The scents were thick. The scent of flowers. The scent of grass. The smells hung heavy in the air, clinging to the shrubberies and brier-patches that set them free. And the scents refused to move, for there was no wind to chase them away.
Moonlight illuminated the majestic palace, surrounded by its meticulously arranged trees, bushes, flowers and intertwining foliage, but the night were hiding all colors in various nuances of dark and darker.
The royal garden was surrounded by a big, intimidating wall. Outside the big rampart, the sounds of the Everfree Forest broke the stillness of night. Outside there were all kinds of animals. The forest had birds, lizards, rodents mixed in with larger animals like bears and wolves, but they all stayed outside the walls.
The Royal Guard Captain was sure of his goal. A silhouette of a pony, stretched out in the grass. He had been a guard for several years, and the situation was far from new, yet he couldn’t stop his heart from beating faster as he draws closer.
The silhouette had a horn on its head, so could be mistaken for a unicorn. Yet another look at the dark blue shape revealed folded wings, similar to a pegasus. So it looked like it was either, or both.
Without as much as a single breeze, her mane and tail shifted slightly, flowing on its own, proving to everyone it wasn’t a pony at all, but something more. It was also the reason why Captain Steady Pike was here in the palace garden to begin with.
He moved up close before he fell down, pressed his head and barrel to the ground as he felt was appropriate. He held himself still as he waited for her gaze to acknowledge his presence.
"Steady Pike?" she mused.
"Princess Luna, our ever present royal Guardian and benevolent keeper of sanctity, It is I, Steady Pike, a captain of the royal guard who seek your audience."
"We know who you are." she teased him. "And we know why you’re here. Please be at ease, captain."
"As you wish my Princess." Steady Pike answered, in lower voice, more befit the stillness of the night. He struggled to use the least formal way to address her he could muster, as per her wishes during night court.
The alicorn’s eyes were discrete and mellow at night. It was hard to believe her round eyes could form vertical slits, so clearly seen during the daily assembly. Any traces of black smoke escaping the edges of her eyes were now nowhere to be seen. Her entire visage, in spite of the darkness, was lighter than during the day.
Steady Pike stood up, his head elevated above the princess. During the nightly garden sessions she wanted her subjects to act in a relaxed folksy manner. Something throne room protocol wouldn’t allow.
Most night court sessions would have a few attendants, relaxing in the grass surrounding the princess. But not tonight. Tonight was invitation only.
The princess resumed looking at the stars. Smiling at them as if they were her friends. Ignoring the Royal Captain, giving him time to relax.
"It’s a very big day today if I may say so." Steady Pike said without being asked or addressed. "A big night!! I mean night!" he quickly corrected himself.
Princess Luna kept looking at the stars, doing whatever it was she was doing.
"As in nighttime... not day..." he added in a loud mumble, trying to make small talk, as was custom for these special occasions with Princess Luna and her closest.
"Well, it’s not a big night for us it isn’t." he carefully added and then his voice once more picked up speed, "I mean, it is a big night for me. It’s very big to be in your glorious presence. It’s huge! I mean it’s not big for you. The night that is. It’s just another night." he kept babbling, somehow struggling to find the right words.
He took a deep breath and added, "Oh boy, what a night!"
He tried to put a cheerful tone in it but he wasn’t sure the Princess would notice.
Luna smiled at him with a glint in her eyes. She often did that when Steady Pike or some other pony in their inner circle started rambling, or broke protocol. She would patiently wait for them to calm down and never hand out an angry reprimand or a whipping for insolence.
For a while he enjoyed sitting close to her, basking in her presence, until she looked at him and said: "It’s a very big night for all of us. We find it to be a most propitious night and a mark of success. For you it’s a big night to bear witness and it’s especially big for Sergeant Block, and we believe he is joining us now."
Pike turned his head towards the castle, and its closest entrance to the garden. A few seconds later Sergeant Block appeared.
For a while the Sergeant stood frozen at the gateway to the garden, as if he didn’t know what to do. He looked at Princess Luna, who cocked her head in return. She studied him with a slight simper across her face.
Block took a brisk stride towards the Princess before he threw himself down, head and barrel pressed tightly against the grass. His strong voice, although slightly muffled by the grass, stated his business to garden.
"My Princess, my guide, my Goddess of the Night, your faithful servant is here..." he took a big gulp before his voice, now less sure of himself continued, "...hoping for you to bestow upon me your personal blessing of the night."
"Welcome my child!" Princess Luna answered him. Somewhat more ceremonial in her voice than she recently had been with Steady Pike.
The formal tone quickly faded as she continued. "Be at ease my dear pony. I take it you want to go through with the change?"
"Yes!!" sergeant Block blurted out with a sharp determination like years of drilling taught him. He scrambled up on his hooves and continued, "I mean, Yes, my goddess! The blessing would be the ultimate honor and-and... I eh... I haven’t changed my mind, so I... uhm... please?!"
Captain Pike felt years of experience as a captain come back to him, and as his subordinate Sergeant stumbled over his words, the captain decided to step up and help.
"I believe our most holy Princess here, wants to know if you are aware of all the downsides and problems with the wish you ask for."
"Yes Captain! Yes I do." he quickly responded.
"As an earth pony my magic fills my skin and grants me strength. Blessing me with wings, would let it leak out and make my skin brittle and my legs decrepit. The magic inside me would be weaker making me more susceptible to poison and disease or to heat and cold. The control over things in my mouth will be almost gone, and whisking up a nut and a bolt with my tongue and spit it out screwed together will be next to impossible." he slowed down looking at Princess Luna.
The sergeant wondered if that really was the answer she was looking for at a time like this. The various downsides with the metamorphosis were questions and answers he had been taught many times before this ceremony and everyone in the inner circle had discussed it at length with plenty of examples.
"Very good." was all Princess Luna had to say. "And what about any positive effects?"
"I will not be able to fly right away. Maybe never. It’s not the wings that make you fly. As can be seen from our Goddesses who just spread their wings and ascend without moving them. It’s how it helps change and focus the flow of magic that makes flight happen. But hard working muscles helps direct the flow and with hard work and training it is possible that I may become as good as any pegasus but it’s no guarantee."
"Very good, my dear Sergeant Block." Princess Luna said as she raised herself from the ground and sat back on her haunches.
"Hopefully the change will not turn out as bad as you described it, and hopefully it won’t take too long before you can leave the ground, but during a time in between, it can be quite daunting to feel weaker than you used to be, without being able to fly around like you hoped for."
"My Princess! My Goddess!" Sergeant Block said as his voice increased in both strength and determination. "I can be patient and I don’t seek your blessing for the ability to fly. Screw flight! If I wanted to be a frilly pegasus I would have jumped off a cliff and learnt on the way down or suffered the consequence of failure like a fragile Unicorn." Sergeant Block spat out in his drill-sergeant voice.
In the moonlight it was hard to see but his face turned pale after his sudden outburst and with a completely different voice he added, "My princess, no offense, I don’t mean..."
Princess Luna’s raised hoof in a quick angle immediately stopped his voice. To immediately stop and fall silent when a royal so wished was a reflex everyone in the castle had in common. They wouldn’t still be in the castle if they didn’t.
"Be at ease my dear Sergeant Block. We have talked with you many times before and know your intentions. Do not think we have forgotten all the words you’ve spoken before. We clearly remember all the times you’ve said that having eyes of the night would be fun, not frightening, and the leathery wings would be a badge of honor, and not a curse."
Luna stood up and moved up to stand real close to Block. The blue princess was much smaller than the Queen but still a tiny bit taller than both Captain Pike and Sergeant Block.
"You’re not a pony of fancy words but we know your heart. As you’re now retired from the royal guard, and plan to move with your wife to the mountain, we will be happy to grant you the transformation you desire. It’s just that we one final time want to asseverate that you realize that there is never a need for physical change to be part of the tribe."
Princess Luna turned her head to Captain Pike and continued, "Steady Pike here, is just as much family as you are, and always will be, but your princess has decided that change is not for him, so when he in a distant future retires from the guard, he will stay a unicorn. Isn’t that so, Steady Pike?"
"That is correct my princess. For someone such as myself, who have for so many years excelled among Equestria’s Unicorns at using telekinetic magic to move objects around, losing that ability and be forced to use hooves, mouth and wings to manipulate objects could be a very frustrating experience. You’ve explained it all to me and I concede that your wisdom is far superior to my own."
"Oh Steady Pike, you’re very wise pony, and that’s why you’re my favorite captain, but as we so many times maintained, it’s not the appearance that is important. It’s what’s in your heart. The change in appearance is like a uniform. It makes it easy to see what family you belong to, but even without a uniform you can still be the most respected family member. Isn’t that so, my highly trusted and respected Steady Pike?"
As Princess Luna uttered the words she moved closer to Steady Pike and put her hoof on his shoulder. She had a mischievous smile as she did.
Steady Pike’s heart started racing. It always did when she put her face really close, or when she touched him. Something unthinkable during the rigid court of daytime was here in the garden at night not really that uncommon, yet he wasn’t very good at pretending it was normal.
"My princess!!" he yelled out much louder than he intended, before he continued in his nighttime voice. "Your highness is always right. I trust your decision now and forever."
Luna looked at him and mused before turning back to Sergeant Block.
"Have you decided on a new name? Although it’s common for ponies after retirement to keep their title and regular name, and you’re allowed to do it, some pick up a new one. Perhaps you had something planned together with the change as you didn’t replace it right after retirement?"
"No, my princess, I’m afraid not. Haven’t really thought about changing name. I mean, I’ve discussed it with my wife, but we figured it could wait until we settled down in the mountain. Perhaps the community could play a part in finding a fitting name; that is, if I change it."
"Oh Sergeant, that’s very wise of you. Focus on the important decisions first, like the change, and take the small decisions later. A very good way to deal with change."
Sergeant Block blushed at the praise and mumbled something sounding like a thank you, followed by a slew if inaudible honorifics.
Luna continued without letting the Sergeant’s attempt at verbal communication distract her, "We just wanted to know if the ritual was to be performed with a new presentation of your persona, but it’s not needed and would have been just for flavor and for your own sake. But if you have no objections, we are ready to proceed."
Sergeant Block took a deep breath before he said, "Oh boy, am I ready?! I’m ready!! As ready as I’ll ever be." he swallowed hard, "Your highness!! I mean, I’m ready your highness."
Luna smiled at him as she took a few steps back. Her tail, earlier softly flowing with the look of a fluffy dark blue cloud suddenly came alive. The hints of astral energy moving inside-out suddenly became vibrant and energetic. Her tail really started to move, as did her mane.
The vague notion of a translucent light within her tail and mane turned into noticeable streaks of silver as her entire presence changed from a blue mare to a much more imposing presence. She seemed to grow; perhaps it was her legs and hooves? Perhaps it was her neck? Her horn? Or the flow of power in her mane and tail creating an optic illusion?
No, she actually did grow and become bigger as her eyes turned from a bashful blue round to a deeper black vertical ellipse. Black smoke started to evaporate from her body and especially from her eyes, from her mane, and from her horn as her voice also changed.
Gone was the soft mellow garden voice. Back was the voice of the Royal court. It was massive, it was resolute, it commanded, "Sergeant Block!"
Her magic, like tendrils engulfed the Sergeant as she spoke.
"It’s time for you to transform. It’s time for you to move forth. The power within us, will grant you the power to change. Thus we command you, Sergeant Block, to experience the metamorphosis of the night and embrace your love of the moon, and to accept the stillness of the night."
Tentacles of dark energy flowed around them both, and embraced Block. They kept forming all over him and grew viciously powerful. They lifted him off the ground as it engulfed him.
"We welcome you to focus on the merits of your inner thoughts in the faint light of the moon, instead of focusing on how you appear in the bright shine of the spotlight."
Hundreds of thick magical vines, rushed around him like snakes chased by lightning. They grew bigger, stronger, faster, and soon engulfed his entire being.
"We urge the child of night to close your eyes to that you first see and instead contemplate what you have seen. To reflect upon the many different angles of truths and falsities inherent in everything."
Luna’s voice echoed inside the vortex of energy that encompassed her garden court.
With strong voice she moved on, without hesitation, without any doubt: "We welcome you to use all of your senses to find the deeper meaning, as truth is not always what it seems, and rarely what is seen. Let the vague glow of the moon guide you to spend more time searching for intention, than staring at the action."
The effects of the magic ripped the air apart and Steady Pike could just stare in awe and veneration at the scene before him.
"I hereby ask of you Sergeant Block to let your thoughtful mind be your guide as one of my many children under the moon."
Almost as quickly as Luna had changed her appearance and invoked the magic, she faded back, in form, size and aura, to the blue pony she once was while the enchanted tendrils surrounding Sergeant Block retracted and dissipated. Leaving a huddled figure in the moonlight.
Sergeant Block looked a bit different. His ears were a little pointier than before. His irises were differently shaped and hanging from the sides of his spine were two leathery wings.
"Congratulations!" Luna said as she took a few steps towards him and slightly osculated his forehead with her lips. "You can no longer hide you’re one of the Mountain Tribe." she smiled.
Sergeant Block stared at his wings while he stretched them out to the sides. He moved them back and forth, up and down, not very synchronized, but there was clearly strength in them.
He kept moving his wings, but also stretching his legs, bending his knees, pushing and scratching the ground, trying to come to terms with all the changes that had happened.
"My legs..." he started, "Feels like I have my usual strength."
"Well, it’s more of an endurance thing, so the losses aren’t noticed unless you spend a day plowing a field." Steady Pike said as he felt an urge to fill in.
Steady Pike didn’t know if he said it because he had something to say, or because his emotions forced him to say something. Either way he wanted to be a part of the situation and not just a bystander.
"Steady Pike is correct." Princess Luna added. "But we believe you may be wondering if you have enough magic in your wings to fly? We felt it, and we can assure you that you do, but it will take time to practice, and how to exert yourself, turning the magic in to speed and not just levitation or falling slowly."
Sergeant Block stood frozen for a few seconds and just stared at Princess Luna. As he did, his lower lip started to tremble, his eyebrows quivered slightly, together with his voice, as he finally spoke, "Oh my Goddess you have no idea how happy you made me. To bestow this honor upon me so everypony will know that the Nightmare personally invited me."
Steady Pike’s face drained and became ashen. Sergeant Block suddenly realized what he had said and his expression froze.
"Night Mare??" Princess Luna asked with surprise, cocking an eyebrow.
Sergeant Block threw himself on the ground. "Your highness, a thousand apologies, I meant no disrespect. I would never claim you to be a common mare." his voice full of panic.
"Calm yourself my dear pony. I don’t consider it disrespectful to be called a mare. Not here in the garden at night. We use garden night court formality. Remember?" her soothing voice said with a smile.
He lifted her head and looked at her. "Of course I remember, I- b-but, Captain!! Please explain." he looked at Steady Pike with pleading eyes.
"Your highness, I can explain." Steady Pike said in a more formal tone.
"And this mare is ready to listen." Princess Luna responded.
Steady Pike’s open jaw and frozen manners hinted it probably wasn’t a good time for frivolous banter pretending to be a commoner. At least not after he had witnessed the turbulence of the extreme power she commanded.
Perhaps Steady Pike would be more relaxed if they had first been idling and gossiping for an hour or two? Oh well, Steady Pike needed a shock every now and then to keep his adoration at sane levels.
Steady Pike looked at Princess Luna as she lay down comfortably in the grass and awaited his explanation. She stretched her neck and nodded towards the grass. He noticed the sign that he may sit and out of reflex he acknowledged the nod with a short bow, as night court manners dictated, but his mind was elsewhere and he remained standing.
"Our most glorious Queen, The Goddess Celestia, has many very, very, very..." he took a deep breath and continued, "very, very, very, very loyal followers."
He cast a quick glance towards Sergeant Block who had tensed up and stood with his wings stretched out as hard as he could to either side. Steady Pike didn’t know if he was training or if it was the aftermath of panic.
"Those very loyal followers, tend to trigger on any form of praise or discussion that focus on Princess Luna instead of Queen Celestia. Any discussion that isn’t clear that our most amazing Queen Celestia as the ultimate Goddess in every possible regard, they would consider blasphemous."
Princess Luna looked troubled, but not worried. She had put down her head on top of her hooves. The Captain admired her brooding mind, filled with an eternity of thoughts. No, he needed to focus. He shook his head and continued.
"As the Princess knows we have a several guards and a couple of ponies in the settlement outside the walls who have noticed your kind philosophical nature and really appreciate it. We like to mention it to one another as encouragement. It helps us move on. Especially if we had to enforce some punishment or carry out some harsh sentence."
Steady Pike looked at Princess Luna while she patiently waited for him to continue. Giving him all the time he needed. The royals were so different. Why couldn’t they be more alike.
"In order to talk with one another more openly we have come to use ‘mare of the night’ as code for our most beloved Princess Luna. When talking about the mare of the night, or nightmare when keeping it short, the fanatics doesn’t realize we compare the royal goddesses or prefer Princess Luna over Queen Celestia and thus they don’t perceive any heresy."
Steady Pike looked quizzically at Sergeant Block, as if waiting for him to add or intervene. The silence dragged on for a while but when Block didn’t say or sign anything Steady Pike finally continued.
"We try and pretend it’s just a rendezvous and especially the guards are quick to believe we have secret nightly love affairs that we don’t want to divulge. Either because we’ve been sworn to secrecy, or because it involves promiscuous mares in the settlement we don’t want exposed. Since we could be talking about one of their own, or even a captain, they don’t dare to pry too much. Especially since The Queen is adamant about respecting privacy."
"We see." Princess Luna raised her head and replied with a smile. "In fact, we are honored that the ‘mere’ mention of mine can help strengthen you during hard times."
She paused with a smug smile. Wondering if they would catch up on her phrase the ‘mere mention’. She had pronounced it ambiguously, sounding like mare, to bring some regular pony humor to it. She quickly realized they weren’t going to give her as much as a giggle or even a smirk.
"Let it be known to all trusted members in our herd that the Nightmare, is the mare that acts freely during the night and hides in the shadow during the day. Let the mare of the night be known to all as an elusive presence you can’t really specify. For reasons that can’t be explained. You may also claim it’s a joke to tease the curious. Whatever you decide, is up to you, for only one thing is sure: The NightMare values your heart over her orders."
"As you command, my Princess!" Steady Pike echoed immediately, making Luna doubt he fully understood her intentions.
"Your will shall be done, oh Glorious Princess." Sergeant Block quickly followed suit.
Princess Luna looked at them, like the family she rather have than the one she actually had.
* * *
Princess Luna felt it, long before anyone else could sense it. She decided to act immediately.
"Sergeant Block, how’s your wings?"
"It feels amazing." he said, moving them up and down as he tried to emphasize his words.
"Why don’t you test if you can get them to work? You have our royal permission to fly over the castle wall. Fly out into the forest, to prepare or maybe even start your journey to the mountain. Show us what you can do."
"Yes my princess." he echoed immediately. Then stood still for a few seconds without doing anything. It was easy to answer, but with 36 years of experience as an earth pony, following up on a command like that wasn’t something that came natural.
He worked his muscles. The wings barely flapped in tandem with his movements. He lifted a bit off the ground and moved backwards, his wings flailing as if trying to stop him from falling instead of focusing on flying.
Eventually he calmed down and started trotting around, doing small jumps gliding back and forth along the garden stretch where Luna spent her garden sessions. He even managed to stay airborne during a turn. The big smile across his face witnessed how happy he was with his progress.
"Now fly over the wall." Luna encouraged him.
"Yes, your highness." was his quick reply more out of reflex than anything else.
To get up in the air and glide along was easy enough, but increasing altitude was difficult. He decided to cheat by galloping to gain some speed before taking that first critical jump getting up from the ground. He had good speed, and the wall quickly closed in on him.
He didn’t mind an embarrassing face plant right into the wall, that wouldn’t hurt. It wouldn’t hurt at all. But he didn’t want to disappoint the Princess. That would be agonizing.
His speed increased, faster and faster, the wall came closer, and then he recognized a voice that filled him with terror from hoof to ear.
"PRINCESS LUNA!!" the Royal Voice echoed over both castle and settlement. It was full of anger and very, very different from the one that Luna used.
Luna stood prepared to usher the newborn batpony over the wall. Give it a push so to speak but was happy to notice that her sister’s terrorizing voice had given him all the push he needed. In fact his stiff little wings looked more like a hummingbird vibrating in a terrified flutter.
She mused to herself at the sight. It’s impossible for a winged pony to fly far straining itself like that but he did get both speed and altitude, so it was very effective.
Luna’s calm visage was in stark contrast to the big golden white being that moved towards them. The Queen had vertical slits for iris and her eyes were filled with flames, just as traces of astral flame lingered in her wavy tail and mane.
"The royal Queen and my dear sister Celestia. We are honored by your presence." Luna’s cheerful voice acknowledged her sister.
"What, and why, is going on here? Explain yourself!"
"Guarding the night. Playing with the stars. Passing time, waiting for dawn."
"Do not mock us little sister. What was that?" Celestia said with a stern voice, referring to the flying object that without gaining altitude now was hidden by the high walls.
"Our latest experiment. We like to experiment."
Celestia looked at Captain Pike as he was kneeling as hard as he could. Pressing himself so close to the ground you could think he tried to push himself below the grass.
"Captain! Explain what my sister hath done."
"My Royal Goddess and devote Guardian and Guide of all Life that has been and ever will come to be, I have witnessed how the Royal Princess Luna transformed a pony and made it fly away."
Celestia looked back at Luna. "Is that so? Perhaps the little sister should explain what she’s up to?"
Luna’s calm demeanor was a stark contrast as she loftily explained, "Changed his body, redirected the flow of his magic. It was an earth pony, and we actually managed to get it to fly."
"Trying to create an alicorn in our likeness? You fool! To have a mortal pony spread its aspect over three areas instead of one, will just cripple it. Starswirl The Bearded knew mortals better than anypony and could prove it."
"Oh, sister don’t fret. We remember Starswirl and what he said. We consider Starswirl a close friend." A hint of annoyance had crept into her voice.
"Mortals can’t be friends with Eternals. He was close to us. Nothing more. Not a friend. And never an equal, in spirit or in mind, in any way."
Luna pretended not to hear as she looked up at her stars. As if counting them and making sure none were missing. Not that anyone but her had the power to move them, but it didn’t stop her from checking.
"And what do you think the ponies will say after they learn of your experiments?"
"Oh dear sister, it’s not a problem. We know how much you value good staff, so we used a retired pony. Someone that is no longer in our service and were going to leave, and leave it did." Luna said happily as she looked in the direction where Sergeant Block had flown away.
"You bemock us?" Celestia’s voice grew stern. "Don’t. You. Dare. Ridicule us!"
Celestia’s voice, filled with anger, spat out the words while the fire in her eyes increased, as did the brightness in her mane and tail. The entire garden basked in the flickering light as Celestia’s fiery anger swelled, causing anyone in the vicinity to feel the terror she dispersed.
Captain Pike who was kneeling close to both felt it in his spine. He had felt it many times, but it was rare to see it as strong as now. The level of anger was execution level, but there were no pony around to be executed. Nobody but him.
Captain Pike believed he experienced why there were no animals in the garden surrounding the castle. The wall and avoiding pony scent could explain the lack of bigger animals, but the small ones? Common explanation was the royal blessing in the ground chased them away. Steady Pike now believed sensitive creatures would die from the sheer terror caused by the Queen’s aura.
Luna on the other hoof was completely unfazed by the entire ordeal and responded in kind. Her mane and tail started to energize as her voice grow deeper and darker.
"Our Queen and sister, as reiterated many times, the royals have divided responsibilities. The Queen will deal with the hustle and rustle during the days, and the Princess will make sure the night is calm. Up until now we believe it was as calm as could be demanded and the Princess thus performed her duty exemplary."
The radiance of the Queen dimmed a bit as the darkness of the night from Luna pushed back while she moved up to stand right in front of Celestia.
Luna’s irises were elliptical slits again and the dark smoke emanating from her eyes and mane cared not for the light from her sister. Her mane and tail flowed with a glistening black that both held pitch-black darkness and contained streaks of energy, looking as if they were either fleeing or quickly leaving to make chase.
Anyone who believed Luna to be meek or intimidated by her sister’s presence could easily see that this was not the case. Her voice put on a hard edge as she tilted her head up to look her sister in the eyes.
"Dear sister, if you want to change who is in charge of what, we suggest that all of us meet and discuss it during the day. It is, after all, during the day that change should happen. During the night, the Kingdom should stay still and rest. It is what you, as Queen, have told us many times."
Celestia locked eyes with her sister. Two pair of immortal eyes, neither flinching nor yielding acted as an epicenter for the devastating scene that unfolded.
"Fine!" Celestia finally said. "We will talk more about this during the day. The day is the time for action. I will let you sit here and play your games, but don’t forget who is the Queen among us."
As Celestia turned to walk away her aura dimmed and the bright light from her presence was toned down. As she entered the castle it was nothing more than the regular translucent light she usually had in her mane and tail.
If the Queen’s eyes had calmed down, Steady Pike didn’t know, and the last thing he wanted to know. He preferred to stay clear of the Queen when she was in a bad mood. A wise choice that probably had helped him advance to the rank of Captain.
* * *
As soon as Celestia disappeared inside, Luna’s aura quickly mellowed. She looked long and hard after Celestia. Her mind brooding on thoughts that Steady Pike couldn’t fathom.
"Dear captain, we need to apologize for our boisterous sister. She intrudes most unwelcome in our garden court sessions." Luna said with a smile.
Steady Pike heard the words of disrespect and didn’t know what to say. To agree with such words was blasphemy yet he couldn’t disagree with a royal princess. He pretended he hadn’t heard.
"Steady Pike, we just tried to calm you after her blinding visage made a most annoying appearance. We guess that uplifting tittle-tattle befitting social ponies isn’t what we do best."
Steady Pike looked carefully at Princess Luna. She patiently waited for him to get over the near-death experience from kneeling next to the tempestuous encounter.
The princess just wanted him to relax again and in the light of her attempts, he decided to speak the deepest secrets of his mind. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, so he took a deep breath and looked her directly in her eyes; something she actively encouraged during Garden formality.
"My princess. If there ever comes a time, when I must choose. I know what my choice will be. And I will make that choice, even if it means being killed on the spot or burning in Tartarus. If you ever want me to make that choice, please just ask me, and I will instantly do it. But until I must make it, I will keep my oath and serve the queen to the best of my abilities."
Steady Pike wanted to add how he loathed himself when following through on some of the Queen’s commands, but this wasn’t about his feelings, this was about his loyalties. He hoped that Princess Luna would understand that.
Luna looked at him for a while before breaking the silence.
"Remember some years ago when your Mare of the Night told her garden court how she can see ponies’ dreams?" Luna said in a more somber tone.
She looked at Steady Pike and waited patiently for him to acknowledge her question.
"When we said that, we meant it literally even though everypony took it figuratively. But it’s not the hopes and imaginary goals we talk about. It’s the actual dreams ponies experience in their sleep. We can close our eyes and find vivid dreams around Equestria crying out for a visit. Or we can go to sleep and get a collage of loud dreams as well as the ability to influence several at the same time."
She waited a while for the information to sink in.
"A very long time ago I used to show myself in dreams. But my sister demanded strict order and perfect behavior from everypony. She appeared all over Equestria to personally teach and guide ponies about unacceptable behavior, followed by harsh punishment for violent transgressions. She made herself a busy Queen and she didn’t have time to visit settlements unless she had an important reason, so the only reason to visit was to explain the laws and why something must be punished."
Luna let out a sigh before she continued, "All over Equestria, they all started to fear the Queen whose public appearances not only demanded rigid protocols to encourage law-abiding obedience, but also brought castigation to ‘weed out’ unacceptable behavior. And as I was her dark sister, supporting her from the shadow, we became just as feared as our sister." Luna’s voice took on a sad note as she uttered the last sentence.
She threw a glance at the stars before she continued: "Terrordreams, or feardreams, as they are commonly called, usually stick around and repeats itself after a pony first get haunted by one. We looked for them and dissipated them when we found them. But it was faster for us to hide in the background and conjure images of help, or to bestow strength to the suffering pony, without letting them know that Princess Luna of the Moon was there to aid them. From the stories our Queen found helpful to encourage they feared the immortal royals from Everfree Forest just as much as any undead steed in a terrordream."
Luna looked at Steady Pike who in turn studied her face. Her soft blue eyes and the magical sparkle hidden in their depths didn’t look like they used to. Sadness was there. He couldn’t really see it, but he could feel it. Her powerful presence wasn’t always hidden in the form of a demure blue mare and now he felt a sad presence through her eyes.
"We can chase away a headless horse, or give the dreamer the power to vanquish it, but we can’t spend hours explaining that not all royals are evil. Especially when facing the argument of why Princess Luna do not act. If someone has the power to do something, but doesn’t do it, many powerless ponies claim the bystander to be just as bad, and they are right."
"My princess..." Steady Pike said softly. "I’ve spent a large part of my life in this castle. I know that you more than anything else in this kingdom vouch for ponies and look after them. Even when it means opposing her Majesty the Queen during the daily assembly."
"Ah, yes, the act of suggesting something ‘lenient’ instead of something harsher as protecting ponies. Well, it’s not about what we do. It’s about what we can do, and Luna of the Moon has the power to do so much more than we currently do."
Luna emphasized the last bit with a slight edge in her voice and looked back at the stars before turning to meet his eyes.
"Steady Pike, we hope you can forgive us for saying this but we will miss you after you’re gone. We spent many years in this world, and from time to time we meet someone we dearly wish could stay with us instead of growing old and leave."
Luna’s voice had lost the edge it had when she talked about her sister, and a halo of grief had replaced it. Her gaze left Steady Pike, as she looked up at the stars. Her voice resembled a deep whisper as she continued to talk.
"For all the magic we wield, there is nothing we royals can do about death. We are really happy for your company while you’re here, yet there is a sadness to see you grow old because it means you are leaving. You slowly walk towards the horizon and we can’t follow. Just watch as you walk further and further away, without you even noticing it."
Luna bowed down her head and closed her eyes.
Steady Pike shifted uneasily as he desperately searched for something to say but couldn’t come up with anything.
"I’m really sorry about that growing old thing. I honestly didn’t care about it before, but seeing you hurt, I really wish I could do something about it." His voice was anxious.
Luna’s faint smile appeared across her face before she raised her head to look at him.
"My dear Captain. Your loyalty will surely be remembered for a thousand years. But our silly exposé serve another purpose than berate you for growing old. As we said, we are happy for the time we get together with such splendid ponies as you, and we have come to accept destiny as it unfolds."
She wanted to lift a hoof and ruffle his mane, as she had seen ponies do both in dreams and in the settlement outside the castle walls when they didn’t know she observed them, but it wouldn’t befit a royal princess and it could make a Captain such as Steady Pike uncomfortable. So Luna just smiled at him while musing over the thought, leaving Steady Pike none the wiser.
"The dilemma we face is that in a world full of ponies we love, there is only one who will always be with us, and it’s my sister. That’s the real problem. The loyalty your Princess gives to the Queen is not because she’s a good sister, but because she will never leave me."
Luna felt good uttering the last ‘me’ as a commoner. It made her feel more like the mare she wanted to be. Steady Pike didn’t seem to notice even though he clung to every word she said.
In the dreams Luna visited she was neither royal nor special and she loved the feeling of being one among many. She and the dreamer experienced the same dream and felt very much the same feelings. The main difference being that Luna knew it was just a terrordream and had the power to vanquish all the bad stuff with a blink of her eye. But the trick wasn’t to swiftly clean out the bad stuff, the trick was to nudge and push parts of the dream so the dreamer could overcome the feardream and gain immunity from it in case it happened again.
Steady Pike had silently observed Luna and after taking a deep breath he decided he should try a more positive approach to this gloomy conversation.
"Well, if there is anything I can do to help cheer up your majesty, just let me know. I may not be a terrific speaker or a practical joker, but perhaps I can be somewhat of a court jester if you need me to? When our royal highness the Queen isn’t around that is. We both know how she feels about jokers."
"Ruling a kingdom is serious business." Luna mused. "No time for jokes!" she added with a scoffing tone of parody in her voice.
"Well, ask of me anything you need and I will help." Steady Pike emphasized his willingness.
"So you will support your Princess of the moon?"
"In any way I can." he said while straightening himself.
"Then please help explain this puzzling conundrum to us. The conversation we as a princess are privy to seem to be very dry compared to the ones you have with your fellow guards. When you throw out hints about the mare in the night being promiscuous, what do you say?"
Captain Pike’s flustered reply avoided eye contact, "O-of course y-your highness. What is it y-you want to know?"
"We would like to know how you express yourself when royalty isn’t present. We would like to hear what words you chose when you make surrounding ponies believe you discuss a sexy mare." Luna said with a big sweet innocent smile across her face.
Steady Pike could do well by reminding himself that a dreamwatcher who is way older than any other living creature he had ever faced sans Queen Celestia, probably had accumulated massive amounts of experience and surely wasn’t as innocent as her big blue eyes would have him believe, but he did not. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what to say, and it would not be disturbed with logic or reasoning.
"Well, it can be... that the mare in question is indeed something special, which I underscore with a silly chuckle while I say it. This obviously only has to be done if we believe someone is questioning our codeword or trying to find a deeper meaning to it."
"So could you show us? Pretend we are Sergeant Willow of the night court and as curious observers we have Captain Quicksmite and her ever-present sidekick Lieutenant."
Luna stood up and shuffled her hooves a bit as if that would help her look like a Sergeant.
Steady Pike rose from his sitting position and stared at her. He swallowed hard as he was unable to figure out what to say.
"We do understand you need to take your time, but we also want to remind you that we all have to leave soon. Your patrol is about to end as the guards at the gate are soon to be replaced. You need to meet them, so they can relay their end of shift report. Soon you have work to do."
"Of course your highness. It’s just... the situation... is a bit different."
"We understand and we will help you. We can play the part of Willow better."
Luna cleared out her throat before she recalled some feardream that started out good and then turned horribly bad. The early part could serve as inspiration.
"Captain. That Nightmare snuck into your bed. I believe she went in there to wait for you." Luna said, while throwing her voice an octave deeper. More for fun than trying to sound like the sergeant.
"S-s-she d-did??" a somewhat perplexed Pike answered before trying to get in to character, "I mean, oh, she did, did she. Oh great! I look forward to riding the Nightmare. She sure fills my bed with joy." he said with a perturbed voice while his eyes chased across the garden, looking at everything but the princess.
Luna’s eyes closed slightly as she tilted her head and studied him. She had seen her fair share of double entendre, not up front, but through her ability to observe dreams. She was hoping for Steady Pike to express to her some discreet sensual insinuation and not a proclamation of panic.
"And that will make Captain Quicksmite believe the mare of the night to be nothing but a frilly tryst you have in secret?" she curiously asked.
"Of course!" Pike quickly exclaimed. Then after a short sigh he added "No, it would not. It has to be a lot less of everything. That wouldn’t work at all."
Luna didn’t say anything. She knew it wouldn’t work and obviously so did Captain Pike.
"It’s a pity Sergeant Block isn’t here." Steady Pike continued as he looked towards the wall where he was last seen. "When he gets into character he will forget all his manners and he could no doubt explain this a lot better."
"Yes indeed. We fondly remember Sergeant Block and while his forthright manners may have prevented him from ever becoming lieutenant or captain, his friendly honesty gained him a tribe. We suspect that with the right coaxing it wouldn’t require much before he spilled every sultry trick he knew."
"Indeed your highness. The princess should probably wait for the next chance you get to meet him and ask him to explain it." Captain Pike blurted out.
Luna just smiled at him as she sat back on her haunches, taking a long look at the Captain with a glint in her eyes.
"As Princess of the Moon we have always considered us proponents of silent contemplation. The stillness of the night is the perfect time to give everypony the tranquility required to analyze and deduce the small truths so important for the big picture."
"Indeed it is, my princess. If everypony spent more time asking many questions and studying the underlying intentions, it is my belief Equestria would be a lot happier."
Princess Luna lifted her gaze and stared straight up as she said with a theatrical sigh, "Alas, we are now bestowed with additional tasks; we are not just Princess of the Moon, we are also dubbed The Mare of the Night."
"My Princess, it’s just so we can show our affection and worship without fear of retaliation."
"We know, but still we find it’s a lot to take in. We used to be standing in the shadow of the Queen, focusing on the spiritual needs of our ponies, but now we have four more shoes to fill."
"My princess?" Steady Pike said looking confused.
"As Princess of the Moon we help our subjects with their spiritual needs. As Mare of the Night we have a duty to aid our subjects with their physical needs as well."
For some reason it took a while for Luna’s words to sink in but when it did Steady Pike almost swallowed his tongue.
"OH MY GODDESS, NO!! What?! NO my princess!! We would NEVER expect anything like that from you. You’re my goddess of purity." he shook his head vigorously to emphasize his words.
Luna put on a confused face and looked him in the eyes.
"So, when you lie in your bed, you have never, ever, thought about putting weight on this sturdy back, the solid flanks, taste our mane, or rub your barrel against our glistening fur?"
"It... would not be proper." Steady Pike flustered as Luna moved close and put her face just in front of his. Close enough for him to feel her breath as it escaped her nostrils.
"Steady Pike?" Luna said carefully.
"Yes, your highness!" came his meek response, mostly out of reflex.
She leaned forth, so her lips almost touched his ears before whispering softly, "Sadly that is a reality that can never happen. We are sorry to say that Royals can never engage physically with mortals."
Princess Luna turned around and started to move towards the castle. In the process moving her body close to Captain Pike, letting her high flowing tail drape his nose.
She walked away with her tail flowing higher than usual, and with each distinct step she took, her tail swayed equally distinct from side to side.
As he stared at her leaving she turned her head and smiled mischievously, "In your dreams, Captain Pike. In your dreams."