//------------------------------// // Ch. 39 A unexpected twist. // Story: The Silent Guardian // by Not_available_now //------------------------------// Ch 39. A unexpected twist.                    There seems to be a huge amount of difference between the Luna that I met when I walked into the room and the one that I walked out with. The one that I saw when I sat down next to her was only smiling because she had to, not because she wanted to, but when she came out she had a goofy smile, almost ecstatic. And now that I am walking besides her I am starting to get a bit worried. I liked talking to her, but this is getting absurd. She has been staring at me the whole time.                    I see Twilight slow down until she is walking next to me. “The girls and I are going to go into town. Would you like to go with us?”                     I’ve been around these mares all day. I think some ‘me’ time is in order. “Nah, why don’t you and the rest go have fun on your own. I’ll go read a book or do something else.”                     Twilight nods. “Sure. Maybe you could write something about what you think of those books.” She says with a wink.                     “No problem. I’ll ask Celestia for some paper and a quill.”                     “Alright. Maybe I’ll see you tonight or tomorrow.”                     “Until then.”                     “Bye!” She yells as she ushers the girls through a door that leads outside. A plethora of ‘byes’ is heard from the rest as Fluttershy shuts the door behind her.                     Luna was suddenly standing beside me. “So, Leo, do you have anything to do?” She asks.                     “I was thinking about reading some books, in the library.”                     “Sounds nice. Would you mind if I joined you?” She asks with in a manner which doesn’t even hide the fact that she doesn’t care for the activity, only for me.                     Honestly, I have no clue what I should answer. She has hanging on my shoulder since we were walking down the corridor. Even though I never like saying no to a girl, sometimes it is for the best. “I’m sorry. I prefer reading alone, maybe sometime later.”                     The look on her face turns so sad I am almost obliged to accept her offer, almost being the keyword. “Alright, but I’m gonna keep you to your work.” She quickly hugs me and then runs off, down the corridor.                     Before I forget, the Luna that I am looking at isn’t the grown up one. She still has a solid, light blue mane and is nearly not as tall at Celestia. I think this is one of the reasons she still acts like a hormonal teenager who just got her first boyfriend.                     I hear Celestia clear her throat behind me and I turn to face her. “We need to talk.”                     I give a sly wink. “Sure, where do you want to ‘talk’?”                     She sighs. “This is serious. I need to talk to you about you and Luna.” She says to me with a frown.                     “Okay. Where do you want to talk?” I responds, fearing the talk I am going to receive.                     “Let’s go to the library. The only ponies that go there are Twilight and you after all.” She says as she starts walking in the direction of the library.                     “Lead the way.” I start following her, preparing for a scolding.                     After a short, converstationless walk we arrive at the library. Celestia opens the door for me and when we are inside she leads me to a pair of pillows, the ones that Twilight and I sat on earlier.                     We sit down and she looks me in the eyes; her mouth a thin line. “My sister is young in mind. Because of her being away for a while she pushed the more serious side of her mind to the back. She is in a vulnerable state. I don’t know what you want with her, but if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you.”                     I understand why Celestia is concerned, but she is being a bit hostile. “First things first. I have no intention of doing something serious with your sister. She is a very nice girl, but just as you said. She is too young and clingy.”                     The look on Celestia’s face tells me she is surprised. “I did not expect that. You are going to let her down gently. You are one of the first ponies who befriended her and wasn’t doing it for their own personal gain.”                     “We aren’t dating or anything, but I’ll make sure not to hurt her feelings. She’s a nice pony and will be a good friend.” I say, meaning what I said. She’s sweet, but needs to understand that for the foreseeable future there isn’t going to be anything between up. Fortunate or unfortunately for my I’ll live a lot longer than the foreseeable future.                     She nods. “Good, good. Now there is something else that I want to talk about.”                     “Well, go ahead.”                     “It’s about us.”                     That came a bit unexpected, but when I think about it; this wasn’t going to be something that was over when I closed that door. “Oh.” That is the only thing that I manage to say.                     “What we did was something I didn’t thought trough. Not that I didn’t like it… I don’t know…” She let her head hang.                     I scooted up next to her and patter her on the back. “Hey, hey. Don’t worry about it. I never expected any strings. I liked it, you liked it. We are both condescending adults and we liked it. What is there to think about?”                     “No, you don’t get it. I am a ruler. I give an example to the whole of Equestria. If the tabloids found out about it I wouldn’t hear the end of it. An affair would ruin me. I can’t have this.” She looks at me. “And I am not the only one who would be hurt. You too. You couldn’t walk the street normally again. Your life would be ruined.”                     “Don’t look at it like that. No one knows about it, aside from the ones in the room. And I don’t think that they’ll tell.”                     She nods. “I don’t expect any of them to tell, but stuff like this always seems to leak to the press. But,” She looks up as if she had an idea. “What if we were in an actual relationship. They couldn’t tear me apart for having an affair and going public would take all the tension away.”                     “Uhm… I don’t think…” I start to say, but Celestia cuts me off. “Yes, it is perfect. We are now officially in a relationship. I have to call the press to announce it.” She stands up and trots out of the room, leaving me sitting there like an idiot. I have no idea what is going to come of a semi-forced relationship with one princess and another drooling over me, but isn’t going to be good.