//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: The Royal Thief // by LTBroski //------------------------------// Chapter 14 Az followed Captain Shade into the long house. The main room was largely devoid of any activity, due in large part to the fact that over half the Guard was still outside, taking care of their finds from the room in the Old City. The smell of freshly roasted vegetables hit Az’s nose as he entered the building, causing a low growl to emanate from his stomach. He reluctantly ignored the sensation and continued on to Shade’s office. The office’s décor remained the same as it had been the previous day, with the exception of an added ponnequin in the back corner of the room. It remained largely bare, sporting only the helmet Shade had shown Az two days prior. “Waiting to complete the set?” Az asked with a small grin as he sat down along the back wall of the room. “You could say that” Shade replied, as he sat down behind his desk and rested his elbows on its surface. “I trust you did find more armor in there, right?” Az nodded “along with an armory’s worth of weapons, a full library, and what seems to be Princess Luna’s armor from eons ago. Flow seems to think I’m going to be the one to deliver it.” “’Cause you are” Flow said as he walked in the door, followed shortly by Longshot, Wise Guy, and Lightning Shift. They each sat down in a line abreast of Az, facing Shade’s desk. “Whoa, whoa, whoa” Shade waved he forehooves around in the air, jumping up. “You found what exactly? Because it sounds like you said Princess Luna’s armor.” He eyed each of the members of Nighstalker in turn. “Exactly what it sounds like” Flow said matter-of-factly, raising a hoof. “It was hidden under the floor of the archive. It took some doing, but it seems Az was the one meant to open it, after all these years.” The other ponies nodded in agreement. “Which is why I said he’ll be getting it to her, some sort of magical connection. The case was protected by a stasis spell,” he explained after receiving a quizzical look from Shade, “and I caught a bit of the release conditions, not much mind you, when he touched to case to get a closer look.” Shade’s mouth had dropped open and stayed open for another few seconds before he shook the surprised look off his face. “Right, uh, make sure you take care of that as soon as you can kid, I’m sure she’ll love seeing it again.” Shade sat back down. “Now, back to business. I have a mission for you. This is a top priority, and I need to reiterate the fact that nopony but the three princesses can know about its details without their express permission. This includes members of the Guard other than myself. Any questions before I get into the full brief?” Five blank faces stared back at him. “Good, now the mission will be taking place in the Tigran Empire, which as you are well aware is a sovereign nation, not some little island in the middle of the ocean. Since this is the case, your abilities will likely be put to the test to ensure that you go undetected throughout the course of the mission. If you are caught, it will likely cause an international incident.” Az and Longshot exchanged a confused glance, causing Shade to pause in his briefing. “Something you two think needs to be shared?” “Uhm, yeah, actually” Az said hesitantly after giving Longshot another glance. “I don’t know when you were last there, but Tigra doesn’t have a cohesive central government. It’s governed by a parliament of the most dominant clans, typically those consisting of tigers, hence the country’s name. Just like in any society, there are rivalries and alliances, sometimes outside of the borders of the nation itself. Hay, a few I worked for were close friends with the dragons. That being said, in the unlikely event that we get caught, it’s probably not going to cause an incident, as the clan would probably keep us as some sort of leverage over a rival. Only if we manage to piss off the top three or four clans in their parliament will we be brought up.” Captain Shade looked thoughtful for a moment, bringing his hooves together and looking down at his desk. After a moment, he looked up at Longshot. “Can you confirm this?” he asked. She nodded, and he reciprocated the motion. “That uncomplicates things a little, less international politics to worry about. Thank you for your insight, Az. But as you said, it shouldn’t come to that.” He stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the bookshelf, retrieved a large roll of paper with a pull ring in the middle of the open fold, and attached it to a hook above his window. “Now that we have that cleared up, I need to get on with the mission details. Your target is the Javrash family complex in the capital city of Felisa. Javrash is the top military planner of the Tigran Empire’s army, and it has come to our attention that he has recently been drawing up plans for an invasion of several neighboring nations, to include Equestria.” He pulled down on the roll of paper revealing a blown-up map of a city. “While it is doubtful that anything will come of these plans, it is better to be safe than sorry. Princess Luna agrees with this sentiment and has asked us to go in, copy the plans, and get out.” “How do we know these plans are final?” Longshot interjected. “We have a source within the household that has told us as much. The plans were presented to the Tigran government and approved, “should they ever become necessary.” Again, the use of these plans is highly unlikely, but we need to be sure Equestria’s safe. You will be landing the airship-“ “Wait a sec, the airship? A little conspicuous don’t you think?” Flow asked suddenly, with a degree of exasperation. “I know it’s your pet project, but a group of five ponies suddenly showing up via train with sets of armor is also a bit conspicuous.” Shade replied with a small sigh. “As I was saying, your landing zone is here, in a small clearing two miles west of the city” he pointed to a point on the map, marked with a red “L”. “The trick is, you need to trust the airship to land on its own, since you will be airdropping into the city. Looks like you get to put that auto-land function you installed to the test, Flow.” “It was mostly Princess Luna though, I have no idea how it’s supposed to function!” Flow whined as he threw his hooves up in exasperation. “My beautiful airship…” he lowered his head and began moping. Shade shook his head and turned to Az. “When you bring that armor to her, be sure to ask the Princess how the system works. If she has a manual, all the better.” Az nodded, taking a mental note to ask about it. “So like I said, you’ll be airdropping in. From there, you need to infiltrate the building, copy the plans, and make it out of the city undetected. As this is a covert op, and largely deniable to the princesses for political reasons, you will be responsible for yourselves; don’t expect anypony to come bailing you out if shit goes sideways. The operation needs to be completed within four hours so you can get out of there before the sun comes up. The mission is easy enough, so I expect a complete success. I have managed to acquire the blueprints of the building, and we will be constructing the layout first thing in the morning. From there, you will be practicing both the airdrop and the building infiltration for the next week. Any questions?” Wise Guy’s hoof went up. “When you say constructing the layout, you mean that we’ll be working with rough outlines, right? And not a full building?” “The building is a single-story complex. Short, but sprawling, we’ll be constructing walls to mimic the real thing. Does that answer your question?” Wise Guy nodded. Lightning Shift was the next to speak up. “I’ve heard that the heat can be pretty oppressive in Tigra. Has this been considered for those of us who typically wear plate armor? And if so, what are we going to do to rectify the situation?” He looked over at Az, who gave him a sideways glance before speaking himself. “I have this one, Captain.” Shade nodded. “This time of year, it’s what they consider winter in Tigra. It’s pretty comparable to summer here, so it’s still pretty warm, but at night the temperature should be downright comfortable, even in plate armor.” Lightning Shift nodded at the answer before facing Shade’s desk again. Shade, in turn, cast his eyes over the team one more time, ensuring there were no further questions before dismissing them to whatever they needed to do that night. “One thing more, Az” Shade called out as Az was about to walk out the door. He stopped, looked at Longshot who responded with a shrug, and turned back into the office. Shade was rummaging through one of his drawers and retrieved a badge depicting a dagger crossed over a crescent moon and tossing it to Az. “You’ll need this if you planned on getting Princess Luna’s armor to her while she’s awake. The Lunar Guard takes their jobs far too seriously. Just flash this and they shouldn’t give you any issues. If they do, just do what you do best.” Az looked up from the badge with a grin. “Easy enough. I’m assuming no armor?” Shade offered a nod in response, and Az began walking towards the door. “Alright, thanks for this, I’ll probably drop it off after I grab some grub, whatever Hammer was cooking up smelled pretty damn tasty.” --------- Two hours after eating, Az neared Canterlot. The flight had been more or less smooth, especially up at altitude, and the moon shone brightly at a three-quarter fullness. The temperature may have been a problem if Az wasn’t struggling against the weight of Princess Luna’s old armor, which, despite the reduced weight of using the mystery metal, was still substantial due to the sheer amount of overall surface area. He managed to get all of the armor into his saddlebags, but was forced to wear the helmet because of the oblong shape, and needed to sling the sword over his shoulder since it was too long for his bags. As the helmet slipped over his eyes again, he cursed the decision to wear it instead of tying it off and dragging it like Longshot had suggested. Az could see the outer suburbs of Lower Canterlot slipping beneath him, dark with stray houselights dotting the grid-like neighborhoods. He climbed a little more to allow for an uninterrupted flight to the castle. As he leveled off, Az could see two dots traveling to meet him at a point ahead of him. Here come the good guys he thought wryly. He reached back into his saddlebags for the badge that Captain Shade gave him after the briefing and held onto it as the two dots slowly proved themselves to be members of the Lunar Guard. They came to a hover a quarter mile in front of Az and waited for him to approach. Once he was within speaking distance, one of the bat-ponies called out for him to stop. Az came to a hover and waited for them to say something. “A little late to be out for a flight, don’t you think?” the bat-pony on the left, a large male said. “Mind telling us what you’re doing out, and why you have that absurd helmet on your head?” he spotted the sword hanging at Az’s side. “Or a sword for that matter?” “What you don’t like my helmet? Aw, shucks, everypony’s been telling me it looks cooler than you guys do on a good day.” The two Lunar Guards scowled at him and were prepared to charge him when Az produced the badge. “Relax compadres. Special delivery for Princess Luna, courtesy of the Guard.” “Which guard?” the other bat-pony, a female, asked indignantly. “THE Gua- ah wait, you guys probably aren’t allowed to know about it.” He waved a dismissive hoof before continuing. “In any event, I was told this badge will get me though. So what’ll it be?” The two Lunar Guards looked at each other for a moment before motioning for Az to follow them to the castle. They continued flying over Lower Canterlot before quickly reaching the base of the mountain, and from there Canterlot proper. The castle remained another five minutes away, if Az remembered correctly, and he passed the time sightseeing, since his escort wasn’t particularly talkative after being made fun of. Once they reached the castle, Az made to touch down, but his escorts continued on ahead, so he continued following them to his final destination. They approached the top-most tower of the castle, to which a balcony was attached, protruding ten hoof-lenghts into the air before ending abruptly with a golden banister. In the middle of the balcony, Princess Luna stood behind an enormous telescope, which appeared to be made of solid bronze, and was covered with more mathematical instruments than Az knew names for. He removed the helmet as he landed on the balcony and placed it between his wings. The female bat-pony cleared her throat to catch the Princess’ attention. “One moment, please! I must finish this constellation.” She did not take her eye away from the telescope, but placed a hoof on a small, ruler-like instrument and gave it a small push. “Perfect” Az heard her mumble. Her horn glowed, and Az looked up to see a single star appear to finish the constellation of Pisces. She took her eye away from the telescope with a perturbed look on her face to see who had disturbed her. “So what is it this time?” She spotted Az and her expression brightened. “Ah, Azure Wind, how kind of you to stop by. To what do I owe-“ her sentence trailed off as she saw the helmet sitting between Az’s wings. The Lunar Princess’ eyes grew wide and she looked back and forth between Az and the helmet on his back, only to be greeted with a sheepish grin on his face each time she looked back at it. “You may leave” she said quietly to the two bat-ponies, dismissing them with a wave of her wing. Once they had left, Princess Luna motioned for Az to follow her inside. She magically unlatched the doors, whose gilded frames swung noiselessly inwards to reveal what looked to be part mechanist’s workshop, part observatory, and part bedroom. The Princess’ eyes rarely strayed from the midnight blue helmet resting on Az’s back or the bulging saddlebags he was carrying. She took a seat at a circular table in the middle of the room, and Az followed closely behind, only taking the time to place the helmet and his saddlebags on the table. Luna was the first to break the silence. “Is that-? I-I mean, did you find-? How-?” Az nodded, and began unpacking the armor plating from his saddlebags. “I take it this is yours then?” he said with a chuckle. She nodded emphatically, almost savoring the view of each piece as he retrieved them from his saddlebags. “We found it in the Old City, on a little trip we took to collect a room full of artifacts from the early Guard. Hidden away in a secret compartment under the floor, if you’d believe it. We also found this” he retrieved the letter from a side-pouch in his saddlebags. Luna’s sapphire-colored magical aura enveloped the envelope as she brought it up to her face. She inspected the envelope for a few moments before breaking the wax seal, sending crumbled bits falling to the table. She opened the envelope, retrieved the letter from inside and began reading it to herself. As she continued, her eyes began to water, and by the time her eyes had reached the bottom of the page, she had held a hoof up to her mouth, as if to prevent herself from crying. “I can come back later, Princess” Az offered, turning back towards the door. Luna’s eyes snapped up, as if she suddenly remembered he was in the room. She rubbed her eyes quickly and cleared her throat before shaking her head. “No, that will not be necessary, Azure Wind. And please, just call me Luna. All of them did…” she sadly cast her eyes to the letter before returning her sapphire gaze to Az. “So you were telling me about how you came by this armor?” “Like I said, we found this a secret compartment in the Old City. Strangest thing, we couldn’t get the case it was sealed in open until Iof all ponies touched it. Do you have any thoughts on that?” Luna looked up from the armor, which she was arranging in an order which, it seemed to Az, would allow her to put it on rapidly if need be. “Not particularly, you would need to ask the spell-caster regarding such matters” She replied. With a flick of her horn, the armor came to life, and flew up to surround her. A few short motions later, Luna was clad in her old battle armor, sans helmet. The armor was not exactly the same color as her coat, but it was still striking, as her wings unfurled to test the sheaths now covering them. She cast her head back and forth to see if any of the armor pieces were misplaced before testing it with a few short jumps. Satisfied, Luna removed the armor as quickly as she had put it on, and reverently placed it by the section of the room that resembled a mechanist’s shop. After placing each piece on a workbench, she turned back to the table Az was sitting at. Upon sitting down, she looked over the items still sitting on the table, her helmet, sword, and the troubling letter Az had presented to her. She cast another sad glance at the letter before levitating it to a small table sitting next to the large four-poster bed in the corner of the room. Az could see limited detail on the bedframe due to the low light in that section of the room, but he could tell that its dark-colored linens were bunched and balled up, a point that irked Az to no end. He turned his attention back to the Lunar Princess as she sat down on the red-cushioned chairs surrounding the rounded table. “So, you managed to come by my effects, did you? I do believe that tonight’s constellations can be set aside since you obviously went out of your way to do something remarkably kind for a pony you hardly know.” She lifted the rapier off the table, drew it, and stared at it with a critical eye. She stood up from the table, sword still gripped in her magical aura. “I’m sure you must have questions for me, the wayward alicorn sister.” Her tone, although grateful at the start, grew bitter. She took a sword-fighter’s stance and gave her rapier a few experimental swings before nodding with approval. “Princess-“ “Luna” she swung the sword again. “Alright then, Luna, if this is a bad time, I can come back…” he stood up from the chair and began walking backwards towards the door. Luna froze mid-swing, her eyes growing wide and looking over towards Az with a look of apologetic shock on her face. “What? Oh, no, no, no. Why would this be a bad time?” Az stopped walking and motioned towards the bedside table. “Well, the letter seemed to affect you a bit, I thought it might be better if I maybe came back later,” he watched as her expression dropped from that of apologetic shock to one of dejection and sadness. Az felt a pang of guilt and sympathy hit him once he witnessed the shift in attitude. “Unless you’d like the company, Luna.” Her expression brightened as she offered a nod and a small smile, sheathed and set down her rapier, and took a seat at the table in the middle of the room. She motioned for Az to follow suit, and once he had sat down she cleared her throat of the lump that had formed there and spoke. “I am sorry, Azure Wind. That letter brought back some very old memories, ones I wish I do not have, but alas, such is the passage of time; all you can do is look back and sigh. My mind drifted elsewhere. Did you have any questions for me? We have not had time to talk since you were inducted into the Order.” Az nodded and placed his elbows on the table, much like he had seen Shade do every time he entered the office. “I wouldn’t be worth my salt as a scholar if I didn’t have a few lined up. And you can just call me Az, everypony apparently does.” She offered a small chuckle in response. “I shall keep that in mind, Azure Wind. Now, what are your questions?” “First off, what’s the deal with this room? I can’t quite figure out what the hay is going on in here.” Az cast a hoof across the room’s cluttered interior and turned back to see Luna simply staring back at him. “Did I say something wrong?” Luna snapped out of whatever she was thinking about, blinked, and looked to Az to answer his question. “My apologies, you simply reminded me of a…very old friend” she said quietly, a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. “As to this room, these are my chambers, I thought that much would be obvious” she stated matter-of-factly. “I just never would have pegged this as anypony’s room per se. I mean, the star charts I get, the mess…I kinda get, but the workshop? You lost me there, Luna.” Luna. That felt good to say out loud. And judging by her countenance earlier, it must get pretty lonely being the only one awake, I guess she could use the company. Luna looked around the room with a confused look on her face. “I do not understand what confuses you, Azure Wind. As you said, the star charts are part of who and what I am, as I take charge of painting my canvas each night with the lights of seventeen million, eight-hundred and fifty-eighty thousand, nine-hundred and ninety-one stars. But my quarters are messy?” She looked around again, confused. “And what of my workshop? Why is it surprising to you?” “First of all,” Az said, holding up his forehooves, “the fact that you put over seventeen million stars up each night is a work of art, and nothing less.” She rolled her eyes at him. “Seriously!” he continued, “my old job took place at night, and only in the last three years have I been able to appreciate the night sky.” “You are too kind” she said, blushing slightly. “Not even remotely. I steal stuff for a living, remember?” Az chuckled slightly, with Luna joining in quickly before continuing. “As to messy, I guess I’m just a bit of a nitpick when it comes to that, if you’d seen my place you would understand. Now, as for your workshop, I just never pinned you as a mechanic, or even a tinkerer for that matter. I had never heard anything about it before, either, and I read a lot.” “Oh that is what you were referring to. Not many ponies know this about me, but I do enjoy creating mechanical items for a variety of reasons and applications.” “Like the auto-land sequence for the airship?” “Precisely!” she replied, her face brightening considerably. “Why, have you tried it? Does it work? Tell me tell me tell me!” She was practically bouncing in her seat, leaning over the table with an overly excited look in her eyes. “We, uh, haven’t tried it out quite yet, but we’ll be using it in our next mission.” Az was leaning back in his seat, attempting to avoid the alicorn’s foalish onslaught. “Speaking of which, Flow asked about getting an instruction manual, he’s stumped.” Luna sat back in her chair with a humph. “It does not surprise me that he needs a manual, the dense sod. I will see what I can do, and send it over as soon as I can.” Az nodded before thinking of another question to change the subject slightly. “How did you get into all this mechanical stuff anyways?” He regretted asking the question when Luna’s face darkened. “Um, you don’t need to answer that, sorry…” Luna waved a dismissive hoof, her face still holding a saddened expression. “It is fine, Azure Wind. Only my sister remembers me from before my banishment to the moon, and this has been a small mystery to her as well. It is not a memory I revisit with fondness.” She looked to Az, who continued watching her expectantly from his seat across the table. Luna took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and collected her thoughts before starting her tale. “As you well know, I returned to Equestria as Nightmare Moon, a version of myself born of the jealousy and hate that I bore towards Celestia. There have been a number of different metaphysical, philosophical, and psychological arguments made as to why the transformation occurred,” she waved a dismissive hoof, “but I alone know the truth of the matter. Strong enough negative feelings, coupled with my connection with the Elements of Harmony and the ambient magic native to Equestria combined to create the Nightmare. While I was under its influence, I was prone to orchestrating deprave acts; I had no mercy, no love, no compassion…” She shuddered, took another breath and continued. “I was eventually stopped by my sister and banished to the moon for the next one thousand years, but the Nightmare lingered with me, tormenting me for all those years.” “Excuse me for interrupting, but I thought you and Nightmare Moon were one in the same?” Az interjected into the story. “You keep referring to “the Nightmare” as if it were a separate entity, why is that?” “Oh, of course, I apologize, you would not have known about these things. The Nightmare was a physical manifestation of my strong negative emotions. As I said, it combined with some very powerful magic and took shape about me. It was not, however, a simple alteration of my physical form and augmentation of my natural abilities. The Nightmare was…alive. Somehow, it knew how to keep control of me, forcing me doing what it wanted, and it made me believe, truly believe, that I wanted those things to occur. It is a…complex matter.” She looked to Az with a small look of hope, to see him nod in response to her explanation. “You understand then? I would not thing one as unversed in magic as a pegasus would quite comprehend what all of this means.” “I think I got the gist. But I’ll have you know it’s likely I understand more about magic than the typical unicorn” he stated with a slightly teasing tone. When she offered a quizzical look he shrugged it off, “years of study and incessant reading. But anyways, I interrupted your story, please continue.” Luna, resigning herself to his answer, carried on. “Right, where was I, ah yes, banished to the moon. I arrived on the moon, once my charge, my love, my reason for being and found only despair in its luminescent surface. The Nightmare raged against our fate for five, maybe six years before it discovered something about itself that I wish it never had. It…retreated inside of me, as if hibernating. It would resurface after a decade or two, and reassert its control over me, ensuring I was still malleable to its will.” She could feel a knot forming in her throat and attempted to clear it with a small cough. “In the interceding years, I learned to shape the rocks and minerals of the moon. I created massive structures, simple machines, and any number of individual trinkets. I soon found solace in my growing skills and was able to use my new inventions and creations as an escape from my punishment. “Once I was restored by the Elements of Harmony I found myself staying in here, my room, brooding over what had been and what may be as a result of my unjust jealousy. I found myself beginning to tinker with small metal items, and it soon became a hobby that I could lose myself in after finishing my night sky. Metal is much easier to work with than stone, after all.” She finished with a slightly happier tone, casting a look over her work space. “And now, Azure Wind, you have heard a story none but my sister can have claimed to have heard before. What say you?” she finished quietly, looking back at her workshop. “Why did you decided to tell me?” he asked. “Why not somepony else? Somepony you know a little better maybe?” “I-I do now know, Azure Wind. Something compelled me to tell you my story so I did. It could be that magical connection you spoke of earlier.” “Seriously, you can call me Az.” “Noted. Now I have a question for you.” She crossed her forelegs on the table. Az leaned forward, ready for whatever question she had posed for him. “Would you like a refreshment? I have a particularly refreshing wine-cider mix, if you are interested.” He almost fell out of his chair. She smirked at his now shocked expression as she hopped from her chair and strode towards a small cabinet situated in the workshop area of her room. The cabinet was a rich mahogany, with stylized brass hinges and door pulls. As she reached the cabinet, she pulled it open with magic and stuck her head inside to inspect its contents. “I also have some brandy, a strangely spicy Draconian whiskey, a halfway decent Tigran scotch, and some juice” she called from inside the piece of furniture. “I, uh, I’ll have whatever you’re having” he stammered in response. Luna’s head popped out from the cabinet, a clear bottle containing a light amber fluid in tow, held in place by her magic. She levitated two wine glasses from across the room and placed them on the table as she arrived with the bottle. “Wine-cider it is then” Luna stated, hopping back into her chair. She chuckled at Az’s still shocked expression as she began pouring the fragrant liquid into the two glasses. “Azure Wind, you must understand how this relationship is going to work.” Az’s eyes snapped from the glasses to her face, suddenly going cold with suspicion. “I am a Princess of Equestria,” she continued, ignoring his hardened stare, “and as such am burdened with a great number of various topics that weigh heavily on my mind. You are now a trusted confidant in some of those matters.” Az relaxed in his chair before reaching for a glass and taking a deep draught of the liquid. “However, you are also a member of the Guard, an institution whose core principle is secrecy.” A small smile crept onto her lips. “That means I’m going to need to ply you with drinks to get any good stories out of you.” Had Az not previously swallowed his mouthful of the wine, he would have spewed it across the room. He was, instead, reduced to simply staring at Luna with another degree of shock generally reserved for none but the direst of situations. His surprise soon gave way to a small chuckle, which Luna joined in on quickly. Az took another sip from his glass, an impish grin playing on his lips. “You’re going to need some harder stuff than this then” he said, chuckling again. “Perhaps,” she replied, “but we do have until morning, do we not?” She appeared hopeful he might agree with her, although her face also betrayed some apprehension. A night drinking and swapping stories with Princess Luna. Sure, why not? Az thought. He nodded with a small smile and she beamed and clapped her hooves together. “Oh, this is truly good news! It has been so long since I had a friend to just sit and talk with.” There’s that word again. I guess friendship can be contagious, and if nothing else, I have a good bailout system. “Now, let us start with something I know you will be more than pleased to talk about: how you evaded the Lunar Guard after they spotted you and gave chase.” Az grinned and put down his wine glass. He looked around the room for a moment before he found what he was looking for on one of Luna’s workbenches. He hopped down from his chair, drawing a confused look from Luna, and walked over to the bench where he retrieved two small dowels with bulbous ends and walked back over to the table. “I need props for this one” he explained. “Any chance you can make this one look like a pegasus and this one look like a bat-pony?” Luna nodded, still confused, and transformed the metal ends of the dowels as Az had asked. The pegasus was the spitting image of Az himself, sans armor, and the other identical to a Lunar Guard member. “Wow, you don’t mess around with attention to detail, do you?” Az said to Luna, admiring the statuettes. After giving a nod of approval, Az reared up on his hind legs, held the figurine of himself in front of that of the Lunar Guard and cleared his throat. “So no shit, there I was…”