocked. He never had anything with anypony, nothing more than a simple conversation about a job or some project or research, never could he get close to a mare without freaking out, but always silently, always covered his feelings to look tough, but deep inside, he just wanted to have somepony to care for. These thoughts filled his mind; and that was his usual activity, thinking while looking to the moon, as if it was going to answer him someday, but the answer never came and he knew it wouldn't. Maybe he would change sooner or later, or at least he kept saying this to himself, he just couldn't figure out when... and soon he was asleep, with the moon watching him... silently. Waking up to the sun shining on top of your head surely wasn't the best way to wake up, and it surely was earlier than he was supposed to wake up, 'Well, at least I can organize everything better,' He thought to himself. He got up, and his body felt rather numb from sleeping on top of his hooves. He stumbled to get inside but managed to do it without falling over his steps. With the blanket put back in place he took out his satchel and put several books inside along with ink, parchment, quills and his small notebook where he always left important notes in case he ever need them during classes. Considering that this was his first job, he smiled at his accomplishments. As soon as he got out of university, he received a letter from Princess Celestia, inviting him to be a teacher. He and his mother went through many hardships in life but now it looks like life is helping him. Everything was set up and ready for his first day. It was a strange feeling as if this was the first day at school to study, but now he would be there to teach. He went to his drawer and realized that the Princess hadn't said anything about clothing. Maybe just a simple social shirt and a tie would suffice. He didn't want to get there and call for too much attention after all. The teacher's houses were all the same. The main floor contained the kitchen, living room, dining room and a bathroom. On the second floor, there were two bedrooms and one more bathroom. Basically, it was a house for two ponies to live perfectly fine. The house itself was of great value; there were carpets in the rooms, beautiful wood furnishings, there was a regal touch in there. His luck was surely on a good side, everything that he asked for was there, maybe not everything, but at least he could give some comfort to his mother and have a nice job. He went downstairs and noticed that the table was set with plates and teacups. Some sandwiches were on a bigger plate in the middle of the table and a teapot was at its side expelling steam from it. "Good morning, Mr. important teacher," Came a voice from the kitchen. "Oh come on. I'm not that important," Dilectus replied with a hoof on the back of his neck. "Yes you are! To be where you are, you must be special. Not everypony can be a teacher at the School for Gifted Unicorns," Lumen said coming out of the kitchen and sitting by the table, "Now come here and have your breakfast or else you'll be late for your first day." "Well umm, I guess you're right." Dilectus said as he sat by the table as well and took a sandwich and poured tea in his cup. "I hope I do well there..." Dilectus said with his head low. "Ha! Are you kidding? Of course you will. Such a young studious stallion with a good memory to boot, you'll do more than fine." He was half-way through his breakfast when he decided something, "Hey mom, I think I'll head over to the school early. Maybe there is going to be a meeting or something, and I want to know the place better." "Well okay then, I won't have to work today so if you need anything, just come home, okay?" "Sure thing." He left the table and opened the door, carrying his satchel along. He gave his mother a wide smile and waved goodbye. Closing the door behind him, he took a deep breath and looked at the sky as he said to himself, "This is going to be a great day."
Chapter 02Love You to Death Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Rainbowsoldier94 Chapter 02 Dilectus trotted slowly to his destination. He wasn't in a rush since his home was pretty close to the school. It was nice to appreciate his surroundings too. He couldn't see anyone else in the proximity; maybe he would be the first to enter the school based on how early it was. His curiosity and eagerness mixed with apprehension. They overtook him, and therefore, he began to increase his speed. Just at the thought of all the new responsibilities, it made him wonder how everything would be from now on. He would soon have students eager to learn, students that he needed to watch over in every moment while in class so nothing could go wrong, and that was his biggest fear. Manipulating elements, especially fire, could be very dangerous. Hopefully the rooms would be made of another material other than wood. Maybe, the wood was enchanted to repel magic. The stallion soon arrived at the big golden gates of the school. They were open, so at least somepony would be there before him. He entered and noticed how big the main hall was. With huge marble columns forming a circle accompanying the floor's round design, everything in matching tones of white, silver and gold was something rather too shiny for Dilectus' taste. A map that was right in front of him on a stand made him stop for a while. Maybe he could get some information to where his room was located without having to ask anypony. Soon, he found that his classes would take place in a room on the third floor, by a big room with the word 'Elemental Magic' encrusted upon it. It should only be his class since he couldn't find any other ones on the map. After a minute or so he arrived in his room. There were two doors, one in the front and one in the back. The back-most door was wide open. It was more than a welcoming sight for him; he walked in and gasped at what he saw. All the walls were covered in the same gilded color. There were several lines of chairs and tables for the students, and right at the front, a huge blackboard covered the whole opposite wall. Sitting right in front of him was his table. It was a huge table probably made of marble with some wooden drawers under it. He never felt anything like this in his life, being there, in front of something around forty or even fifty ponies. And to be their teacher, now that was really something special. He left his satchel on the table and went to the big window that granted a beautiful view of the gardens of the school. He began to lose his mind. All that had happened seemed like a dream coming true, even though this whole teacher-thing had happened quite suddenly. "WELCOME TO OUR SCHOOL!" A mare's voice came bursting in from behind of him, making Dilectus almost fall as he turned frantically to see who it was. None other than Princess Luna was in front of him with a face that he couldn't discern, whether if it was a smile or an angry grin. "Oh forgive us, we usually speak this way towards our subjects, but we think that now it isn't necessary..." "Oh...uh...okay," The frightened pony managed to mumble back to the princess, then reality struck him as he realized that he hadn't even bowed before her, "Oh where are my manners, greetings Princess Luna." He said while bowing before her. "Greetings dear subject, we have heard good things about thine skills with elemental magic." "Thanks, your majesty." The unicorn answered with a hoof tapping the ground slowly. He always became nervous when someone gave him any sort of compliment. "I wish you a good day, for it is your first class after all." Luna added. "Ah yes, well, I'm so... nervous." "Trust in yourself and you'll do great. Now if you excuse me, I have other rooms to visit. The classes may start in half an hour. Here is the week's schedule," Luna said as she put the paper on the unicorn's table. "It's fine by me Princess, thanks for your visit." The stallion managed to say after a great effort. Luna looked back as she appeared to notice the nervousness in the pony's heart; she didn't say anything in response but gave a smile and went out of sight. He sighed softly as he thought, 'Everything went better than expected. At least she wasn't running away from me.' This made him remember the few instances of social interaction that he had had in life with anyone besides his family and teachers. It wasn't all that great of a thought. Shaking off these thoughts, he snapped back into reality once more. He decided to sit at his table, and he grabbed his notebook from his satchel and began to look at the notes that he had written for the first day of classes. What better to begin with than testing the students with something challenging! Concentration and creativity was and always would be useful for the study of magic, especially when it came to elemental magic. He closed the notebook and put back in its place. Soon enough, he heard the sound of a soft knocking on the door, "Oh hello there. Please, come on in." "Umm, good morning teacher," A teal coated blue maned unicorn said shyly as she entered the room and took a seat on the far end of the room. Dilectus thought about something to say to get on a conversation with his student but his words escaped him as always. Then, other students began to come inside the classroom one by one, slowly coming in until the room was full, 'A good sign.' Dilectus thought. "Well, well, looks like everypony's here, so we can start our first class." At that moment, Dilectus reminded himself of what all teachers did when a new year began; that awkward moment when one has to get up and present oneself to the whole class. He thought for a while and decided that it was better to skip this step. "And no dear students, I won't ask everypony to get up and present yourselves to the class. You'll get to know each other in due time." As all chairs were occupied, he filled the attendance list and proceeded to begin the class. "Firstly, I want to test all of you. I will ask several things ranging from trivial to more complicated questions so we can begin to slowly understand our limits... and goals." In his mind, it sounded harder to be saying that. Years of school made him learn how it was to be in the teacher's position. It was helping him out more than he had expected. It was something quite interesting, knowing that each student had chosen to be there learning elemental magic and by what he saw, he had a full day of classes. It was going to be a long day.
Chapter 03Love You to Death Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Shysoldier94 Chapter 03 The lunch break finally came, and he had an hour and half to eat, and then maybe get some rest. With all the students out of the class he took his satchel and closed the door. He then went back to the main hall to find where the teacher's room was. Alas, he found it. It was located on the first floor, where it could be easily accessed by everypony. As he approached the door he could see a lot of ponies inside the room. Probably all of the teachers were there, having lunch and chatting. He had heard of a few names of some good teachers in other schools of magic but he didn't know their faces so he found himself in an awkward position. He entered the room, took a cup of coffee and two pancakes that were there for who he didn't want to go back home to eat, and then took a plate and sat by a round table. Glancing around, he noticed that every teacher seemed to be talking to one another so it would lower his possibility of being spoken to. He couldn't quite understand why he was like that, always trying to hide and not taking great responsibilities in research or big projects. He wished to be different but something kept preventing him from changing. He could understand so many things but he couldn't understand himself. Maybe it was just a phase and soon it would pass... maybe it-, "Hello there, may I sit down next to you?" As usual, as he was beginning to drift away in his own thoughts, someone was there to disturb him. He was taken aback by the mare standing in front of him, and he only managed to mumble. "Uh yes, that’s no problem at all. I guess.” He laughed quietly. "Deep in your thoughts, I see?" The white coated unicorn prodded. "Ah yes. I tend to do it quite often." He took a quick look at her, noticing that she was wearing a simple yellow dress matching the color of her mane. "I see." "Yeah." Before she could say anything more the bell rang signaling that the next classes would begin. He quickly gathered his things and headed to the door when he heard the same voice tell him, "See you around." "See you." he answered. The rest of the day seemed to fly by even though he had to repeat the same classes about what, four, five times? But it had to be done, and who said that teaching was an easy task? With the classes finished, Dilectus organized all his things and left the room at a quick pace. He hurried down some stairs, and eventually was downstairs next to the front the door when he felt a hoof touching his shoulder. "Hey there, what's the rush?" a male unicorn asked him, "We're going to have a little meeting with the princess here at the main hall." "Oh, is it now?" "Yes. We might as well go." "Uh, okay I guess." Dilectus let out a slight grunt, but he had to go since it was important. He couldn’t miss this meeting. Not on his first day. There at the middle of the main hall, stood Princess Celestia in front of a small fountain. She was waiting for everypony to gather around. The small crowd of teachers went silent to allow the princess to speak. "Congratulations dear students, I can assure you all that it is a privilege that you all are teaching here at our school. I welcome and wish that you all have a good time here. Not only teaching, but learning too. Also, any problem that you might encounter should be reported to me directly at the castle or to Luna. I won't take too much of your time since I'm sure that this day was quite busy. Feel free to go home. I hope to see you all here tomorrow." Everypony bowed before the princess and soon left the school. Dilectus soon arrived at his house. He opened the door and saw his mother at the living room reading a book. She noticed him entering and closed it, "Hi there son." "Hello mom." He said with a warm smile. "So, how was it?" "Umm good I guess. Nopony got burned... too much." Lumen giggled softly then asked, "Really?" "Haha nothing near that, to be honest, but it was really, really good. It's nice to teach interested ponies." "That’s wonderful, shall we have dinner then?" "Sure thing, I'm starving." As soon as they finished dinner, Dilectus and Lumen did the dishes and put everything back in its proper place. At that moment, the moon had just appeared in the night sky. "Well mom, I think I'm going to shower and go to sleep, good night." "Good night son." He went upstairs, took a shower and went to his room, readied his clothes for the next day and went to the balcony to take a look at the sky. The moon and stars seemed to be brighter that night, emanating even more light than usual. He could see in the distance beyond the school the other parts of the castle, noticing every golden detail reflecting in the moonlight. "Heh, looks like Luna did a special work tonight." He began wondering about how he had always preferred the night to the day. He never enjoyed the movement, the business, or the irritating loudness of day time. Since he was a young colt, he always loved the peace that the night always brought to him. Especially the moon that he had always loved to watch, which rested so peacefully in the sky. The moon that always heard his thoughts and never replied. But even the peaceful night couldn't shake the solitude in his heart; he couldn't hold back a single teardrop that slowly fell to the floor. "Maybe someday..."
Chapter 04Love You to Death Special thanks to my proofreaders/editors: Fluttershy<3_66, RDopeth and Shysoldier94 Chapter 04 "You see, we can all see what our subjects wish upon the moon." "Oh I didn't know... wait...," he knew that voice, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, Princess Luna?" Dilectus said as he turned quickly to face the Alicorn that didn't even move from his side nor showed any expression towards the startled unicorn. "Err I mean, you scared me, and I …umm… why did you come to visit me, Princess? Or do you want some tea? Or maybe just some water? Or maybe-" "Please don't worry thyself with us; we were just flying around when we heard thy voice." The unicorn placed a hoof to the back of his neck nervously, "Was I speaking that loud?" "Actually, no, but as we said, we can hear what is wished upon our moon and I must see that thou has the loudest voice of all, your wishes are really... how can we say, strong, so to speak." "Wait wait wait... so you listen to EVERYthing?" "Well sometimes it is hard to discern the voice because we hear a lot of ponies at the same time, but we must say that thy voice is the most frequent." Dilectus felt that his cheeks flushed a crimson red, he lowered his head shamelessly. He could hear Luna taking a step closer and feel her hoof on his shoulder, "But no need to fret, we feel honored that there is somepony who enjoys our night with heart and soul. Even your name reflects it." "Well, uh, thank you Princess Luna; I really like your..." he raised his head again and saw the Princess' face rather close to his. Her mane flew calmly with the breeze. The moon stood right behind her, creating a silver aura to the Alicorn. Her gorgeous teal eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. It pierced his very soul. 'Damn, what am I thinking now?' he asked himself. With a quick flick of his neck, he shook those cursed thoughts away, "...your peaceful night." "And we thank thee. Now..." she unfolded her wings, "we must go, but please remember... Don't let your fears prevent you from being who you are." and flew away, quickly vanishing into the dark sky. Dilectus stood stiff en in place as if he were a board. 'She was... so... close. Ugh no this madness, how could I be feeling something for her and of course she wouldn't want me - she's a princess after all. Yeah I'm just exaggerating... I have to sleep.' Instead of falling asleep peacefully, the unicorn hid himself under his blanket and quickly drifted off. "Ugh, damn birds go away... just five more minutes," an annoyed voice approached from under the blankets. The sun was lighting the whole room and some birds were on the balcony singing happily. "Okay, okay, I'll get up.", Dilectus kicked the blanket away and sat on the bed. He scratched his eyes and glanced at the clock when he realized something, "Oh no! I have ten minutes before my class!" He got up, magically grabbed his satchel and opened the door of his room. He rushed downstairs to find his mother with a confused look on her face. "Son, I thought you wouldn't wake up on time. I called you a thousand times..." "Oh I didn't hear you and I forgot to set my alarm. I gotta go, bye." "Bye...," the front door closed loudly, "Have a nice day, sleepy head." Lumen said with a giggle. Dilectus was trotting as fast as he could but it just wasn’t enough, "I guess there's just one way." He lit up his horn, trying to focus on teleporting himself to the school even though he didn't usually practice this kind of magic and had several bad experiences with them. He couldn’t show up late with the excuse of oversleeping. "I'll have to give it a try" and in a blink of the eye he was there in front of the gates of the school. He suddenly felt the a strong pain in his whole body; he felt as if he was burning, "Oh it buuuurrrnsss," he fell to the ground and rolled from side to side as if he was in flames. It at least seemed like. "It really burns doesn't it?" a female voice came from behind. He stopped his comical act and noticed that it was the same mare who sat next to him yesterday. "Oh hi, don't worry I'm fine I just..." "Don't practice it much, right?" she laughed wholeheartedly, "It happened to me a lot of times before and look at me now, teaching ponies to safely use teleportation and move things without hurting anypony in the process." she said adding a smile. "Heh I always skipped those classes. They were sooooo boring and... no I mean, not that you aren't a good teacher or that I think that you are less important than anypony in school, I didn't mean to offend you in any way...," the school's bell rang right on time, "and oh look it's time to go err sorry," he said while trotting quickly to his room. "Phew, oh what have I done... oh well, I think she doesn't hate me... much." It was then when he noticed that he had forgotten something. 'And now I'll never see those books again, must have been vaporized on the way... damn is there anything else to make this day worse?' The morning classes went faster than he expected much to his enjoyment. Before he knew it, it was time for lunch. Dilectus was about to leave his room when he noticed somepony entering on the room from the back door, it seemed like a student but he wasn't sure, "How may I help you?" then he noticed who it was, "Oh.... hello?" "Hi, I think you forgot something..." she used her telekinesis to place Dilectus' satchel on the top of the table. "Oh, thank you, I thought it vanished when I teleported. I can't believe I didn't lose these books. Thank you so much and, uh, sorry for earlier today." "No, it's okay I'm used to ponies saying this, you just gave your opinion that's all..." "Really? I just felt like I offended you somehow so..." "Hey don't worry, how about you and me get some lunch and you try to talk a little for a change." "Um, I think I can do that." The teachers’ refectory was strangely empty. Just a few ponies were having their lunch silently. Both unicorns moved towards one of the empty tables and sat one across from the other. The mare's horn started glowing as a strange hole appeared floating next to her. Dilectus watched as she took out some food from it and placed it in the table as the hole closed again, "Let me guess, a magical storage?" "Not exactly. I just created a portal to my house where I could get what I wanted, a storage system like that wouldn't be very appropriate to store organic things." "I guess you're right. I never got the hang of these things, always ended losing a lot of stuff in time and space. oh well..." The white coated mare giggled softly, "I did that a lot too, but I paid attention to my classes, you know?" "Yeah," Dilectus answered while rolling his eyes. "Say, aren't you going to eat anything?" "I don’t think so, I woke up late as you could guess and didn't even bring some bits with me." "Yeah I noticed that, especially because of your mane..." Now that Dilectus noticed that he hadn’t even brushed his mane, and he knew how bad his mane was in every morning. He rested his head on the table as he placed both hooves as if trying to hide his mane, "Well that's embarrassing..." "Nah, I understand, but hey I’ve never seen such a messy mane in my whole life." "Aww come on." "Ok ok I'll stop, but hey you can have lunch with me if you want." "Ah no don't worry yourself I'm fine really." "Or I can lend you some bits then so you get something for you?" she insisted. "Thanks but there's no need, really" he replied. "Are you sure? You still have the whole day left and you’re not gonna eat anything?" "Yeah, I'm good, don't bother yourself with me." The mare left out a sigh and said, "Okay then, but that's your last chance to change your mind." The unicorn stallion mumbled something incomprehensible. "Alright then, not going to ask anymore." The mare ate her lunch as Dilectus kept there in silence, "Hey, you okay there?" the mare asked but no answer came for the stallion. "Hello~o are you there?" she nudged the unicorn on the shoulder that then got his head up with a startled expression and quick breathing. "What happened?" he asked confused with his eyes red. "You feel asleep out of nowhere." "Oh... That's me without coffee." he said as he placed his head on the table once again, but as he did so, the bell rang. "Well you could have some if you asked." The mare said between her laughter as she trotted towards the cafeteria's exit before he could say anything back. "Hey I just...," Dilectus raised his head but couldn't see the unicorn anywhere, "Oh she's gone. Well, time to go...," he said scratching his eyes with his hoof. He grabbed his satchel and went to his classroom. There on his table he found a cup of coffee and no signs of the pony that could have left it there when he realized who it was. 'Well, thanks then.' he thought as he drank the coffee. 'Classes are finally over. Time to go home.' Dilectus thought of letting out a deep sigh. After the lunch break, black clouds covered the sky little by little. Then suddenly, it began raining and hadn’t stopped since then. He could create some sort of shield to not get wet but it wasn't wise to walk home because of the thunderstorm. "Well guess I'll have to teleport myself home..." But, he was reminded of his last experience earlier that day and he was far too tired to try anything like that now, "Or I can stay here for a while." "I can teleport you if you want." "Gaah, why does everypony like to scare me like that?" Dilectus frantically turned to see the white unicorn mare once again. "I'm sorry, but hey, they will close the gates soon so it would be better to get going. Right?" Dilectus was about to say something when she interrupted, "And no, you're not going to decline my offer, come on just tell me which house is yours." "Alright, my house is number 12..." and before he could say anything else Dilectus found himself in front of his house, "What the... oh, ok." He opened the door and entered, looking around he found his mother asleep on the couch. "Ugh well I just want to sleep now." he muttered to himself as he went to his bedroom and threw himself on the bed. 'Wow, she really is a nice mare, ' he thought while staring at the ceiling when a thought hit him 'Funny thing is... I don't even know her name.' A.N.: (Dilectus Noctis = Beloved Night)
