Anthony sat silently in the lounge chair that had been spooning him for the last few hours, continuing to stare out the window. The sun flashing a spectrum of warm colors across the darkening city as it finished slipping beneath the horizon. The moon no doubt replacing it on the other side. Letting out a long sigh he placed his hand to his forehead with a groan.
“Fuckin’ el mate.” he muttered in an Australian accent for no reason in particular. Leaning down he grabbed his stack of books from the ground and got up, setting them on a nearby shelf to come back to later. Stopping for a moment, he noticed just how stiff he felt from his long reading session. To counteract this, Anthony started bouncing lightly on his toes, shaking his head and shoulders to loosen the muscles and remove any kinks he’d gained. Once he was satisfied, Anthony took one final deep breath before turning on his heel, jogging out of the aisle and through the halls. row after row of overstocked shelves disappeared behind him as he picked up his pace. After turning into the main foyer he rushed by the main desk, startling Night Light who jolted up from his book suddenly.
“A-anthony? Where are you going?!” He called to the man running to the door. Anthony didn’t turn back, throwing the door open.
“I’m late! I’m late! I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!” Anthony repeated frantically as he zoomed past the two guards at the entrance and continued down the hall. The stoic soldiers paused looking at eachother for one second before blunderingly scurrying after him, all while shouting “Halt” ’s and various obscenities.
Night Light sat silently at his desk after watching this exchange, before suddenly bursting into a small fit of laughter. After calming down, he readjusted himself back into a comfortable position, pushed up his glasses, and returning to his book with a smile on his face.
Outside, Anthony sped down the hall with the speed of a man whose girlfriend had told him she was home alone. Maids, servants, guards, and even the occasional noble found themselves dodging as he rushed past them. Though Anthony wasn’t as fast as the guards chasing him, his human ability of making sharp turns with little loss of momentum gave him a huge advantage as he navigated his way to the lular wing. As he ran, he soon noticed the walls seamlessly transitioning from their usual eggshell white to a deep blue, the various furnishings that lined the hallways changing to accompany it.
Anthony could hear the rapid clip-clops of his pursuers gaining on him, as well, he was starting to feel the strain on his legs and lungs. His labored breaths being a clear indication of this. Hearing this the guards sped up in turn. As the man turned down another of the countless hallways, he double checked his mental map, noting he was almost there he tripled his efforts.
Anthony noticed the guards hooves coming closer and closer behind him, He guessed they within ten feet by now. This could mean a number of things in the next few seconds. The best possibility was that they just kept following him like they were supposed to, but he knew from experience this wasn’t likely. What would probably happen would be that they would take his running as an attempt to escape, which means that once they were in range they would tackle him to the ground and restrain him, and he’d also have to have another talk with Celestia. Not fun, but especially so when you’re tackled and your head is on a collision course with marble. As Anthony thought about this, the pain ravaging his body seemed to miraculously vanish as he approached the last turn.
The entrance to Luna’s room was just as lavish as her sisters. Intricate silver columns lined the blue marble hall, each with the flat of an outlayed square midway up it’s tower. All of them detailed with a depiction of a phase of the moon. In Anthony’s opinion, it was a very unique design, as when you walk up the hall the waxing phases of the moon would be on your left and the waning on your right. So if you were to walk up and down the hall, the full cycle of the moon would follow you on your left.
And of course because of this design, the full moon was at the end of the hall, more specifically, a shining silver disk above the door itself, the craters that were meticulously hammered out in the metal caused the light from a crystal chandelier above to shine and sparkle off of it in a spectacular way. Beneath this was Luna’s door, mahogany, detailed with the cutie mark of the mare herself.
There were two guards by this door as well, however, as per the norm of the night, they were thestrals. Their simple but elegant blue armor and helms fit the scene perfectly just as Anthony came blazing around the corner like a madman.
He noticed that the thestrals, who were previously tense upon hearing the shouts and running from down the hall seemed to relax upon seeing him. Anthony frowned to himself.
Am I really that predictable?
He skidded to a stop just before slamming into the door. Placing his hand on his knees he attempted to calm his erratic breathing, though because of the layer of sweat now covering his hands and skin, he couldn’t stop himself as they slipped from his knees and his exhausted body crashed face first into the floor. Both the thestrals flinched emphatically after his contact with the marble before quickly stepping to his aid.
“Sir… sir are you alright?” The one on his left said, not knowing what to do he simply poked the downed human in the shoulder, but stopped when he felt the sweat on his hoof and wiped it off on the ground. The other shook his head.
“It looks like he’s dead, it’s a damn shame.” The guard smirked, clearly seeing that the man was still breathing. After a second, the other seemed to get the joke and chuckled to himself.
“Heh. Can I keep the body then? Who knows what he would sell for!” The first guard rubbed his hooves together greedily. The other tapped his chin in thought.
“I dunno… I think Nightingale already called dibs on him. It’s sad really, who knows what she’ll do to him.”
The first guard grimaced slightly. Having personal experience with Nightingale’s flirty nature, he knew she had a few kinks, even more so after a bit of drinking. His gaze traveled down the exhausted body of Anthony to the oddly shaped hooves on the end of his legs. Not knowing what feet or shoes were, the grey sneakers looked completely alien to him.
“I wonder what his hooves look like?” He asked, trying to imagine what strange appendage could support the biped so steadily. But for the life of him he couldn’t think of anything other than an ovular hoof, that couldn’t be right though, could it? The thestral was taken aback as his partner walked over, grabbing the left shoe with his hooves.
“Well, let’s find out then!” The guard stated, giving the shoe a firm tug...
“NOT THE FEET!!!” Anthony shouted, wrenching his foot, with shoe in tact, away from the curious guard’s hooves. Scrambling, he quickly got to his feet. Evidently too quickly, as a wave of dizziness took his head and he had to lean on a pillar for support.
“not… the feet.” He murmured tiredly as he felt his senses slowly coming back to him. Before anything else could happen, the two sun soldiers came around the corner at full speed. As they closed the distance, Anthony stood, closing his eyes and bracing for the inevitable impact.
But it never came.
Upon opening his eyes, Anthony came face to face with a not too uncommon standoff. The thestrals, who had moments ago been relaxed and even joking with each other, had become steel. Their faces holding a common simmering frown and their bodies in rigid powerful stances as they attempted to stare down the unwelcome newcomers.
The day guards, having not anticipated the fleeing human’s destination were put off by both the thestrals sudden presence and cold attitude. They looked at looked at one another for a moment before giving Anthony one final glare and turned back down the hall, walking away and posting themselves just outside of view. Anthony let out a sigh of relief.
“thanks guys.” He whispered, as to not let his “security” guards overhear him. They both nodded before turning, each wrapped a hoof around one of the silver door handles and pulled, a small rush of air tickling the man’s skin as they did so.
Taking a step, Anthony passed through the grand doors, but not before hearing the final words from the guard on his right.
“By the way, you’re late.” And with another rush of air, the doors closed behind him.
Anthony raised an arm, scratching behind his head as he took in the scene around him. The room was about four times the size of his own. At the far end of the room was Luna’s bed, large and ovular in shape, a headboard sticking up from the flattened edge that was placed against the back wall. To the left wall was a comfortable lounge chair, surrounded by bookshelves, with a tall intricate golden lamp pointed towards the chair. Lastly, to the right was a grand open balcony with stone rails, upon which a fine silver telescope sat, pointed forever towards the stars.
While busy taking in the details of Luna’s room once again, he almost didn’t hear the chime of a voice that was the mare herself.
“You’re late…” Alright, maybe less of a chime and more of a condescending gong. Anthony turned, his eyes meeting hers. Luna, the mistress of the night, sat behind a modest wooden tea table, two cups of steaming brew resting on it, and a single chair across from her. Her mane seemed to shimmer and twinkle more brightly than usual in the confines of the dim room, Anthony had to focus as to not get lost in staring at it. He also took notice that she was wearing her royal garments and sat in her chair formally, not stiffly, but in a perfected balance of power and relaxedness, like Anderson Cooper. Casually walking over, he pulled out the chair and sat down. But of course it was pony sized, so his legs bunched up in front of him like he was in a kindergarteners chair.
“Yeah, sorry about that just lost track of time.” He said, giving her a sheepish smile. Luna raised an eyebrow, a small smirk playing across her muzzle.
“Indeed?” She asked mysteriously. Anthony stared at her for a moment before cautiously responding.
“Yes… indeed.” Everything Luna did and said had meaning behind it, like a question on an AP test. It was something Anthony had become familiar with the more and more time he spent with the mare and was also one of the many reasons he enjoyed spending time with her. She was like a little puzzle he could decipher each time they met. Little did he know, she felt the same way. What was most curious today however, was that she didn’t even attempt to hide her feelings. The smirk that told him so much yet so little. Was it a feint? Or did she have some sort of ace up her sleeve tonight? Either way, Anthony had no choice but to play along.
“So... how has your day been? Sleep well and whatnot?” He said, trying to probe the conversation. Luna’s smirk shifted to a smile of content.
“I’m surprised that you would still ask me such a question.” She replied, somewhat haughtily. Anthony refrained from rolling his eyes. “But yes, my sleep was as restful as always. Though, I could ask you the same question.” And there was that smirk again.
If you’re gonna keep acting like that you’ll have to work a bit harder…
“Yes, you could.” Anthony said, picking up his cup of tea and testing it with a small sip. Jasmine. Luna blinked owlishly for a moment before frowning at him.
“Anthony…”
“Yes?” He said with a toothy smile.
“...How was your sleep?”
“Oh? My sleep? It was just as good as yours, I assure you.” He took another slow sip.
“Your eyes deceive you.” Luna said, taking note of the dark bags still present within her dark room.
“Goodness is also a relative term.” He replied before placing the tea cup against his lips and flipped his head back, downing the rest of its contents. Setting his cup down he sighed at the unamused expression on the Moon princess’s face.
“Look, I just woke up a couple of hours ago. I’m perfectly fine right now.” Luna seemed to relax at his words.
“Good, but know that should I feel you’re putting your health at risk with your nonsense I won’t hesitate to cast a sleep spell on you.” She said sternly. Anthony groaned.
“Alright, alright, I’ll just sleep a bit more.” After checking his face for any signs of deceit a smile once again worked its way onto her face.
“Excellent! Now, shall we play a game?” Anthony froze, recalling that he had never actually come up with a game for them to play. It was the whole purpose he was there after all! He racked his brain for any ideas.
Games, games, uhhh board games? Monopoly? No, too ragey. Shoots and ladders, no too childish. GOD DAMN IT! Card games? no NO NOOOO!
Realizing he was still sitting there frozen, Anthony attempted to stall for time.
“Y-yeah, I had the perfect idea… for something… that we… could play. It just requireeeesss a um, deck of cards! So why don’t I just sit here while you go~” Anthony was interrupted when Luna’s horn for a split second and a pack of cards appeared on the table.
“Oh…” He said, Luna smiled at him innocently. “I~uh also, also! We need chips, for you know like betting and stuff.” Another flash and a few sets of colored chipsets appeared as well. An idea suddenly came to the man and he had to suppress a smile. “now a fish.” Luna looked at him suspiciously.
“A fish?” She repeated. Anthony nodded.
“Yep, cod preferably.” Low and behold with a poof and a slick slap a codfish landed on the table.
“Nice.” Anthony muttered to himself.
How far can I take this?
“Just a few more things. Now, what I need is a diamond about this big” Anthony held up his fingers about two inches apart. Luna stared at him coldly. Noting this he looked at his fingers again, spreading them apart a bit more before smiling back.
“I know you’re just making this stuff up Anthony.” The man burst out into laughter.
“It was worth a shot. I’m keeping that fish by the way.” He reached out for slippery seafare, stomach grumbling as he imagined various ways to cook the sucker up. Sadly, once his hand was within an inch of the morsel Luna’s horn lit and the table was cleared in a poof of magic. Anthony pouted to himself.
“Lucky for you I happen to have an idea of my own for our game tonight. We were told it is a great way to make friends and improve relationships among ponies!” Luna said confidently. It was now Anthony’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
“Praytell, what sort of game is it?” At his words, Luna sat up in her chair raising a hoof to the sky dramatically.
“TRUTH OR DARE!!!” She thundered, lightning striking outside of the window on cue. Anthony stared at the mare in shock, alarm bells going off in his head telling him to bail. But a more logical thought suddenly came to mind.
What sort of idiot told her truth or dare could strengthen relations, let alone make friends?!
Luna lowered her hoof till it was pointing directly at Anthony.
“DEAR ANTHONY, WE CHALLENGE THEE TO A MATCH OF THE TRUTH OR DARE, DOES THOU ACCEPT MINE OFFER!” Anthony was forced to clench his hands over his ears at the sheer power of the royal canterlot voice. Once she’d finished he relaxed, trying to think of all the consequences there could be for accepting or denying her request. Checking over his mental list there were many for both sides. His thoughts turned back to the letter still in his pocket. It was the perfect opportunity. He nodded to her.
“I accept.” The boom of thunder echoed throughout the room as lightning once again struck outside, catching his eyes. Turning back to the mare in front of him he could just about see her horn flicker out in conclusion with the thunder. Noticing that he’d caught her, Luna coughed into her hoof awkwardly and quickly tried to change the subject.
“Good, well… since I was the one to propose this game, I believe it is only fair that you get to start. Are you familiar with the rules of this game?” Anthony nodded. “Wonderful! You may begin when ready.” Anthony placed his elbows on the table, putting his hands beneath his chin as he leaned forward.
“Alright, I suppose. Luna, truth or dare.” He said. Luna thought for a moment before replying.
“Let us start this off slowly. Truth.”