The Royal Guard

by Jacob562

Chapter VIII

The rest of the reception had gone quite well. Thunder Clop chatted with his parents and class mates for some time. Eventually though the party had to come to an end and T.C. hugged his family goodbye and went back to the palace. One piece of good news was that his little brother had been accepted to Canterlot Magic College, which pleased Thunder immensely, it would be very nice to spend time with his brother once the semester started. Thunder Clop met Flash Sentry for calisthenics in the training yard as he usually did, though they rarely sparred the way he had with Shining Armor. All in all it had been a good, but exhausting day. Thunder Clop slowly lowered himself into bed and fell asleep...

Once again Thunder found himself in the familiar valley from his child hood (and the night before.) This time near a babbling stream. The water sparkled with starlight reflected from the sky above. T.C. walked down the stream feeling its cool water wash over his hooves. He splashed about and chased fish into the deep parts. He swam and floated with the current. It carried him far down the valley until he reached the lake at the base of the mountains. Here Thunder Clop got out of the water and lay on the soft grass near the shore of the lake. He stared up at the night sky, mesmerized by the moon and starlight.

Suddenly, T.C. was surrounded in a black mist. It quickly materialized into an image of Luna, who lay on the grass by his side.

"Such a beautiful dreamscape your mind has created." she sighed.

"Luna?" said Thunder Clop, continuing to stare up at the sky.

"But of course Thunder Clop, who else would it be?" she asked playfully.

"But are you the real Luna?" asked Thunder Clop still staring straight up.

Luna reached a hoof across Thunder Clop and bid him to roll over so that he was facing her. She started into his eyes and whispered softly.

"In here I'm as real as you want me to be..."

Thunder Clop began to speak but Luna silenced him by placing her hoof across his mouth. "Shhh" She said, "let us pick up where we left off last night."

Luna removed her hoof and T.C. stared into her eyes. He was mesmerized by their perfect color, a rich blue. Her head moved closer and she shut her eyes. Thunder Clop moved in to kiss the princess, but suddenly pulled away.

"I can't Luna..." he sighed and sat up.

"Why not!?" asked Luna frustrated.

"If this is all just a dream then it doesn't mean anything in the real world." replied Thunder Clop. "And what is the point of these dreams if this can never happen with the real Luna?"

"I have all ready told you," started the princess, "In here I am the real Luna."

"But are you the real Luna out there?" asked Thunder Clop breaking his gaze with the princess.

"And why should that matter!?" asked Luna as she crossed her forelegs across her chest.

"I will not torture myself by pining over you!" said Thunder Clop, "We cannot be together in the real world, and these dreams will only make things.... complicated. Whether you're the real Luna or not doesn't really matter, the way I feel about is real though, and it will matter in the real world. If I let my emotions get the better of me I could end up making a complete fool of my self... Hell, it could cost me my career and reputation."

"And what of my reputation?" asked Luna, "If word got out that I was interested in a commonpony?"

"What of your reputation" stated Thunder Clop, "You won't even tell me if you're the real Luna or not! You may not even have a reputation!"

"And what if I were the real Luna!?" She asked.

"Are you?" replied Thunder Clop.

"You know that I will not answer that." said Luna, becoming slightly frustrated with T.C. pushing the issue. "What if I were the real Luna, and you knew for sure who I was and how I felt, would you still be acting this way if I told you I wanted you?"

"If you were the real Luna I would be elated." replied Thunder Clop. He turned to Luna and looked her in the eyes again. "But since you refuse to tell me whether you are or not.... I just can't take the risk. I'm beginning to love Luna, but if she ever found out I could lose everything, including her friendship. And if I have to choose between keeping this secret, or losing her forever... I'll just keep my emotions bottled up."

Luna looked at him for a while longer, "That is your choice then..." she said sadly and faded from the dreamscape. A cold wind began to blow through Thunder Clops dream. It swept through the trees and across the land. It made T.C. shiver and brought with it a distant ringing sound...

Thunder Clop reached his hoof out from under the covers to shut off the alarm that blared in his ear. He sat up in bed and rubbed his temple again. Not another of these damned dreams! he thought to himself as he lay there in bed, watching the first rays of the sun creep across his bedroom floor. As Thunder Clop got ready for the day he tried to push the dreams from his memories. Suddenly a knock came to the door.

"Enter." Said Thunder Clop, just as he was pulling on his armor. Princess Celestia walked into his office. T.C. bowed to the princess and said, "Greetings Princess, what can I do for you this morning."

"Oh nothing so formal," Celestia giggled, "I was merely wondering if you would accompany me to breakfast, you have become quite acquainted with my sister, and I too would like a chance to get to know you better."

"Oh, of course Princess," said Thunder Clop as he left for the dinning hall with Celestia.

It was nice to finally spend some real time with Celestia. Though T.C. had been attending diners with Luna for a few months he rarely spoke directly to Celestia, he mostly listened while she and Luna did the majority of the talking. As they walked to breakfast, they made various small talk about interests and hobbies, the weather, things like that. When they arrived in the dining room they sat for a meal of french toast (well the pony equivalent) and orange juice. Celestia began to move the conversation towards yesterdays graduation ceremony.

"Oh it was a lovely ceremony." Said Thunder Clop when Celestia asked him about it.

"I heard that Luna gave the speech in place of the when the Captain of the guard normally speaks." Said Celestia.

"Oh yes, she gave a very nice speech." Said Thunder Clop, "Considering my position as both graduate and captain I decided not to say anything, it was a day for all the graduates, and I didn't want to stand out."

"How very humble of you." Said Celestia taking a sip of her coffee. "Not many in the guard share your humility Thunder Clop, it is a breath of fresh air."

"Oh you embarrass me Princess." said T.C. blushing.

"It is true," she continued, "My sister could not have picked a better stallion for a friend and protector."

"Thank you Princess." Thunder Clop replied.

"But remember Captain," said Celestia adopting a slightly somber tone, "though you are her friend, you must remain her protector. I appreciate the fact that you get along so well, but you are captain of the guard, and that position comes with certain responsibilities that cannot be over looked by your relationship with Luna."

"Princess I..." Started Thunder Clop, but Celestia cut him off.

"This can't be like Cadence and Shining Armor. Cadence may be a princess Thunder Clop but Luna is a Goddess. I know that you care for her, and I believe that she cares for you, and I am happy for you both but your responsibility as captain must come first.... and these rumors that I've heard lead me to believe that certain priorities need to be realigned. I am not angry with you Thunder Clop, I just want what is best for Luna."

"I can assure you your majesty, these rumors you've heard are completely false." Said Thunder Clop. "Princess Luna and I are just good friends."

Celestia smiled back at Thunder Clop, "Good, creator knows my sister needs friends, and I'm happy she's found one as good as you."

Author's Note:

...I'm.... Doing... my..... best.... not.... to make Celestia a bitch, but it's really hard. On one hand she's just trying to protect her sister, but on the other who the hell does she think she is telling TC not to get any close to Luna..... Ah The DRAMA, its starting.

Comments

[WildStallion]

Continue good author.

[Jacob562]

Thanks Guys!

[zero588]

No! Bad T.C!
You go tell Luna you love her right now!!

[Voltrasin]

I require more to be satisfied. Do you here me? More!

[Mr101]

Gettin' goooooooooood!

[Dragonfeith]

Celestabitch is here! Luna get your man and tc stop bein a wimp. As for Tia she can go eat posion for a while. Then she can stop being jealous and become a non ass and support her sister emotionally and not be selfish while convincing herself she's looking out for her lil sis. Bitch.....;)

[Jacob562]

Thanks for the comments and feedback everyone! It really keeps me going. I'm going to go through what I have written so far and correct the errors, then start I'll chapter 9. I'll try and get it out tonight or early tomorrow.

[.Tzeentch.]

so hyped!