//------------------------------// // In The Name Of The Moon // Story: The Luna Shift // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// Dear Twily, I hope this letter finds you and Spike safe, well and, yes, making lots of new friends in Ponyville. Knowing you, you've probably already settled into the town's library - after all, that's what you did in Canterlot when Princess Celestia took you on as her apprentice! Everypony's talking about you and the fellow Element Bearers, Twily. I haven't heard this much speculation and gossip about you since the day Princess Celestia took you on. Now that you're an Element Bearer, many ponies are wondering what will become of you. But I think there's something everypony agrees on - you and your new friends didn't just save Equestria, but ended a 1,000-year long nightmare for both of the royal sisters. And I am, as always, very proud to call you my very special little sister. Princess Luna is physically fine, but very weak. It will take weeks, if not months, for the powers she had before to be recovered. Not to mention you can't heal a thousand years of pain and guilt overnight. To help in that process, Celestia transferred me to the night shift as part of a broader reorganization effort in the Guard she and the Captain are undertaking to accommodate Luna. I only hope I'm up to this challenge, Twily. You sure set the bar high for me! Fortunately, I'm going to have help. Cadance is coming back to Canterlot - Celestia recalled her after Luna arrived. It'll be nice to see her again, that's for sure, but I'm gonna need more than just her help. You probably already know not everypony in the Guard likes me - it's inevitable when your marefriend is a princess and your younger sister is Princess Celestia's own apprentice. I'm going to have to watch my own back in addition to Luna's... If you or Spike ever visiting Canterlot, be sure to stop by and say hello! And make sure to think of me from time to time. I may not be out there saving Equestria, but my work is just as important. And don't worry about letting Celestia down - I know you'll do just fine. Trust me - I am your big brother after all. - Sincerely from your B.B.B.F.F., Shining Armor, Lieutenant Captain - Commanding Officer of Luna Shift E.U.P. Guard, Royal Guard Division ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The above letter from Shining Armor to his younger sister Twilight Sparkle was written during the several day "furlough" period granted him by Captain Gibraltar for two purposes: to allow Shining Armor to adjust to a night shift schedule and to promote a more orderly reorganization of the Royal Guard ranks. Over the days immediately following Luna's arrival in Canterlot, Princess Celestia and Royal Guard Captain Gibraltar had been kept busy reorganizing both the Royal Guard and the "civilian" servant ranks to give Luna a service equal to that of Celestia herself. This reorganization effort involved the reshuffling of many shift assignments and a few promotions - most notably Shining Armor himself from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Captain in charge of the reorganized "Luna" shift. In the midst of this uncertainty and excitement, Shining Armor could see the metaphorical storm clouds gathering. There were several reports of Luna lashing out at the servants and wildly swinging in moods - rumors ran rampant she had some kind of previously-undiagnosed bipolar disorder, which would help explain her turn to evil 1,000 years previously. The Canterlot elite had shown a surprising lack of concern for Luna or her problems. And most dangerously of all, the extensive reshuffling occurring within the Guard had aggravated a long-simmering internal problem. This internal problem was a result of an imbalance of the composition of the Royal Guard ranks. While the general service had a roughly equal balance of pegasi and unicorns (along with a smattering of earth ponies), the officer corps had a large majority of unicorns with only a small minority of pegasi and an odd earth pony here or there. The "official" reason for this imbalance was that unicorn magic made it much easier for officers to do paperwork and other mundane tasks expected of them, but there was also an unwritten conviction that pegasi stallions, inclined toward being emotionally-driven and stubbornly passionate, were ill-suited for filling the role of a logically thinking, unbiased, level-headed officer. However, a number of pegasi thought otherwise and organized into an "affirmative action" group, appealing both to the principle of equality undergirding Equestrian society and the war glory of the pre-Equestrian pegasi tribe. This appeal won much popular support within the Guard ranks and Equestrian society in general, and when Princess Celestia agreed they may have a point, the upper ranks of the Guard caved to the demands for reform. However, neither side was completely happy with the reform measures enacted, and from that point on the "affirmative action" group continued to be a quiet but persistent nuisance. This changed when Luna arrived in Canterlot, and now the "affirmative action" crusaders had gone on the attack again, accusing Captain Gibraltar of not building a "more equal officer arrangement" in the new night shift and misleading the princesses into believing there was nothing wrong with the arrangement he had set up. Because of their popular support and Princess Celestia's previous acquiescence to their demands, Gibraltar had very little leverage to suppress or even counter their arguments, leading to a persistent drumbeat in the Canterlot press of bias charges and demands for further reforms. "Oh and this is war!" Shining Armor had commented to himself when he realized what he was getting himself into - an apt enough description considering that he would have to fight both the demons that threatened to drag Luna back into the darkness and an "enemy within" that would gladly tear both his reputation and his career to pieces in order to satisfy their own desires. Either factor on their own had a good chance of derailing Luna's recovery and reintegration efforts, but with both factors together the chance for total failure was large indeed. It was a war that had to be fought to determine what shaped Princess Luna's - and Equestria's - future, and one Shining Armor seemed to have to fight alone... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So then we'll have the Lieutenant cover this sector... Ah! Just the stallion I was expecting!" "Reporting as instructed, sir!" "At ease. I see you got that uniform pressed, it looks good on you." "Thank you sir." "Thanks are not necessary, Lieutenant Captain. Now, let's get down to business." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor could see in Captain Gibraltar's face a fatigue and exhaustion that amplified his age lines - Gibraltar was a unicorn somewhere in the lower 50s and a few years away from the mandatory retirement age - and made him weary of the duties he had to perform. He had not asked for or expected the upheaval currently going on, but had performed the best he could under the extraordinary circumstances he had been thrust into. "I'll keep this debriefing as short as possible so that we don't keep the Princesses waiting." Gibraltar stated, he and Shining Armor currently standing in the Captain's Office in the Canterlot Guard Headquarters building. "Keep them waiting, sir?" Shining asked, a confused expression appearing on his face. "Yes, Shining. Tonight is the night Luna starts the moon raising duties again - Princess Celestia had an elaborate ceremonial set up in the main square and everything. There's a number of VIPs attending the ceremony: Fancypants, Fleur Dis Lee, the Wonderbolts, Photo Finish, Sapphire Shores..." "Sir, it's only been four days! Don't you think it's a little too soon for that yet?!" Shining replied, his confusion changing to alarm. "I asked the exact same question to Princess Celestia, but she was not to be deterred, and honestly I can't blame her for being impatient." Gibraltar sighs out. "And yes, I anticipated that look of dread forming on your face. That's why I've done the only thing I really can do for you - give you some help." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With a foreleg gesture, Gibraltar points toward the third stallion with them in the room - Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas, the unicorn commanding officer of the afternoon shift and, until recently, Shining Armor's boss. Aged around 30, Fidelitas shared many of the same qualities Shining Armor possessed - young, strong, handsome and magically talented - as well as a presence few in the Royal Guard could match. The fiery red mane and tail and ember-like orange eyes contrasted with his forest green coat to produce an intimidating effect. His personality, however, was much nicer than what you would expect looking at him, although he was still quite serious, particularly when on duty. This was evidenced by the smirk that crossed his face when Gibraltar pointed to him. "The Captain held me over when he realized what would happen. There's been quite a crowd gathering to watch Luna. Better not to let them down." Fidelitas says when Shining's attention goes onto him. "I agree. Let's get going. Don't worry about your paperwork Shining, we'll deal with it later." Gibraltar adds, starting to march out of the room. Shining Armor and Fidelitas exchange worried glances, then follow him out... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEHIND THE MAIN OVERLOOK OF CANTERLOT CASTLE... "It's worse than I thought." Captain Gibraltar was saying as he returned to where Shining Armor and Fidelitas were waiting, exchanging uneasy glances as the grooming service were putting the final touches on an equally-nervous Luna. "What do you mean, sir?" Shining asks. "There's a lot bigger crowd out there than I thought. I should've known Aten wouldn't keep his mouth shut, now there's probably half my command watching out there." Gibraltar growls out in frustration. "Lieutenant Captain Aten? The pegasus in charge of the morning shift?" "Indeed. He's also the one leading all those calls for me to promote more pegasi. I told Celestia it was a mistake to put him in charge of that shift, but she kept insisting on no disharmony within the Guard..." "So you think he did it on purpose, sir?" "Oh I wouldn't doubt it for a minute. You know how much he dislikes you. I wouldn't be surprised if he was deliberately loose-lipped about the whole ceremony in an attempt to cause a fiasco with your name attached to it. And because of Her Highness Princess Celestia, there's absolutely nothing I can do about it." "You have a plan?" Fidelitas asks Shining. "Make sure things don't go south." Shining replies. "I suppose that's all that can be done." Gibraltar adds with a shrug of resignation. "Sirs, we're just about ready." one of the guards waiting just outside the curtain says as he peeks in. The servants around Luna disperse while Shining and Fidelitas straighten themselves up. "I guess it's now or never. Good luck, both of you. You're going to need it." Captain Gibraltar states as Shining and Fidelitas assume flanking positions around Luna, the latter on her right and the former on her left. As the trio begin moving in march step toward the outlook, Luna looks over toward Shining and briefly lets slip her cover to show her extreme nervousness. Shining gives a meek smile, as much reassurance as he can provide, and Luna returns it before both princess and stallion put covers back up. A series of small gestures unseen by any other pony, but testament to how much trust Luna had placed in the kind-hearted older brother of the filly that had recently ended her thousand-year nightmare... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Approaching the overlook, the marching trio could see Celestia giving one of her big grand speeches in the rapidly fading twilight to the crowd. Although there was not much that could be seen of the crowd below, all involved knew it had to number in the hundreds at least. Butterflies formed in stomachs, and were just as quickly pushed down as the trio started to come in view of the crowd. "I PRESENT TO YOU - YOUR PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!" Celestia all but shouted in her grand conclusion as Luna, flanked by Shining Armor and Fidelitas, stepped onto the balcony to the roaring approval of the crowd. Celestia then stepped aside, leaving Luna's trio in the metaphorical spotlight. Shining and Fidelitas kept on their stern looks, but Luna spared a brief nervous glance at her sister, who subtly waved her on. Luna's horn began glowing with a light blue color and she flew up slightly - she was attempting to mimic what Celestia did to raise the sun at the Summer Sun Celebration. Unfortunately, as Luna's face began in contort in pain from the effort, Shining and Fidelitas both realized Captain Gibraltar's fears were well founded - her powers had not recovered enough to do Celestia had wanted of her, and she began to falter in mid-air! Shining, in a classic example of "think fast", quickly reared up on his hind legs and held Luna in place as the moon princess struggled desperately to generate enough magic energy to raise the moon up. As the first moon beams crept over the walls of Canterlot, Fidelitas quickly joined Shining in holding Luna up. A tense energy passed between the two stallions as they heard Luna straining and groaning from the effort to raise the moon. An eternity seemed to pass as the moon rose higher and higher in the sky... then Luna let out one last moan and abruptly went limp. Shining caught Luna's collapsing form, both wings and legs dangling lifelessly. Luna had indeed gotten the moon up, but the effort had so drained her she had passed out and now was in need of medical attention! "I've got her! Fidelitas, give me a hoof, we'll get her to the hospital!" Shining shouts over the worried crowd buzz and the surprised scuffling of hooves. Fidelitas quickly helps balance Luna's unconscious form between him and Shining, and the two of them begin marching doubletime toward Canterlot Hospital. Captain Gibraltar passes them in the hallway, and the last thing Shining sees looking back at the scene is Gibraltar preparing an "I told you so" to a mortified Princess Celestia...