Chapter One: The Party that changed my life
It was the Grand Galloping Gala, I forget which one there has been so many by that point. It is hard to remember how many had passed since the first one, oh so many centuries ago. However, as I said, it was the Grand Galloping Gala, and this was my first one, sure I had been a Lunar Guard for several years now, anxious to serve the princess who's grace and beauty had long ago when I was a foal, stolen my heart. Now the thing about the heart and feelings long buried, is that sometimes they surface at the most inappropriate times. I had long ago buried the feelings I had for Princess Luna and decided to server her to the best of my abilities, even if technically I was serving her sister, as Princess Luna was... Indisposed... On the moon... For a thousand years... Yeah, I had romantic feelings for a pony I had never met. This was the first Gala she would have graced in over a thousand years, as last year she declined to show, at least that was the official story.
As I headed in, a guest instead of a guard, as it turned out the Solar Guard had this under control—as they had for my entire career—I started, as all the patrons of this event did, in line to meet the Princesses. This year as I said Princess Luna graced the Gala, looking incredible, not to lower the beauty of the Princess of the Sun, but as I came to the front of the line, feelings I thought long since buried, forced their way to the forefront of my mind. Bowing to Celestia, and thanking her for the opportunity to take part in this event, I turned to the Lunar Princess and surprisingly she held out her hand, like some regal lady who is offering her hand for the dashing prince, or hero to kiss, and not in some arrogant manner. Not knowing she had done this for every one of her guard that she noticed was there for the night, and not allowing myself to overreact—something which surprises me to this day—I gently grabbed her hand like so and gave it a gentle kiss, not noticing the looks I got from the aristocracy (for they did not recognize me without the charms of my armor which saps the greenish brown color out of my coat, and replaced it with a light gray color instead, the Princesses however can see through the charms on the Royal Guard armors).
“Welcome to the Gala, dear guardspony” said Luna, who seemed to be taking a page out of Celestia's book, at least so far as I knew. I managed to keep my composure, although I still blushed slightly
“Thank you, your highness” I said as started to head off into the ballroom where the rest of the party had gathered, recognizing some of my fellow guardsponies through facial structure... Which is something you would have to learn as a Guardspony if you wanted to get to know your fellow guards when they are off duty. It turns out they had taken up 'residence' around the drink bar, not that I minded, I was feeling a little dry in the mouth after that meeting with the Princess.
“I guess you finally got to give your princess a kiss, didn't you Moonlit?” teased a gray colored mare, and I rolled my eyes as I turned towards her.
“Oh can it Blue” I responded and Blue Star just laughed as she extended her wings, or rather attempted to as one of them was in a cast at the time, which caused me to look at her in worry, “Did the doctor say when it could come off?” I asked, all I got in response was a shrug.
“Ah, Novel! I didn't see you!” said a very familiar voice, one I didn't actually like, it was the captain of the Solar Guard-
“Evening, Shining Armor, how is your courtship with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” I asked a little stiffly to be honest, but to say the same, I did not truly feel comfortable around him, just something about him made me... Yeah...
“I don't believe that is any of your concern, is it Novel?” said Shining probably a little harsher than he intended, but I didn't care. Though it may be that he and I were of opposite ends of the job, while I may not be the captain of the Lunar Guard I was a Lunar Guardspony, and something about the Solar Guard always got to me.
“Hey Moonlit, Look! Your crush is out on the dance floor” said Blue breaking the tension and also surprising me to the point the glass I was holding shattered as I lost a little control over my magic making the small collection of guardsponies around me laugh. Granted I laughed as well, it was a little funny, a full grown stallion losing control of his magic because of a little crush. Were it any other pony I would have found it hilarious. Still I looked towards the dance floor and sure enough Princess Luna was their looking uncomfortable, if graceful, the pony she was with did not seem to understand that she did wish to dance, but rather felt obligated to. Taking a moment to drink a swallow of cider, I walked out to the dance floor, and tapped the other stallion on the shoulder.
“May I cut in good sir?” I asked politely and the stallion gave a chuckle, but never the less stepped aside allowing me to take his place, “I apologize, princess, I figured from the look on your face, you felt obligated to dance with him.” I explained as we danced away from the stallion who had decided then to head for the drink bar and hit on, oh god even now it still brings a smile to my face, the stallion decided to hit on Royal Star. Royal Star was the most regal of the Lunar Guard, also one of the harshest, still if any pony could bring a smile to her face, he would deserve a dance with her.
“I thank you. Though to be honest I do not truly wish to dance, but it would be rude of me-” Princess Luna had started to say, but I shook my head
“Your wish is your Lunar Guards' command, your highness” I replied and Luna laughed
“You are a strange pony... I am afraid I do not know your name, I know your face from walking past you in the halls during the night, but...” she replied back and I smiled slightly and sighed before leading her off the dance floor as not to be in the way of the other dancers as I formally introduced myself. I intended to stop just off the dance floor, but the princess had other plans it seemed and lead us both to the balcony.
“There, it is far more quiet now...” she started before drifting off as she looked at her artwork known as the night sky.
“Yes your highness, and I am Moonlit Novel, a member of your Lunar Guard” I said calmly as I bowed to her, and she giggled behind her hand, apparently attempting to stifle the laughter
“It is certainly a pleasure to meet you, sir Novel” Ah words I never in my wildest dreams believed I would ever hear, “Tell me sir Novel-” I loathed that I had to interrupt her however it would be wrong of me not to, I was no knight
“It is just Novel, your highness, my father may have been a knight, but I am a lowly guard”
“Be that as it may, sir Novel, please tell me, what do you think of the night sky?” she countered and I was gob struck, the Princess of the Night was asking a member of her guard what they thought of her art? I thought it was common knowledge that for the most part, the Lunar Guard chose to become such due to their love of the night sky, well Blue Star joined because her sister did, she didn't care one way or the other. “I see...” she said and I realized I had been quiet the whole time
“Mine princess,” I started before she could continue, I knew I was taking a risk with this but it was well worth it, “The Night sky is what gives me the inspiration to write, to live, to work, to see this ever changing work of art every night is like a dream.” I should have stopped here, but I was on a roll, my confidence had soared and I felt like I was able to do just about anything, “To know that you are the artist that made it however is even more important, the princess, the mare that stole the heart of a little colt, and never knew it, the beautiful princess that-”
“ENOUGH!” she didn't shout, though she may as well have, the confidence that had just been growing in my heart was squashed and I looked down and away from her ashamed, at least before I glanced back at her, she had a small blush upon her face, one I did not expect to have given her, “Is this why you asked to dance with me, Novel?” she accused and I frowned, upset that she would even suggest that—while yes, I did enjoyed the fact that I did, even for a small amount of time, danced with the princess that had stolen my heart when I was but a colt—I shook my head.
“No Princess, I promise you, that was not the reason, I told you the truth before, and I have been nothing but honest with you. You really did look like you didn't want to dance with that stallion from before” I countered and Princess Luna glared at me for a moment before she shook her head
“You are speaking to me as if we are equals, when in fact we are not!” she said and I glared back, oh yes I was upset but I was far from doing anything that would cause me to lose my job let alone any chance to see her again.
“And what make us unequal? Your status? Trivial in matters of the heart, and far from important in this regard, Granted you can order me to do anything short of treason, and I will obey, I gave my oath to serve the Princess of the Night in all things, but that does not mean I will treat you any different than I would my fellow ponies” I said, or rather what slipped out, Princess Luna was surprised at my response.
“You say you will obey any order I give?” she asked me and I nodded she then smirked making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, “Then you will prove it”
“And what would you have me do, princess?” I asked, unafraid of any order she may give me
“You will leap off this balcony-” she needn't go any farther, as soon as she said it, I did so, if she wanted me dead then, I will obey, as I had said before, her wish was my command...
I was falling, funny how in a moment of honor you can do something that damns you... Or at least that is what I thought, but before I could hit the ground, I felt magic grab me, the dark blue hue told me it was Princess Luna's
“You didn't even think, you just obeyed... Why? Why would you do that?! You could have died!” she shouted at me, we were in the garden now, too far for some pony at the party to hear her, unless she decided to use her Royal Canterlot voice, I held my gaze on her eyes
“You gave me the command, and I followed it, I am loyal to you princess, strictly to you” I replied, “Though to be honest,” I added, “That was one heck of a trust exercise” She couldn't help it, she laughed, her magic holding me up dissipated and I came crashing into the grass. Her laugh was beautiful, but all too quickly she regained her composure.
“I am not worth such loyalty, surely my sister is more worthy of it,” I opened my mouth to object but she continued unabated “but I will not attempt to sway you, and such loyalty is to be commended... Yes it is...” she said drifting off mid-sentence.
“Your highness?” I asked a little nervous at her silence
“Tell me, Novel, what do you think of the night sky?” I looked at her, she had already asked this question, but never the less I responded
“It is an ever changing work of art that should be appreciated” I said keeping a tight rein on my feelings this time around she gave a smile before shaking her head at me.
“You're lying,” she said, and before I could interject, she continued, “I am ordering you to give me the full truth, anything less is a lie” she said and I swallowed, when did my mouth get so dry? I thought but regardless I gave her my answer,
“It is the night sky that granted me my cutie mark, I looked at the stars when I was a foal, and fell in love with the architect of such beauty, and decided that even if she was never freed in my lifetime I would show her how much I loved her, and wrote, oh how I wrote,” I started before I smiled shyly, “I wrote and wrote until that little missive became something that would take nights to read, it became a novel. A work of love that I wrote in the moonlight, and while I wrote, I realized that that is what I loved doing, writing and sharing my feelings for all to see. And just like that I had my cutie mark. I always loved looking at the night sky, because, even when I was a colt, such a foolish colt in love with a princess that I would probably never meet, I felt closer to her while looking at that sky, and oh how I loathed the rising sun, for that meant I had to wait for the next time I could be close to my favored princess again.” I said the whole time I was looking to the night sky, smiling as I remembered those days long past. “I have never stopped loving the night sky, and while sure I could have gone on to write novel after novel, which I did regardless, I joined the Lunar Guard. Which at the time was nothing more than the night shift of the Solar Guard, and when I heard of your escape from the moon I-” I stopped, she asked me about the night sky, not about my entire life, but contrary to the boredom I expected, I saw she was spellbound by my story, the story of my life.
“Go on, sir Novel” she prodded and I smiled and we continued to talk the whole time, only stopping when Blue Star quite literally stumbled into the garden clearing, hiccupping a storm
“Ah!-hic-Moonlit!-hic-Be sure to-hic-be sure to keep the-hic-the princess away from the cider-hic-someone screwed up and-hic-and it's not regular cider-hic-it's HARD cider, and I-hic-I think a little drugged-hic-I don't-hic-I don't get drunk like this-hic-that quickly-hic-” she said before breaking down into giggles, “I dunno why-hic-I am telling you-hic-not like-hic-like you are with-hic-Oh!” her gaze suddenly landed on the Princess and she froze, every aspect of her in shock, which was enough to rid her of the hiccups, “P-p-princess! I-I-I apologize! I did not mean to intrude!” she said apparently surprised to see her leader, her princess, here in a secluded clearing with the 'love-struck fool' but never the less she still attempted to save face
“It is alright-” started Princess Luna and I whispered her name, “Thank you, Novel, yes it is alright, madam Star, and thank you for the warning” she said, it was strange, here we were to ponies of two different eras talking as if we were old friends, it was even stranger that she did not try to defend herself when we were discovered, in what, while still not intimate, but could be seen as a romantic scene, if I was writing a story, this would be where a confession would happen, but that was a moot point.
“Well, by your leave your highness?” asked Blue Star and Luna nodded and she started out before turning to me and winked at me, “You lucky dog you!” she whispered and I barely managed to suppress a blush. With that she left out right laughing
“If I am not mistaken, she is another of my guardsponies” said Luna dismissively and I nodded not looking at her. “While I have found this evening to most enjoyable, far more than I expected, I fear we must return to the ballroom, to see what has fallen my dear sister” and I nodded, I was now in guard mode, there was no way I couldn't, mistakes like that were a million to one, this had the likelihood of being a planned incident, with a flick of magic on my part, I was clad in my Lunar Guard armor, the greenish brown leeching out of my fur and was replaced with the gray of a Lunar Guard, “Sir Novel?” she asked, I knew there was no way she didn't know of the odds that this was purely an accident, but never the less I turned to her.
“Yes, your highness?” I responded, my once teal eyes, now golden and my once rounded pupils, elongated.
“Is something wrong?” she asked me and I just stared at her, before it clicked, she didn't understand, or rather she was thinking the best of her ponies...
“Your highness, what is the likelihood of something like this being an accident?” I asked her and she frowned at me apparently not happy that I was treating her like a foal in a sense, before it clicked, her face suddenly got stern
“Come guardspony, we best make sure everything is alright” she said in a regal voice, quite unlike the one she had used while we were in the clearing, and with that we headed back towards the ballroom. The walk there was uneventful, granted we were both so alert the occasional snapped twig underfoot made us jump. However when we got to the ballroom, it seemed Celestia was... “SISTER!” Princess Luna as she attempted to run up to her sister, who was on the ground, only to be stopped by me grabbing her wrist, “Unhand me, right now, Novel, unhand me and let me see to my sister!” she said and I obeyed but stayed with her stopping only to check on the other guests who also were in various states of collapse, everything pointed to this just being an accident, which was a good sign, something I was glad for, the last thing I wanted was to have to fight some... Just then a pebble dropped on my head, and I looked up, there, on the ceiling was a pony clinging to one of the rafters, a bag full of what, from the glitter, could be various trinkets. I rolled my eyes and enveloped the pony in a telekinetic field and pulled them in front of me All the while he struggled in my grasp.
“Care to tell me why you are on the rafters, with a bag full of,” I stopped long enough to look inside it and notice it was some of the nobles' personal affects, “Stolen goods, while the entire Gala is now passed out drunk?” I asked him and I got no response, but it did not matter, I tore the bag away from the thief and let it drop, the noise enough to break Luna out of her examination of her sister.
“Is this the knave that-” she started and I shrugged
“Whether or not he is the one responsible for the drugged cider, he did take advantage of the situation and did steal the personal effects of several nobles in attendance, he also does not seem inebriated, so he may have had foreknowledge about the cider” I interrupted and the thief struggled all the more, being in front of one of the Princesses, but still said nothing. “I believe some time in the dungeon will be good for you, we'll have the Lunar Guard captain deal with you after he awakens” I said and the thief struggled again but it was useless as Princess Luna added her telekinetic field around him the feeling however almost made me break mine, it was a very intimate feeling, as if our minds were brushing against each other, however I composed myself as we took the thief to the dungeon and then stood watch over the party goers until morning when Celestia, almost like clockwork awoke to rise the sun. Luna then recounted what happened, leaving out the part about the time in the garden, making it sound like we had run into each other on the way back in. Not that I minded, some of what I told Princess Luna was personal, and not hers to repeat anyway. At the end of her retelling she said something to her sister whom seemed to go tight lipped, but nodded
“I agree, dear sister, he does deserve a reward, but are you sure this is what you want?” asked Celestia making my ears perk, while they had been talking I had been helping the ponies that were waking up and complaining about headaches, or hangovers.
“Yes I am, sister, otherwise I would not have suggested it” came the response and Celestia nodded
“Guard” I looked up and centered my gaze on Celestia, who beckoned me to her and Luna
“Yes, your highnesses?” I asked with a bow
“My sister, well I'll let her tell you, I have to talk to my Guard captain, see if I can get in to see this thief” I had to say something, it was my duty to remind the Princess of the Sun that she would have to go through the Lunar Guard as it was a Lunar Guardspony that did the arresting, which I did, fully expecting to be scolded for such hubris to correct her, but instead Celestia smiled at me, “Yes of course, silly me, please excuse me”
“Your highness?” I said as I turned to Princess Luna, who smiled softly before motioning for me to follow her back onto the balcony.
“Novel, Moonlit Novel, you told me that you always felt closer to me while viewing my night sky, correct?” Princess Luna asked me and I nodded and verbally confirmed what she said was true, “How would you feel if you could be closer to me?” she asked and I looked at her confused
“Princess? I am sorry I don't really follow what you are saying” I responded and Luna laughed lightly
“I am asking if you would like to become my personal guard” she said and at that my eyes went wide and I nodded my agreement to such a proposal, “Then from now on, my little pony, you are my Personal Guard, any and all the benefits, privileges, and duties of said position are yours” she said before fitting me with a playful glare, “I trust you will not abuse those privileges” I shook my head, and said that I wouldn't before she smiled at me once more and spread her wings, “Good, now if you don't mind, I will be retiring for the day, and I suggest you do the same, for tonight you start your new position in my guard”
“Yes, your highness. Your highness, if I may?” I asked and she smiled and lightly placed her hand in mine and I kissed it gently, “Thank you your highness, sleep well” her response was a smile before she took off and headed to her room in one of the towers.
“Oh my head...” said one of my fellow Lunar Guardsponies and I just smiled and headed back into the ballroom to help a little more before some of the Solar Guard walked in and took over, I handed the reins to them quite gladly, I was tired and I needed to be well rested, I did not know exactly what the benefits, privileges, or duties of a personal guard were, but I would soon find out, but for now I needed sleep.