A Moon's Tale

by Dark0592

Chapter 5

Luna found Dash missing when she returned to the lists, but she noticed a multicolored stream of hair flowing in the distance. Horse races just outside of the tournament grounds, Dash was in front. She smiled as she lowered her visor. Her opponent was a knight by the name of Sir Steel, he hadn’t stopped to boast at her and his eyes were focused as they waited for the flag to drop. Luna took her Lance from Applejack and readied herself.

“This one will be tough.” AJ said. Luna nodded and watched her opponent. The flag dropped and they reached the fence at around the same time.

The sound of wood shattering on metal, the jarring of her arm and the pain in her chest nearly unseating her. He hit a hell of a lot harder than Blueblood, and he stayed on his horse.

“Tie game to one lance!” The announcer called as white flags were put into their places on either side of the stands.

“Damn, I think I’d be dead if this armor was any weaker.” Luna wheezed, handing her shattered lance off for a fresh one.

“There’s no way he’s going to miss you, but his helmet is flat and his visor thick. Aim for the head lest it come to a draw.” Rarity said, walking over and inspecting the impact point. Luna caught her breath and nodded, turning back towards her opponent and waiting for the flag to drop.

“He’s aiming for your left side, he won’t miss but if you twist your body right you can make his lance bounce without breaking. It’ll be difficult since you can’t exactly see much of it, but that’s probably what he’s counting on.” Spike said, petting Brynhildur. Luna nodded again and the flag dropped.

The sound of two lances shattering and the pain returned, this time enhanced by the previous blow’s pain. They had struck each other dead in the center again to the same effect.

“Two lances even!” The announcer called and they were ready again.

“It would appear he’s content to draw.” Rarity said, tossing a lance to Applejack from the cart to be handed off to Luna.

“Then I’ll have to strike his head, he’s not hitting the ground.” Luna said, calming her breathing and accepting the lance. The flag dropped and she concentrated hard. He was aiming for her left side yet again, and she aimed for the dead center of his chest. Right before they reached each other though, she twisted her body and thrust forward with the lance. She was jarred by his lanced hitting her side but it glanced off the sloped metal and she had adjusted her aim to his head.

The moon at the tip left a slight indent on the visor of his helmet, the lance shattering against it. The crowd cheered wildly and he recovered as she came around. He put his hand up, signaling he wished to speak, as they passed the fence.

“Sir Rose, I am impressed.” He said, spitting blood as he reached her. Apparently his lip had cracked open on a tooth due to the impact. “An interesting choice in helmet, I assume you are blind in one eye?” He asked.

“Aye.” Luna answered, lifting her visor up. He seemed surprised at the scar, but bowed his head in respect.

“Well you beat me even though I was attempting to play your handicap, for that you have my respect. Shall we meet again I hope it is not on the other side of your lance once more.” He said, putting a fist to his chest and bowing. Luna did the same in response and they returned to their respective places.

“Good show Luna, a good sport is always an even better friend.” Applejack said, helping Luna off Brynhildur. Luna pulled her helmet off, arming cap and all, and tossed it to Pinkie, who was already happily bouncing ahead of her to the sword ring. Applejack stayed to watch the competition again while Rarity trailed behind her with her sword. Dash rode up on Tank with a first place prize when they reached the sword ring and Luna donned her helmet again. She pulled her blade from the scabbard Rarity held and the match started with Pinkie finishing.

“Sir Rose is the winner with ten blows to seven!” The announcer called a few minutes later. Without much time to bask in the crowd’s cheering, Luna rushed to the Archery range. She managed to get her breastplate and pauldrons off, but she was stuck with the leggings and gauntlets to take her turn.

Her and the nine other knights, each with a narrow strip of different colored paint on the shaft, took aim and fired a volley and the four who hit the center stayed while the rest were disqualified.

“Sir Rose, Sir Hunter, Sir Arrow and Sir Henry remain, take your shots!” The announcer called. They fired in the opposite order in which they were called. Henry missed the center, cursing the wind. Arrow hit the border of the center. Hunter almost dead center and Luna as well. Henry and Arrow left and Luna nad Hunter took another shot. Again they hit in nearly the same spot. Again they were given another shot to the same outcome.

“Oh come on, this is just going to come out a draw or it’ll never end.” Luna groaned, loosening the gauntlet over her firing hand. The announcer called to shoot, though she was still taking the armor off. Sir Hunter drew his bow back, but refrained from firing. As Luna drew her string back she nodded to him in thanks and he nodded back. They both let their arrows loose at the same time and Luna’s hit dead center.

“Winner, Sir Rose!” The announcer called. Hunter raised his bow to her and she raised hers back as their runners collected the arrows. The next two matches went similarly, Luna as the winner. The matches weren’t necessarily close, but at the same time Luna wasn’t winning by miles.

At that point the day became a blur of pain, relief, satisfaction and everything inbetween. She eventually came second with the bow, her arms too sore from the joust and the sword to aim properly. She won the final match of the sword ten blows to ten, the last blow was at the same time as her opponent’s but her blow struck his head while his her shoulder and therefore she was called the winner. Her final joust was won by two consecutive broken lances to the head, knocking the knight unconscious. He stayed on his horse but, including Blueblood, she had unseated four throughout the day. She had lost two jousts by only a lance or two, but either way she didn’t even know if she would keep conscious long enough to attend banquet with how exhausted she was.

“Winner of the Sword, Sir Rose! Winner of the Joust and Tournament Champion, Sir Rose! I present your Champion!” The announcer called off the winners of the different event.

“I feel sour about my victory, you weren’t anywhere near able to properly fire a bow.” The winner of the Bow, a woman by the name of Spitfire, said when they received their prizes of gold ornaments or statues.

“Awesome job Luna, but I have to admit I was rooting for this one.” Dash said, walking up to Luna and putting a hand on Spitfire’s shoulder. Luna raised an eyebrow.

“We’re sisters.” Spitfire said, hugging Dash. “And I had no idea you became a Runner, let alone for a knight like this.” She continued.

“Hey she’s pretty awesome.” Dash said.

“Were you not watching us? She made second place.” Spitfire said, pointing a thumb back at the range.

“I know, I was just saying.” Dash said, putting her hands up. “I just didn’t know what you meant when you said ‘knight like this’” she continued.

“Well you’re incredibly loyal to your friends and your home, I wasn’t expecting you to work with a foreign born knight.” Spitfire said.

“My blood is from Equestria, and my father told me that I was indeed born here…” Luna said softly. Spitfire adopted a curious expression.

“Well that’s interesting.” She said with a smirk, putting a hand to her chin.

“Well done Darling, tournament champion and winner of the sword, not many knights could accomplish just one, let alone the both of them.” Rarity said, coming up with the cart.

“Twilight said she’ll see you at Banquet, assumed you’d be going to Rarity’s to get ready.” Spike said. Luna looked at him and them Rarity.

“Well of course you’re coming to me to get ready, you have to look absolutely stunning and I absolutely must make it happen.” The clothier exclaimed.

“We’ve already got your armor put away, for the most part at least.” Belle said, who was in the process of wrapping the gauntlets in cloth to put them in their bag.

“Actually, if you wouldn’t mind, I do like wearing those gauntlets. They’re not half bad looking either.” Luna said. Belle shrugged and tossed them to her. Rarity had a look that said she was in deep thought.

“I can make that work, I can make that work rather nicely. You can use my place to bathe and then we’ll get you all nice and fancied up.” Rarity said, practically launching onto her horse. Luna quickly followed and they were off.

“Um… what are we going to do?” Belle asked.

“Wanna earn a bit of silver? Applebloom is always asking for help and Granny’d give you some coin for it.” Applejack suggested.

“I’ve gotta get back to Twilight and help her get ready.” Spike said, hopping off of the cart.

“I guess I’ll go with you then Applejack.” Belle shrugged. The farmer grinned and hopped back into the cart, Winona already walking towards the farm.

---

Luna had to say, Rarity was even better with clothing than she was with armor. It was a simple black gown, yet at the same time it was elegantly wicked. A familiar description, she thought. The hem came to an end just in the middle of her shins, the edges with expertly placed holes and slits to give it a sinister look. It came to something of a turtle neck, though not quite. It fit closely to her body, a like like some of the formal oriental wear Luna had seen once or twice.

The sleeves went all the way to her wrists, though her hands and forearms were covered by the gauntlets. Rarity had done her hair up in a simple and slightly rugged tail, but it completed the look marvelously.

“Well Darling, night has fallen and you best not be late. I’d join you but I’ve a date with a particularly scaley individual. Good luck, and just a heads up: Twilight loves to learn. Anything she doesn’t know makes excellent conversation.” Rarity said, practically pushing Luna out of the door.

“W-Wait, you don’t expect me not to pay you for all this…” Luna said, turning around and holding the door open. Rarity just laughed and put her hands on her hips.

“Trust me, this was as much a pleasure to make as it is for you to wear. And anyways, you’re a good friend of mine now even though we’ve just met. I give discounts to friends, and that armor was a lot. Let’s call it covered.” She said. Luna smiled and hugged the girl.

“Thank you, really.” Luna said. Rarity made a shooing motion and Luna nodded. The Clotheir closed the door and Luna mounted Brynhildur.

A few minutes’ ride saw her to the massive pavillion in the middle of the town that was where the banquet was held. She refused the servant that offered to take her horse and hitched her herself, adjusting her gauntlets to be more comfortable.

“Ah, Sir Rose, glad to see you could make it.” The mayor of the village said, shaking her hand. She was a bit wary of the armor but smiled anyways. Luna inclined her head and moved on, eyeing the massive table practically overflowing with good food. She saw Celestia at the end of it speaking to Twilight and made her way over there.

“-research and… Oh hello there Sir Rose, you look magnificent.” Celestia said, Luna catching a bit of their conversation. Twilight was standing by the time she finished with the name.

“Wow, you really do. Rarity’s outdone herself with you, I like those.” Twilight said, poking a gauntlet. Luna grinned and Twilight offered the seat next to hers. Luna sat down and Celestia refrained from continuing their conversation.

“I caught the end of that, what was it you were researching?” Luna asked curiously, loosening her gauntlets and pulling them off to eat. She set them on the floor between her feet and folded her hands on her lap.

“One researches many things, Sir Rose.” Celestia said with a smile. Luna was suddenly filled with a suspicion that it had something to do with her, but she chose to trust that there was nothing sinister behind it.

“Indeed, Princess. If it isn’t too much to ask, though, I answer to Luna just as well as Sir Rose.” She said. Celestia laughed lightly and grinned at her.

“Well, Luna, if you wish to be called by your name then I wish to be called by mine. At least when it’s just pleasant company like this, nothing official.” She retorted. Luna nodded with a smile and looked at the Mayor made a speech and the feast started. One thing became apparent, though. The apple mead flowed like water at the table.

“So, Luna, tell me. Where did you learn to do so well in the tournament?” Celestia asked partly through.

“Well, My father taught me the basics of the lance, bow and sword. He taught me more on the lance and I learned the other two myself. Living on a farm on a border, one needs to know how to defend oneself.” Luna replied.

“Bandits?” Twilight asked. Luna nodded.

“Bandits, Brigands, Mercenaries, Thieves, the whole lot. They started leaving us alone after a while when most of them never went back to where they came from… I honed my archery skills on… moving targets.” She explained.

“No wonder you dealt with those muggers so easily.” Celestia said. Luna nodded.

“Well, what about your home life? You always speak highly of your father.” Twilight asked.

“Aye, he was a good man. I was not his by birth, but he treated me like so. Even when I thought he was wrong and tried to defy him, he made sure I figured it out on my own. I learned the hard way how life works, but even when I would turn my back on him he would be there for me when it came to stab me in the back.” Luna said, a mixture of sadness and happy memories in her tone.

“Sounds a lot like somebody I know.” Twilight said, bumping Celestia with her elbow. Celestia giggled and took a sip of her mead. Luna smiled as well. Her smile turned to surprise as Twilight laid her head on her shoulder, leaning into her.

“Nothing like good food and even better drink to weigh down one’s mind.” The scholar said with a giggle. Luna smiled and put an arm around her. She had had a sight more than Twilight, but she was raised on a farm. It would take more than that to inebriate her.

“Not to mention good company.” Luna added. Twilight gave a tired giggle and snuggled into Luna’s shoulder.

“My, it seems you’ll be carrying her home if she has any more to drink.” Celestia said, winking. Luna giggled and looked to see Twilight tiredly looking back. Luna winked to her, earning a half-giggle, and turned to Celestia.

“So, would you be willing to tell me about what you were researching?” Luna asked the Princess. Celestia smiled and finished her cup.

“Sorry for being so secretive but I was afraid you’d take it the wrong way. I too recognize you family crest and I was telling Twilight that I would look into it.” She explained.

“Ah, I would be grateful then.” Luna said. Celestia smiled and stretched out a bit.

“Well, it seems the only ones left here are the ones who drank too much or those who haven’t had enough to drink. I’ll be taking my leave then.” She said.

“Of course, I think I’ll stay a while more. I fall into the latter you described.” Luna said, raising the half-empty pitcher and pouring herself another cup.

“Don’t come home too late then, I’m a bit of a banshee if woken up after a night of drink.” Celestia warned. Luna laughed and raised her cup.

“You’re comfy.” Twilight mumbled into her shoulder. Luna smiled and looked down at her.

“Apparently so, try not to fall asleep though. We’ll go back when I’m properly drunk and Brynhildur is a tall horse, hoisting you up onto her would be a bit difficult.” Luna said softly. She received a hum of acknowledgement in return. Luna had a feeling it wasn’t going to be much of a choice.

It was easier than she thought to get home with a sleeping Twilight, though the girl woke back up as Luna carried her off Brynhildur.

“Wow… you’re so strong.” Twilight said with a giggle, stretching out her o’s. Luna grinned down at her.

“Yeah, well you’re so light.” She retorted. They both giggled as Luna carried her into the house. They found Celestia reading in the spare bed, looking up as Luna plopped Twilight and herself down onto the main bed.

“Perfect timing, I was just about to call it a night.” Celestia said tiredly. Twilight giggled and pulled off her gown, leaving her down to her undergarments. Luna did the same, carefully placing her gauntlets on a table and the three of them settled down to sleep. Luna was about to drift off to sleep when she felt a poke on her back. She turned around to find a grinning twilight.

“Hey, come here!” She whispered. Luna grinned back and scooted over to her. “You’re comfy.” She continued, grabbing Luna and snuggling into her chest. Luna laughed softly and snuggled back. They looked at each other and started giggling. Luna didn’t remember starting it, only that they were kissing. One thing was for sure, though… it wasn’t just a peck on the lips.

Author's Note:

hey look, twiluna
who didn't see that coming?

Comments

[Hirovard]

nad

Simple typo.

Otherwise another enjoyable chapter

[Theta KnightMare]

Nobody, that's who

[Dark0592]

3537683 you all know me and my twiluna
3537646 and you imply that a simple typo really makes that much of a difference in the enjoyment of the chapter?
otherwise I enjoyed reading your comment : P

[TheGloriousG]

a nice sweet chapter

can't wait for the next one

[Dark0592]

3538823 glad you enjoyed

[Hirovard]

3538571

In a way yes, but that's because I find it hard to not notice them

[Dark0592]

3540410 I type fast, so my fingers derp every now and then. I usually catch when I do it but I guess I missed one. no matter, not that big a deal

[Hirovard]

3540690

Agreed