For the longest time, there was only white; fluffy, nonexistent whiteness that filled his vision and muffled the frantic beating of his wings, thudding in and out of time with the pounding of his heart in his ears. Silence filled his thoughts as his mane gathered moisture from the clouds around him; he forged ahead undaunted, his hooves held before him as he screamed forward, heedless of what lay before him or behind him. He was getting closer, he knew he was. Any moment now… He could feel the change in the air around him; it grew abruptly less cold, and he felt himself smile broadly in anticipation.
Suddenly there was a flare of bright white light as the gray and black form of Wild Wings burst from the tall cloud bank into the open air; he felt his heart swell in his chest as the land of Equestria unfolded around him, rolling hills and ample plains stretching beneath him as far as his red eyes could see. He laughed aloud at the sheer joy he felt in his heart as he glided through the air; he dipped his left wingtip and banked steeply down the huge face of the cloud he had been flying through, sending wisps of vapor swirling up in his wake.
He glanced behind him, his smile growing even larger as he did so; on his tail, skirting so close to the clouds that her left wing sliced through them like a knife through butter was a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane, her magenta eyes intent as she pursued him through the sky. Their eyes met for the briefest moment, and Wild Wings couldn’t keep himself from giving her the crooked grin that everypony knew as his signature; a grin that Rainbow Dash returned whole-heartedly. Wild laughed again as he reached the bottom of the large cumulonimbus cloud; with a twist of his shoulders he rolled himself onto his back and flared his wings wide, sending Equestria rising up to meet him as he rocketed towards the ground in a nosedive.
Behind him he heard Rainbow echo his laughter, and he knew without a doubt that she had mirrored his move perfectly; the young mare was an exceptional flier, and today she was at the absolute top of her game. The ground screamed up at him, the multi-hued tops of the trees in the Everfree Forest reaching out for him like tendrils from a strange undersea creature, lying in wait, ready to catch him by the wings if he made even the slightest mistake. His eyes narrowed in defiance of the forest as at the last possible moment he flared his wings wider, completing the reverse half-loop and sending him rocketing across the treetops.
He wove between the outstretched branches of the forest, the reds, oranges and yellows of their quickly-changing leaves streaking through his vision faster and faster as his wings pumped furiously; he could feel leaves brush his left leg as he wove to the right to avoid a particularly large branch jutting up from the canopy. His blood sang as he whipped back around another large bough, cutting his turn so sharply that his wingtip brushed the leaves below; out of the corner of his eye he spied Rainbow Dash’s tail as she followed him through each of his moves, and the sight sent his heart racing even faster. Oh, silly Dash, he thought with another crooked grin. I’m going to make you wish you’d stayed back a few pony-lengths!
Ahead of him the forest thinned, the trees becoming smaller and farther apart; together the two Pegasi blazed towards them, their speeds increasing as they came closer to the ground. Wild Wings reached the edge of the thick trees and dipped his wings ever so slightly, sending him below the canopy of the sparse outer forest. Thick, dark trunks of trees whipped by his face close enough that he could smell them, the musky, earthy tones of their wet bark filling his nostrils as he turned from sheer speed, which was very much Rainbow Dash’s forte, to the very thing that was his own special talent: agility.
He banked to the right, sending his lithe body shooting through a sharp turn between two huge trees; he felt his mane brush the bark of the one closest to his head, but the proximity only fueled the fire in his soul. With a twist of his body he banked left, through another pair of closely-set trees, then back to the right, weaving through the trees with the same precision that a seamstress wielded her needle in her most delicate works. He whirled and twisted, his wings always just barely far enough away from the trees and ground to avoid touching them, always a hair’s breadth away from disaster and horrible, life-changing injury. Just the way I like it. He didn’t bother glancing backwards; he knew that if he took his mind off of the forest for just one moment, it would eat him as surely as a hydra would.
Finally, he gave a quick barrel roll as he skirted around another tree and his wingtips flared, sending him soaring upwards… into the canopy of the very last tree in the forest. His eyes narrowed, and his grin broadened. Time to thread the needle! A flick of his wings in separate directions sent him into a rapid corkscrew, and just before he impacted the canopy he pulled his wings in tight, sending his body spinning even faster, his hooves extended before him. He pierced the shroud of leaves and felt them brush against his coat… and for a moment time seemed to slow around him as his head filled with the earthy scent of the tree. He could see every branch within the treetop, every bough, every twig that reached out to him as he spun through it; he felt a branch brush his flank, saw his hooves plow through a smaller branch and scatter leaves into his mane. The colors of the tree whirled around him in a dance that nopony had seen, and one that nopony would ever see again; it was a dance made just for him, on this day, at this moment- a slice of time that was his, and his alone.
Finally time returned to him, and with a burst of leaves he exploded out the other side into the bright afternoon sunlight, his wings snapping back out and resuming their frantic pumping as he rose slightly into the sky, his laughter echoing loudly in the quiet of the forest.
He heard Rainbow complain loudly behind him as she rose out of the tree, spitting leaves from her mouth. He chuckled and immediately cast his eyes about for a new challenge, something that would put not only his skills but Rainbow Dash’s skills to the test… but as his eyes swept the horizon they found the nearest town, a quaint little place with a tall, spire-like Town Hall and a library built into the middle of a huge tree. His red eyes widened slightly… and it was as if the fire in his heart was suddenly smothered by a blast of chill arctic air. His wings slowed, and his muscles suddenly burned, a feeling that he found he just couldn’t ignore any longer; as if all of the exhaustion he’d been building up had decided that it was going to trample down his adrenaline rush because it was tired of taking a back-seat.
With a shriek of delight, a streak of cyan blue and rainbow colors blazed past him into the sky, the wash from her wings buffeting him and sending him wobbling through the air. Rainbow Dash laughed as she sped away, her wings almost a blur behind her. “Looks like you’re following now, old timer!” she yelled back at him.
Wild Wings let out a vexed sigh and shook his head, trying to take the image of the town out of his mind as he hurried after Rainbow Dash; now she would get to lead the chase until he could overtake HER… but deep within his chest, he could feel the fire sputter and go out, and without his heart in this race, he knew it was over.
~*~*~*~*~
“Oooh yeah! Did you see that?!” Rainbow Dash’s wings flared wide as she alighted gently on the grass. She smiled broadly as she shook her wings out and cantered jovially in celebration. “Woo!!! What a flight! That was COMPLETELY AWESOME!” The Pegasus mare shook her mane out violently, laughing as she did so. “Oh MAN, Wild Wings, did you see that last loop?! So fast it made my teeth hurt!!”
The gray Pegasus pumped his wings firmly as his hooves closed in on the ground, settling himself gently onto the grass without a sound. Rainbow Dash continued to talk excitedly, but try as he might, Wild Wings could not focus on her voice; slowly, the other Pegasus seemed to get farther and farther away as Wild’s mind turned in on itself.
Ponyville… That was the town he’d seen overhead; he knew that it was, and even thinking the name made his chest hurt. He growled and shook his head slightly. Too many memories, even from such a short amount of time, he thought. It had been a while since he’d set hoof in Ponyville; almost three months, to be precise. Ever since the day they’d returned with the ponies who’d helped rebuild the devastated city of Whinnyapolis Wild Wings had been avoiding the town like the plague, and for good reason; he and his former colleagues, the ponies once known as Generals of Nightmare Moon, had been set to destroy the whole town before Princesses Celestia and Luna had intervened. He closed his eyes against the wave of shame that threatened to sweep him away. It’d been hard enough to escort the Ponyvillians back to their home; ever since then, he hadn’t been able to make himself go back… not yet.
“I said, doncha think, Wild?”
“Wha..?” Wild Wings’ red eyes snapped back open to find Rainbow Dash staring at him, her eyes narrow, waiting for a response from him. Hoooo boy… “Oh, um, yeah, sure,” he answered lamely, kicking his right hoof at something in the grass. “Whatever you say, Rainbow.”
The cyan Pegasus watched him for another moment before she closed her eyes and sighed. “Wild… we’ve been doing this for a few weeks now, right?” she said, her voice casual enough… but Wild Wings felt his ears twitch.
“Yeah, a few weeks,” he agreed, turning slightly away from her and casting his glance into the thin trees to his south.
Dash shifted slightly on her hooves. “And… as much as I love, and I mean looove winning… and especially winning against somepony as good as YOU… how many times have I taken the lead in these little races of ours?”
Wild Wings felt his mouth twist into a small smile in spite of himself. “…Only a few times.” She was good, he would be the first to admit it; but he hadn’t been chosen captain of the Wonderbolts in his time for no reason.
“And when did it start?”
“About… four days ago.”
Rainbow nodded. “Right; four days ago, the same day we decided that you would come closer to Ponyville for these exercises instead of me coming to Canterlot because you wanted to train me in the Everfree.”
Wild Wings sighed and nodded. “Yeah, Dash, I guess that’s right.” His voice held a slight edge of irritation at Dash’s probing of the issue, encouraging her to just drop it, but if the cyan Pegasus took notice, she didn’t care; instead, she took a step towards him, her eyes intent.
“And ever since we moved closer to Ponyville, THIS has started happening!” She gestured to him with her hoof, and her voice started to sound genuinely upset.
Wild blinked at her in surprise; of all the emotions he’d expected to see when Dash beat him in a race, disappointment wasn’t high on the list. It was a testament to his foul mood that he actually scowled at her in response. “What, you’re not happy you won?” he asked tersely.
To his further surprise, instead of becoming more upset with him, Dash just sighed and shook her head. “Nope,” she said simply, flitting into the air to cross her front hooves in front of her chest. “It doesn’t mean ANYthing if I win when you’re not givin’ it one hundred and fifty percent. I want to beat you when you’re at your best, because THIS feels the same as losing!” She settled back to the ground, falling to all four hooves once again. Wild sighed and turned away from her.
“Well, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice still tight.
He heard her step closer to him, and when he turned back towards the other Pegasus, she wore a small, friendly smile. “Do you…” she began, but she shook her head and started again. “I mean, something is bothering you Wild… even I can see that.” She shrugged her wings slightly. “Do you wanna… y’know… talk about it?”
“…what?” Wild Wings prided himself on never being caught off-guard, but to have Rainbow Dash, one of the most impulsive, Discord-may-care ponies he’d ever known ask him if he wanted to talk about his feelings did just that. He watched her carefully for a long moment, and for the briefest second opened his mouth to speak, to tell her what was buried in his heart, to spill out his innermost secrets… but just as quickly the impulse vanished, and he dropped his head slightly.
“No… sorry Rainbow,” he said softly. “I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with me… so it’d be kind of hard to talk about.”
Rainbow Dash’s face scrunched up as she scrutinized him for a moment before shrugging her wings. “All right, Wild, if you say so,” she said, but it was clear that she didn’t believe him. Wild Wings felt his heart sink even further towards his hooves. It was hard for him to lie to Rainbow Dash; she had quickly become one of his friends, and despite their almost constant competition with one another, she was always truthful with him… but he couldn’t tell her. Somehow, he knew she wouldn’t understand. With a light sigh Rainbow turned towards Ponyville and spread her cyan wings wide. “So, I’ll see you at the same time tomorrow?”
Wild Wings shook his head. “Not tomorrow Dash, I’m on duty tonight, remember?”
“Ooh, that’s right!” Rainbow applied her hoof to her forehead and turned back to give him a grin. “Well alright then! Tell Princess Luna that the one and only Rainbow Dash says hey!” She gave him a nod. “Send me a message when you get back!”
The gray Pegasus smiled and returned Rainbow’s nod. “Will do, Dash.”
With a final grin Rainbow launched herself into the sky and took off towards Ponyville, leaving Wild Wings standing at the edge of the Everfree forest. As he watched her go, he felt the shadows in his heart lengthen, and he couldn’t stop the frown that slowly overtook his features. Sorry, Dash… but I just can’t tell you. Not yet. He sighed harshly and turned his back on Ponyville as he leaped into the air. He turned his body to the northeast, his wings pumping firmly as he started towards Canterlot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sun was just above the horizon when he arrived at Canterlot Castle, the tall, majestic spires rising out of the mountainside to meet him as he approached. He circled the castle once, and he couldn’t help but smile; no matter how many times he flew over it and saw it, he never got tired of seeing the seat of power in Equestria. His red eyes traced the graceful towers and stalwart ramparts as he glided slowly around the castle, his earlier worries forgotten as he gazed down at the capital city at sunset; the white walls around her blazed with red-orange light as if they would refuse to surrender to the coming night... and not for the first time Wild Wings felt an incredible surge of pride in his heart. He served the powers that lived in this place, powers that literally made the world turn; powers that made the beauty of this sunset pale by comparison. He circled high over one of the outermost towers, the banner at the top displayed proudly by the evening breeze: the symbol of the Alicorn Sisters, a white alicorn and a blue alicorn circling one another around the moon and sun- a banner that had not flown over the capital in a thousand years, until Princess Luna’s return brought it back.
Wild tilted his wings and began to glide in for a landing on one of the many large balconies that adorned the castle; this one had a huge white crescent moon worked into its stone floor, indicating that it linked to Princess Luna’s quarters- he knew that a similar balcony on the opposite tower bearing a sun emblem where Princess Celestia resided. Balance in all things, Celestia had told him once, when he’d asked about the need for matching balconies. Luna and I rule together, as we were always meant to; our castle should reflect that balance and harmony. He could still remember her smile, that funny little smile that Princess Celestia got on occasion. Besides, Luna wanted a balcony, and I thought it would be fun to have them.
Sometimes, I can’t understand our Princesses, he thought as he flapped his wings firmly, flaring them wide to slow his descent into the castle. He landed gently and took several quick steps to regain his balance, his hooves clopping loudly on the black granite of the room as he shook his wings out and settled them to his sides. The dying sunlight cast a bright column of light into the room, sending the rest of it onto deep shadow; the already dark room was decorated in dark blues and purples, contrasting sharply with accents of bright silver and white, giving the whole place a cool atmosphere, as if it were a tiny slice of the night that had squirreled itself away before the coming of the sun. Several small candles lit the darkened spaces of the room as the sun sank, and as Wild Wings made his way through the doorway and further into the room, he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he wasn’t alone. He paused before reaching the shadows, his ears pricked for any sound of his watchers.
He waited in silence for a few long moments before sighing heavily. “OK, I know you’re both in here,” he said, his voice tinged with impatience. “Are we going to go through this every time I show up late?”
A voice drifted out of the shadows to his left; it was a deep male voice, and Wild didn’t have to see the smile on the other pony’s face to know that it was there. “Well… we don’t have to go through it, I suppose.” He heard several gentle hoofsteps, and into the sunlight still streaming in from the doorway stepped a large, dark blue Pegasus wearing a small silver breastplate bearing the crescent moon sigil of Princess Luna. He ruffled his wings, which were easily twice the size of Wild Wings’ own, and turned his ice blue eyes to him as a smile crossed his lips. “But… it’s just that… well, it’s so much fun I don’t think we can stop.”
“Oh yeah… it’s a hoot, Shooter.” Wild said, and the blue Pegasus smiled at him. Shooting Star had served with him under Nightmare Moon, and had been one of the scariest ponies that Wild had ever met; he had been the bearer of the amulet of Fear, and had used it almost too well. Now it was hard to imagine he had ever like that; he was still quiet, as he had always been, but he was starting to develop a sense of humor…and Wild Wings wasn’t sure he was OK with that. “You guys have had your fun, so can we just-,”
“Fun?” a light female voice said from Wild’s right side. “No no, fun is what we have when you don’t show up at all.” The voice was full of mirth, and it was clear that the ribbings were all in good fun, but Wild felt his hackles raise none the less. From the shadows came a soft pink glow, and all the candles in the room lit simultaneously, drowning out the dying sunlight and causing Wild Wings to close his eyes against it briefly.
“Morninglight…” he growled softly. “You KNOW I hate it when you do that…” Slowly he opened his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the new light level, and the white unicorn to his right giggled openly.
“Well, maybe if you stopped showing up late, I would stop doing it to you,” she said, her deep blue eyes jovial. “Cutting it a little close tonight, aren’t we? You know Luna wants us here when the sun touches the horizon.” she said, arching an eyebrow at him in mock severity even as her mouth curved into a smile. “What happened? Did you get distracted by something shiny again?” She sighed dramatically. “And here I thought we had cleared all of the shiny things out of your flight path to the castle! Oh Wild, you’re HOPELESS!”
Wild Wings sighed huffily as he looked at the unicorn. Morninglight had been one of Nightmare Moon’s generals as well, and had been the bearer of the Element of Jealousy; looking at her now, it was hard to believe that she had once been cold and callous, caring only for herself and what could be gained for her. She wore her sunrise-colored mane tied loosely back tonight, the blue, orange and pink colors of her mane shimmering in the rays of the setting sun. She also wore a breastplate identical to Shooting Star and a pair of small silver earrings that dangled small crescent moons from her ear lobes- a gift from Princess Luna herself.
“No, I didn’t get distracted, shiny objects notwithstanding,” Wild said gruffly, turning away from his friends. “I just… was late, that’s all.”
“Well, we’re used to that by now,” Shooter said, his lips still curled into a small smile. “But this is late even for you, Wild.”
Suddenly, Morninglight gasped. “I know what’s going on here!” she declared, raising a hoof to her chest. “He’s… abandoning us to work with Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard! Defecting to the daylight!” She raised the hoof to her forehead and wobbled on her hooves. “Shooting Star… I think I may faint!” Shooting Star laughed aloud as she staggered about melodramatically.
Normally, Wild would have joined in the laughter; usually, it would have pleased him to no end to have Morning and Shooter both in a joking mood before a meeting with the Princess… but today it just felt like somepony had taken a hoof to his coat and rubbed it all the wrong direction. “Aaah, cut it OUT, you two,” Wild Wings snapped over his shoulder. “I was LATE, okay?! Just…” he sighed sharply and walked back towards the balcony. “Just let it go.” He turned his eyes back to the still-bright western sky where the sun was just about to touch the horizon, the red orb shimmering above the mountaintops. Wild shifted his wings in agitation, trying to chase the anxious feelings from the back of his mind as he heard hoofsteps on either side of him. He turned to his right and looked at Shooting Star. “What?” he said, his voice full of irritation.
The blue Pegasus didn’t answer him right away; instead, he took the few remaining steps separating the two Pegasi and stood next to Wild, breathing deeply of the crisp evening air. On the gray Pegasus’ other side he heard Morninglight join them, but she maintained the silence as Wild turned back to the view below the castle, trying to let the defensive fire that had flared up in his mind simmer down a bit.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to be going, he thought. In the past few weeks, he’d finally started to feel… in control of himself again. Like the fires of anger that had burned in him for a thousand years had finally been quenched. However, what burned in him now wasn’t anger. This was different; it wasn’t the white hot rage that he had once felt… but instead a slow, simmering fire that ate away at the edges of his patience, making every question, ever jest and good-natured jab feel like a physical affront to him, and eliciting a rather undesirable reaction. It was frustration; frustration at this hollow feeling in his insides, like he had a hole in his heart that couldn’t be filled, like he was missing something in his life that could be easily found… if he allowed himself to look for it.
Finally, after a few moments of standing together, it was Shooting Star who broke the silence.
“…We were just playing around, you know,” he said quietly.
Wild turned his eyes to the blue Pegasus next to him, and sighed. “Yeah, I know.” He still couldn’t believe that Shooter had changed so much; he still remembered how the other pony had once skulked about, wings tight against him, head bowed to avoid any eye contact with anypony unless it was absolutely required. Now he sat straight and tall next to Wild Wings, his head held high as he watched his friend. His heart squeezed as he met his friends icy blue eyes. It felt bad enough lying to Rainbow… how can I lie to Shooter? Of all the ponies that Wild Wings came into contact with on a daily basis, Shooting Star was the one who knew best what was eating at Wild’s heart… but… “I know,” Wild repeated, shaking his head slightly. Shooting Star watched him for another moment, his wings shuffling gently.
“It’s not like you to be so put off by joking around like that,” Shooter said in that infuriatingly flat voice of his. In spite of himself, Wild felt his ire rise again.
“Yeah, well, some days are better than others, aren’t they,” he said tersely. That tone isn’t helping enhance my calm, Shooter…
On his other side, he heard more than saw Morninglight smile. “Some days are better than others, yes… but you never miss a chance to join in a good laugh, even if it’s at your own expense.” The unicorn giggled again. “And it often is.” Wild turned his ruby eyes on Morninglight and gave her his best if-you-weren’t-a-mare-I’d-kick-you-across-the-room look, but she just laughed.
Shooting Star sighed. “Look, I know it’s only been 3 months since we’ve come back; I know that the three of us are all trying to find exactly who we are.” He gave Wild Wings a small smile. “So while it’s natural to have good days and bad days…” He sighed again and shook his head. “Know that… we’re here for you, OK?”
“That’s right,” Morning said, nodding firmly enough that her multi-hued mane bounced in its loose bindings. “One of the reasons we fell in the first place is that we didn’t talk to each other.” She smiled. “How much did we even know about each other before we were released from Dark Star? Almost nothing; we never spoke about ourselves, only about Nightmare Moon’s goals and aspirations. Always about our missions, never about ourselves. Our isolation gave our amulets the freedom they needed to poison our minds.” She reached out with one hoof and touched his shoulder. “If we want to avoid going back to that ever again, we need to learn to trust each other. All of us.”
Wild Wings sighed, and stood silent for a moment. She’s right, he thought. If we can’t trust each other… who can we trust? He looked to Shooting Star, who gave him an encouraging smile and nodded. “Yeah…” Wild said. “I know.” A part of him wanted to spill everything; to tell both of them what was in his heart, what had been slowly gnawing at his mind the past few weeks and especially the past few days... but he just couldn’t. Shooter knows most of what’s going on… but Morning doesn’t know anything… and Shooter doesn’t know the half of how I feel…
“But I… I can’t tell you guys what I don’t know,” he said. He sighed and walked forward to the edge of the balcony, letting his red eyes roam the castle for a moment before turning back to face his friends. “I’m not sure what’s wrong… but when I figure it out, you’ll be the first two to know.” He tried to give them a reassuring smile, but it faltered slightly under the flat, appraising stares that he received from them. He ruffled his wings unconsciously. “Um… okay?” he tried again.
“I think that is all that we could ask of you, Wild Wings,” a melodious voice said from inside the room. As one, the three ponies turned to face the direction of the voice and bowed, bending their right front legs slightly and lowering their horns and wings in deference. The voice laughed musically. “Please, my friends; you know that here in my chambers you need not bow so.” Silent as a shadow in the moonlight, a dark blue alicorn drifted out of the darkness at the edge of the room and into the dying rays of the sun; her sparkling, ethereal mane flowed behind her like a river of stardust, and her tail did the same as her teal eyes met each of the general’s in turn before stopping on Wild. She smiled at him, and immediately Wild felt his heart calm a little. Somehow, just being in the presence of the Princess of the Night seemed to soothe the restlessness, even if it was just a little. “You all know my expectations as to when you are to be here,” she continued, her smile widening, “But you also know that I will not send you to the Moon for being late.” Her eyes rested on Wild Wings, and it felt to him as though she were picking apart his thoughts, seeing the truth in his evasions even without speaking to him.
He shivered slightly, but managed to meet her gaze unflinchingly. “Thank you for your kind words, Princess Luna,” he said, inclining his head. “I’m glad that you are so much more… understanding than these two.” He turned his gaze on Morninglight and Shooting Star, who both simply rolled their eyes at him.
Princess Luna laughed lightly, a musical sound that filled Wild’s heart with warmth. “To be fair though, Wild Wings, they are merely trying to look out for you.” The gray Pegasus blushed slightly, but decided that it might be best to just hold his tongue. The Princess walked closer to them, her sea-green eyes sweeping the sky above them. “The time to raise the Moon draws near,” she said softly before turning back to the three other ponies. “I fear that Wild Wings was not the only pony to get a late start on their duties tonight,” she said, and not for the first time Wild reflected on how much she had changed not just from a thousand years ago, but even from when he’d first been re-introduced to her three months ago. Granted he had never known her as well as Dark Star had, but his memories of her had always been laced with bright smiles and quick, sometimes sharp words- now, after all that had happened, she always seemed subdued, quiet, and introspective.
The Princess shook her head slightly, but her smile never faltered. “So, without further ado, let us discuss tonight’s duties.” She sat down upon the balcony and the other three ponies imitated her. The alicorn shifted her wings more comfortably behind her and sighed slightly before continuing. “As you all know, the full Moon approaches; these will of course be days when you do not need to report, as they are the height of my power, and those days of all days I will have no need of bodyguards.” Her eyes swept them slowly. “And of course when the new moon is here, all three of you will report, as usual.” Wild Wings nodded; the new moon was the low point of Princess Luna’s power, when the nights were darkest and she was the most vulnerable. Each of the three ponies who served her were adamant about being on duty on such nights, and she had finally acquiesced and allowed them to stay with her.
“As for tonight,” she said, “I do have several tasks for you. Morninglight?”
“Your Highness?”
Luna smiled. “There is a problem at one particular area of Canterlot; several shops have been robbed in the last few days, and the owners are asking for our help to both find the culprits and the stolen merchandise, if possible.”
Morninglight smiled confidently, and Wild couldn’t help but roll his eyes. If there was one thing Morninglight loved, it was a puzzle, and a crime was just a huge puzzle to her. “It would be my pleasure, Princess Luna,” she said eagerly.
“Excellent.” The blue alicorn turned to the other Pegasus in the room. “Shooting Star, my sister has asked that you perform an unannounced inspection of the night Guards tonight; she trusts your military experience to tell her if her Guards are doing as they need to during the times when she is at rest.”
Shooting Star sat a little straighter. “Of course, Your Highness.”
“I know I can count on you,” she said with a smile. “Please, do not be too harsh, but if anything is amiss, please do not hesitate to report it to me.” With a nod, she turned her attention to Wild Wings, and he unconsciously sat up straighter under her gaze. “Wild Wings,” she said. “I request your presence with me tonight as my guard while Shooting Star and Morninglight go about their duties.”
Wild grinned and rustled his wings. “It would be my pleasure, Princess.” Each night, Princess Luna chose one of them to stay with her as she went about her nightly routine, and they each counted it an honor to be asked to do so; but as Wild Wings met the Princess’s gaze, he could have sworn that he saw a flicker of knowing behind her luminous orbs.
“Excellent,” Luna said with a nod. “Then don your armor, Wild Wings, and wait here for me to return.” She rose to her hooves, and the generals did the same. “Morninglight, Shooting Star; I look forward to your reports later tonight.” The other two ponies nodded, and the Princess of the Night smiled. “Very well! Until then, my friends.” She walked to the edge of the balcony, threw her large wings wide and leaped off into the air; with several firm flaps of her wings she shot skyward, making her way towards the eastern side of Canterlot.
Wild Wings watched her fly away even as Morninglight and Shooting Star left the balcony, and he couldn’t shake the suspicion that the Princess knew more about his situation than she was letting on. His eyes narrowed, and his heart grew slightly heavier still. He knew that if he had to, he could lie to Rainbow Dash; and if he absolutely had to, he could lie to Shooting Star… but he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he could never lie to Princess Luna… and he felt that she knew that just as well as he did. He swallowed. Well… I guess it has to come to light sometime… and if anypony should know about it, it’s Luna.
With a sigh he turned from the balcony and walked back into the room to find his armor; after all, regardless of her intention of asking him to stay with her, he was still her guard, and he had a job to do.